To what extent, and why, do social science undergraduates experience anxiety about taking statistics courses? Despite holding assumptions of rampant statistics anxiety among students, sociologists have conducted few empirical studies of this issue. We extend the literature by analyzing data from a survey of sociology, social work, and criminal justice students enrolled in seven sections of our department’s Social Statistics with Computer Applications course in the winter 2018 semester. Two thirds of respondents are anxious or very anxious about taking the course. They experience statistics anxiety primarily due to their lack of confidence in their ability to succeed in the course and their more general test-taking anxiety. This article offers a framework for instructors of social statistics courses to measure student anxiety and to address it in class in a way that aims to alleviate anxiety among the anxious while not alienating those who are comfortable in the course.
Several recent spatial analyses conclude the strong positive association typically found between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and crime in cross‐sectional studies significantly differs across neighborhoods. It is possible this spatial variation is due to within‐neighborhood dynamics of continuity and change, as suggested by ecological theories of neighborhood crime. Using ordinary least‐squares and geographically weighted regression models, I explore the role of within‐neighborhood change on the disadvantage‐homicide relationship across Chicago neighborhoods and find that controlling for historical changes in disadvantage within neighborhoods reduces—but does not eliminate—spatial variation in the cross‐sectional relationship. Within‐neighborhood changes in concentrated disadvantage from 1970 to 2000 are positively related to homicide rates, net of the level of disadvantage in 2000. This suggests the relationship is influenced to some degree by temporal continuity or change in the neighborhood ecological structure, consistent with the dynamic conceptualization of neighborhoods inherent to ecological theories of crime like social disorganization.
Research on neighborhood structural conditions like concentrated disadvantage and crime largely focuses on between-neighborhood differences; for example, places with more disadvantage are expected to experience higher homicide rates. However, empirical research often does not consider within-neighborhood dynamics of structural stability and change. Furthermore, several recent studies have found cross-sectional associations between structural variables and crime outcomes can vary significantly across units, violating a key assumption of global modeling strategies. The current work explores if and how historical changes in disadvantage influence neighborhood collective efficacy and homicide rates, net of the level of disadvantage at a given time point. Collective efficacy theoretically mediates the relationship between conditions and crime, and is hypothesized to be the mechanism through which structural change influences homicide rates. It is also hypothesized that spatial variation in cross-sectional associations between disadvantage and social outcomes can be explained by accounting for within-neighborhood changes in disadvantage. Using a sample of Chicago neighborhoods and ordinary least squares and geographically weighted regression models, I find that within-neighborhood changes in disadvantage significantly predict neighborhood collective efficacy, though the effects of this change on homicide rates are not completely mediated by collective efficacy. Within-neighborhood change completely accounts for spatial variation in cross-sectional associations, offering one explanation of prior research findings. Within-neighborhood structural changes appear to disrupt collective efficacy and contribute to higher homicide rates than predicted by the level of disadvantage alone.
This article describes a simulation activity designed to teach students about the wage gap. The wage gap is an important topic in many sociology classrooms, but it can be difficult to convey the accumulated disadvantage experienced by women and racial/ethnic minorities to students using in-class discussions, lectures, or assigned readings alone. This is particularly true on college campuses that may draw their students from more affluent areas. Classroom simulations, however, provide an opportunity for students with all types of backgrounds to engage their sociological imaginations. In our simulation—Intersectionopoly—we use a modified version of Monopoly based on the wage gap and racial/ethnic minorities’ experiences of everyday life to illustrate how members of different racial and gender groups experience disparities in earnings. Unlike other versions of stratified Monopoly, this simulation more closely mirrors the subtle nature of discrimination in the contemporary United States.
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