Theorized links between science and secularism are prevalent in classic sociological thought. More recently, scholars have critiqued these frameworks as oversimplified and empirically untenable. In response to such criticisms, contemporary researchers typically overlook or actively argue against links between science and secularism. This study analyzes data from a random, national survey of adults to examine the empirical connections between perceptions of science and secular identities in the United States. Analyses demonstrate that perceptions of science correlate strongly with American secularism, particularly among atheists and agnostics. Additionally, politicized views of science help account for the previously documented relationship between political and secular identities in the United States. A perspective drawing on the sociology of culture and perceived knowledge provides a more useful framework for understanding these patterns than theories of secularization.

Social workers who choose to work in the field of child welfare will almost unavoidably be exposed to sexual trauma. This requires that social workers are prepared to understand and work with those who have been sexually abused, as well as the perpetrators of sex crimes. The purpose of this study was to explore social work students’ perceptions of sex offenders since it is anticipated that they will work with the sex offender population at some point in their careers. Exploring this topic could help future social workers gain valuable knowledge related to recognizing barriers that may exist when working with sex offenders. To study social work students’ perceptions of sex offenders, quantitative data were collected using a fifty item online survey instrument that was distributed via the Qualtrics website. In addition, t-tests, ANOVA, and Chi-square analysis were conducted using the SPSS analytical software program version 21. The findings of this study suggest that there were no significant differences between participants’ gender regarding their perceptions of sex offenders. Furthermore, the study found that overall, social work students’ perceptions are that there are more male sex offenders than female and juvenile sex offenders. The findings of this study suggest that further research is needed in order to explore social work practitioners’ perceptions of sex offenders since there is a likelihood that social works will work with this population at some point in their careers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-225). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The thesis offers a post hoc account of three pieces of research relating to women's adult education which were camed out by the author over a penod of about fifteen years. In the process the thesis engages with a number of themes and issues in and around feminist theory and practite and adult education theory and practice. Radical traditions in adult education - particularly femimst-inspired traditions - are examined as spaces for the democratic production of "really useful knowledge". Changing meanings of feminist research and radical adult education are explored, as is the relationship between abstract knowledge and everyday knowledge. Developments in feminist epistemology are drawn on and related to a social justice agenda for adult education Through a critique of my own practice. I suggest that feminists and adult educators are well-placed to pursue a democratising project geared to including previously excluded groups in the production of legitimated knowledge. The thesis argues that we need to develop an understanding of our practices which combines historical, contextual understandings with an appreciation of what changed social and cultural conditions mean for the pursuit of any democratic knowledge-producing project.

Thesis (doctoral)--Vasa universitet, 1994. / Thesis t.p. laid in. Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-258) and index.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 201 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-201). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northwestern University, 1997. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 58-04, Section: A, page: 1341. Adviser: Toinette M. Eugene.

No description available.

This project has addressed the need for a new and effective theoretical framework in the field of social gerontology by proposing and applying exchange theory as a valid approach to the study of aging. This study specifically analyzed the relationships between life satisfaction and social resources, social contexts and change in order to measure and clarify the significance of the individual factors.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education