JournalTOCs

Followed Journals

Journal you Follow: 0

Sign Up to follow journals, search in your chosen journals and, optionally, receive Email Alerts when new issues of your Followed Jurnals are published.
Already have an account? Sign In to see the journals you follow.

Most Followed Journals

Top Publishers

Top Subjects

Journal of Applied Social Science

[3 followers] Follow
Full-text available via subscription

Subscription journal
ISSN (Print) 1936-7244 - ISSN (Online) 1937-0245
Published by Sage Publications

[700 journals]

Responding to Welfare Reform: Competing Perspectives of Social Service Delivery in an Economically Disadvantaged Rural State
- Authors: Latimer, M; Plein, L. C.
  Pages: 3 - 23
  Abstract: This study compares administrative and caseworker perspectives on service delivery processes in rural areas in an Appalachian state with high levels of poverty and unemployment and limited economic resources for investment and development. The focus of this study is on the implementation of West Virginia Works, West Virginia’s public assistance program that was adopted in response to new federal welfare law enacted in 1996. The data source used in this research comes from focus groups with approximately 80 caseworkers and 5 West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources administrators with key knowledge of welfare reform in West Virginia. Implications for service delivery and public policy are discussed.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:27-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412456377|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412456377
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Engaging Latinos in Access to Counseling and Education: An Applied Research Project to Understand Quality of Life among Latino Immigrants in Saint Louis, MO
- Authors: Sandoval, J. S. O; Jennings, J, Rataj, M, Klein, E.
  Pages: 24 - 41
  Abstract: This article reports results from an applied research project between Catholic Charities Community Services Southside Center (CCCSSC) and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (DSA) at Saint Louis University. In August 2010, CCCSSC and DSA began working on a project called Engaging Latinos in Access to Counseling and Education (EnLACE). The findings from this research were threefold: first, the empirical data suggest that quality of life among Latino immigrants was affected by perceived quality of health, money, transportation, enjoyment of life, perception of safety, leisure, work, and sex; second, based on our critical reflection, we have identified four lessons that we can build on to strengthen future Participatory Action Research (PAR); and third, we offer EnLACE as an example where applied academic research can be conducted while preserving the principles of PAR.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412458587|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412458587
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Systematic Observations of Neighborhood Order: Assessing the Methodology in Evaluating a Community-based Initiative
- Authors: Harvey, L. K; Di Luca, K. L, Hefner, M. K, Frabutt, J. M, Shelton, T. L.
  Pages: 42 - 60
  Abstract: A systematic pre- and postintervention neighborhood observation constituted one component of the evaluation of an initiative to eliminate a street-drug market. Analysis focused on multiple indicators of social and physical order and disorder, as well as physical decay. No noticeable changes were found, but variations in physical and social attributes between the market area and other segments of the neighborhood were revealed. These results suggest lessons that can be learned—and questions that should be considered—with regard to the application of the neighborhood observation methodology to an evaluation of this type of strategic, community-based initiative.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724413478329|hwp:resource-id:spjax;7/1/42
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Resident Perceptions of an Overt Drug Elimination Strategy
- Authors: Hefner, M. K; Frabutt, J. M, Harvey, L. K, Di Luca, K. L, Shelton, T. L.
  Pages: 61 - 79
  Abstract: Open-air drug markets are destructive to communities and negatively influence community residents. To combat open-air drug markets, a data-driven, focused deterrence approach drawn from David Kennedy’s "pulling levers" framework was used in two North Carolina cities. Until now, the elements of the strategy have only been articulated through the perspective of law-enforcement personnel. However, community residents living in open-air drug market areas offer critical perspectives that frequently go unvoiced. Through the use of focus groups with community residents, this article elucidates the perspectives and perceptions of community residents as they relate to the strategy and emphasizes the imperative community role in deterring drug crime.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412462339|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412462339
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Obesogenic Cultural Drift and Nutritional Transition: Identifying Barriers to Healthier Food Consumption in Urban Native American Populations
- Authors: Companion; M.
  Pages: 80 - 94
  Abstract: Social ecology models applied to eating behaviors and health outcomes in low-income urban areas have focused on food deserts and other structural constraints to healthier eating. This study expands that work by identifying culturally specific constraints on food behaviors among low-income urban Native Americans. Exposure to commodities packages supplied by the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations has created a new conception of what is meant by "traditional food," creating a barrier to change. However, this study identifies opportunities to expand the institutional role of urban Indian Centers, allowing for culturally sensitive interventions to mitigate the negative impacts of obesogenic cultural drift.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412467022|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412467022
