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Editor:
Tonya Allen
allen@pop.psu.edu
PRInformation
Fall 2003
New External Research Funding
Adolescent Drug and HIV Prevention in South Africa
Dr. Edward A. Smith, Director, Evaluation Research, Prevention Research Center, received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for five years to test the effectiveness of a comprehensive, universal prevention program (HealthWise: Learning Life Skills for Young Adults) to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS and STDs, as well as substance use, among adolescents in South Africa. This program, which integrates a two-year school-based curriculum with other school and community resources, will be implemented with three cohorts of youth aged 14 to 16. Schools will be assigned to either intervention or comparison conditions.
Context, Identities, and Outcomes: A Pilot Study of Dominicans in Reading, Pennsylvania
Dr. Leif Jensen, director, Population Research Institute, and professor of rural sociology and demography, and Penn State colleagues Dr. Sal Oropesa, associate professor of sociology and demography, Dr. Jeffrey Cohen, assistant professor of anthropology and demography, Dr. A. Jacqueline Toribio, associate professor of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and linguistics, and Dr. Gordon De Jong, Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Demography and director, Graduate Program in Demography, received funding under the Presidential Authority awards program of the Russell Sage Foundation to conduct a preliminary analysis of Dominicans living in the new gateway community of Reading, PA. They will analyze U.S Census data, and conduct an ethnosurvey and key informant interviews in Reading, to investigate the interplay of self-identity, context of reception, and assimilation outcomes. Their long-term goal is to explore these issues across a representative spectrum of Dominican communities in the U.S.
Health Research with Human Subjects: A Web-Based Course on Making Responsible Decisions
Dr. Alan Benjamin, PRI research associate, affiliate assistant professor of Jewish studies and research associate in anthropology, with Ruth Levy Guyer received funding for one year from the Office of Research Integrity, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to design an interactive web course consisting of case examples and questions that will augment existing programs to train researchers in human subjects protection. The course will emphasize that responsible conduct toward the subjects of research is based on fundamental principles and continually in need of attention and assessment by those conducting research.
Neighborhood Variation in the Effects of Prevention Programs on Positive Youth Outcomes
Dr. Sean Reardon, assistant professor of education and sociology, has received funding for two years from the William T. Grant Foundation. The project, subcontracted through the University of Illinois at Chicago, will conduct a series of analyses using data from four preventive interventions designed to decrease problem behavior and promote positive youth outcomes to evaluate potential differences in intervention effects across different types of communities and neighborhoods.
Nonresident Father Involvement and Child Well-Being
Dr. Valarie King, associate professor of sociology, demography, and human development & family studies, with co-investigators Dr. Paul Amato, professor of sociology and demography, and Dr. Alan Booth, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Human Development & Family Studies and Demography, received funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for five years to examine nonresident father involvement and child well-being by drawing on four nationally representative longitudinal data sets. The first aim of the project is to better understand how nonresident fathers participate in the lives of children and how paternal participation varies by characteristics that represent the increasing diversity of families in the U.S. The second aim is to assess the importance of nonresident father involvement for child well-being and to determine the contexts in which such involvement is most beneficial to children.
Police Notification for Physical and Sexual Assault
Dr. Richard Felson, professor of crime, law and justice and sociology, has received funding for one year from the National Institute of Justice to explore the issue of police notification for both sexual and non-sexual assault using data from the Survey of Violence and Threats of Violence Against Women and Men, a nationally representative sample.
Sexual Behavior of Nairobi's Urban Poor
Dr. Francis Dodoo, professor of sociology and demography, received funding from NICHD and the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) to study sexual behavior among the poorest of the poor in urban Africa. The three year NICHD grant will fund work on sexual outcomes in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi and assess the viability of extending work on the urban poor to other countries using DHS data. A one year grant from OAR will primarily support the examination of differential behavior between long-term urban residents and recent migrants from rural areas.
Understanding the Growth of Achievement Inequality in the Early Years of Schooling
Dr. Sean Reardon, assistant professor of education and sociology, received funding for two years from the American Educational Research Association for this study, which will contribute to the research on understanding the relationship between school characteristics and race/ethnic and SES achievement gaps through a detailed analysis of kindergarten and first grade student achievement data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K).
Welfare Reform and Migration of Poor Families
Dr. Gordon De Jong, Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Demography and director, Graduate Program in Demography, and Dr. Deborah Graefe, research associate of the Population Research Institute, have received funding for three years from the National Science Foundation for their project to study whether devolution of welfare policy based on the 1996 welfare reform act have created "welfare magnet" states where state policies provide more generous benefits and lenient participation requirements, and whether welfare disincentive states with more restrictive policies have resulted in increased out-migration of welfare poor families.
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