This study used the Health Belief Model to examine the predictors of AIDS preventive behavior. The independent variables were the variables of individual perception, modifying factors (psychological variables), and likelihood variables. The respondents, the Taiwanese students of the University of North Texas, were influenced both by Chinese sexuality and Western values in their AIDS-risk behavior. The results revealed that 90% of the respondents were misinformed on the availability of AIDS vaccine. In addition, a majority of the students were either abstaining from sex or practicing monogamy. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis, this study found that the psychological variables rather than cognitive variables significantly influenced the respondents' AIDS preventive behavior. Finally, suggestions were made for future research on AIDS, and for AIDS preventive behavior campaigns.

I interviewed twenty-four International students from the following countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Spain. Hereafter I shall refer to the respondents as Hispanic International students. My primary interest was to learn the way in which Hispanic International students defined themselves in view of ethnic definitions imposed on them by the administrative system in the U.S. First, Hispanic International students defined themselves primarily by their nationality. The second finding dealt with the usage of language. The Hispanic International students spoke Spanish with relatives and friends. They spoke English when a non-Spanish speaker joined the conversation. The third finding was related to the problems and adaptations encountered by Hispanic International students.

This study investigates changes in rates of property crime in the United States from 1958 to 1993. Predictor variables include changes in rates of economic factors (inflation, technological/cyclical/frictional unemployment), arrest rates for property crimes disaggregated by race (ARPCDR), interaction of ARPCDR and technological unemployment, alcohol offenses, interaction of alcohol offenses and poverty, drug abuse violations, and interaction of drug abuse violations and poverty. Changes in poverty, population growth, and police presence are employed as control variables. The Beach-McKinnon Full Maximum- Likelihood EGLS AR1 Method (accompanied by residual analysis) is used to test seven hypotheses. Significant positive effects upon changes in aggregate property crime rates are found for five predictors: (a) inflation, (b) cyclical unemployment, (c) frictional unemployment, (d) the interaction of white arrest rates and technological unemployment, and (e) the interaction of rates of alcohol offenses and poverty. To explain changes in property crime rates, further research should decompose aggregate rates particularly those pertaining to the economy. Also, the relationship between the interaction of poverty and drug abuse violations, at the aggregate level, and changes in property crime rates should be clarified. This research has important policy implications related to the impact of social, economic, and educational issues on mainstream …

Hierarchical regression was used to determine if high school community type is an effective predictor of academic success when controlling for demographics, prior academic achievement, socioeconomic status, and current commitment or work habits for students entering Austin College in 1992,1993, and 1994 . Findings revealed that there is a relationship between attending high school in community types of rural and independent town controlling for the effects of SAT scores, high school rank, sex, and late application deposit on first semester grade point average.

The purpose of this research was twofold; a quantitative examination of male socialization patterns along with an assessment of change over time in male socialization experiences. Men born in the 1950s and men born in the 1970s were compared to obtain an understanding of male socialization processes and possible changes since feminist issues have become a prevalent source of discourse in society. A survey questionnaire was utilized with a modified snowball sampling technique to explore male socialization experience. One hundred and one men participated in the project. Socialization experience for the men in this sample was five dimensional and while certain dimensions revealed change over time, others remained static. Findings indicate that quantitative measures can be successfully employed to study socialization processes.

This study evaluated the relative association of socioeconomic, minority group and housing characteristics of census tracts with the racial composition of residential areas within one southwestern city between 1950 and 1980. The unit of analysis was the census tract; the data were taken from the U.S. Census of Population and Housing 1950-1980 for the Fort Worth, Texas SMSAs. The Index of Dissimilarity compared racial segregation in the Fort Worth urbanized area for blacks with all others (1950-1980) and for Spanish and non-black minorities with all others (1960-1980). The data show little change in the extent of residential segregation over 30 years. The multiple regression showed that the degree of segregation in census tracts became increasingly predictable based on past minority concentration in the same neighborhood. Lagged social status and minority group variables significantly predicted the percent of the population that was black or Spanish in census tracts ten years later. Beta weights for percent black or percent Spanish were always the strongest in each tract regression and largely determined the level of segregation that existed in tracts ten years later. This paper asserts that social status characteristics must approach more equal levels between minority and majority groups before integrated neighborhoods …

