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This study addressed cultural factors that prevent Hispanic diabetics from getting diagnosed early, controlling their glycemic levels, and obtaining appropriate transportation, health insurance, and better education on nutrition.

Scholars have recognized the benefits to science of Bayesian inference about the relative plausibility of competing hypotheses as opposed to, say, falsificationism in which one either rejects or fails to reject hypotheses in isolation. Yet inference about causal effects — at least as they are conceived in the potential outcomes framework (Neyman, 1923; Rubin, 1974; Holland, 1986) — has been tethered to falsificationism (Fisher, 1935; Neyman and Pearson, 1933) and difficult to integrate with Bayesian inference. One reason for this difficulty is that potential outcomes are fixed quantities that are not embedded in statistical models. Significance tests about causal hypotheses in either of the traditions traceable to Fisher (1935) or Neyman and Pearson (1933) conceive potential outcomes in this way; randomness in inferences about about causal effects stems entirely from a physical act of randomization, like flips of a coin or draws from an urn. Bayesian inferences, by contrast, typically depend on likelihood functions with model-based assumptions in which potential outcomes — to the extent that scholars invoke them — are conceived as outputs of a stochastic, data-generating model. In this dissertation, I develop Bayesian statistical inference for causal effects that incorporates the benefits of Bayesian scientific reasoning, but does not require probability models on potential outcomes that undermine the value of randomization as the “reasoned basis” for inference (Fisher, 1935, p. 14). In the first paper, I derive a randomization-based likelihood function in which Bayesian inference of causal effects is justified by the experimental design. I formally show that, under weak conditions on a prior distribution, as the number of experimental subjects increases indefinitely, the resulting sequence of posterior distributions converges in probability to the true causal effect. This result, typically known as the Bernstein-von Mises theorem, has been derived in the context of parametric models. Yet randomized experiments are especially credible precisely because they do not require such assumptions. Proving this result in the context of randomized experiments enables scholars to quantify how much they learn from experiments without sacrificing the design-based properties that make inferences from experiments especially credible in the first place. Having derived a randomization-based likelihood function in the first paper, the second paper turns to the calibration of a prior distribution for a target experiment based on past experimental results. In this paper, I show that usual methods for analyzing randomized experiments are equivalent to presuming that no prior knowledge exists, which inhibits knowledge accumulation from prior to future experiments. I therefore develop a methodology by which scholars can (1) turn results of past experiments into a prior distribution for a target experiment and (2) quantify the degree of learning in the target experiment after updating prior beliefs via a randomization-based likelihood function. I implement this methodology in an original audit experiment conducted in 2020 and show the amount of Bayesian learning that results relative to information from past experiments. Large Bayesian learning and statistical significance do not always coincide, and learning is greatest among theoretically important subgroups of legislators for which relatively less prior information exists. The accumulation of knowledge about these subgroups, specifically Black and Latino legislators, carries implications about the extent to which descriptive representation operates not only within, but also between minority groups. In the third paper, I turn away from randomized experiments toward observational studies, specifically the Difference-in-Differences (DID) design. I show that DID’s central assumption of parallel trends poses a neglected problem for causal inference: Counterfactual uncertainty, due to the inability to observe counterfactual outcomes, is hard to quantify since DID is based on parallel trends, not an as-if-randomized assumption. Hence, standard errors and ?-values are too small since they reflect only sampling uncertainty due to the inability to observe all units in a population. Recognizing this problem, scholars have recently attempted to develop inferential methods for DID under an as-if-randomized assumption. In this paper, I show that this approach is ill-suited for the most canonical DID designs and also requires conducting inference on an ill-defined estimand. I instead develop an empirical Bayes’ procedure that is able to accommodate both sampling and counterfactual uncertainty under the DIDs core identification assumption. The overall method is straightforward to implement and I apply it to a study on the effect of terrorist attacks on electoral outcomes.

