From Multiracial Subjects to Multicultural Citizens: Social Stratification and Ethnic and Racial Classification among Children of Immigrants in the United Kingdom

This study examines how immigrant parents’ geographic origins correspond to their adult children's ethnic and racial self‐classification; whether discrepancies are associated with socioeconomic status; and the implications of these patterns for assessing socioeconomic inequality. Using linked British census data, we identify immigrants’ children in 1971 and examine how they ethnically/racially self‐classify in 2001. We find that fluidity in classification varies across groups, but higher educational attainment is consistently associated with less white British classification. Therefore, grouping immigrants’ children by ethnic/racial self‐classification underestimates socioeconomic disadvantage for these groups. However, grouping by parental birthplace overlooks variation in racialization and disadvantage among children of immigrants from the same country of origin.     

Modeling spatial learning in rats based on Morris water maze experiments

The Morris water maze, developed by Morris (J Neurosci Methods 1984: 11: 47–60), is a behavioral experiment designed to test the spatial memory. When repeating the experiment several times, the changes in time (latency) and distance (path) taken to reach the platform are indicators for the learning and memory abilities of the rat. In juvenile toxicity studies, it is of interest to test whether dosing juvenile rats with some compound of interest has an effect on its learning ability. The traditional analysis uses non‐parametric tests to check for a possible dose‐effect. However, due to the many tests performed, this approach lacks power. Here, an alternative method is proposed, accounting for the longitudinal design of the study, the right‐censoring of observations when animals did not find the platform and the correlation between the time and distance taken to reach the platform. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absenteeism, turnover intention and inequity in the employment relationship

In this field study a preliminary social exchange model was proposed that related perceived inequity in the employment relationship to subsequent absenteeism and turnover intention. From an equity perspective, it was hypothesized that absenteeism and turnover intention are indirectly related to perceived inequity in the exchange relationship with the organization, mediated by feelings of resentment and poor organizational commitment. By employing covariance structure modelling, the model was tested among mental health care professionals (N = 90). The results demonstrated that the relationship between perceived inequity and turnover intention was fully mediated by poor organizational commitment, which was, in turn, partially triggered by feelings of resentment that were associated with perceived inequity. In contrast, there was a strong direct link between inequity in the employment relationship and absenteeism, not mediated by resentment and poor organizational commitment. It was concluded that absenteeism and turnover intention can both be considered to be withdrawal reactions to perceived inequity, but that the two reactions differ in their underlying dynamics. The implications of these findings were discussed.     

Religiöse Identität und Wertbindungen von Jugendlichen in Deutschland

In analysing the religiousness of youth positions vary between the hypothesis that religiousness has decreased and the hypothesis that there is a specific youth religion. In this paper it is assumed that the development of religious identities and convictions depends on social contexts and family environments. The paper analyses different religious interpretative patterns adolescents generate in order to position themselves in relation to concepts of life and meaning in societies who are marked by the pluralization of values, the secularization of social relations and the individualization of life styles. Through case studies of youth from West Germany, East Germany and youth from migrant’s milieus—each group of which are brought up religiously in a different environments—it is shown how the religious identities of youth become established under specific social-historical conditions and conditions of socialisation.     

Study of the association between gait variability and physical activity

Background

Gait variability can be considered an indirect measure of gait stability, in particular regarding temporal or spatial variability assessment. Physical activity, such as walking, is advised for the elderly and can be improved by gait stability. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between gait stability and physical activity in women of different age ranges.

Methods

Forty-two healthy women of different age ranges (18-40 yrs. and 65-75 yrs.) were recruited in the study. To assess physical activity, the subjects wore a multi-sensor activity monitor for a whole week, inferring the time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). MVPA were analysed in bouts of at least 10 subsequent minutes (MVPA_bouts) and in overall minutes (MVPA_tot). A kinematic analysis was performed with an optoelectronic system to calculate gait variability - expressed as standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variability (CV) of step width, stride length, stance and swing time (during treadmill walking at different speeds).

