Size Of Hometown Research Articles

The crossed-categorization hypothesis: Evidence of reductions in the strength of categorization, but not intergroup bias

Deschamps and Doise’s (1978) classic crossed categorization hypothesis states that both category differentiation and intergroup bias should be reduced in crossed conditions (e.g., race × gender groups comprised of Asian females, Asian males, White females, and White males) compared to simple conditions, where people vary on just one social category. Although there has been extensive work testing this hypothesis, we suggest that conclusions from this work are limited because (1) almost none of it has examined category differentiation outcomes, (2) several studies that have examined intergroup bias effects have not directly tested the classic hypothesis, and (3) no studies have examined both categorization and bias outcomes simultaneously. We conducted two experiments to overcome these limitations. In Experiment 1, target race (Asian or White) and gender were manipulated. In Experiment 2, target relationship status (single or significant other) and hometown size (big town or little town) were manipulated. In both experiments, categorization was weaker in crossed than simple conditions, but there was no evidence of reduced intergroup bias in crossed contexts.

Trends in Same‐gender Sexual Partnering, 1988–1998

Nationally representative data from the General Social Surveys indicate that from 1988 to 1998 there was an increasing likelihood that American men and women had had a same‐gender sexual partner during the previous year. Increases in same‐gender sexual partnering and decreases in exclusively opposite‐gender sexual partnering during the previous 5 years were also evident among women over the 1988–1998 period. Same‐gender sexual partnering was found to be associated with age, birth cohort, race, size of hometown at age 16, and mothers’ education. The increase in same‐gender sexual partnering over the 1988–1998 period persisted after controlling for these factors. Several possible explanations for the trend are discussed.

Undergraduates' Experiences with and Attitudes toward International Teaching Assistants

Controversy continues to surround the instructional role of teaching assistants at large U.S. research universities who are not native speakers of English and who received their undergraduate training outside the U.S. Interactions between these international teaching assistants (ITAs) and their undergraduate students is sometimes threatened by miscommunication. The study described in this article adapted the Questionnaire About International Teaching Assistants (QUITA) survey instrument (Fox, 1992) to collect background information about undergraduates at one midwestern university, inquiring about their experiences with ITAs and their means for dealing with ITA problems and assessing their attitudes with respect to ITAs. The study examined the relationship between an attitude scale and 11 student background characteristics (e.g., year of enrollment, academic college, age, sex, size of hometown). In addition, focus-group interviews conducted with a subset of respondents explored their experiences and opinions relating to ITAs. The article compares the findings of this study with those of earlier research, including Fox's (1992) study, and recommends intervention strategies with undergraduates who are likely to encounter ITAs.

Demographic variables in medical school admission

Admission committees report that demographic variables, although accurate, reliable, and easily obtained from applicants to medical schools, are only moderately important in their decision making. This may be because the committees are concerned about the validity and legality of using such data as admissions criteria. This essay discusses the research on the validity of demographic variables and the recommendations for their legal use in selecting students for medical school. The relationships of age, gender, size of hometown, parental education, parental occupation, parental income, and marital status to medical school outcomes of preclinical performances, clinical performance, attrition, specialty choice, and practice location are summarized. [Race or ethnic group is discussed in a separate essay in this issue.] Although the authors focus on the predictive value of demographic variables, these variables play a more important role as the moderator variables for other predictors of medical school outcomes. The full value of using demographic variables derives from data obtained in local validity studies. To comply with the equal-protection and due-process requirements, admission officers must assure that the use of demographic information in the admission process is explicit in bulletins given to applicants and is uniformly applied in the evaluation of all applicants.

The relation between religion and attitudes of peace

This article deals with the relationship between religion and peace. The sample consisted of 200 university students in the American midwest, whose religiosity and peace attitudes were measured by means of the Bardis Religion Scale and Irenometer. The religion – peace relationship is expressed by means of the following hypotheses: ‘Religiosity and favourable attitudes toward peace are directly proportional’; ‘as an independent variable related to peace attitudes religiosity is more “influential” than the variables of gender, age, academic class ranking, major field of study, paternal education, material education, paternal occupation, number of siblings, and size of hometown’. On the basis of these two hypotheses, two main conclusions are drawn. Firstly, religion and peace are significantly and positively related, although this refers to one’s degree of religiosity rather than one’s religious affiliation. Secondly, religion is one of the most influential forces affecting peace attitudes. S. Afr. J. Sociol. 1986, 17(2): 53–56 Paper presented at the World Congress of the Conférence Internationale de Sociologie des Religions, Louvain, Belgium, 23 August 1985.

