Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231199375
Marissa E. Thompson, Christina Weiland, Meghan P. McCormick, Catherine Snow, Jason Sachs
Children from historically marginalized racial/ethnic and socieconomic groups on average, score lower on widely used assessments of academic, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills at kindergarten entry, but the extent to which these differences are shaped by exposure to early schooling is unclear. Using data from a public prekindergarten and kindergarten program in Boston, we leverage a seasonal comparison design to examine how patterns change during the school year relative to summer periods. Although trends vary somewhat by the skill domain and groups compared, we largely find that exposure to early schooling is compensatory or neutral in shaping inequality. This suggests that prekindergarten and kindergarten together contribute to more equitable outcomes than would otherwise be expected in the absence of schooling. However, we find no evidence of systematic differences in access to high-impact classroom processes, which leaves open the question of which aspects of early schooling are most associated with declining inequality.
{"title":"The Role of Early Schooling in Shaping Inequality in Academic, Executive Functioning, and Social-Emotional Skills","authors":"Marissa E. Thompson, Christina Weiland, Meghan P. McCormick, Catherine Snow, Jason Sachs","doi":"10.1177/23780231231199375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231199375","url":null,"abstract":"Children from historically marginalized racial/ethnic and socieconomic groups on average, score lower on widely used assessments of academic, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills at kindergarten entry, but the extent to which these differences are shaped by exposure to early schooling is unclear. Using data from a public prekindergarten and kindergarten program in Boston, we leverage a seasonal comparison design to examine how patterns change during the school year relative to summer periods. Although trends vary somewhat by the skill domain and groups compared, we largely find that exposure to early schooling is compensatory or neutral in shaping inequality. This suggests that prekindergarten and kindergarten together contribute to more equitable outcomes than would otherwise be expected in the absence of schooling. However, we find no evidence of systematic differences in access to high-impact classroom processes, which leaves open the question of which aspects of early schooling are most associated with declining inequality.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136052663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231203658
Karen A. Cerulo
Is it possible to interact with the dead? Belief in such encounters is more widespread than we might think. Yet sociologists, unlike other disciplines, have not fully engaged the question. Here, I review both long-standing theoretical objections to such research and recent theories that encourage attention to the issue. Leaning on the latter, I use closed- and open-ended survey data collected from 535 Americans to explore what I call “living-deceased perceived interaction.” My data show that nearly half of my study participants report meaningful and regular interactions with deceased relatives and friends who were important in their lives. I examine the characteristics of such interactions—how and when they are performed and what these experiences mean to respondents. I also investigate the role of one’s social location in initiating interactions with the dead. Finally, I explore the social benefits, if any, these interactions provide for individuals who engage in them.
{"title":"Enduring Relationships: Social Aspects of Perceived Interactions with the Dead","authors":"Karen A. Cerulo","doi":"10.1177/23780231231203658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231203658","url":null,"abstract":"Is it possible to interact with the dead? Belief in such encounters is more widespread than we might think. Yet sociologists, unlike other disciplines, have not fully engaged the question. Here, I review both long-standing theoretical objections to such research and recent theories that encourage attention to the issue. Leaning on the latter, I use closed- and open-ended survey data collected from 535 Americans to explore what I call “living-deceased perceived interaction.” My data show that nearly half of my study participants report meaningful and regular interactions with deceased relatives and friends who were important in their lives. I examine the characteristics of such interactions—how and when they are performed and what these experiences mean to respondents. I also investigate the role of one’s social location in initiating interactions with the dead. Finally, I explore the social benefits, if any, these interactions provide for individuals who engage in them.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136048775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231197031
Adrianne Frech, Jane Lankes, Sarah Damaske, Adrienne Ohler
Over the past several decades, U.S. men’s paid work has transformed from a state of high stability and continuity to a state of increased instability and precarity. Despite this, full-time employment throughout adulthood remains the presumed standard for modern American men. The authors investigated the diversity of men’s workforce experiences using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth “National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1979 cohort” and identified six multitrajectories of men’s time spent employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force from ages 27 to 49. The authors identified one multitrajectory of steady work, three of increasing unemployment or time out of work, one of increasing steady work, and one of intermittent work. Contrary to conventional assumptions, only 41 percent of men followed a trajectory of continuous, high employment over the duration of their prime earning years. This suggests that most men do not achieve the “ideal worker norm,” raising implications for how research and policy conceptualize men’s work experiences.
