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Browsing by Author "Bell, David C."
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Item Accuracy of Retrospective Reports of Family Environment(Springer Nature, 2018-04) Bell, David C.; Bell, Linda G.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsRetrospective reports of family environments are often the only way to collect data concerning the influence of a child's experience in the family on later development. However, the accuracy of retrospective measures can be problematic because of social desirability or potential failures of memory. The purpose of this study is to compare retrospective and prospective measures of family environment. In this unique study, 198 parents and 241 adolescent children (mean age 15.7) described their family environment, and then 25 years later completed retrospective reports. We test the effects of memory, positivity, gender, and generation on retrospective reports, as well as testing the ability of prospective and retrospective measures to predict adult well-being and adult-child/elder-parent relationships. Results show moderate correlations of .30 - .45 between prospective and retrospective measures. In examining the relative effectiveness of prospective and retrospective measures to predict later life outcomes, we find that retrospective reports of the family environment most validly capture influences on the child in domains of strong emotional content but are less successful in cognitive domains.Item A Comparison of Network Sampling Designs for a Hidden Population of Drug Users: Random Walk vs. Respondent-Driven Sampling(Elsevier, 2016) Bell, David C.; Erbaugh, Elizabeth B.; Serrano, Tabitha; Dayton-Shotts, Cheryl A.; Montoya, Isaac D.; Department of Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsBoth random walk and respondent-driven sampling (RDS) exploit social networks and may reduce biases introduced by earlier methods for sampling from hidden populations. Although RDS has become much more widely used by social researchers than random walk (RW), there has been little discussion of the tradeoffs in choosing RDS over RW. This paper compares experiences of implementing RW and RDS to recruit drug users to a network-based study in Houston, Texas. Both recruitment methods were implemented over comparable periods of time, with the same population, by the same research staff. RDS methods recruited more participants with less strain on staff. However, participants recruited through RW were more forthcoming than RDS participants in helping to recruit members of their social networks. Findings indicate that, dependent upon study goals, researchers' choice of design may influence participant recruitment, participant commitment, and impact on staff, factors that may in turn affect overall study success.Item Reasons People Give for Using (or not Using) Condoms(Springer, 2016) Farrington, Elizabeth M.; Bell, David C.; DiBacco, Aron E.; Department of Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsStudy participants (N = 348) were asked about 46 reasons that have been suggested for why people use or do not use condoms. Participants were asked which of these reasons motivated them when they were deciding whether to use condoms in 503 sexual relationships. Participants were classified into one of three roles based on their HIV status and the status of each sexual partner: HIV+ people with HIV− partners; HIV− people with HIV+ partners; and HIV− people with HIV− partners. Motivations were looked at in the context of each of these roles. Of the 46 reasons, only 15 were selected by at least 1/3 of the participants, and only seven were selected by at least half. Frequently reported reasons primarily concern protecting self and partner from STDs including HIV. Less frequently reported reasons involved social norms, effects of condoms on sex, and concern for the relationship. These findings have implications for clinical interventions.Item Social Norms: Do We Love Norms Too Much?(Wiley, 2015-03) Bell, David C.; Cox, Mary L.; Department of Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsSocial norms are often cited as the cause of many social phenomena, especially as an explanation for prosocial family and relationship behaviors. And yet maybe we love the idea of social norms too much, as suggested by our failure to subject them to rigorous test. Compared to the detail in social norms theoretical orientations, there is very little detail in tests of normative theories. To provide guidance to researchers who invoke social norms as explanations, we catalog normative orientations that have been proposed to account for consistent patterns of action. We call on researchers to conduct tests of normative theories and the processes such theories assert.Item A test of the expanded AIDS risk reduction model managing risk to me, risk to you and risk to us(2015) Collins, Brian Todd II; Bell, David C.; Foote, Carrie Elizabeth; Hensel, Devon J.Currently, 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection, while one in eight are unaware of their infection status. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of the expanded ARRM to see if the model contributed something to the research of why people protect themselves from HIV. To add to the research regarding motivating factors of HIV protection, we decided to add two concepts to the ARRM; partner protection and relationship preservation. Findings of the study suggest HIV-positive partners are motivated to using condoms to protect their partners especially when they believe their partners are at risk for contracting HIV. Relationship preservation results illustrated that when people fear of losing their relationship they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the relationship going, even at the cost of contracting HIV. By extending the ARRM, as well as incorporating HIV status, we now can begin understanding the many motivating factors towards why people are and are not using condoms to protect themselves or their partner.Item You or Me? Gender and Graduate Students' Orientations Toward Sacrifice and Migration(2009-06-23T21:48:46Z) Patterson, Sarah Elizabeth; Haas, Linda; Seybold, Peter; Bell, David C.In an exploratory study of graduate students moving expectations, a self-administered survey was utilized to examine the compromises and sacrifices they expect themselves or their potential partners to be making in moving decisions, as well as their willingness to sacrifice or ask their partner to sacrifice in a move. This study focuses on this work-life decision due to its being understudied in previous literature; it aims to start to establish migration decisions as an important work-family balance topic as well as explore what role gender plays in expectations and willingness to move, especially regarding who sacrifices in a moving decision. The study focused on the potential impact of gender on migration orientations, comparing men’s and women’s attitudes. It also looked at the influence of gender ideology, program’s gender composition, perceived transportability, salary, partner’s relative salary and Money as Power attitudes as well as some demographic data. Previous literature has suggested that women are more likely to be willing to sacrifice in a moving decision while men are more willing to ask their partners to do so. Findings from this study generally confirm this. Some individual factors related to being willing to ask the partner to sacrifice more were: holding a traditional gender ideology, being in a male-dominated program, having a higher expected salary, belief in money as power, and belief in moving as important to a career. Results also suggest that this is a fruitful area for further study.