Data Analysis and Data Visualization as Active Learning in Political Science

While data analysis and the related skills of data management and data visualization are important skills for undergraduates in the field of political science, the process of learning these skills can also be used to develop critical thinking, encourage active and collaborative learning, and to apply knowledge gained in the classroom. Drawing on our experiences using data work in upper-level courses in International Relations and American Politics, we discuss how data work and quantitative analysis can be incorporated into subject-based (i.e., nonmethods specific) courses, and how it can also enhance critical reasoning skills. An evaluation of this approach using direct and indirect assessment is included.     

Public Administration Research in Contemporary Russia: An Analysis of Journal Publications, 2010–2014

This study examines the latest tendencies in Russian research on public administration (2010–14) as it appears in Russian academic journals. The study considers the subjects of articles, their methodological features, and the characteristics of contributors. Revealing problems in public administration research in Russia contributes both to the development of Russian science and to the ongoing international discussion regarding the need for better research on public administration and state policy. By drawing attention to the shortcomings and weaknesses of Russian public administration research, the study is meant to advance the current discussion on ways to strengthen the quality of policy research around the world.     

“Vivimos en Jaula de Oro”: The Impact of State-Level Legislation on Immigrant Latino Families

This study sought to learn from Latino immigrant parents which and how state-level immigration policies impact their families. Fifty-four Latino immigrant parents participated in interviews. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used to complete the analysis. Results indicate that fear of detainment, deportation, and family separation affects participants emotionally and behaviorally. Participants experience exploitive practices in the workplace and through traffic infractions. Social support networks are constantly changing and weakened when families relocate in search of immigrant friendly communities. Simultaneously, parents develop strategies to protect their families against stringent immigration enforcement. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

Who is a Terrorist? Ethnicity,Group Affiliation,and Understandings of Political Violence

What does the American public label as “terrorism?” How do people think about the factors motivating violence, and in turn, the policies that are favored? Using ingroup and outgroup dynamics, we argue that the terrorist label is more readily applied to Arab-Americans than Whites, and to members of militant groups. Moreover, people attribute different motives to violence committed by Arabs versus Whites, and favor different policies in response. We conducted an experiment where we randomly assigned one of six stories about a failed armed attack, each with a different combination of ethnicity and group affiliation. We find that an Arab ethnicity and Islamist group affiliation increase the likelihood of labeling an act as terrorism. Attacks by Whites and members of a White supremacist group are less likely to be labeled terrorism. Rather, Whites are more likely to be called “mass shooters.” Despite never discussing motive, Arab-American attackers are more likely to be ascribed political or religious motives, while White suspects are more likely to be seen as mentally ill. Lastly, an Arab ethnicity increases support for counterterrorism policies and decreases support for mental health care.     

How Single-Parent Children Speak About Poverty and Social Exclusion: Policy Implications From a Comparative,Qualitative, Cross-National Project

This article presents some of the key findings from a comparative, qualitative research study carried out in the United Kingdom, Greece, and Cyprus. The main goal of the study was to investigate single-parent children's experiences and understandings of poverty and social exclusion in their everyday lives and to make relevant policy recommendations. The article highlights children's voices and illustrates the utility of integrating them in efforts to develop sensitive policies which meet their needs as these stem from their own experiences of poverty and social exclusion while also making the case for the utility of comparative, qualitative, cross-national research.     

People,power, change: three pillars of a food sovereignty research praxis

ABSTRACT

This article is situated within nascent debates on the role of academics within food sovereignty movements. Drawing on insights from a collective autoethnography, we report on our experiences conducting three food sovereignty research projects in different contexts and at different scales. We suggest that that the principles and practices of food sovereignty translate into a food sovereignty research praxis. This consists of three pillars focusing on people (humanizing research relationships), power (equalizing power relations) and change (pursuing transformative orientations). This article discusses these pillars and analyzes the extent to which we were able to embody them within our projects.     

Intergenerational Interactions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine interactions between elder volunteers and children in a campus-based child care center, using the revised Interaction Analysis Instrument (Newman & Onawola, 1989). Findings from video-taped interactions suggested that intergenerational interactions may be systematically related to the nature of specific program activities. Thus it may be important for program coordinators to consider the kind of intergenerational interactions they want to facilitate when choosing among various intergenerational activities. Additional recommendations are offered to child-care and elder-care organizers who are interested in developing intergenerational programs.     

Elder-Child Interaction Analysis

Abstract

This study reports on the interactions of 60 children and 12 older adults in a school-based mentoring program, as well as four teachers' perceptions of the relationship between such interactions and the children's subsequent classroom behavior. Dyadic interactions were assessed using the Elder-Child Interaction Analysis instrument (Newman & Onawola, 1989). The authors concluded from recorded observations that, overall, the elders and the children had interacted with each other in a positive and constructive manner. The teachers interviewed perceived that the mentoring interactions were followed by an increase in students' self-management skills, interest in school work, and by improved peer relationships.     

Is there a global environmental justice movement?

One of the causes of the increasing number of ecological distribution conflicts around the world is the changing metabolism of the economy in terms of growing flows of energy and materials. There are conflicts on resource extraction, transport and waste disposal. Therefore, there are many local complaints, as shown in the Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJatlas) and other inventories. And not only complaints; there are also many successful examples of stopping projects and developing alternatives, testifying to the existence of a rural and urban global movement for environmental justice. Moreover, since the 1980s and 1990s, this movement has developed a set of concepts and campaign slogans to describe and intervene in such conflicts. They include environmental racism, popular epidemiology, the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous, biopiracy, tree plantations are not forests, the ecological debt, climate justice, food sovereignty, land grabbing and water justice, among other concepts. These terms were born from socio-environmental activism, but sometimes they have also been taken up by academic political ecologists and ecological economists who, for their part, have contributed other concepts to the global environmental justice movement, such as ‘ecologically unequal exchange’ or the ‘ecological footprint’.     

Public sector innovation,e-government,and anticorruption in China and India: Insights from civil servants

Both China and India are adopting information and communication technologies to facilitate openness and transparency in their governments, and hence reduce corruption. Distinctive from their traditional anticorruption approaches, is the innovative e-government approach an effective solution to corruption in these two large developing countries? This paper addresses the question through comparative in-depth interviews with 44 mid- or senior-level officials in the public sector in these two countries. The first study of its kind, our research shows that civil servants in both countries overall think positively about transparency and technology in reducing corruption. However, to what extent these innovative measures will be effective is conditional on various factors, such as political willingness, income inequality, and infrastructure readiness. What is worth noting is that the Chinese respondents were more positive regarding the role of transparency, whereas the Indian respondents were more positive about the role of technology, which may reflect the different facilitators of corruption and the constraints of anticorruption in China and India.