Federal Work‐Study Student Perceptions of Career Readiness

University programming seeks to facilitate career development in a variety of ways. Federal Work‐Study (FWS) participation, similar to internships, provides practical experience and potential career development benefits. Over 3 academic years (2016–2019), 1,752 Qualtrics surveys were completed by work‐study students (77% female, 55% White) at the end of each academic year at one university. Three years of data suggest a positive influence of FWS on the growth of National Association of Colleges and Employers career readiness competencies. These data suggest that postsecondary education can construct FWS opportunities with intentional career development goals. Future research should examine a range of career development outcomes in quasi‐experimental designs and unpack the mechanisms within FWS (e.g., supervisor training, matching work assignment to career aspirations) that maximize career growth.     

Staff Development in Public Welfare Agencies

This article describes a teaching-learning model that utilizes videotaped segments along with instructional modules and telegraphic prose to teach students the knowledge, values, and skills necessary to function effectively in a health-related clinic setting. The intent is to facilitate the orderly and rapid absorption of the biomedical, genetic content along with the social work practice skills to assist students to function as members of interdisciplinary teams. Its utilitarian capacity makes it adaptable in a variety of field placement settings. It utilizes actual interviews in which staff persons serve as models for the various practice skills described in the instructional unit.     

Defining Essential Features of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Considerable debate surrounds the search for the defining features of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Current case definitions were created through clinical consensus. Failure to operationalize these case definitions has led to considerable variability in the identification of patients. In addition, some case definitions do not require cardinal symptoms of this illness, whereas other case definitions do require core symptoms of this illness, and these latter case criteria appear to identify a more impaired group of patients. Criterion variance is most likely to occur when operationally explicit criteria do not exist for diagnostic categories, or when there are varying criteria for contrasting case definitions, which is an impediment to the research in this field. To deal with this problem, it is possible to differentiate those that meet more loosely defined criteria from those that are more narrowly and defined, thus differentiating CFS from ME. In order to progress the search for biological markers and effective treatments, essential features need to be operationalized and broadly used to increase the probability that individuals included in samples have the same underlying illness.     

Parents' and children's perceptions of family processes in inner-city families with delinquent youths: a qualitative investigation

This study explored youths' and parents' perceptions of family interaction processes as well as the broader social and cultural factors that influence family functioning in a multiethnic sample of inner-city families with delinquent youth. In-depth interviews were conducted with 61 male youths and 33 parents predominantly from minority families. Guided by an ecological framework, qualitative data analyses were employed to explore individual and contextual factors that were perceived either to foster or to impede individual and family functioning. Findings supported previous empirical research highlighting the importance of family interaction processes in the lives of delinquent youths. Analysis of parent and youth data revealed important relationships among the individual, family, and community domains. The emphases placed on these interrelationships, however, varied in distinct and notable ways for parents and youths. The implications of these divergent patterns for family-level interventions are addressed.     

Synthetic-Fuel Plants: Potential Tumor Risks to Public Health

This article quantifies potential public health risks from tumor-producing pollutants emitted from two synthetic-fuel plants (direct liquefaction--Exxon Donor Solvent: and indirect liquefaction--Lurgi Fischer-Tropsch) located at a representative site in the eastern United States. In these analyses gaseous and aqueous waste streams were characterized; exposures via inhalation, terrestrial and aquatic food chains, and drinking water supplies were modeled. Analysis suggested that emissions of "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," "aromatic amines," "neutral N, O, S heterocyclics," "nitriles," and "other trace elements" pose the largest quantifiable risks to public health. Data and analysis for these pollutant categories should be refined to more accurately match compound-specific estimated exposure levels with tumorigenic potency estimates. Before these results are used for regulatory purposes, more detailed analysis for selected pollutant classes are needed, and more sophisticated aquatic exposure models must be developed. Also, differences in geographic scales among the environmental transport models used need to be rectified.     

The consequences of family crowding: A theoretical synthesis

This article reviews the literature on crowding in non-family and family settings, identifies flaws in past research, presents a model for the study of crowding, and outlines a theory of crowding. Although the focus of this analysis is on crowding within the family, the model and theory are applicable, in principle, to any context in which too many people live in too little space.Leonard Beeghley is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Riverside. His research interest focuses on issues in stratification and theory development. The research reported here is the initial stage of an attempt at understanding the effect of crowding on families.Denise Donnelly is a Ph.D. candidate, Department of Sociology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Her current area of interest focuses on cross-cultural perspectives on women's status.     

Evaluating Ph.D. sociology programs: Theoretical,methodological and policy implications

Reputational surveys frequently are used in evaluating doctoral programs. A sample of faculty-rated graduate programs and the resulting data are used to rank the programs in the academic discipline being considered. As an alternative, we present a new and auspicious assessment methodology by analyzing sixty doctoral programs in sociology for 1975/80 on six measures of research productivity and graduate education. We calculate two proximity matrices and reduce each with ALSCAL. Two solutions are generated: (1) per capita and (2) gross productivity of departments. These analyses show that conventional ranks contain a number of deficiencies and more comprehensive measures of departmental performance add important dimensions. We empirically document a tendency for conflict between faculty productivity and graduate education. Finally, our analyses suggest that omission of several assessment variables may have penalized departments emphasizing qualitative research. Recommendations for improving the next national assessment are advanced. Address correspondence to Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 61761-6901.     

A systems method for the identification of variable service needs of the elderly

Current trends in the aging sector make critical the development of more precision in the policy and decision-making processes. This study explores a strategy for improving service allocation decisions in the aging services area. Two research tools were combined—Delphi and magnitude estimation—to identify the perceptions of key decision makers about the variable service needs of different aging risk groups. The results indicate that such distinctions can be made and can provide the basis of improving several aspects of the allocation process.