Mamadi Corra

Trends in Marital Happiness by Gender and Race, 1973 to 2006:

This article uses data from the 1973-2006 General Social Survey to assess the interactive impact of race and gender on marital happiness over time. Findings indicate independent and significant effects for both variables, with Whites and husbands reporting greater marital happiness than Blacks and wives. Comparing four subgroups (White husbands, White wives, Black husbands, and Black wives), the authors find that White husbands report the highest levels of marital happiness whereas Black wives report the lowest. Assessment of trends from the 1970s to the 2000s reveals a convergence among the groups: Although White husbands consistently report the highest levels of marital happiness, there has been a steady decline in the gap between all four groups. Most notably, Black wives exhibit a significant increase in marital happiness relative to the other groups. Findings are discussed in the context of the changing structure and composition of families in contemporary U.S. society.

Double Jeopardy? Female African and Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

This article uses United States census data from the 1990 and 2000 5 per cent Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) to examine the earnings attainment for Black immigrant women (Africans and English-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbeans) and native-born Black women (African Americans). Data for both samples reveal sizeable earnings differences between the five groups. African, English and French Caribbean immigrant women exhibit noticeably higher average earnings than African Americans. However, with controls for earnings-related measures, the African immigrant advantage is eliminated in the 1990 sample, but not the English and French Caribbean immigrant advantage, nor the Spanish Caribbean immigrant disadvantage. No significant earnings difference was found between African Americans, English and Spanish Caribbean immigrants in the 2000 sample. Conversely, African and French Caribbean immigrants’ earnings were significantly lower than those for African Americans. For African immigrant college-degree holders especially, their higher education did not translate to high earnings. Notably, English-speaking Caribbean immigrant women, with a college degree or not, had a sizeable earnings advantage overall. The earnings for African and French Caribbean college-degree holders were significantly lower than those for English Caribbean college-degree holders. The theoretical implications of our findings are also discussed.

Differences in Earnings among Black and White African Immigrants in the United States, 1980–2000: A Cross-Sectional and Temporal Analysis

This study examines the earnings of African immigrants across three waves of U.S. Census data (1980, 1990, and 2000). The authors find that the U.S. labor market favors White male immigrants, followed by Black male and White female immigrants, and finally Black women. The authors also find that male immigrants earned more per hour than female immigrants regardless of race. Considering change over time, this study finds that the earnings gap between Black and White male immigrants is growing larger over time, the positive association between foreign work experience and earnings is attenuated over time, and for women, the positive effect of earning a college degree on earnings is growing stronger over time. These findings confirm many of the conclusions reached by other race and gender scholars; however, the authors extend this work by focusing on male and female African immigrants, who are largely under-represented in the literature, and by examining change over time.

The impact of place? A reassessment of the importance of the South in affecting beliefs about racial inequality

Abstract Research shows that individuals living in the southern part of the United States express more negative racial attitudes than those living outside the South. Using data from The American National Election Study (NES), the purpose of this paper is to assess whether key factors often associated with the Southern attitude distinction are indeed more potent in the South than elsewhere. Drawing data from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, we further assess whether the impact of the South has increased or decreased over time. Results indicate that the impact of the South is negligible at best. Findings do show that place does matter for conservatives. However, in this case, non-South location matters more than the South. Relative to their liberal counterparts, conservatives in the non-South espouse more individualistic beliefs than do their Southern counterparts. These findings are discussed within the dominant theoretical framework in this area.

A Web‐lab to enhance social science infrastructure: experiments, simulations and archiving

Reports on a project to create a new infrastructure for experimental economics and sociology by connecting cutting edge research to Web‐based software development. The project will build and maintain an active Web site of highly flexible modular architecture for theoretically‐driven experimentation. The Web site, itself a laboratory, fundamentally advances experimental study, automatically records and archives data, and maintains electronic journals. To increase the integrity and effectiveness of social science knowledge acquisition, the Web site will support replications while creating large and systematic databases. The Web‐lab’s goal is to change social science investigation by allowing experiments to be run using subjects from large and diverse populations. The Web‐lab will democratize experimental research; a local laboratory will need no more than a few computers with access to the Web. Using designs at the Web‐lab, extensive laboratory components will be developed for mainstream graduate and undergraduate social science courses.

Elementary Theory: 25 Years of Expanding Scope and Increasing Precision☆☆Authors are ordered first by number of sections contributed and then alphabetically. The first author is solely responsible for errors.

Abstract Purpose This exposition explains how Elementary Theory works and how it has been developed over the last two-and-a-half decades. Both increased scope and heightened precision are covered. Methodology/Approach Theoretic methodology is explained. Using that method formal models are constructed analogous to empirical events. Those models predict events, design experiments, and guide applications in the field. Findings There is a widely held belief in sociology that theory becomes more vague and imprecise as its scope broadens. Whereas broader generalizations are more vague than narrower ones, this exposition shows that abstract theory becomes more precise as its scope broadens. Research Limitations/Implications Here implications and limitations are closely connected. Regarding implications, this exposition shows that scientific explanations and predictions are viable today in sociology but only when exact theory is employed. Regarding limitations, the theory and research included in this exposition make clear why the empiricist search for regularities that dominates sociological research is so very limited in its results. Originality/Value of Chapter This exposition demonstrates that theory is the method of all the sciences and in particular the science of sociology.

Beliefs about the Causes of Racial Inequality: The Persisting Impact of Urban and Suburban Locations?

The purpose of this paper is to assess the classical theoretical propositions of Wirth and Stouffer regarding the independent impact of urban and suburban residency on beliefs about racial inequality. This paper further assesses the impacts of these social locations over a three-decade period. While scholars pose that city size positively impacts behavior, there is debate regarding the impact of these locations over time. Using the General Social Survey, findings demonstrate that while urbanism continues to have an independent impact on beliefs, the impact of suburban residency is much weaker and inconsistent. Analyses of over time trends reveal that the gap between urban and rural residents appears to have increased, with rural residents expressing more intolerant beliefs about the causes of racial inequality over time. These findings are further discussed in a broader theoretical context.

The significance of place: The impact of urban and regional residence on gender-role attitudes

ABSTRACT The study assesses the overall impact of place of residence (urban and Southern) on gender-role attitudes. Past research has often implicated timing of socialization, posing that attitudinal formation occurs either during childhood or adulthood. We propose an additional and more nuanced model that points to place by arguing that social relations in urban and Southern locations have long-lasting and powerful effects on attitudes. Using nationally representative data, we test this theoretical model by assessing whether the attitudes of urban and Southern in- and out-migrants differ from those of lifelong residents. Looking at lifelong residents and migrants, we further assess whether the impact of place will eventually diminish over time. Overall, results show that, particularly for lifelong urban residents, early socialization may be more important in impacting gender-role attitudes. With respect to region, the place based model appears more appropriate. However, it is the non-South location that seems more potent in maintaining and changing gender-role attitudes. Findings also suggest the importance of place on gender role attitudes has declined over the last 30 years. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.