Latinx communities in the United States made up 18% of the total population, yet accounted for 33% of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This supported the study aim to increase Latinx COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for performing COVID-19 risk reduction mitigation behaviors via dissemination of the new online e-health intervention of the “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test.” The study recruited online a largely female Latinx adult sample (N=118) with 68.6% born in the U.S. that was well-educated, given a mean education level of a bachelor’s degree; and, a mean annual household income of $50,000 to $99,000. During the pandemic year of 2020, 46.5% of the survey participants experienced moderate to maximum/extreme cultural stress, and moderately high COVID-19 related stress—while 66.9% reported depression, 78.8% anxiety, and 45.2% trauma. Their high rates of COVID-19 depression and anxiety were more than double those rates reported across samples identified globally during the pandemic. They experienced significant declines in their self-rated mental health status and physical health status from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic, high social support, and closest to a good quality of life. Supporting the value of the new “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” as a brief online e-health intervention, paired t-tests showed statistically significant increases in self-ratings for both COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy for COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors after taking the True-False test. Participants endorsed the dissemination of the new True-False “Our COVID-19 Knowledge Test” with all True answers as a brief online e-health intervention they would recommend to others as a way to learn about COVID-19. Meanwhile, on this True-False test, the sample evidenced very high knowledge of COVID-19. The sample also had a high intention to vaccinate or already vaccinated at 87%. Findings from independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and regression analyses collectively affirmed the critical importance of having both high knowledge and high self-efficacy for performing preventive behaviors for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission, implementing mitigation strategies, and reducing mortality. Implications and recommendations focused on the value of the genre of a True-False test, with all True answers, for disseminating evidence-based information, and countering misinformation during pandemics and public health crises. Finally, the short tools used in this study were recommended for application in future research and as screening tools.

Currently, Eurocentric theories and practices of urban teachers and students are often studied under a White gaze of expected deficits. Much of this research is quantitative (e.g., documenting the number of teachers of color); the qualitative research that documents the experiences of people of color usually lacks the personal lived experiences of racial marginalization that only one who has endured them can tell. Addressing this research problem, in this dissertation, I share findings generated from a 9-month autoethnographic study of my experiences in light of the blockade of anti-Black epistemologies and ontologies in (music) teacher education. Framed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Pedagogy, and Postcolonial Theory, the aim of this study is to examine the lived experiences and narratives of a Black-queer doctoral student and teacher educator—in dialogue with majority Black and Latinx preservice early childhood and elementary students in his music teacher education course—considering how Eurocentric frameworks position teachers and students. Inquiries into how curricular stories are constructed as mirrors and windows (Bishop, 1990) are woven to reveal the ways in which dominant theories and ideologies affect the discourses and identities of soon-to-be teachers and point toward the need for students and educators of color to be taught to analyze and name injustices documented within life histories, all the while transforming oppressive encounters to affirm individual and collective humanity. While the focus of this self-study and autoethnography is the researcher, this ethnographic composition of teaching and teacher education is informed by the researcher’s teacher education practices, experiences, and learnings in the context of an early childhood and elementary teacher education course for non-music majors at a primarily-Hispanic serving urban institution of higher education. It examines classroom discursive interactions and archival data (e.g. journal reflections, course assignments) using ethnographic research methods and critical narrative analysis (Souto-Manning, 2014) to make sense of data. In doing so, it co-constructs a polyphonic space for multiple perspectives to stand in counterpoint (conflict), reimagining and reclaiming the discourses that purport to hold knowledge about peoples of color lived experiences. Findings are rendered by engagement with a range of Afrocentric visual and multimodal data.