The study is a contextual analysis of flood victimization. Victimization is defined as the social, psychological, and physiological aftermath experienced by victims of a disaster. Disaster researchers concentrate on the victims' characteristics to explain the varying degrees of their victimization, providing only ambiguous results. Theorists such as Kreps, Wildavsky, and Douglas contend that the outcomes of disasters are contingent upon social structure. This analysis treats victimization as one such outcome. The condition and behavior of individuals can be explained by the presence of disaster and the conditions of social organization. A model explains victimization based on individual's attributes (individual resources), his social environment, and the disaster characteristics. This study uses the 1984 Mingo Creek Flood Victims Survey data to test the model. The data contain information measuring victimization. The survey data are linked with 1980 Census tract data. The tract data provide indicators of the social networks. This tract information, the contextual variables, taps the social conditions, including poverty, unemployment, geographic mobility, and family patterns. This study uses factor analysis to identify the dimensions of victimization. Regression tests the relationship between the contextual variables, the individual resource variables, the disaster characteristic variables, and victimization. The results of the analysis show …

As the need for community care increases, complete and up-to-date information about organizational structure is crucial to making appropriate decisions about the expansion of adult day services. The absence of uniform national policies results in states and communities being relegated to balancing limited funds with the demand for adult day services, and in many areas, the lack of adult day care centers altogether. This study provides an overview of the types of state reimbursement, the availability of different funding sources, and the utilization of the sources in various states.

The purpose of this research is to identify major factors that can be used to explain and predict the process of growth in union membership as represented by union victories in certification elections. The emphasis of this research is on organization and social-structural level factors. The logistic regression procedure reveals that organization level variables are most significant in explaining union victories in certification elections. Among the organization level variables, Unit Size, as defined by the NLRB, is the most significant variable in each year of the study and across all industrial classifications.

Using questionnaire survey generated data from the DWI Probation Program in Dallas County. This study investigated the factors related to the perceived effectiveness of that program from the probationers perspectives. The findings in this study indicate that the perceived effectiveness of the DWI program by the probationers is an area that calls for more research and investigations. The findings have shown that factors related to the perceived effectiveness of the program by the probationers have a profound effect on the efficiency of the program as a whole in order to achieve its stated objectives.

This research expands on recent sociological studies which maintain that environmental contaminants in America are disproportionately placed in neighborhoods inhabited by minorities and the poor. Prior studies have focused on the predictor variables which identify areas of contamination near residential neighborhoods, yet fail to explore the socio-political and historical factors which contribute to these phenomena. The Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory 1990 database, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's Annual Report of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Program for 1992, and the U.S. Census Bureau's 1990 Census Data for Dallas County were utilized in pinpointing industries violating toxic release standards. Socio-historical data was obtained from government and historical records and reports, books, and newspaper clippings on Dallas County. Maps and data were obtained from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the cities of Dallas and Garland. Chapter I discusses the synergetic forces of capitalism, urban growth, uneven development, and settlement patterns resulting in the distribution of environmental contaminants. Chapter II reviews the literature and presents evidence that race and class are strong predictors of where environmental contaminants are located. Chapter III outlines the data and methods employed. Chapter IV traces the historical development of Dallas County. Chapter …

Parental socialization values are compared over sixty years by using data from the Denton Parent Project collected in 1989 and from similar questions asked of parents in Middletowri in 1924 and 1978, The objectives of the study were as follows: how have parental socialization values changed through time since the 1920s; has the impact of parental social class status on parental socialization values decreased over time; compare Alwin's study on obedience and autonomy to see how trend has changed from 1978 Middletown to 1989 Denton; and, finally, look at certain family structure variables to determine their influence. Today's parents emphasize social acceptance and a sense of social responsibility in child training practice. Social class still has an impact on parental socialization values but not as great as expected.

The primary research questions dealt with whether parents consider different personality characteristics of importance for boys and girls. Data were collected by conducting a telephone survey of a random sample of parents in the city of Denton with children under the age of eighteen living in the household. Respondents were asked whether they considered the personality characteristics of responsibility, strict obedience, being respectful of the opinions of others, showing good manners, being independent, and having loyalty to a religion not important, somewhat important, or very important for boys and girls. Of the respondents fifty-nine were fathers and one hundred and twenty-one were mothers. The analysis of the data revealed that mothers and fathers have similar attitudes concerning the importance of these personality characteristics.

This study investigates the recovery efforts provided for low income and ethnic minority populations by organizations during the permanent housing phase of recovery in Watsonville, California, following the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989. The case study format is used to discover what activities were performed and why each organization chose to perform them. Dynes and Quarantelli's (1968) typology of organization is used to explain how and why established, expanding, extending and emergent organizations participated in the recovery efforts. The findings indicate that the type of organization dictated the kind of tasks each organization performed. Organizations maintained activities during recovery for which they had experience, expertise and proficiency.

Sociology has remained for years on the fringe of Sovietological pursuits, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Yet, few have made a serious effort to systematically examine sociological Sovietology. To partially compensate for such neglect, this study begins to explore the diversity of what sociology has studied and how it has gone about studying it. Of the fourteen topic areas pursued, only four inspired disagreement and variation. Most sociology has studied the Soviet Union non-comparatively. And the most common theoretical perspective used is the functional perspective. A large number of these functional analyses close upon elements of the political institution without taking full advantage of the various methods and approaches available, sociology's role in American Sovietology will likely remain limited.