{"title":"The Myth of Men’s Stable, Continuous Labor Force Attachment: Multitrajectories of U.S. Baby Boomer Men’s Employment","authors":"Adrianne Frech, Jane Lankes, Sarah Damaske, Adrienne Ohler","doi":"10.1177/23780231231197031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231197031","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past several decades, U.S. men’s paid work has transformed from a state of high stability and continuity to a state of increased instability and precarity. Despite this, full-time employment throughout adulthood remains the presumed standard for modern American men. The authors investigated the diversity of men’s workforce experiences using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth “National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1979 cohort” and identified six multitrajectories of men’s time spent employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force from ages 27 to 49. The authors identified one multitrajectory of steady work, three of increasing unemployment or time out of work, one of increasing steady work, and one of intermittent work. Contrary to conventional assumptions, only 41 percent of men followed a trajectory of continuous, high employment over the duration of their prime earning years. This suggests that most men do not achieve the “ideal worker norm,” raising implications for how research and policy conceptualize men’s work experiences.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135357218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231205209
Jennifer Laird, Mateo Cello, Allen Mena, Diana Hernández
Prior to 2020, little was known about how energy insecurity varies across U.S. states. The recent release of energy insecurity data from the Energy Information Administration facilitates the exploration of energy insecurity at the state level using the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. In this visualization, the authors use choropleth maps to show spatial variation in (1) forgoing basic necessities such as food or medicine to pay an energy bill and (2) keeping the home at an unhealthy temperature. Both are strategies used by households to prevent energy insecurity. The visualization highlights the state-level prevalence of each indicator.
{"title":"Visualizing the Spatial Distribution of Energy Insecurity in the United States","authors":"Jennifer Laird, Mateo Cello, Allen Mena, Diana Hernández","doi":"10.1177/23780231231205209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231205209","url":null,"abstract":"Prior to 2020, little was known about how energy insecurity varies across U.S. states. The recent release of energy insecurity data from the Energy Information Administration facilitates the exploration of energy insecurity at the state level using the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. In this visualization, the authors use choropleth maps to show spatial variation in (1) forgoing basic necessities such as food or medicine to pay an energy bill and (2) keeping the home at an unhealthy temperature. Both are strategies used by households to prevent energy insecurity. The visualization highlights the state-level prevalence of each indicator.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136374661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231197302
Ethan Fosse
Sociologists and demographers often use Lexis diagrams to visualize temporal data. However, the traditional Lexis plot arranges the data in a matrix of right triangles, with age on the vertical axis and period on the horizontal axis. This representation of the data subordinates cohort to an off-diagonal of unequal length. Not only does this violate the proportionality principle of effective statistical graphics, but it implicitly treats cohort as a residual or epiphenomenal dimension and makes it difficult to compare variation within and across cohorts. As an alternative, the author introduces the Ryder plot, a novel graphical tool that displays cohort, age, and period data as a grid of equilateral triangles, thereby providing an unbiased representation of all three dimensions and facilitating the analysis of intra- and intercohort variability. The author uses Ryder plots to chart the rise and fall of verbal ability in the United States, revealing two epochs of social change across three centuries of cohorts.
