Structural Equations with Latent Variables.

This preliminary study compared the associations between objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) with psychological and physical variables among 157 healthy White women, 59 of whom subsequently participated in a laboratory stress study. Compared with objective indicators, subjective social status was more consistently and strongly related to psychological functioning and health-related factors (self-rated health, heart rate, sleep latency, body fat distribution, and cortisol habituation to repeated stress). Most associations remained significant even after controlling for objective social status and negative affectivity. Results suggest that, in this sample with a moderately restricted range on SES and health, psychological perceptions of social status may be contributing to the SES-health gradient.

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Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: preliminary data in healthy white women.

In this article a conceptual model for the study of child development in minority populations in the United States is proposed. In support of the proposed model, this article includes (a) a delineation and critical analysis of mainstream theoretical frameworks in relation to their attention and applicability to the understanding of developmental processes in children of color and of issues at the intersection of social class, culture, ethnicity, and race, and (b) a description and evaluation of the conceptual frameworks that have guided the extant literature on minority children and families. Based on the above considerations, an integrative conceptual model of child development is presented, anchored within social stratification theory, emphasizing the importance of racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and segregation on the development of minority children and families.

An Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children

Many surveys of the U.S. household population are experiencing higher refusal rates. Nonresponse can, but need not, induce nonresponse bias in survey estimates. Recent empirical findings illustrate cases when the linkage between nonresponse rates and nonresponse biases is absent. Despite this, professional standards continue to urge high response rates. Statistical expressions of nonresponse bias can be translated into causal models to guide hypotheses about when nonresponse. causes bias. Alternative designs to measure nonresponse bias exist, providing different but incomplete information about the nature of the bias. A synthesis of research studies estimating nonresponse bias shows the bias often present. A logical question at this moment in history is what advantage probability sample surveys have if they suffer from high nonresponse rates. Since postsurvey adjustment for nonresponse requires auxiliary variables, the answer depends on the nature of the design and the quality of the auxiliary variables.

Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys

What explains differences in firms’ abilities to acquire competitive capabilities? In this paper we propose that a firm’s embeddedness in a network of ties is an important source of variation in the acquisition of competitive capabilities. We argue that firms in geographical clusters that maintain networks rich in bridging ties and sustain ties to regional institutions are well-positioned to access new information, ideas, and opportunities. Hypotheses based on these ideas were tested on a stratified random sample of 227 job shop manufacturers located in the Midwest United States. Data were gathered using a mailed questionnaire. Results from structural equation modeling broadly support the embeddedness hypotheses and suggest a number of insights about the link between firms’ networks and the acquisition of competitive capabilities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3094082.pdf

Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities

Chapters 2-17 end with a Summary CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Why Study Research Methods? Methodological Approaches to the Social World Conclusions I. THE SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL CONTEXTS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH CHAPTER 2. THE NATURE OF SCIENCE The Aim of Science Science as Product Science as Process Science: Ideal versus Reality CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH ETHICS Data Collection and Analysis Treatment of Human Subjects Making Ethical Decisions The Uses of Research: Science and Society II. RESEARCH DESIGN CHAPTER 4. ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN Origins of Research Topics Units of Analysis Variables Relationships Formulating Questions and Hypotheses Research Purposes and Research Design Stages of Social Research CHAPTER 5. MEASUREMENT The Measurement Process Levels of Measurement Reliability and Validity Reliability Assessment Validity Assessment A Final Note on Reliability and Validity CHAPTER 6. SAMPLING Why Sample? Population Definition Sampling Designs Probability Sampling Nonprobability Sampling Other Sampling Designs Factors Affecting Choice of Sampling Design Factors Determining Sample Size Final Notes on Sampling Errors and Generalizability III. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION CHAPTER 7. EXPERIMENTATION The Logic of Experimentation Staging Experiments The Experiment as a Social Occasion Experimentation Outside the Laboratory CHAPTER 8. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS Threats to Internal Validity Pre-experimental Designs True Experimental Designs Factorial Experimental Designs Quasi-experimental Designs CHAPTER 9. SURVEY RESEARCH General Features of Survey Research The Uses and Limitations of Surveys Survey Research Designs Steps in Survey Research: Planning Face-to-Face and Telephone Interviewing Paper-and-Pencil Mailed Questionnaires Computer-Assisted Interviews Mixed-Mode Surveys Field Administration CHAPTER 10. SURVEY INSTRUMENTATION The Survey as a Social Occasion Materials Available to the Survey Designer "Sketches" or Preliminaries Filling in the Sketch: Writing the Items Pretesting CHAPTER 11. FIELD RESEARCH The Potentials and Limitations of Field Research Research Design and Sampling Field Observation Field Interviewing Stages of Field Research CHAPTER 12. RESEARCH USING AVAILABLE DATA Sources of Available Data Advantages of Research Using Available Data General Methodological Issues in Available-Data Research Historical Analysis Content Analysis CHAPTER 13. MULTIPLE METHODS Triangulation Multiple Measures of Concepts within the Same Study Multiple Tests of Hypotheses across Different Studies A Comparison of the Four Basic Approaches to Social Research Meta-Analysis CHAPTER 14. EVALUATION RESEARCH Framework and Sample Studies Types of Evaluation Research Methodological Issues in Evaluation Research The Social and Political Context of Evaluation Research IV. DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION CHAPTER 15. DATA PROCESSING AND ELEMENTARY DATA ANALYSIS Preview of Analysis Steps Data Processing Data Matrices and Documentation The Functions of Statistics in Social Research Inspecting and Modifying the Data Preliminary Hypothesis Testing CHAPTER 16. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS Modeling Relationships Elaboration: Tables and Beyond Multiple-Regression Analysis Other Modeling Techniques CHAPTER 17. WRITING RESEARCH REPORTS Searching the Literature Using the Internet Using the Library Outlining and Preparing to Write Major Headings Other Considerations Length

Approaches to social research

OBJECTIVE: Three independent lines of inquiry have found associations between alcohol use and academic performance, sleep and academic performance, and alcohol use and sleep. The present study bridges this research by examining the links among alcohol use, sleep, and academic performance in college students. METHOD: Personal interview surveys were conducted with a random sample of 236 students (124 women) at a liberal arts college. The interviews measured alcohol consumption, gender, academic class, weekday and weekend bedtimes and rise times, and daytime sleepiness; 95% of the sample granted permission to obtain grade-point average (GPA) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores from official college records. RESULTS: Ordinary least squares regressions showed that alcohol consumption was a significant predictor of four sleep patterns: the duration of sleep, the timing of sleep, the difference between weekday and weekend nighttime sleep hours (oversleep), and the difference between weekday and weekend bedtimes (bedtime delay). Women and students with late sleep schedules were more apt to report daytime sleepiness. SAT score was the strongest predictor of GPA. However, gender, alcohol consumption, sleep duration, and daytime sleepiness also were significant predictors when other variables were controlled. In addition to alcohol's direct relationship with GPA, mediational analysis indicated that alcohol had indirect effects on sleepiness and GPA, primarily through its effect on sleep schedule. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show how alcohol use among college students is related to sleep-wake patterns and further support the connection between alcohol use and grades. Language: en

Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and Academic Performance Among College Students

Objective: Although studies consistently have found a negative bivariate association between alcohol use and academic performance among college students, some research suggests that this association largely results from student differences at matriculation. The present study examines this relationship while controlling for key background factors. Method: Personal interview surveys were conducted for four consecutive semesters with random samples of students at a small, liberal arts college, resulting in a combined sample of 754 (392 women). The interviews measured alcohol consumption, gender, race, athletic status, academic class, parents' education and income, and frequency of attending off-campus parties; and 94% of the sample granted permission to obtain grade point average (GPA), high school class rank, and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores from official college records. Results: The amount of alcohol consumed correlated significantly with GPA (r = −.26). Ordinary least squares regressions showed ...

Collegiate alcohol consumption and academic performance.

This study examined the relationship between aging and religious participation, focusing on changes in older people's formal participation in church life, informal or private religious practices, and attitudes towards participation in the church. Survey data from a random sample of older persons in a medium-sized northeastern city included both objective and subjective measures of health. Contrary to earlier studies which relied on subjective health as the sole indicator of health status, multiple regression analyses showed that health, especially as measured by health-related, functional limitations, serves an important mediating role. Older people experience greater functional limitations and, in turn, are less likely to engage in various church activities. These findings have important implications for the activity-disengagement debate within social gerontology and also for the concern in the sociology of religion with the role of religion in older people's lives.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/1387007

Aging and Religious Participation: Reconsidering the Effects of Health

Research on subjective class identification has tended to use the same single-item measure of this construct without regard to its validity and reliability. To address these and related measurement issues, multiple indicators of subjective class are analyzed within the framework of a path analytic model with unobservable variables. Measures of objective "class" and political alienation are also included in the construction of an overidentified model, and Joreskog's procedure for the analysis of covariance structures is used to find an acceptable fit to the data. Final models for black and white subsamples support the assumption of unidimensionality which underlies previous measures of subjective class identification. Validity and reliability estimates are given for various indicators, including the conventional measure. Also, advantages of the multiple indicators approach are demonstrated by comparing regressions of the standard, single-item measure and a composite measure of subjective class on education, occupational status, and income.

Royce Singleton

Papers

Approaches to social research

Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and Academic Performance Among College Students

Collegiate alcohol consumption and academic performance.

Aging and Religious Participation: Reconsidering the Effects of Health

Subjective Class Identification: A Multiple Indicator Approach