This book analyzes practical and moral influences on voting decisions. Undermining the widespread assumption that economic self-interest is the key determinant of voting choices, it discovers that moral considerations rooted in religious traditions are often the more decisive. This finding is confirmed through a close analysis of tangible problems, such as child neglect and crime, problems which one would expect to trouble practical voters. Further, this book suggests that political ideologies influence party affiliation, rather than the other way around. It defines four categories of states in terms of human development and income equality-South, Heartland, postindustrial, and "balanced." It then explains why political color (red, purple, or blue) and societal problems vary across these categories. Voters' moral ideologies, it shows, combine with a state's measure of income equality and human development to shape a state's readiness to pursue practical solutions to societal problems. Finally, it shows that moral ideologies of the religious right and authoritarianism, two very different concepts, are in fact intertwined empirically. This book thus suggests that education-a key driver of human development, anti-authoritarianism, and deliberative voting-should begin in preschools that are both nurturant and instructive.

Contemporary societal problems are complex, intractable, and costly. Aiming to ameliorate them, social scientists formulate policies and programs, and conduct research testing the efficacy of the interventions. All too often the results are disappointing; partly because the theories guiding these studies are inappropriate, the study designs are flawed, and the empirical databases covering their research questions are sparse. This book confronts these problems of research by following this process: analyze the roots of the social problem both theoretically and empirically; formulate a study design that captures the nuances of the problem; gather appropriate empirical data operationalizing the study design; model these data using multilevel statistical methods to uncover potential causes and any biases to their implied effects; use the results by refining theory and by formulating evidence-based policy recommendations for implementation and testing.

Applying this process, the chapters focus on these social problems: political extremism; global human development; violence against religious minorities; computerization of work; reform of urban schools; and the utilization and costs of health care. Because these chapters exemplify the usefulness of multilevel modeling for the quantification of effects and causal inference, they can serve as vivid exemplars for the teaching of students. This use of examples reverses the usual procedure for introducing statistical methods. Rather than beginning with a new statistical model bearing on statistical theory and searching for illustrative data, each core chapter begins with a pressing social problem. The specific problem motivates theoretical analysis, gathering of relevant data, and application of appropriate statistical procedures. Readers can use the provided data sets and syntaxes to replicate, critique, and advance the analyses, thereby developing their ability to produce future applications of multilevel modeling.

The chapters address the multilevel data structures of these social problems by grouping observations on the micro units (level-1) by more macro-units (level-2) (e.g., school children are grouped by their classroom), and by conducting multilevel statistical modeling in contextual, longitudinal, and meta-analyses. Each core chapter applies a qualitative typology to nest the variance between the macro units, thereby crafting a "mixed-methods" approach that combines qualitative attributes with quantitative measures

This book analyzes practical and moral influences on voting decisions. Undermining the widespread assumption that economic self-interest is the key determinant of voting choices, it discovers that moral considerations rooted in religious traditions are often the more decisive. This finding is confirmed through a close analysis of tangible problems, such as child neglect and crime, problems which one would expect to trouble practical voters. Further, this book suggests that political ideologies influence party affiliation, rather than the other way around. It defines four categories of states in terms of human development and income equality-South, Heartland, postindustrial, and "balanced." It then explains why political color (red, purple, or blue) and societal problems vary across these categories. Voters' moral ideologies, it shows, combine with a state's measure of income equality and human development to shape a state's readiness to pursue practical solutions to societal problems. Finally, it shows that moral ideologies of the religious right and authoritarianism, two very different concepts, are in fact intertwined empirically. This book thus suggests that education-a key driver of human development, anti-authoritarianism, and deliberative voting-should begin in preschools that are both nurturant and instructive.

