Esther I. Wilder

THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY, PREGNANCY RESOLUTION, AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

We apply criminological theories of social control to explore the relationships among adolescent pregnancy, pregnancy resolution, and juvenile delinquency. While most ever-pregnant girls have especially high rates of delinquent behavior, adolescent mothers exhibit delinquency levels no higher than those of their never-pregnant peers. Unlike adolescent females who end their pregnancies through abortion, those who keep their babies experience a dramatic reduction in both smoking and marijuana use. Our results suggest that among adolescent girls, the birth of a child has a strong trajectory-modifying effect. It serves as a mechanisms of social control and substantially reduces the likelihood of delinquent behavior.

Bibliographic index coverage of a multidisciplinary field

This study examines the literature of a multidisciplinary field, later-life migration, and evaluates the effectiveness of 12 bibliographic databases in indexing that literature. Five journals--three in social gerontology, one in rural sociology, and one in regional science--account for 40% of the papers published in this area. The disciplines that publish the most work on later-life migration are not necessarily those that provide the best index coverage, however. Moreover, four multidisciplinary databases each provide better index coverage than any single-subject index. The relatively low degree of overlap among the 12 databases suggests that scholars working on topics such as later-life migration must continue to rely on a wide range of bibliographic tools, both disciplinary and multidisciplinary.

Disciplinary, national, and departmental contributions to the literature of library and information science, 2007-2012

We investigate the contributions of particular disciplines, countries, and academic departments to the literature of library and information science (LIS) using data for the articles published in 31 journals from 2007 to 2012. In particular, we examine the contributions of authors outside the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada; faculty in departments other than LIS; and practicing librarians. Worldwide, faculty in LIS departments account for 31% of the journal literature; librarians, 23%; computer science faculty, 10%; and management faculty, 10%. The top contributing nations are the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Canada, and Taiwan. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, the current productivity of LIS departments is correlated with past productivity and with other measures of reputation and performance. More generally, the distribution of contributions is highly skewed. In the United States, five departments account for 27% of the articles contributed by LIS faculty; in the United Kingdom, four departments account for nearly two‐thirds of the articles. This skewed distribution reinforces the possibility that high‐status departments may gain a permanent advantage in the competition for students, faculty, journal space, and research funding. At the same time, concentrations of research‐active faculty in particular departments may generate beneficial spillover effects.

Responding to the Quantitative Literacy Gap Among Students in Sociology Courses

The Integrating Data Analysis (IDA) approach to undergraduate education developed by the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) has been embedded in the undergraduate sociology curriculum at Lehman College, The City University of New York (CUNY), since 2003. This study draws on student and faculty assessment data from the fall 2004 and spring 2006 semesters to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative. The results show that students in courses with an IDA component significantly improved their performance on quantitative skills tests. Efforts to engage students in active learning through the use of computers were associated with increased student comfort and greater interest in working with data. In turn, students who were comfortable working with data exhibited especially high levels of quantitative skill. Although students who were taught a wide variety of data analysis skills reported greater interest in working with data, those who were taught a more limited range of skills achieved higher performance scores. Likewise, students who were required to complete assignments and undertake graded examinations that tested a wide range of quantitative skills had less interest in working with data but achieved greater improvements in their test scores.

A Qualitative Assessment of Efforts to Integrate Data Analysis throughout the Sociology Curriculum: Feedback from Students, Faculty, and Alumni.

Quantitative and computer literacy are increasingly recognized as core components of a liberal education in sociology. This study draws on student, faculty, and alumni questionnaires to identify the kinds of quantitative literacy skills that are perceived to be most critical for students enrolled in sociology courses. Respondents at Lehman College highlighted the need for proficiencies in a number of key areas, including (a) basic mathematical and statistical skills, such as measures of central tendency, ratios, and percentages; (b) the presentation and interpretation of quantitative data, including tables and charts; (c) the research process, such as developing hypotheses, sampling, and interpreting data; and (d) computer-based presentation and data analysis, including the use of software programs such as SPSS and Excel. Moreover, hands-on work in data analysis was highly valued by all respondents, particularly as a strategy for mastering these skills. This study suggests that effective education in quantitative literacy requires both (a) the removal of barriers to the incorporation of data analysis in sociology courses and (b) a well-sequenced sociology curriculum that pinpoints specific quantitative and computer literacy learning objectives at multiple course levels.

