Research in Community Sociology

This book illustrates how the one-dot theory, which is a dialectical study, is well suited to describing, explaining and inferring contemporary China's past, present and future. It argues that since October 1949, the field of contemporary China studies has been dominated by modified and abandoned non-dialectical theories and models. It also challenges selected non-dialectical theories and models which were first generated in the West, such as the game theory and rational (choice) theory. With its emphasis on methodology, the book offers a valuable resource for academics, researchers and practitioners alike with an interest in logically, systematically and coherently unraveling Taiwan's and mainland China's contemporary politics and international relations.

This edited collection shows how demographic analysis plays a pivotal role in planning, policy and funding decisions in Australia. Drawing on the latest demographic data and methods, these case studies in applied demography demonstrate that population dynamics underpin the full spectrum of contemporary social, economic and political issues. The contributors harness a range of demographic statistics and develop innovative techniques demonstrating how population dynamics influence issues such as electoral representation, the distribution of government funding, metropolitan and local planning, the provision of aged housing, rural depopulation, coastal growth, ethnic diversity and the well-being of Australia's Indigenous community. Moving beyond simple statistics, the case studies show that demographic methods and models offer crucial insights into contemporary problems and provide essential perspectives to aid efficiency, equity in public policy and private sector planning. Together the volume represents essential reading for students across the social sciences as for policy makers in government and private industry.

Non-parametric methods are widely used for studying populations that take on a ranked order (such as movie reviews receiving one to four stars). The use of non-parametric methods may be necessary when data have a ranking but no clear numerical interpretation, such as when assessing preferences. In terms of levels of measurement, non-parametric methods result in "ordinal" data. As non-parametric methods make fewer assumptions, their applicability is much wider than the corresponding parametric methods. In particular, they may be applied in situations where less is known about the application in question. Also, due to the reliance on fewer assumptions, non-parametric methods are more robust. Non-parametric methods have many popular applications, and are widely used in research in the fields of the behavioral sciences and biomedicine. This is a textbook on non-parametric statistics for applied research. The authors propose to use a realistic yet mostly fictional situation and series of dialogues to illustrate in detail the statistical processes required to complete data analysis. This book draws on a readers existing elementary knowledge of statistical analyses to broaden his/her research capabilities. The material within the book is covered in such a way that someone with a very limited knowledge of statistics would be able to read and understand the concepts detailed in the text. The "real world" scenario to be presented involves a multidisciplinary team of behavioral, medical, crime analysis, and policy analysis professionals work together to answer specific empirical questions regarding real-world applied problems. The reader is introduced to the team and the data set, and through the course of the text follows the team as they progress through the decision making process of narrowing the data and the research questions to answer the applied problem. In this way, abstract statistical concepts are translated into concrete and specific language. This text uses one data set from which all examples are taken. This is radically different from other statistics books which provide a varied array of examples and data sets. Using only one data set facilitates reader-directed teaching and learning by providing multiple research questions which are integrated rather than using disparate examples and completely unrelated research questions and data.

This book draws upon data collected over an 18 year period with over 1000 boys and young men across Northern Ireland. Providing critical reflections on violence, masculinity and education, it uses the voices and experiences of young men to inform and influence research, practice and policy.

This book studies the sociology of health and medicine across three different countries, the USA, UK and Australia, examining the nature of disciplines and their specialties and posing sociological questions about the formation of intellectual fields and their social relations.

This analysis of community sociology examines African community issues and patterns of development. Topics covered include: community problems and collective action; community economic development; small communities in transition; ghetto formation and community dynamics; and, heritage and symbolism.

In recent years, spatial analysis has become an increasingly active field, as evidenced by the establishment of educational and research programs at many universities. Its popularity is due mainly to new technologies and the development of spatial data infrastructures. This book illustrates some recent developments in spatial analysis, behavioural modelling, and computational intelligence. World renown spatial analysts explain and demonstrate their new and insightful models and methods. The applications are in areas of societal interest such as the spread of infectious diseases, migration behaviour, and retail and agricultural location strategies. In addition, there is emphasis on the uses of new technologoies for the analysis of spatial data through the application of neural network concepts.

