Another Nibble at the Core: Student Learning in a Thematically-focused Introductory Sociology Course

Identifying and assessing core knowledge has been and continues to be a challenge that vexes the discipline of sociology. With the adoption of a thematic approach to courses in the core curriculum at Butler University, faculty teaching Introductory Sociology were presented with the opportunity and challenge of defining the core knowledge and skills to be taught across course sections with a variety of themes. This study of students (N = 280) enrolled in 12 sections of a thematically-focused Introductory Sociology course presents our attempt to both define and assess a core set of concepts and skills through a pretest-posttest questionnaire to measure student learning gains relative to: (1) a sociological perspective, (2) sociological theory, (3) research methods, and (4) key concepts in sociology. Results show significant learning gains on all four dimensions, with the greatest gains coming in sociological theory. There were no significant differences in pretest scores by gender or by whether students had taken a sociology course in high school. Seniors scored significantly higher on both the pretest and the posttest, but after we controlled for pretest scores seniors did significantly better only on the subset of questions related to sociological theory. Students who took a sociology course in high school scored lower on the methods subscale of the posttest and had lower overall total posttest scores than their counterparts

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

Dogs and people: Using role strain and role enhancement theories to predict dog owners\u27 well-being

Scholars have demonstrated that multiple roles can affect well-being; however, whether the effects are positive or negative is still being debated. Most of these studies have focused on parenting, marital, employment, and caregiving roles; the current study introduces dog ownership as another role that is potentially important when examining multiple roles and well-being. Drawing on Role Strain and Role Accumulation Theories, this study examines dog ownership as a social status to provide a clearer answer to the question of what effect, if any, the role of dog ownership plays in the lives of dog owners. The present study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the role of dog ownership in well-being, with a focus on the conditions under which dog ownership was most strongly related to well-being, and the meaning of dogs in their owners\u27 lives. Findings revealed gender and marital status differences in the relationship between dog ownership and well-being and in the way that respondents speak about their relationship with their dogs. Women and single adults were more likely to benefit from dog ownership and to focus more on the expressive dimensions of dog ownership. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed