Methods Used and Topics Addressed in Quantitative Health Research on Gay,Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Research on sexual minority men (gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men) was examined with regard to the measures of sexual orientation used, the methods of research, and the main health outcomes under study. A systematic review of English-language quantitative studies was conducted focused on the health of sexual minority men published in 2010 (n = 250). The results provide a snapshot of the literature and revealed that research on sexual minority men overwhelmingly focused on HIV, STIs, and sexual health for which sexual orientation was most commonly defined behaviorally. For topics of mental health or body/fitness outcomes, sexual orientation was most commonly defined by identity. Most study samples were venue-based, and only 8.8% of published papers drew data from population-based samples. The findings suggest that there exists a need for research on sexual minority men’s health beyond STIs and HIV that will examine mental and physical health outcomes beyond sexual risk, uses probability-based samples, and addresses intersectional concerns related to race/ethnicity and age.     

Mobility and the City Improvement District: Frictions in the Human-capital Mobile Assemblage

In this paper, we interrogate the role of the city improvement district (CID) in the intervention and management of mobility within the context of the South African city and the case study of the Groote Schuur Community Improvement District (GSCID), a public–private urban governance scheme situated in Cape Town’s middle income southern suburbs. Using the theoretical lens of bodily-scale mobility, we investigate the CID’s activation and management. This is useful, as we will demonstrate, because it is through the mobility and immobility at the scale of the body, where the CID’s mandate is operationalised and it is through the control of mobility that the CID’s mission, discourses and activities are linked. This work demonstrates that CIDs, as elite-driven urban renewal initiatives closely aligned with capital interests, employ exclusionary spatial practices that have the potential to shape the twenty-first century urban experience in significant ways. We conclude by theorising the co-constitutive nature of human mobilities and capital as the ‘human-capital mobile assemblage’ and by arguing that the CID occupies an ambivalent place in the contemporary city.     

The Troubled Families Programme: Learning about policy impact through realist case study research

This article aims to critically explore how qualitative case study research that is founded on realist principles can fundamentally enhance social policy evaluation methodologies and, in turn, provide improved learning for policy makers and practitioners. We suggest that these methodological advantages are accrued through the careful construction of theory-based explanations of “how” policy programmes work thereby addressing the limitations of quasi-experimental methods—namely, a focus on and prioritisation of outcome measures. The paper situates this key argument within wider, long-standing debates about evidence-based policy making and what constitutes “evidence” of impact in social policy. It does so through reflection on the contentious and contradictory knowledge claims that surround the Troubled Families Programme and evaluative claims regarding its efficacy. In conclusion and looking forward, we suggest that there remains much scope to combine “intensive” qualitative case studies with “extensive” quantitative measures within local and national evaluations of complex, multidimensional social policies, such as the Troubled Families Programme.     

The Arrow of Time in the Space of the Present: Temporality as Methodological and Theoretical Dimension in Child Research

The concern of this article is that some prevailing theoretical dualisms in child research may be traced back to a split between time and space, and the argument is that securing a temporal as well as a spatial dimension in the research methodology may allow to transgress such dualisms. The article analyses how an insufficient account of the temporal dimension in different theoretical moments in childhood studies has led to theoretical dualisms between agency and development and between change and continuity in the process of subject formation. Confronting these theoretical dualisms with a qualitative longitudinal study of children indicates that the two sides of each dualism may be understood as interdependent dimensions that co‐constitute subjectivity. The article suggests that temporal and spatial dimensions may be easier to integrate if they are conceived of as two interacting temporal modes, one connected to linear time (the arrow of time) and one connected to non‐linear processes (significations in the space of the present). Theoretically, this is elaborated on with a hermeneutic interpretation of Henri Bergson and Freud's thinking about time and space.     

Supervision reviewed: reflections on two different social work models in England and Sweden

This article draws on the findings of two independent research projects on supervision: one based in England and the second in Sweden. The findings cited illustrate predominantly the perspectives on supervision held by social workers and managers in the statutory services. In the process of contextualising, theorising and pulling together the threads from their respective findings, the authors reflect on the fabric and models of supervision in the two countries. The opportunities and disadvantages of the two contrasting models in current practice are discussed. This includes the steps that could be taken in either country to improve the quality of supervision within learning organisations.     

NIVAH: a composite index measuring violence and harm in the U.S.

The National Index of Violence and Harm (NIVAH) tracks levels of violence and harm in the United States and identifies trends over the study period 1995–2003. NIVAH is comprised of nineteen variables in the areas of interpersonal, intrapersonal, institutional and structural violence and harm as experienced by people in the U.S. Two composite indexes are formed to describe overall trends in the realms of personal and societal violence. In addition to describing the Index’s construction and most recent conclusions, various methodological issues and their impacts on index findings are investigated.

Clinicians’ Perspectives on the Diagnosis of Antisocial Disorders in Adolescence

The intent of the study was to explore how professionals view the assessment and diagnosis of antisocial disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Six professionals from varying theoretical orientations were interviewed in order to gain insight into how theoretical and clinical perspectives influence the diagnostic process of antisocial disorders. Data was analyzed using a qualitative, constructivist grounded theory research methodology. The findings from the research interviews suggest that clinicians perceive a multifaceted approach to diagnosis. Participants emphasized the importance of individualized assessment, differential diagnosis, the role of context and impairment, and the functional and stigmatizing effects of diagnostic labels. The results illustrate relative consistency among practitioners in the assessment and diagnostic process. Further, it appears that clinicians incorporate a biopsychosocial approach to conceptualizing ODD and CD. This type of qualitative research serves to develop a conceptual understanding of the diagnostic process related to antisocial disorders.     

Financial literacy education: An opportunity for colleges and sociology

Financial literacy represents the knowledge necessary to manage one's financial affairs in a way that contributes to overall wellbeing, yet financial literacy and financial education are understudied in sociology. While emerging adults have low rates of financial literacy overall, this article focuses on college students due to increasing college access and student loan debt. Based on the limited literature that assesses college financial literacy education, it appears that these types of programs may serve to advance college students' financial knowledge. Additional mechanisms that serve to develop college students' financial literacy include parent socialization, banking experience, and high school financial education programs. However, not everyone has the same access to these resources. Thus, given the magnitude of the US student debt crisis and persistent economic inequalities, college financial literacy education may prove beneficial for all students, particularly those from economically vulnerable backgrounds. This article serves as an invitation to sociologists to consider financial literacy education as both a worthwhile pursuit in application and as a research topic.