This research explores the ideology of the modern Ku Klux Klan movement in American society. The foci of study is on specific Ku Klux Klan organizations that are active today. These groups include: The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan; The New Knights of the Ku Klux Klan; The New Order Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and The Knights of the White Kamellia. These groups are examined using frame analysis. Frame analysis allowed for the identification of the individual organization's beliefs, goals and desires. Data were gathered via systematic observations and document analysis. Findings identified several overarching ideological themes which classify the modern Ku Klux Klan movement.

Semi-structured interviews were administered to 16 married couples in Central Appalachia. Questions addressed power relations and division of labor in marriage.

The primary question addressed was, "What effect does educational attainment and acquired knowledge of ageing have on negative ageism?" Subsidiary questions are, "What effect does; age, sex, and positive/negative experiences with aged individuals, have on ageism?"

This dissertation breaks new ground. It examines the perceptions of older adults towards AIDS prevention. Using the National Health Interview Survey, 1988: AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes Supplement, a modified Health Belief Model is developed. Despite the low number of older adults 55+ with AIDS, some extenuating circumstances increase their risk of AIDS contraction. Older adults have lower levels of knowledge about AIDS, weaker immune systems and receive more blood transfusions. Societal influences include educational neglect at the hands of physicians, healthcare workers and social service personnel. The first stage of the dissertation involved establishing older adults as an at-risk population through an extensive literature review. Next, the data was described utilizing frequencies, correlations and factor analysis. Frequencies clearly indicated that older adults in the data set had low levels of AIDS knowledge and did not view themselves at risk for AIDS contraction. Correlations between the variables were minimal. A modified Health Belief Model was developed and tested. Multiple regression determined that minimal variation in the two dependent variables, "Perceived Effectiveness of Effective Methods to Prevent AIDS Contraction" and "Perceived Effectiveness of Ineffective Methods to Prevent AIDS Contraction" was accounted for by the independent variables. Although F ratios allowed rejection of …

This descriptive case study of the transformation in medical care at the community level was carried out with a triangulation approach. Data from documents and surveys using both semi-structured and unstructured interviews were gathered to evaluate and explain how medical care delivery changed from a primarily public system to one predominantly private.

The purpose of this study is to examine domestic violence as it occurs in same-sex male relationships. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with twenty-five gay males, who were between the ages of 23 and 43, and who had previous experience being in a homosexual relationship where domestic violence was present. The major findings of this study include the respondents': 1) definitions of domestic violence and abuse; 2) the type of domestic violence or abuse personally experienced; and 3) reasons they believe domestic violence or abuse occurs in these types of relationships. This study illustrates the need for further research in this area of domestic violence and for programs or services targeted for this specific population.

The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of non-traditional female students and their perceived reasons for university studies.

Teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the world for industrialized countries. The generally accepted reason is not that American teenagers are more sexually active but that they contracept less than do teenagers in other industrialized countries. This dissertation reports on a study that was undertaken for two purposes. One purpose was to develop and test two models of contraceptive choice among American teenagers: a "likelihood-of-use" model to predict the likelihood of sexually active teenagers' using contraception, and a "medical-or-nonmedical" model to predict whether teenagers who use contraception are likely to use medical or nonmedical methods. The second purpose was to explore the level of support for the two models among black and white teenagers separately. The theoretical underpinning of the models is value-expectancy theory. The models' exogenous variables are based on the prevailing strategy for preventing teenage pregnancy among American teenagers, a strategy initially advocated by Joy G. Dryfoos. The strategy involves the use of access-to-contraception programs, educational programs, and life options programs. The data used in the study were on 449 subjects drawn from the 1979 National Survey of Young Women, a probability-sample survey of women in the U.S. aged 15-19. The subjects were …

This study explores the relationship between religion and anomie. The theoretical framework of Durkheim and Merton was used to suggest the hypothetical relationship between the two variables: as religiosity increases, anomie decreases. A secondary analysis was conducted using the 1991 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS is one of the largest annual surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. There were 1517 adult respondents composing the 1991 cross-national sample. Questions measuring both the belief and action dimensions of religion were used to measure respondents' level of religiosity. Questions from the Srole Scale of Anomia were used to measure respondents' level of anomia. Durkheim's theory that religion functions to integrate individuals into the larger society and therefore diminish levels of anomie was not supported with this data. While the lack of significant findings did not support the theory, neither did it disprove it. The hypothetical inverse relationship between class and anomie was supported with this data. Another hypothetical relationship, that of the most religious, women experience less anomie than men, was also not supported due to the lack of a significant relationship among the primary variables. Continued use of comprehensive and large scale surveys such as the General Social Survey …