The Cost Implications of Open-access Publishing in the Life Sciences

ABSTRACT Open-access journals are growing in number and importance. Because they rely on revenue from publication fees rather than subscriptions, these journals have important economic implications for the institutions that sponsor, produce, and use research in the life sciences. This article shows how the wholesale adoption of open-access pricing would influence institutional journal costs in the field of cell biology. Estimating prices under two open-access models, we find that a switch to open access would result in substantial cost reductions for most institutions. At the same time, the top universities would pay up to 10 times as much as they currently do. Institutions with fewer than 4.29 million library volumes would be likely to save money under either open-access model. The long-term viability of open-access publishing in the biosciences may depend on the establishment of an environment in which the top research institutions are willing and able to pay a greater share of the total systemwide cost.

Socioeconomic and Cultural Determinants of Abortion Among Jewish Women in Israel

This study uses data from the 1974–75Israel Fertility Survey and the 1987–88 Study ofFertility and Family Formation to examine the changingdeterminants of abortion among Jewish women in Israel. Over the course of socioeconomic development, someeconomic and cultural variables (e.g., education,employment, and ethnicity) lose their explanatorypower whereas others become increasingly important forunderstanding variation in the practice of abortion. This article argues that the relationship betweenthese variables and abortion is mediated by a varietyof external and macro-level factors including socialnorms, the availability of contraceptive technology,and laws governing access to abortion.

American Jewish household income, 1969 and 1989

We estimate the real and relative income of American Jewish households using data from the National Jewish Population Surveys of 1970-1971 and 1990. While the median real income of American Jewish households did not change significantly from 1969 to 1989, lower-income Jewish households (those with no workers and those with predominantly older persons) experienced dramatic real income growth. At the same time, the average Jewish income advantage declined due to the rising incomes of other urban, non-Hispanic white households.

Contraceptive use at first intercourse among Jewish women in Israel, 1962–1988

Using data from the 1987–1988 Study of Fertility and Family Formation,this study examines the family planning practices of Jewish Israeli womenwho first had intercourse between 1962 and 1988. The overwhelming majorityof women reported using no contraception at first intercourse, and among those who did practice birth control approximately half relied on modern techniques. While the likelihood that Israeli women used contraception at first sex changed little between 1962 and 1988, there has been a marked shift towards the adoption of efficient methods of birth control. Moreover, factors which promote female empowerment, including education and military service, have been positively associated with contraceptive use at first intercourse. Among those women who practiced contraception at first intercourse, those from Africa and Asia have been especially likely to make use of inefficient methods such as withdrawal.

Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE), 1: Teaching Faculty How to Improve Students' Quantitative Reasoning Skills through Cognitive Illusions

We describe one of the eight units of a professional development program, the Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE), which introduces research on cognition, including dual-processing theories, to university faculty. Under the dual-processing framework, System 1 (intuition) quickly proposes intuitive answers to judgment problems as they arise, while System 2 (deliberation) monitors the quality of these proposals, which it may endorse, correct, or override. We present several classic questions that demonstrate the pitfalls of overreliance on intuition without analytical thinking, then describe faculty participants’ responses to these questions and their ideas on how to apply cognitive illusion research to quantitative reasoning instruction. The unit has helped generate excellent ideas for quantitative reasoning instruction. A persistent concern shared by many participants, however, is that weakness in basic mathematics and language comprehension among urban public university students might present a challenge in implementing these ideas.