The relation between religion and attitudes of peace

This article deals with the relationship between religion and peace. The sample consisted of 200 university students in the American midwest, whose religiosity and peace attitudes were measured by means of the Bardis Religion Scale and Irenometer. The religion – peace relationship is expressed by means of the following hypotheses: ‘Religiosity and favourable attitudes toward peace are directly proportional’; ‘as an independent variable related to peace attitudes religiosity is more “influential” than the variables of gender, age, academic class ranking, major field of study, paternal education, material education, paternal occupation, number of siblings, and size of hometown’. On the basis of these two hypotheses, two main conclusions are drawn. Firstly, religion and peace are significantly and positively related, although this refers to one’s degree of religiosity rather than one’s religious affiliation. Secondly, religion is one of the most influential forces affecting peace attitudes. S. Afr. J. Sociol. 1986, 17(2): 53–56 Paper presented at the World Congress of the Conférence Internationale de Sociologie des Religions, Louvain, Belgium, 23 August 1985.

Rural Rotations for Senior Surgical Residents

No information is available on factors that influence a surgeon's decision of where to practice. We surveyed all recent graduates of a surgical training residency program from a single institution to determine factors that influence this decision. An attempt was made to determine if a rural rotation during training ultimately influenced surgeons to locate their practices in rural areas. Ninety percent of 58 graduates responded: 44% entered a rural practice and 56% an urban and/or academic practice. A rural rotation during residency had been completed by 64% of the respondents. A significantly larger number of those who entered rural practice had completed a rural rotation than those who entered urban practice. Hometown size, level of debt, and other factors thought to be influential for other subpopulations of physicians were not found to be significant in this review.

Local-Cosmopolitan Theory and Religiosity among Catholic Nuns and Brothers

Roof's (1972, 1976, 1978) local-cosmopolitan theory of religious commitment is tested using a population of Catholic brothers and nuns living in West Tennessee. The findings provide rather strong support for Roof's theory. Local community reference (localism) had appreciable positive effects on seven religious belief and behavioral variables. Moreover, localism played a role (albeit a limited one) in mediating the effects of education, size of hometown, and length of residence on the religiosity variables. The implications of the findings for the generalizability of the theory are discussed.

Size of Home Town as a Factor Affecting Environmental Perception

A semantic differential was used by 168 subjects to rate forest, beach, small town, desert, and large city. Four factor scales were produced: evaluation, spiritual, activity, and aesthetic appeal. These scales served as the dependent variables in four analyses of variance in which the independent variables were size of home town and type of environment. The results showed that size of home town significantly affected perceptions of the various environments.

Study of U.S. medical school applicants, 1976–77

This annual study contains descriptive statistics on applicants to the 1976--77 freshman classes of U.S. medical schools. In contrast to the growth rates of the early 1970s, the total number of applicants declined slightly for the second successive year. However, comparisons with past applicant pools show a continued increase in the annual number of women applying and a modest increment over the previous year in applicants from minority groups. For the first time in the annual series the 1976--77 study includes data on applicants' size of hometown and summarizes information collected on marital status, country of citizenship, and undergraduate degree level.

Effects of size of home town on environmental perception.

168 subjects used a 23-item semantic differential to rate forest, beach, small town, desert, and large city. The ratings served as dependent variables for 23 3 X 56 X 5 analyses of variance employing size of home town, subjects within size of home town, and type of environment. Size of home town was a significant effect on one of 23 scales; subjects from large and medium-sized cities rated environments more toward the good end of the good-bad scale than subjects from small towns. All main effects for type of environment were significant. The order in which environments were rated depended upon the particular rating scale. Significant interactions of home town by environment were examined in terms of the differential patterns of environmental ratings produced by subjects from various sized home towns.

WHICH CHILDREN WITH LEUKEMIA DIE AT HOME?

In our intensive-care oriented society, death at home for the terminally ill is an unlikely event. We reviewed the experiences of 27 children with leukemia for whom further remissions were not anticipated to determine what factors influence the location of the child (home vs. hospital) at the time of death. Thirteen (44%) children in the group died at home. They did not differ from the children who died in the hospital for the following parameters (p= >.1): age, no. of remissions, size of home town, distance from patient's home to Charlottesville, socio-economic status or requirements for supportive care. The most common medical problems were fever, bone pain, vomiting, headaches and abdominal pain. Bleeding was an infrequent problem. There was no significant difference in the frequency of any of these symptoms in home versus hospital patients. The only factor that distinguished the groups was the length of time from diagnosis to death. The median survival for 13 children at home was 32 months compared to 18 months for hospitalized (p <.02). It is concluded that the location of death for these children is dictated more by personal considerations than medical needs. Although it is not always appropriate, death at home for children with terminal leukemia can be medically and psychologically supported.