This book progressively works out a method of constructing models which can bridge the gap between empirical and theoretical research in the social sciences. It aims to improve the explanatory power of models. The issue is quite novel, and has benefited from a thorough examination of statistical and mathematical models, conceptual models, diagrams and maps, machines, computer simulations, and artificial neural networks.

Phases of Terrorism in the Age of Globalization considers terrorism as an aspect of the capitalist world system for almost five centuries. Jalata's research reveals that terrorism can emerge from above as state terrorism and below as subversive organizations or groups.

The Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic.

This volume provides an overview of the ways the Italian school of quality of life studies addresses well-being and quality of life, from both a substantive and a methodological point of view. It discusses various topics such as those of equitable and sustainable wellbeing, lifestyles, the organization of economy and welfare, as well as aspects related to the measurement of quality of life in small towns, institutional transparency and corruption prevention indicators. Chapters presented in this volume are drawn from papers presented at the conferences of the Italian Association for Quality of Life Studies (AIQUAV) held in Florence, Italy, in 2015 and 2016. The volume is organised into three parts. The first part is devoted to methods and indicators for research on quality of life, the second part to social sustainability, lifestyles, cultural aspects and local applications, and the third to economy, welfare and quality of life. The volume hosts contributions that are interdisciplinary in scope and mirror the complexity of the globalized world.

This book reflects the current thinking and research on how consumers' perception of product risks and benefits affects their behavior. It provides the scientific, regulatory and industrial research community with a conceptual and methodological reference point for studies on consumer behavior and marketing. The contributions address various aspects of consumer psychology and behavior, risk perception and communication, marketing research strategies, as well as consumer product regulation. The book is divided into 4 parts: Product risks; Perception of product risks and benefits; Consumer behavior; Regulation and responsibility.

This is the first book in longitudinal categorical data analysis with parametric correlation models developed based on dynamic relationships among repeated categorical responses. This book is a natural generalization of the longitudinal binary data analysis to the multinomial data setup with more than two categories. Thus, unlike the existing books on cross-sectional categorical data analysis using log linear models, this book uses multinomial probability models both in cross-sectional and longitudinal setups. A theoretical foundation is provided for the analysis of univariate multinomial responses, by developing models systematically for the cases with no covariates as well as categorical covariates, both in cross-sectional and longitudinal setups. In the longitudinal setup, both stationary and non-stationary covariates are considered. These models have also been extended to the bivariate multinomial setup along with suitable covariates. For the inferences, the book uses the generalized quasi-likelihood as well as the exact likelihood approaches.The book is technically rigorous, and, it also presents illustrations of the statistical analysis of various real life data involving univariate multinomial responses both in cross-sectional and longitudinal setups. This book is written mainly for the graduate students and researchers in statistics and social sciences, among other applied statistics research areas. However, the rest of the book, specifically the chapters from 1 to 3, may also be used for a senior undergraduate course in statistics.

As the population continues to age, gerontological research will become increasingly important and library holdings in gerontology and geriatrics will be in great demand. This valuable reference discusses the history of gerontology and geriatrics libraries in the United States and Canada and profiles their holdings. The study is based on a questionnaire distributed to public and private gerontology and geriatrics libraries. Data from the questionnaire are presented in brief but informative profiles. Each profile lists the type of library, its chief administrator, the date of its founding, the hours during which it is open, and its holdings, services, and facilities. The result is an illuminating overview of information centers available for the study of geriatrics and gerontology.

Joyce A. Post begins with an extensive discussion that traces the history of library collections in gerontology and geriatrics, including the impact and importance of federal assistance and the creation of geriatric education centers. The next section discusses the author's research methodology and offers an analytical summary of her findings. The directory that follows is arranged alphabetically by state and then by towns within each state. The appendixes present the questionnaire used to obtain the data and a listing of the library holdings of 18 major gerontology and geriatrics periodicals. The useful and varied indexes make this work an indispensable and easy to use reference for gerontologists, librarians, and all those interested in research on the elderly.

Over the past five years the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research has welcomed research projects by the very best qualitative, organizational researchers in the world. This conference has helped authors develop and hone theoretical ideas in an environment friendly to qualitative methods, and more importantly, has begun to build a community of qualitative researchers that work on organizational and management issues. The authors winning the ""Best Presentation Awards"" at the Davis Conference over the past five years have contributed chapters to this volume. The ideas in these chapters were ""born"" before the conference, but were nurtured through dialogue at the conference, and subsequently matured through later interactions among the community of qualitative scholars associated with the conference. As such, this volume represents the fruits of our collective labor as a qualitative research community. This collective and iterative process is a hallmark of qualitative methods, and often leads to a counter-intuitive, ""ah-hah"" experience for the researcher. This volume showcases some of the very best of those ah-hah experiences from the organizational, qualitative research community.

