Sociology

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2273

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.community

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Local violence and transitions to marriage and cohabitation in Mexico
    (Wiley, 2022-10-20) Caudillo, Mónica L.; Lee, Jaein
    Objective To assess whether local violence is associated with the timing and type of women's first union formation. Background Local violence may cause disruptions to marriage markets and psychological and behavioral changes that may affect union formation patterns. Method The authors exploited the variation in homicide rates caused by a shift in national drug-enforcement policy in Mexico in December 2006. Competing-risks Cox models and union histories from a nationally representative survey of women (N = 33,292) were used to assess whether a recent increase in violence was associated with the timing of the first union transition, which could be either marriage or cohabitation. Analyses were conducted separately by education level. Results A recent increase in the local homicide rate was associated with delayed first marriage formation for less educated women. Supplementary analyses suggested that a decrease in the number of employed men per women, as well as reduced social interaction due to fear of victimization could be plausible causal mechanisms. No statistically significant associations were found between a recent increase in violence and transitions to first cohabitation for the less educated, or with any first union transition for the moderately and more educated. Conclusion Among less educated women, a recent increase in violence was associated with a delayed entrance into marriage as a first union transition. Implications By increasing their barriers to marriage, local violence may contribute to the accumulation of disadvantage among disadvantaged women and families.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Plugged In: A Qualitative Analysis of the Ways iPod Users Produce and Experience Social Connection
    (2007-12-05) Yaksich, Michael John; Mamo, Laura; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Various science and technology studies (STS) scholars argue that users are active agents who provide insight in the uses of a technology. While researchers describe the effects of technologies like the Apple iPod as isolationary, few focus on how users form social connections. In this study, I argue that contrary to assumptions surrounding iPod usage, the ways personal technologies are used and the cultural impact usage has on everyday interactions allows for the formation of social connections in practice. Drawing upon fifteen in-depth interviews and four observations, a modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze the meanings users gave to interactions with the iPod. Findings indicate that users experience social connection through file sharing, ownership, and collective usage, which coexist with processes of creating isolation. This demonstrates that the meanings given to the use of a particular technology are not stable, but interpretively flexible and contingent on social context.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Easton: A 21st Century (R)evolution in Consumption, Community, Urbanism, and Space
    (2005-04-28) Ryan, John Michael; Ritzer, George; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This research was designed, planned, and implemented with three overarching and interrelated objectives in mind - to apply existing theoretical knowledge on consumption, community, urbanism, and space to the specific case study of Easton Town Center; to enhance, contribute, and extend the research and literature surrounding these four areas; and to flesh out the paradigm of Easton into a more coherent, comprehensive theory with potential applications for future social scientific inquiry.