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
On the Facilitating Actions of Service Sociology
- Authors: Trevino; A. J.
  Pages: 95 - 109
  Abstract: In 1906, at the height of the Progressive era, Lester F. Ward asserted that the mission of applied sociology was the intentional improvement of social conditions. Over a century later, applied sociology is actively involved in addressing a variety of social problems. In today’s culture of service, a new applied humanist sociology of social problems—service sociology—is emerging. Service sociology has its heritage in the Progressive era reformism of the three early American sociologies of the social gospel, settlement sociology, and charity sociology, as well as in the three contemporary neoprogressive sociologies of humanist/liberation sociology, communitarianism, and public sociology. The main goal of the sociology of service is to proffer neighborly service to recipient partners in need and from a communal orientation. In this article, I discuss the nature and structure of the sociologically informed, solutions-oriented practices that are at the core of service sociology, its facilitating actions.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412456378|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412456378
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Mediating Program Evaluations: The Role of Funding Agencies
- Authors: Fielding; S. L.
  Pages: 110 - 114
  Abstract: Organizations conduct external evaluations for several reasons. They might want an independent assessment showing that their program is effective to garner community support, favorably influence public policy related to their mission, support their future bids for financial support, provide critical information for continuous quality assessment (although much of the latter is conducted internally by the organizations themselves), or because an external evaluation is required under the terms of a grant they received. The author focuses on the latter and argues that the quality of these evaluations is dependent on the continued involvement of funding agencies after the grant is awarded. He suggests four things that funders can do to address this challenge.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412450571|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412450571
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
What's Better--R, SAS(R), SPSS(R), or Stata(R)? Thoughts for Instructors of Statistics and Research Methods Courses
- Authors: Ward; B. W.
  Pages: 115 - 120
  Abstract: Knowledge of statistical software is an important skill for undergraduate sociology students to possess when seeking postgraduation employment; however, formal discussion of which software may be most beneficial to students and appealing to potential employers is lacking. The author’s goal in this teaching note is to provide the strengths and limitations of R, SAS, SPSS, and Stata software in a succinct and nontechnical manner, and discuss how these differences may influence an undergraduate instructor’s consideration of choosing which software is best for his or her statistics or research methods course. On reviewing these differences, the author argues that in most situations SAS would be the preferred software to use in one’s undergraduate course. However, there could be certain situations where R, SPSS, or Stata may be the preferred software. By giving consideration to the differences in these software packages, instructors can make an informed decision as to which is best for their course.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412450570|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412450570
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Conducting Evaluation Research in the Clinical Setting: "Know before You Dig"
- Authors: Michalec; B.
  Pages: 121 - 123
  Abstract: Unexpected, yet intriguing, artifacts were unearthed while working with clinician-researchers to examine the potential benefits of an interprofessional-interdepartmental intervention introduced at a local hospital. This brief commentary is a reflection on those specific issues. The phrase "Know before You Dig" should be taken as an advisement to those interested in expanding their social research into the clinical setting to not only engage in preliminary field work (i.e. observations or semi-structured interviews) before embarking on the full thrust of data gathering, but also to consult with those on their research team that are familiar with or active in the field before actually entering that field. Although primarily aimed towards green medical sociologists and interested clinician-researchers, this commentary may speak to various types of social science scholars involved in research in and of the clinical health arena.
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724412475131|hwp:master-id:spjax;1936724412475131
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Book Review: Public Sociology: Research, Action, and Change
- Authors: Straus; R.
  Pages: 124 - 126
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724413477446|hwp:resource-id:spjax;7/1/124
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Book Review: Public Sociology: Research, Action, and Change
- Authors: Lippard; C. D.
  Pages: 126 - 128
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724413477441|hwp:resource-id:spjax;7/1/126
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)
Book Review: The Dawning Age of Cooperation: The End of Civilization As We Know It . . . and Just in Time
- Authors: Weinstein; J.
  Pages: 128 - 129
  PubDate: 2013-03-25T22:19:28-07:00
  DOI: 10.1177/1936724413477429|hwp:resource-id:spjax;7/1/128
  Issue No: Vol. 7, No. 1 (2013)