Boston College

About: Boston College is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 9749 authors who have published 25406 publications receiving 1105145 citations. The organization is also known as: BC.

Extended Family and Kinship Networks: Economic Insights and Evolutionary Directions

Abstract: What do we know about the role of extended families and kinship networks for redistributing resources? What gaps in our knowledge most need to be filled? How can we best organize current work and identify priorities for future research? These questions are important for several reasons: households in developing countries depend on friends and relatives for their livelihood and sometimes their survival; help exchanged within extended families and kin networks affects the distribution of economic well-being, and this private assistance and exchange can interact with public income redistribution. Yet despite rapid recent progress there remain significant deficiencies in our understanding of the economics of extended families. Researchers confront a large and sometimes bewildering array of findings. We review and assess this literature by starting with an emphasis on standard economic concerns, most notably the possible interaction between government-provided social insurance and private kinship networks. Our review of the evidence suggests that the specter of complete "crowding out," whereby introduction or expansion of public transfers merely supplants private transfers, appears quite remote, though not impossible. However, numerous studies do suggest partial - but nonetheless substantial - crowding out, on the order of a 20-to-30-cent reduction in private transfers per dollar increase in public transfers. But the range of estimated effects is exceedingly wide, with many studies suggesting little private transfer response at all. Reconciling and explaining these disparate findings is a priority for future research. Theorizing about the economics of families should move beyond its concentration on income effects. The empirical literature indeed indicates that non-economic variables, such as age and gender, can have a powerful association with private transfers. We suggest that economists tap into the extensive non-economic literature that takes an evolutionary approach to the family. We show that this literature provides valuable guidance for modeling the effects of age, sex and relatedness in the interactions among extended family members. The evolutionary literature has much to offer economists interested in family behavior by proposing novel interpretations of existing findings and pointing out new and fruitful directions for future research. We encourage economists to pay more attention to this approach when studying kinship networks.

Virtual solar system project: Building understanding through model building

Abstract: In this manuscript we describe our introductory astronomy course for undergraduate students in which students use three-dimensional (3-D) modeling tools to model the solar system and, in the process, develop rich understandings of astronomical phenomena. Consistent with our participatory pedagogical framework, it was our intention to establish a context that supported students in carrying out scientific inquiry using virtual models they developed. The progression of our thinking and the course curriculum has been grounded in a series of ''design experiments,'' in which we develop entire courses, do research, and cycle what we are learning into the next iteration of the course. In this manuscript, we use field notes, portions of case studies, interview data, artifact analysis, and excerpts from previous manuscripts to situate the reader in the actual happenings of the course. Focusing primarily on the dynamics of the earth - moon - sun system, we illustrate the modeling process and how learning evolved in this context. In general, we found that 3-D modeling can be used effectively in regular undergraduate university courses as a tool through which students can develop rich understandings of various astronomical phenomena. Additionally, we found the design experiment approach to be a useful strategy for supporting course design that was both theoretically and empirically grounded.fl 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 719 - 756, 2000

AE9, AP9 and SPM: New Models for Specifying the Trapped Energetic Particle and Space Plasma Environment

Abstract: The radiation belts and plasma in the Earth’s magnetosphere pose hazards to satellite systems which restrict design and orbit options with a resultant impact on mission performance and cost. For decades the standard space environment specification used for spacecraft design has been provided by the NASA AE8 and AP8 trapped radiation belt models. There are well-known limitations on their performance, however, and the need for a new trapped radiation and plasma model has been recognized by the engineering community for some time. To address this challenge a new set of models, denoted AE9/AP9/SPM, for energetic electrons, energetic protons and space plasma has been developed. The new models offer significant improvements including more detailed spatial resolution and the quantification of uncertainty due to both space weather and instrument errors. Fundamental to the model design, construction and operation are a number of new data sets and a novel statistical approach which captures first order temporal and spatial correlations allowing for the Monte-Carlo estimation of flux thresholds for user-specified percentile levels (e.g., 50th and 95th) over the course of the mission. An overview of the model architecture, data reduction methods, statistics algorithms, user application and initial validation is presented in this paper.

Quality of Management and Quality of Stakeholder Relations Are They Synonymous

Abstract: This article presents an integrative conceptual framework for linking corporate social performance, stakeholders, and quality of management, then tests this framework empirically. Results provide strong support for the hypothesis that perceived quality of management can be explained by the quality of performance with respect to specific primary stakeholders: owners, employees, customers, and (marginally) communities, but treatment of ecological environmental considera- tions is not a significant factor.

Voices of the Forgotten Half: The Role of Social Class in the School-to-Work Transition.

Abstract: This study examines the impact of social class on the school-to-work (STW) transitions of young adults in working-class occupations. Using an exploratory, qualitative research methodology, interviews were conducted with 10 men and 10 women to examine the role of social class in the STW transition. All participants were working in low-skilled jobs and grouped into 2 cohorts based on their family’s socioeconomic background: higher socioeconomic status (HSES) and lower socioeconomic status (LSES). The findings indicate that social class played an important role in the participants’ STW transition. Individuals from the HSES cohort expressed greater interest in work as a source of personal satisfaction, higher levels of self-concept crystallization, greater access to external resources, and greater levels of career adaptability compared with their LSES counterparts. I was forced into this way of life. It’s like I was forced to drop out of