Uniquely focusing on intersections of social problems, multilevel statistical modeling, and causality; the substantively and methodologically integrated chapters of this book clarify basic strategies for developing and testing multilevel linear models (MLMs), and drawing casual inferences from such models. These models are also referred to as hierarchical linear models (HLMs) or mixed models. The statistical modeling of multilevel data structures enables researchers to combine contextual and longitudinal analyses appropriately. But researchers working on social problems seldom apply these methods, even though the topics they are studying and the empirical data call for their use. By applying multilevel modeling to hierarchical data structures, this book illustrates how the use of these methods can facilitate social problems research and the formulation of social policies. It gives the reader access to working data sets, computer code, and analytic techniques, while at the same time carefully discussing issues of causality in such models. This book innovatively: *Develops procedures for studying social, economic, and human development. * Uses typologies to group (i.e., classify or nest) the level of random macro-level factors. * Estimates models with Poisson, binomial, and Gaussian end points using SAS's generalized linear mixed models (GLIMMIX) procedure. * Selects appropriate covariance structures for generalized linear mixed models. * Applies difference-in-differences study designs in the multilevel modeling of intervention studies. *Calculates propensity scores by applying Firth logistic regression to Goldberger-corrected data. * Uses the Kenward-Rogers correction in mixed models of repeated measures. * Explicates differences between associational and causal analysis of multilevel models. * Consolidates research findings via meta-analysis and methodological critique. *Develops criteria for assessing a study's validity and zone of causality. Because of its social problems focus, clarity of exposition, and use of state-of-the-art procedures; policy researchers, methodologists, and applied statisticians in the social sciences (specifically, sociology, social psychology, political science, education, and public health) will find this book of great interest. It can be used as a primary text in courses on multilevel modeling or as a primer for more advanced texts.

Have you ever attended a seminar where the facilitator paces back and forth to a preset rhythm of words, poignant breaks, and crescendos all while referring to a pile of well-rehearsed notes? If so, "As Long as I'm Sitting Here" will teach you how to have fun as you navigate your way through any seminar.

Robert B. Smith will have you laughing out loud as he cleverly summarizes a day in the life of a seminar attendee. You will learn how to overcome boredom as the speaker rambles on about his life story, attempts to use humor to teach valuable workplace lessons, and encourages participants to eat five-thousand-calorie sticky buns during breaks. Smith reflects on his own experiences as a seminar leader as he pokes fun at the entire process, including how speakers work the room, how they single out the hecklers, and how they incorporate the "hard sell" of their books and audio tapes throughout the day.

All kidding aside, Smith's message is clear. Attending a self-help seminar cannot change you unless you choose to be changed. "As Long as I'm Sitting Here" will show you a whole new way of looking at a day spent out of the office-sticky buns and all

This little book is a think-piece for adult readers who grew up with (or have been captured by) the fantasy worlds of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling. Rob Smith points out general themes in the work of these three authors and matches them to the ancient motifs of the biblical writings. The result is a discussion about the way in which we look at time, place, and the meaning of being human. The focus is less an explanation of the stories than a jumping off place to discuss our presuppositions about these important life matters. Rob Smith is an ordained Presbyterian minister who served thirty-one years in congregations before accepting a full time position teaching religion and philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. There he taught a course entitled The Life, Religion, and Fiction of C.S. Lewis. His familiarity with Lewis, Tolkien, and the other Inklings gives him a unique insight to this literature. His background in biblical studies also brings credibility to this work.

Orfin and Borthid have just completed their long journey from earth to Galcon, a planet balanced between two suns. They are met by the ambassador who has been assigned to the planetary outpost. The two are "Discontinueds" which means that they belong to a class of people rendered sterile by a virus which has ravaged earth. Through a lottery set up by the Planetary Council, they have been chosen "Citizen Explorers," and begin a new life on Galcon. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that things are not as they seem. Behind the personal stories of Orfin and Borthid lies a struggle for control of earth's technologies. The unknown factor is the photosynthoid creatures of Galcon. Dismissed as "Froggies" by the ambassador, Orfin and Borthid see them as the Children of Light. As the two protagonists navigate the terrain of the planet, they discover their identities as Miriam and Paul. They confront their personal demons and emerge whole through the efforts of the shared consciousness of the Children.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, while he was in the custody of law enforcement, combined with several other recent high-profile deaths of African Americans at the hands of the police, have generated congressional interest in legislation to reform state and local policing practices, and to require law enforcement agencies to collect more data on law enforcement actions and activities and share these data with the public. Two major pieces of legislation that contain police reform proposals are before Congress: H.R. 7120, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 -- passed by the House on June 25, 2020 -- and S. 3985, the Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act. This book discusses the current issues associated with police reform.