Using Profile Elevation to Increase the Usefulness of the Self‐Directed Search and Other Inventories

The authors explore the construct of profile elevation on interest inventories results. They speak to the need for career counselors to maximize their use of the interest inventory and how they can do that by properly interpreting profile elevation. Profile elevation is defined, and correlates of high and low profile elevation are presented. The common interpretive interaction that occurs between profile elevation and differentiation is explored. The authors also present a case of low profile elevation and the career counseling interventions and considerations used with the client.     

The benefits of a nap during prolonged work and wakefulness

Prolonged work scenarios with demands for sustained performance are increasingly common. Because sleep loss inevitably compromises functioning in such situations, napping has been proposed as a countermeasure. The optimal timing of the nap relative to its benefits for performance and mood is not known, however. To address this issue, 41 healthy adults were permitted a two-hour nap at one of five times during a 56-hour period of intermittent work, with no other sleep. Naps were placed 12 hours apart, near the circadian peak (P) or trough (T), and were preceded by 6(P), 18(T), 30(P), 42(T), or 54(P) hours of wakefulness. Work test bouts occurred every few hours and consisted of a variety of psychomotor and cognitive tasks as well as mood scales completed at the beginning, middle and end of each bout. A total of eight performance and 24 mood parameters were derived from the bouts and compared between groups at all test points prior to and following the naps. An estimate of the extent to which each nap condition differed from the control (P54) condition was derived by totalling the proportion of test points that yielded statistically significant results relative to the total number of tests conducted both before and after naps.

Although all performance and most mood parameters displayed a circadian-modulated deterioration as the protocol progressed, a nap appeared to attentuate the extent of this change in all performance parameters but not in mood parameters. Overall, the timing of the nap across days and within the circadian cycle was irrelevant to its effect on performance, suggesting that it diminished the intrusion of sleepiness into behavioural functioning, even though subjects were phenomenally unaware of this benefit.     

What a Weberian approach to interests can contribute to economic sociology

This review essay addresses Richard Swedbergs recent attempt to redefine the field of economic sociology. Grounding his position in Max Webers work, Swedberg advocates a type of economic sociology that not only focuses on social relations but also considers culture and interests, arguing that it is interests that drive action but that they are shaped by culture and enacted through social relations. We conclude our analysis with a consideration of the practical and empirical implications of this new approach for the study of economic life.     

Market transition,educational disparities,and family strategies in rural china: New evidence on gender stratification and development

Two theoretical perspectives have dominated debates about the impact of development on gender stratification: modernization theory, which argues that gender inequalities decline with economic growth, and the "women in development" perspective, which argues that development may initially widen gender gaps. Analyzing cross-sectional surveys and time-series data from China, this article indicates the relevance of both perspectives: while girls' educational opportunities were clearly more responsive than boys' to better household economic circumstances, the era of market transition in the late 1970s and early 1980s failed to accelerate and, in fact, may have temporarily slowed progress toward gender equity.     

Differences between actual and perceived student norms: an examination of alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior

Researchers in the social norms area have previously focused primarily on alcohol consumption, paying comparatively less attention to drug use and sexual behavior. The major purposes of this study were to (1) compare perceptions of peer norms in the areas of alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior with actual behavior and (2) determine if a relationship existed between a student's perceptions of normative behavior and a student's actual behavior. Participants were 833 college students at a large, public university in the Northeast. Study participants overestimated alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior among their peers. There was also a positive relationship between actual behavior and perceived peer norms, although the effect sizes for all behaviors were small to moderate. The authors provide further support for the tenets of social norms theory and suggest that social norms interventions are appropriate both campus-wide and to targeted high-risk groups.     

“They give you back that dignity”: understanding the intangible resources that make a transitional house a home for homeless families

Approximately 33% of the homeless population in 2017 were families with children. Researchers have argued for interventions and services to employ an ecological perspective to mitigate some of the unintentional harm inherent in existing programs designed to serve homeless families. This paper utilized a case study of a transitional housing program to (1) determine how well the program met recommendations informed by the ecological perspective and (2) explore underlying themes across recommendations. Past and current residents of a transitional housing program participated in semi-structured interviews as part of a program evaluation. Interviews were deductively and inductively coded to meet aims 1 and 2, respectively. Residents identified several aspects of the program that met the ecological perspective recommendations including culturally-responsive services, trauma-based services, and social and community connections. Major underlying themes spanning across recommendations included interpersonal resources (caring, sense of belonging), empowerment resources (advocacy, family preservation), impact on family (family life, positive youth development), and communication. This case study, through the analysis of residents’ perspectives, highlights the important role of transitional housing programs in providing a supportive, empathetic, empowering, and home-like environment that gives residents “back that dignity” so they are emotionally and physically prepared to successfully transition to permanent housing.     

Aquatic landscape change,extirpations, and introductions in the Chicago Region

Urban Ecosystems - Prior to European settlement, swamps, marshes, lakes, and streams were the major landscape features of the Chicago region. Much of this has been altered or lost in the past...