Journal of Undergraduate Research

Paul Andrew Bauman and Child Curtis, Sociology Scholars are interested in how parents think about schools. Yet so far they give only limited attention to the role that race plays in shaping parents’ views. Our research addresses this shortcoming by focusing on two race groups – whites and Hispanics – in order to determine how […]

Daniela Barriga and Mikaela Dufur, PhD, Department of Sociology Introduction To determine whether race/ethnicity and social class have similar effects on conceptualizations of school quality, we conducted qualitative interviews of families from distinct, selfidentified racial/ethnic and lowSES backgrounds (Hispanic/Latino, Caucasian, and Polynesian backgrounds, the latter a group often overlooked by the literature (Fullmer, Elmore and […]

Benjamin Fife and Renata Forste, Sociology Department Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine the association between physical and social factors and the frequency of headaches and stomachaches among school-aged children in the US. In particular, I looked at how both physical and psychosocial factors influence health outcomes in order to identify ways […]

Shelby McNeill and Dr. Kristie J.R. Phillips, Department of Sociology Introduction In 1954—ten years before the Civil Rights Act was passed—the Supreme Court ruled on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. In their ruling, the Court held that state-imposed racial segregation created “inherently unequal” schools that were unconstitutional. Thus, public schools became the […]

Shelby McNeill and Dr. Kristie J.R. Phillips, Department of Sociology Introduction Over the past few decades, a shift has occurred in the educational attainment between the sexes. In the 1990’s, the number of adults ages 25 to 29 years-old who had received a bachelor’s degree or higher was comparable across the sexes, whereas in 2012 […]

Jacob Mortensen and Dr. Benjamin G. Gibbs, Department of Sociology That a gender difference in pay exists has been well documented for decades. Originally described as a result of overt gender discrimination, advances in law have mitigated many of the worst practices, and yet, differences in economic outcomes persist. In order to explain the remaining […]

Chrisse Edmunds and Kristie Phillips, Department of Sociology Introduction Every nation has income inequality; however, the degree to which that inequality exists differs between countries. Beckfield (2014) theorizes that countries with high income inequality lack the social supports common in more equal societies. A host of social problems result including poor health outcomes and increased […]

Kyle Nelson and Dr. Ralph Brown, Sociology Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have become one of the foundational mechanisms of social change and development. International NGOs count in the thousands and are the hallmark organizational form involved in poverty alleviation, human rights empowerment, and social innovation. Therefore, understanding these organizations is important in understanding how development impact […]

Erik Lovell, John McMullin, Brent Hutchison, Ke’ala Cabulagan with Dr. Curtis Child, Sociology INTRODUCTION Few populations are as affected by economic conditions as the homeless. With the recent recessions and changes in city/state/federal policies, the homeless population has begun to change. The traditional homeless population was associated with high levels of drug use, jail time, […]

Chloe Litchfield The data for the 2013 Cambodia CEDAW Shadow Report was collected May–August 2013. This data was collected in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from individuals who work for organizations that assist women throughout the country. The data for this study was primarily collected from members of NGO-CEDAW affiliated organizations. I used data from recent research […]