{"title":"Visualizing Social Change with Ryder Plots: The Rise and Fall of Verbal Ability in the United States","authors":"Ethan Fosse","doi":"10.1177/23780231231197302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231197302","url":null,"abstract":"Sociologists and demographers often use Lexis diagrams to visualize temporal data. However, the traditional Lexis plot arranges the data in a matrix of right triangles, with age on the vertical axis and period on the horizontal axis. This representation of the data subordinates cohort to an off-diagonal of unequal length. Not only does this violate the proportionality principle of effective statistical graphics, but it implicitly treats cohort as a residual or epiphenomenal dimension and makes it difficult to compare variation within and across cohorts. As an alternative, the author introduces the Ryder plot, a novel graphical tool that displays cohort, age, and period data as a grid of equilateral triangles, thereby providing an unbiased representation of all three dimensions and facilitating the analysis of intra- and intercohort variability. The author uses Ryder plots to chart the rise and fall of verbal ability in the United States, revealing two epochs of social change across three centuries of cohorts.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135400810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231198857
Thomas Marlow, Kinga Makovi, Bruno Abrahao
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered how people move between neighborhoods. Tracking these changes is important because a growing literature demonstrates that mobility networks influence social and environmental exposures that interact directly with urban inequalities. Using four years of weekly smartphone-based mobility data in the 25 largest U.S. cities, we investigate how mobility changed in 2021 and 2022. We measure mobility networks with three previously used indices and introduce a fourth, the Dissimilar Mobility Index, to capture the demographic dissimilarity experienced in a mobility network. We find that although mobility hubs and their associated patterns of segregated mobility returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, neighborhood isolation remained depressed until the end of 2022 compared to 2019. Together, these results indicate that despite vaccine availability in 2021, structural changes in urban mobility networks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were durable for over two years after its onset.
{"title":"Durable Change in U.S. Urban Mobility Networks, 2019–2022","authors":"Thomas Marlow, Kinga Makovi, Bruno Abrahao","doi":"10.1177/23780231231198857","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231198857","url":null,"abstract":"In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered how people move between neighborhoods. Tracking these changes is important because a growing literature demonstrates that mobility networks influence social and environmental exposures that interact directly with urban inequalities. Using four years of weekly smartphone-based mobility data in the 25 largest U.S. cities, we investigate how mobility changed in 2021 and 2022. We measure mobility networks with three previously used indices and introduce a fourth, the Dissimilar Mobility Index, to capture the demographic dissimilarity experienced in a mobility network. We find that although mobility hubs and their associated patterns of segregated mobility returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, neighborhood isolation remained depressed until the end of 2022 compared to 2019. Together, these results indicate that despite vaccine availability in 2021, structural changes in urban mobility networks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were durable for over two years after its onset.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136201982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231205216
Gabrielle Juteau, Krista K. Westrick-Payne, Susan L. Brown, Wendy D. Manning
This visualization illustrates the multidimensionality of family life among U.S. children. The authors used the 2022 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to examine the intersection of three family structure domains: number of parents, relationship of child to parent(s), and parental union type. Even as 74 percent of children live with two parents, only 60 percent lived with their two biological or adoptive married parents, and substantial variation was evident in children’s family configurations. By focusing on child’s relationship to parent, the authors revealed that a minority of children lived with only their stepparent(s). A consideration of parents’ parental union status shows that parents within stepfamilies are almost nearly as likely to cohabit than marry. Children not residing with their parents were mostly living with other family members, mainly their grandparents, and these relatives were largely married or single. The results suggest that limiting family structure to one domain conceals its complexity by providing a narrow lens on families.
{"title":"Visualizing Children’s Family Structure","authors":"Gabrielle Juteau, Krista K. Westrick-Payne, Susan L. Brown, Wendy D. Manning","doi":"10.1177/23780231231205216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231205216","url":null,"abstract":"This visualization illustrates the multidimensionality of family life among U.S. children. The authors used the 2022 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to examine the intersection of three family structure domains: number of parents, relationship of child to parent(s), and parental union type. Even as 74 percent of children live with two parents, only 60 percent lived with their two biological or adoptive married parents, and substantial variation was evident in children’s family configurations. By focusing on child’s relationship to parent, the authors revealed that a minority of children lived with only their stepparent(s). A consideration of parents’ parental union status shows that parents within stepfamilies are almost nearly as likely to cohabit than marry. Children not residing with their parents were mostly living with other family members, mainly their grandparents, and these relatives were largely married or single. The results suggest that limiting family structure to one domain conceals its complexity by providing a narrow lens on families.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135506624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231205195
Burrel Vann
The past decade has seen numerous efforts to enact cannabis policy reform at the state level. This visualization captures discursive shifts in statewide ballot initiatives devoted to legalizing cannabis for recreational use between 2012 and 2022. The topics discussed in ballot initiatives exhibited substantial variability over time, with discussions of drug use consequences and legislative processes becoming more dominant in later years. The evolution of discourse in ballot initiatives has important implications for our understanding of the impact of language on support for policy change.
