GREAT MEN AND HARD TIMES: SOCIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Sociology at the University of Minnesota has had a long and distinguished history. From its founding in 1910 many prominent sociologists have taught and have graduated from the department. We present an overview of the growth of the department, and certain influential events which affected the direction of department governance and intellectual development. The department achieved its "Golden Age" under the leadership of F. Stuart Chapin, who chaired the department for nearly three decades (1922–1951). We speculate about the internal and external pressures that have affected the Minnesota department-and other sociology departments-over the past two decades, during its period of greatest expansion but of significant tensions as well.     

Mobilization by images: TV screen and mediated instant grievances in the Umbrella Movement

This article discusses the effects of the televised images of the use of tear gas on people participating in the Umbrella Movement. Although the role of the Internet and social media in political mobilization has been widely discussed, the importance of television cannot be overlooked. This article argues that the widely transmitted broadcasts of live images of the police firing tear gas into the protesting crowd generated “mediated instant grievances” in a substantial sector of the viewing public, thus contributing to the size and scale of the Umbrella Movement. The study reported here provides evidence for this argument by analyzing the results of a survey of protesters that were on site during the early stage of the movement (N = 969). The study sought to determine whether and how the television images were related to the participants’ political attitudes, reasons for participation, and views of self-mobilized actions. The findings showed that, in particular, mediated instant grievances motivated the participation of the “amateur protesters” in the movement.     

Cognitive Pretesting and the Developmental Validity of Child Self-Report Instruments: Theory and Applications

OBJECTIVE: In the context of the importance of valid self-report measures to research and evidence-based practice in social work, an argument-based approach to validity is presented and the concept of developmental validity introduced. Cognitive development theories are applied to the self-report process of children and cognitive pretesting is reviewed as a methodology to advance the validity of self-report instruments for children. An application of cognitive pretesting is presented in the development of the Elementary School Success Profile. METHOD: Two phases of cognitive pretesting were completed to gather data about how children read, interpret and answer self-report items. RESULTS: Cognitive pretesting procedures identified validity problems with numerous items leading to modifications. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive pretesting framed by an argument-based approach to validity holds significant potential to improve the developmental validity of child self-report instruments.     

Teacher‐Student Racial Congruence,Teacher Perceptions,and Test Performance*

Objective. This research explores the seldom‐addressed question of whether teacher‐student racial congruence conditions the impact of teacher perceptions on performance. Methods. Multipopulation LISREL models (utilizing data from the NELS) compare the effect of white teachers' perceptions on African‐American standardized test performance to the corresponding effect among white students. Parallel models compare the impact of African‐American teacher perceptions across races. Preliminary models gauge whether the match/mismatch of teacher's and student's race shapes teacher perceptions of African‐American and white students. Results. The impact of teachers' perceptions on test performance shows signs of being especially pronounced in the racially dissonant white teacher‐black student context—the very context where teacher perceptions seem especially likely to be unfavorable. Conclusions. This research provides new insight on the relevance of teacher perceptions to the black‐white performance gap. Racial congruence seems primarily consequential to African‐American test performance—shaping both teacher perceptions and (somewhat less so) the impact of such perceptions on performance.     

Sources of growth and cyclical stability for Nevada counties: Transfer payments and property income

The growing relative number, the improved economic well-being, and the migration of elderly retirees is not only reshaping the social and economic structure of many areas, it is also modifying both long-term and short-run patterns of economic growth. Transfer payments and property incomes, two of the most important source of elderly income, have been among the leading sources of national income growth over the past several decades. Unlike most labor-related industry sources of earnings, the level of transfer payments and property incomes received by the residents of the region is not directly dependent upon local economic activity. Consequently, as transfer payments and property incomes of elderly retirees become increasingly important sources of income and purchasing power within a region, they also can alter regional short-run cyclical patterns of income growth. This article examines the pattern of growth of transfer payments and property incomes in the context of national economic cycles, and explores the implication of those findings on metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nevada economies.     

Will you trust your new boss? The role of affective reactions to leadership succession

Affective reactions to the departure of work group leaders are proposed as an important determinant of members' trust-related judgments regarding new leaders. A field test of veterinary hospital employees evaluating new leaders revealed that the affective reaction to the departure of the prior group leader predicted trust when there was no history between the individuals. When there was history between the two individuals, the group member's evaluation of the new leader's ability on their prior job was a significant predictor of trust over and above their affective reaction to the succession. The relationships between affective reactions to succession and trust formation were replicated in a longitudinal simulation of trust formation in student groups. The implications of these findings for the study of trust in organizations and leadership succession processes in work groups are discussed.