Medical School Admissions, Specialty Selection, and Distribution of Physicians

This review of the University of Missouri-Columbia medical graduates, with similar data from two other studies, supports the thesis that hometown size and speciality choice are interrelated predictors of the community in which physicians practice. Physicians with nonmetropolitan backgrounds were two to three times as likely to select nonmetropolitan practice as physicians with urban backgrounds. Physicians entering family medicine were almost three times as likely to select nonmetropolitan practice as physicians in other primary-care specialities. Presence of both predictors (nonmetropolitan background and selection of family medicine) resulted in two thirds selecting nonmetropolitan practice. However, selection of family medicine by graduates with urban backgrounds or selection of other specialties by graduates with nonmetropolitan backgrounds did not appreciably increase the likelihood of nonmetropolitan practice. These data have implications for medical school admissions policy and curriculum.

Changing attitudes toward science: Undergraduates in 1967 and 1971

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to examine the change in attitudes toward science and the scientific institution which had occurred among undergraduate university students between 1967 and 1971. Two similar cohorts of university undergraduates were given Form A of the Schwirian Science Support Scale (Tri‐S) in 1967 and 1971. The populations were 398 students and 153 students, respectively. Data concerning relevant contingent independent variables were also collected.The data were analyzed utilizing nine, two‐way analyses of variance. The major independent variable, time of administration, (1967 and 1971) was always one factor; the second factor in each ANOVA consisted of each of the nine contingent independent variables: (1) age; (2) sex; (3) religious preference; (4) father's education; (5) mother's education; (6) father's occupation; (7) academic major; (8) hometown size; and (9) type of high school.The data from the nine, two‐way ANOVA's show significant differences ( p &lt; .05 ) in only two instances. In the case of the association of the Tri‐S Scores with father's occupation at times one and two, it was observed that the higher the status of the father's occupation, the higher the student's Tri‐S score. This relationship was observed in both 1967 and 1971; there was no significant effect of time. Statistically significant differences in Tri‐S scores were also observed among students from different sized hometowns; and in this case, there was a change over time. In 1967 students from small and medium‐sized communities had significantly lower Tri‐S scores than students from farms and large cities. By 1971 the mean scores of the students from small and medium sized communities had increased, producing scores slightly higher than the farm and city students.The findings indicate that the 1971 Midwestern university students in the sample are no less positive in their attitudes toward science than their 1967 counterparts. No significant differences between overall 1967 and 1971 scores exist and no significant differences over time were observed by age, sex, religious preference, father's or mother's education, father's occupation, academic major, or high school type.

Occupational Introversion‐Extroversion and Size of Hometown

Occupational Introversion‐Extroversion and Size of Hometown

Die Entwicklung der Struktur in der Kraftfahrt-Haftpflicht-Versicherung

The paper examines the structural development of motor liability insurance in Germany and concludes that competition leads to a relatively far reaching differentiation of rates which also satisfies individual proposers’ requirements as regards cover and cost. Without such differentiation subsidies become necessary. Once it has been statistically established that the claims experience is considerably heavier in large towns than in smaller localities, it becomes necessary to distinguish between them just as much as between larger areas with differing claims experiences. Not to do so carries the risk that certain insurers specialize in the statistically favourable part of the business. The calculation of average premium rates, which implies the balancing of surpluses in good areas against the inadequate rates in areas with high claims frequencies, leads to a considerable advantage for the specializing insurer, a situation which can only be dealt with by a refinement of the rate structure. This was proved in the Federal Republic where, prior to the refinement of the tariff structure, specializing insurers applying general tariff rates were able to distribute unusually large surpluses by way of bonuses. The author expresses the opinion that it is necessary to differentiate by objective and subjective principles. This is achieved in Germany through the current rate structure, which distinguishes objectively between types of vehicle, power rating, size of home town and type of area. The subjective distinction operates through the bonus-malus system which provides a final correction of the basic premium in the light of the actual claims experience depending heavily on personal traits. In this the German market stays within the limits of possible differentiation drawn by the requirement of forming homogeneous groups which allow averaging by actuarial methods on a practicable and administratively economic basis.

Certain Factors Related to Liberal and Conservative Attitudes of College Students: I. Father's Occupation; Size of Home Town

(1940). Certain Factors Related to Liberal and Conservative Attitudes of College Students: I. Father's Occupation; Size of Home Town. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 91-105.