Results

Elderly women, with high walking speed (5 km/h), and moderate step width variability (CV = 8–27%), met the recommended levels of physical activity (MVPA_tot and MVPA_bouts). Furthermore, gait variability, adjusted for age and number of falls, was significantly and negatively associated with MVPA_tot only at 3.5 km/h, and with MVPA_bouts only at 4 km/h.

Conclusions

In a population of healthy elderly women, gait variability was significantly and negatively associated with the level of physical activity. Healthy elderly women, with moderate gait variability (step width variability), and high preferred walking speed, seem to be able to meet the recommended levels of physical activity.

     

Predicting weed invasion in a sugarcane cultivar using multispectral image

The cultivation of sugar cane has been gaining great focus in several countries due to its diversity of use. The modernization of agriculture has allowed high productivity, which is affected by the invasion of weeds. With sustainable agriculture, the use of herbicides has been increasingly avoided in society, requiring more effective weed control methods. In this paper, we propose a statistical model capable of identifying the invasion of weeds in the field, using four color spectra as regressor variables obtained by a multispectral camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle. With the exact identification of the weed infestation, it is possible to carry out the management in the field with herbicide applications in the exact places, thus avoiding the increase of the cost of production or even dispensing with the use of herbicides, effecting the mechanical removal of them. Results show that in the experimental field, it was possible to reduce herbicide spraying by 57%.     

Political Distrust and Social Capital in Europe and the USA

Levels of rising political distrust in the USA and parts of Europe attracted political scientists’ attention in the 1990s, and urged them to look at possible consequences of this phenomenon for the functioning of democracies and social life. Approximately during the same period, from a sociological viewpoint, social capital theorists started studying the effects of declining social capital on political and economic life. In this article, we looked at the relationship between political distrust and social capital from an interdisciplinary perspective. We studied the relationship in six European countries from three regions (North-West, South and East), and the USA, and we were interested in the question of whether this relationship varies over the regions, or whether it is approximately the same everywhere. We used ISPP data from the 2004 wave, which included a range of social capital indicators and political distrust items. Social capital was subdivided into four dimensions, namely, networks (membership of organizations), interpersonal or social trust, social norms (citizenship norms), and linking social capital (political activities). First we studied the effect of political distrust on these four dimensions of social capital, while controlling for other variables such as political efficacy, political interest and a set of socio-structural background variables. One of our main findings was that the only significant effect of political distrust we found throughout all countries was a negative effect on one dimension of social capital, namely, interpersonal trust: the more people distrust politicians and people in government, the less they trust other people in general, even when controlled for all other variables. The reverse relationship led us to the same conclusion: the more people tend to trust people in general, the less they distrust politics, a result we found in all countries. This finding refutes the claim that there is no or either only a very weak relationship between political and social trust, as some have strongly argued before. Other important political attitudes connected to social capital were political interest and political efficacy, and for political distrust it was external efficacy. Significant socio-economic factors were religiousness and educational level for membership of voluntary organizations, educational level for interpersonal trust, religiousness for citizenship norms, and educational level and age for political activities. The reciprocal relationship was strongest in the USA and North-Western Europe, as were the explained variances of our (more extensive) regression models. In Southern and Eastern Europe other factors appear to be at work which influence both social capital and political distrust.     

“Y,what do you think about what X just said?” Conversation analysis of stance-eliciting questions in open dialogue network meetings

Open dialogue is a resource-oriented approach to mental health, which aims to help those involved in a crisis situation support each other and engage in dialogue. While language use in open dialogue is generally characterized as being open-ended, nondirective, and nonevaluating on the professionals' side, little is known about the specific conversational features. The aim of this study was to analyze the interactional functions of a stance-eliciting question of the form: “Y, what do you think about what X just said?” We used conversation analysis (CA) to examine this in eight video-recorded Danish open dialogue network meetings. In CA, stance involves expressions of attitude, affect, or judgments about people or events. We describe the interactional functions of these stance-eliciting questions and discuss how clinicians used them as a tool for accomplishing neutrality. The findings can be used to gain a more nuanced understanding of open dialogue psychotherapeutic practices.