Cultural pluralisation - reinforced by immigration - has had major consequences for the political agenda in recent years in liberal democratic states. New types of tension have arisen - new forms of social and cultural differentiation, and new patterns of inequality. The diversity also reshapes the frame of reference for traditional policy instruments employed by modern welfare states: new issues arise that are linked to rights, legitimacy and policy measures of a general and targeted nature. This volume in the "Comparative Social Research" series addresses a number of issues related to this new diversity. Common themes are multiculturalism, power and integration, and these themes are analysed through a comparative lens.

Hardbound. This book brings together for the first time the most current research about the academic effects and policy implications of the school reform known as parental choice. The topic of choice in education is discussed in terms of why, when, where and how, if at all, it should be implemented. The contents are fourteen original papers written by scholars from Israel, UK, the United States and Canada and brings together the empirical studies of school choice examined in an international context.

Interest in researching experience continues to grow in sociology, cultural studies, feminist theory and psychology. However there is a crisis over the representation of experience--evident in epistemological debates, in everyday life and in global politics. Could researching experience contribute to creating socio-political change or does it simply open new avenues for post-Fordist self-regulation? "Analysing Everyday Experience" illustrates the emergence of plural historical actors who disrupt unitary subjectivities, resist univocal integration and refigure the political by remaking everyday experience.

Ethnic minority groups in the United States suffer and die from disease at rates much higher than the general population. Such groups include African-Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Asian Americans. To understand the nature of the deplorable rates, the health history of the ethnic groups must be understood. This book describes the contents of libraries nationwide which house health and medically related materials on ethnic minority populations. The book covers information about catalogs, books, articles, biographies, and autobiographies, primary source materials, cassette tapes of speeches, video tapes and films, and medical artifacts.

The repositories covered are in various stages of cataloguing these materials but indicate an interest in having researchers use the collections. This book is the most comprehensive guide to ethnic medical health materials, their location, state of completion, and the contents of collections.

The apparently simple notion that it is contextualization and invocation of context that give form to our interpretations raises important questions about context definition. Moreover, different disciplines involved in the elucidation and interpretation of meanings construe context indifferent ways. How do these ways differ? And what analytical strategies are adopted in order to suggest that the relevant context is "self-evident"? The notion of context has received less attention than is due such a central, key concept in social anthropology, as well as in other related disciplines. This collection of contributions from a group of leading social anthropologists and anthropological linguists addresses the question of how the idea of context is constructed, invoked, and deployed in the interpretations put forward by social anthropologists. The ethnographic focus embraces peoples from regions such as Bali, Europe, Malawi, and Zaire. Primarily theoretical in its aims, the work also draws on expertise from anthropological linguistics and philosophy in order to set the issue as much in a comparative disciplinary perspective as in a comparative cross-cultural one.

The chapters in this volume illustrate the ways in which U.S. sociologists of education continue to plumb the depths of fundamental questions about how schools are organized and consequences of school organization for students and teachers. These studies present new ideas and/or findings in an engaging way, and they attempt to enlarge the audience for sociological research on education. Perhaps even more importantly, however, they generate a host of questions that warrant sustained inquiry by our community. If these authors lead us to think in new ways or to ask new questions, their efforts will have been well-rewarded.

In this single volume, a team of international experts sets out a range of analytic tools available to social scientists from social science methodology. The volume presents social scientists with some experience with a guide through the maze of advanced techniques applicable across the range of the social sciences. The first chapters outline ways in which the revolution in computing power is transforming the working environment for social scientists, extending their analytic reach, and opening up new research horizons. The empirical chapters each present a particular approach to data analysis, discussing the underlying logic and demonstrating its application by working through a substantive example - with mathematical reasoning kept to a minimum. The theoretical chapters provide an introduction to recently developing approaches to social science research. Each chapter includes references to other works in the field, and to appropriate software programs, for those who are keen to pursue a particular approach in greater detail.