Attitudes of Muslim Americans toward Homosexuality and Marriage Equality: Moving Beyond Simply Understanding Christian Public Opinions

A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked—Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jewish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.     

Towards flexible organizations: A multidimensional design

The author considers one way by which the readiness, willingness, and ability of organizations to change themselves can be increased. Specifically, he considers how organizations can be designed to be more flexible and, therefore, more capable of being changed and changing themselves. Flexibility does not guarantee adaptability but it is essential for it.     

Promoting change through a formative intervention: contradictions in mathematics education parental engagement

This article describes a formative intervention that supported our exploration of contradictions within the area of parental engagement in mathematics education in a low-income community. We draw on the third generation of cultural-historical activity theory as well as research on parental engagement and critical theory to discuss two contradictions in the network of activity systems. Our analysis suggests it is critical to develop a deeper intersubjectivity when working towards the goal of community action to support children’s mathematical learning opportunities. We discuss the expansive learning process evident through the development of a new definition of parental engagement.     

Existing Diversity and Judicial Selection: The Role of the Appointment Method in Establishing Gender Diversity in State Supreme Courts

Objectives . To explore differences in the appointment and election method of selecting state high court justices in promoting gender diversity, and to explore the effect of existing gender diversity within the political institutions on the selection of women to office. Methods . Our data include all justices who have been selected to state courts of last resort from 1980 through 1997. We use logistic regression analysis to test the effect of existing gender diversity on a high court on the likelihood that a woman will be selected to fill a vacancy. Results . Women are significantly more likely to be selected to a state high court when initially appointed, and this effect is particularly pronounced when the governor is Democratic. When an appointment system is used, women are much more likely to be appointed to an all-male court than to a gender-diverse court. Conclusions . Appointment systems are more likely to create gender diversity on state courts; however, this effect operates primarily to diversify all-male courts. This difference between appointment and election systems may reflect differences in knowledge between elite actors and the mass public about the composition of the institution.     

Sexual and Reproductive Health Behaviors of California Community College Students

Abstract

Objective: To explore the sexual and reproductive health behaviors of students from 13 community college campuses in California. Participants: Heterosexual college students, ages 18 to 24, who have had sexual intercourse (N = 4,487). Methods: The American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) survey was administered in class to randomly selected classrooms at 12 institutions and electronically to randomly selected e-mails of students at 1 institution from March through April 2007. Results: This sample of community college students reported higher rates of risky sexual behaviors, unintended pregnancy, emergency contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases, and lower rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, than the overall ACHA-NCHA reference group. Those who had been tested for HIV reported more sexual partners, and lower rates of condom use. Conclusions: The data provide justification for broader educational programs and access to family planning services, condoms, and HIV testing on community college campuses.     

Marketing segmentation research—An application to bank services

The research reported here analyses data relating to bank services obtained by a stratified random sampling technique using stepwise linear regression and canonical correlation for the purpose of illustrating the application of segmentation principles to marketing research.     

Examining the Impact of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) on Family Functioning

Research supports that child parent relationship therapy (CPRT), a filial therapy approach, has strong effects on participating parents and children. Some speculate that filial therapy improves the family system; however, minimal research exists to support this claim. Using a single‐case design, researchers examined CPRT's impact on the functioning of 8 families. Results revealed that 6 families experienced statistically significant improvements in targeted areas of family functioning. Results from self‐reported measures indicated that 7 families improved in family satisfaction, 4 in cohesion, 3 in communication, and 1 in flexibility. Observational measures also revealed improvements: 5 families in flexibility, 4 families in cohesion, and 4 families in communication. The results support that the benefits of CPRT may extend to the family system.