An american irony: the story of Mexican immigrant poverty in the land of immigrants

This dissertation uses data from the 2006 American Community Survey and Decennial Census 2000 to analyze trends and determinants of poverty among Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants in the Southwestern United States. The chapters include: 1) an Introduction; 2) a Literature Review with sub-sections on many issues related to these populations; 3) a discussion of Data and Methods including a section on the Development of a Proxy Variable for Undocumented Status; 4) Results for Mexican Americans (Individual Level); 5) Results for Mexican Immigrants (Individual Level); 6) Multilevel Results; and 7) Conclusions and Future Research Directions. The introduction and literature review will provide a background and overview of the research, as well as the analysis of poverty at the individual and contextual level (i.e. the Super-PUMA level). Data and methods are then discussed relative to all the analyses to be undertaken in the dissertation. In addition, specific emphasis in this chapter will be placed on the methodology pertaining to the development of the undocumented proxy variable. In Chapter IV data are analyzed at the individual level through the use of logistic regression. Special attention is placed on variables pertaining to ethnicity, citizenship status, and years spent in the US, among others, in order to predict the likelihood of Mexican Americans being in extreme poverty, one hundred percent poverty, and low-income. The focus is then narrowed in Chapter V to Mexican immigrants with special attention given to the effect on poverty of undocumented status. In Chapter VI, independent variables at the contextual level are used to predict poverty in conjunction with those used at the individual level; these include the percentage of persons in poverty, concentration of Mexican immigrants, and the relative presence of various industries. The findings confirm that both individual level and contextual level predictors are key in the determination of poverty for Mexican Americans and immigrants. In the conclusion, discussion is given to the fact that many studies have focused on the individual level predictors of poverty; this research goes one step further in that it examines poverty not only with respect to individual predictors, but also group level variables

The impact of sexual experiences of young minority group members in the United States, and the associated risks of sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission among adults in the United States and China

This thesis explores incidence rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among minority group teenagers in the United States and among adults aged 20-34 in the U.S. and in China. The focus is on trends and patterns in the United States compared to those in China. Research questions include whether or not the early onset of sexual activity is directly related to the incidence of STI transmission among Americans. The Chinese analysis enables addressing the question of whether or not a hidden epidemic exists in China with regard to STI transmission rates. The thesis involves three separate analyses including a comparative study of teens (age 15-19) and adults (age 20-44) in the United States, a comparative study of adults aged 20-44 in the United States and China, and a comparative analysis of urine-based results versus self-reported responses among the Chinese adults. The use of logistic regression is employed in order to model the odds of the risk of transmission among the different groups. The results from this thesis indicate that early onset of sexual activity is indeed a risk factor for young minority group members in the United States in terms of the bacterial infections. The analysis of American adults revealed that women who have college educations and who are not minority group members are at risk of contracting viral infections with more frequency. Finally, a hidden epidemic among Chinese women was detected with respect to the bacterial infections. It is important to study these trends within the U.S. and abroad in China for many reasons. First and foremost, young adults are the most heavily impacted in the United States. This population should be focused on as many of the infections discussed may lead to lifelong difficulties (including infertility) if left untreated. Also, with respect to China, a large proportion of those who are infected do not know they are. Again, these infections may lead to many complications and Chinese women are at an increased risk because many are infected unknowingly due to the behavior of their partner/spouse. Finally, sexually transmitted infections amplify the transmission rates of HIV/AIDS and should be studied specifically for this reason if none other

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Desire for Reversal of Sterilization among U.S. Women

Purpose: Female sterilization rates and subsequent desire for reversal of the procedure are substantially higher in minorities, low-income women, and those who use public insurance. Despite the disproportionate distribution of these outcomes, few studies in this area have considered the extent to which such disparities are attributable to a restricted set of contraceptive options among medically underserved populations, which may in turn explain higher rates of desire for reversal. Methods: We use the most recent wave of NSFG data (2011-2013) to estimate odds ratios for race/ethnicity on the likelihood of desire for reversal of sterilization, while controlling for an array of factors that have been shown to negate or lessen the racial/ethnic association including age at sterilization, primary reason for sterilization, and insurance coverage, among others. Results: Outcomes indicate much higher odds of desire for reversal of sterilization among black and Latina women, despite the inclusion of a range of controls. Additionally, we find that rates are much higher in women who reported “single service or no insurance coverage” as well as those who cited “some other reason” (versus completion of desired childbearing) as the main reason for their sterilization. Conclusions: These findings are noteworthy and suggest that disadvantage seems to play an important role in desire for reversal of sterilization. Additional research in this area is needed in inform efforts to improve care and enhance the reproductive autonomy of medically underserved women

Most Americans are now opposed to laws against interracial marriage, but their behavior does not yet reflect these attitudes

Recent decades have seen a dramatic fall in the number of people that support laws which prohibit interracial marriages, and an increase in the number of these marriages. But why does the rate of interracial marriages remain so low, when compared to same-race marriages? Using national data from the past three decades, Ginny E. Garcia, Richard Lewis Jr., and Joanne Ford-Robertson show that while attitudes towards interracial marriages have changed, many groups still have negative attitudes towards Black-White unions. They find that those who perceive social and economic competition with Blacks, such as those with lower levels of education, were more likely to support laws that prohibit interracial marriages and engage in behaviors that prevent Black’s wider participation in society

Applying systematic review methods to studies of people’s views: an example from public health research

Methods for systematic reviews are well developed for trials, but not for non-experimental or qualitative research. This paper describes the methods developed for reviewing research on people’s perspectives and experiences (‘‘views’’ studies) alongside trials within a series of reviews on young people’s mental health, physical activity, and healthy eating. Reports of views studies were difficult to locate; could not easily be classified as ‘‘qualitative’’ or ‘‘quantitative’’; and often failed to meet seven basic methodological reporting standards used in a newly developed quality assessment tool. Synthesising views studies required the adaptation of qualitative analysis techniques. The benefits of bringing together views studies in a systematic way included gaining a greater breadth of perspectives and a deeper understanding of public health issues from the point of view of those targeted by interventions. A systematic approach also aided reflection on study methods that may distort, misrepresent, or fail to pick up people’s views. This methodology is likely to create greater opportunities for people’s own perspectives and experiences to inform policies to promote their health

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Impacts of Early Sexual Experience and Associated Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) among Teens and Adults in the United States

This analysis explores incidence rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among minority group teenagers (aged 15-19) and adults aged 20-34 in the United States. The primary research question is aimed at whether or not the early onset of sexual activity is directly related to the incidence of STI transmission among Americans. Discussion is given to the current literature with respect to the most recent trends in STIs as well as some historical background on classifications. Also examined are the differing impacts observed for those who are affected by bacterial infections (young minorities) and those who are affected by viral infections (majority group members with higher levels of education). The National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle 6, 2002 was used to obtain descriptive results presented in the form of tabular representations and logistic regressions that model the likelihood of contracting an STI for both teens and adults