Browsing by Subject "Department of Sociology"
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Item Agricultural Biotechnology Companies and the Crops of the Poor(2009-10-07) Scott, Mary A.Critics claim that some of the world’s largest agricultural biotechnology companies are prolonging world hunger by making their innovations, for which they charge high technology fees and establish exclusive intellectual property rights, inaccessible to the poor. The significant implication in such assertions is that these firms are not concerned with the public good. What are ag-biotech companies doing that could improve agriculture for poor farmers around the world? What kinds of projects are they investing in, how are they organized, and with whom are they partnering? What, specifically, do the companies contribute? What are the results? Do these projects produce technology that is both helpful and accessible to the poor?Item The Development of Model-Driven Perception(2010-04-21) Gregg, KellyWhen in life does the ability to make and utilize visual models develop? Are infants able to use visual models? In my experiment, six-month-olds are presented with different forms of the common “face/vase illusion.” The stimulus used consists of three formats of the illusion that differ in motion. The intention is to prime the infants to see either the face or the vase so that when the stimulus is presented in the ambiguous form, the infants will perceive it as the stimulus he/ she was primed with. For each participant, there are eight sets of five trials each. The first two trials of each set are five seconds long and present the ambiguous stimulus and either the face or vase to establish a base looking time at each. The third trial of each set is the ten second priming phase that presents the face or vase stimulus. The fourth and fifth trials are the same as the first and second were. Comparing looking times from the first and last two trials will allow us to learn more about the ability of six month olds to make and use visual models.Item The Effects of Institutional Practices on Postsecondary Trajectories – Matriculation, Persistence and Time to Degree(2010-04-21) Lightner, StefanieIn today’s labor market a bachelor’s degree is considered to be the minimum qualification to gain access to the middle class. Because of this perception there is strong pressure from the current administration to see that all students continue on to college. However, with increasing rates of admission, new college students may have less academic preparation for college level coursework compared to prior students. This portion of the study, The Effects of Institutional Practices on Postsecondary Trajectories – Matriculation, Persistence and Time to Degree, seeks to assess the effectiveness of college remediation programs on persistence and time to degree completion. Data from California State University – Sacramento, which bases requirements for remedial coursework on an assessment with a strict cutoff, is used. Employing a regression discontinuity design, outcomes of students on either side of the threshold are observed and analyzed. These students have been assigned to remedial work solely on the basis of test scores and it is plausible that the students on either side of the threshold have similar unobservable characteristics. This type of analysis allows the outcomes of the students to be attributed to the effect of the treatment (remediation). By looking closely at these students just on either side of the pass/fail threshold we are able to see how remedial coursework affects persistence and degree completion. Understanding the effects of remedial courses on underprepared students is of increasing importance for policy makers. Budget cuts are impacting institutions of higher education across the country and evaluation of remedial programs will help policy makers determine whether or not they are a wise use of increasingly limited funds. This study provides empirical evidence on the effects of remediation for these students as well as an analysis of the effects of remediation on social inequality.Item Interview with David Cooperman(University of Minnesota, 1984-07-30) Cooperman, David; Chambers, Clarke A.Clarke A. Chambers interviews David Cooperman, professor of the Department of Sociology.Item Interview with David Ward(University of Minnesota, 1994-11-22) Ward, David; Chambers, Clarke A.Clarke A. Chambers interviews David Ward, professor in the Department of Sociology.