{"title":"Visualizing the Evolution of Discourse in Cannabis Ballot Initiatives","authors":"Burrel Vann","doi":"10.1177/23780231231205195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231205195","url":null,"abstract":"The past decade has seen numerous efforts to enact cannabis policy reform at the state level. This visualization captures discursive shifts in statewide ballot initiatives devoted to legalizing cannabis for recreational use between 2012 and 2022. The topics discussed in ballot initiatives exhibited substantial variability over time, with discussions of drug use consequences and legislative processes becoming more dominant in later years. The evolution of discourse in ballot initiatives has important implications for our understanding of the impact of language on support for policy change.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135506999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231196788
Truc Ngoc Hoang Dang, Pungpond Rukumnuaykit
The authors focus on a traditional culture in which the elderly tend to live with their children, aiming to shed light on whether the education of own children within the same household helps reduce the chances of elderly parents’ being mentally and physically abused by family members. Using multivariate analysis to investigate the association between children’s education and domestic elder abuse from the Vietnam Aging Survey 2011, comprising 2,700 elderly individuals aged 60 years and older, the authors find that the higher the education level of an elderly person’s children living in the same household, the lower the risk for the elderly person’s being abused. Those facing the highest risk for violence are women aged 80 years and older, those who have some difficulty with daily activities, and those who live in urban areas. The authors call for policy attention to an issue that is rarely investigated, especially in traditional households where elderly parents live with their children.
{"title":"Elder Abuse by Household Members and Education of Elders’ Own Children Living in the Same Household: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam","authors":"Truc Ngoc Hoang Dang, Pungpond Rukumnuaykit","doi":"10.1177/23780231231196788","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231196788","url":null,"abstract":"The authors focus on a traditional culture in which the elderly tend to live with their children, aiming to shed light on whether the education of own children within the same household helps reduce the chances of elderly parents’ being mentally and physically abused by family members. Using multivariate analysis to investigate the association between children’s education and domestic elder abuse from the Vietnam Aging Survey 2011, comprising 2,700 elderly individuals aged 60 years and older, the authors find that the higher the education level of an elderly person’s children living in the same household, the lower the risk for the elderly person’s being abused. Those facing the highest risk for violence are women aged 80 years and older, those who have some difficulty with daily activities, and those who live in urban areas. The authors call for policy attention to an issue that is rarely investigated, especially in traditional households where elderly parents live with their children.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135601420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1177/23780231231192841
Blaine G. Robbins
Generalized trust has been one of the most frequently examined constructs since researchers first introduced measures of it in the 1940s. Despite its significance, there is a growing consensus that traditional measures of generalized trust are prone to measurement invalidity and nonequivalence, calling into question sociological knowledge about generalized trust. In this article, I advance trust research in sociology by (1) refining two new self-report measures of generalized trust—the Stranger Face Trust scale (SFT) and the Imaginary Stranger Trust scale (IST)—and (2) assessing their empirical performance on a nationally representative probability sample (N = 1,264). I compare the reliability and validity of SFT, IST, and traditional measures of generalized trust across a range of measurement validation tests. Results suggest that SFT provides the most accurate and consistent measure of generalized trust.
{"title":"Valid and Reliable Measures of Generalized Trust: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey and Behavioral Experiment","authors":"Blaine G. Robbins","doi":"10.1177/23780231231192841","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231192841","url":null,"abstract":"Generalized trust has been one of the most frequently examined constructs since researchers first introduced measures of it in the 1940s. Despite its significance, there is a growing consensus that traditional measures of generalized trust are prone to measurement invalidity and nonequivalence, calling into question sociological knowledge about generalized trust. In this article, I advance trust research in sociology by (1) refining two new self-report measures of generalized trust—the Stranger Face Trust scale (SFT) and the Imaginary Stranger Trust scale (IST)—and (2) assessing their empirical performance on a nationally representative probability sample (N = 1,264). I compare the reliability and validity of SFT, IST, and traditional measures of generalized trust across a range of measurement validation tests. Results suggest that SFT provides the most accurate and consistent measure of generalized trust.","PeriodicalId":36345,"journal":{"name":"Socius","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135841227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}