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This study created the new Collateral Consequences Survey on Marijuana-Related Stop, Question, and Frisk Experiences tool. The tool was administered to a sample (N = 73) 65.8% (N = 48) male, 31.5% (N = 23) female, 68.5% (N = 50) Black, 31.5% (N = 23) Latinx, with 90.4% (N = 66) born in the United States—with a mean age of 30.04 years (min =18, max = 55, SD = 9.42). Some 46.6% (N = 34) completed a Bachelor’s degree or higher, while 63% (N = 46) were employed—with a mean annual household income of $40,000 to $49,000 (mean = category 4.23, min = 1, max = 11, SD = 1.899). Participants suffered multiple long-lasting damages as collateral consequences from Stop, Question, and Frisk. Pearson Correlations showed the higher the global collateral consequences scores, then lower Age (r = -.572, p = .000); darker Skin Color (r = .281, p = .016); lower Income (r = -.269, p = 023); lower Life Satisfaction (r = -.469, p = .000); more Negative Impact on Physical Health (r = -.264, p = .024); more Negative Impact on Mental Health (r = -.413, p = .000); lower BMI (Body Mass Index) (r = -.439, p = .000); greater frequency of various types of marijuana-related police contact (r = .580, p = .000); and greater extent of invasive experiences with police (r = .117, p = .000). While controlling for social desirability, the significant predictors of the study outcome variable of the Global Collateral Consequences Score (GCCS-8) were as not born in the US (β = -.607, SEB = .294, p = .044); lower life satisfaction (β = -.141, SEB = .044, p = .002); lower Body Mass Index (β = -.042, SEB = .010, p = .000); more positive attitudes on marijuana equity and reparations (β = .347, SEB = .099, p = .001); greater frequency of various types of marijuana-related police contact (β = -.232, SEB = .099, p = .024); and greater extent of invasive experiences with police (β = .324, SEB = .084, p = .000). This model accounted for 62.4% of the variance (R2 = 0.669 and Adj R2 = 0.624). Qualitative data expanded on the quantitative data findings. Implications and recommendations covered how the new tool created for this study may be used in future research and for screening purposes to identify those needing interventions from police stress and trauma.

This dissertation examines entrepreneurship as a way to overcome labor market discrimination. Specifically, the three empirical essays of this dissertation introduce and evaluate entrepreneurship as a career choice for the formerly incarcerated population in the United States, by studying the antecedents and economic and social impacts of entrepreneurship for formerly incarcerated individuals. The first essay examines whether entrepreneurship is a response to labor market discrimination for formerly incarcerated individuals and establishes entrepreneurship as a route to achieve economic and social reintegration. I take advantage of a quasi-experimental setting using the staggered implementation of the “Ban-the-Box” policy in the United States to disentangle the underlying mechanism of how labor market discrimination affects formerly incarcerated individuals in their entrepreneurial choices. The findings suggest that formerly incarcerated individuals, especially those who are African American, are pushed into entrepreneurship due to the discrimination they face from employers. Yet, I also find that entrepreneurship is a viable alternative career choice for formerly incarcerated people, yielding higher income and lower recidivism rates. The second essay investigates the long-term impacts of entrepreneurship on subsequent employment outcomes for the formerly incarcerated population. This essay argues that entrepreneurship will benefit formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs in subsequent employment outcomes, because entrepreneurship provides a positive signal of commitment and fit to potential employers. Results suggest that, compared to formerly incarcerated individuals without any entrepreneurial experience, those with entrepreneurial experience have an increased likelihood of securing employment, regardless of actual entrepreneurial success. This is particularly true for formerly incarcerated individuals who are high school dropouts or racial, suggesting that entrepreneurship provides long-term benefits to those who are especially lacking in other positive credentials and, thus, are the most stigmatized by employers. The third essay studies the entrepreneurial barriers that formerly incarcerated individuals face in starting their businesses and the implications of such barriers on entrepreneurial outcomes. I find that formerly incarcerated individuals are far less likely to gain access to capital from financial institutions or the government compared to similar non formerly incarcerated individuals, having to rely on personal savings or capital from family and friends. This barrier to gaining resources from financial institutions is more pronounced for African American or Hispanic formerly incarcerated individuals. Furthermore, I find that such barriers to entrepreneurship negatively impact the ventures that formerly incarcerated individuals found regarding the industry, longevity, size, and legal form. These findings provide implications to understanding how such barriers to entrepreneurship can inhibit the role of entrepreneurship as an alternative pathway for discriminated individuals to achieve upward mobility and integration.

The purpose of the present study is to understand how interpersonal and structural ethnic stigma uniquely and collectively confer risk for adverse mental health outcomes in Latinx individuals living in the U.S. Employing a minority stress mediation framework with 639 self-identified Latinxs, the current study utilized manifest and latent variable correlations and latent variable structural equation modeling to examine distal stressors (interpersonal ethnic stigma, structural ethnic stigma) as predictors of mental health outcomes (psychological distress, psychological well-being), with proximal stressors (expectations of stigma, internalized stigma, perceptions of structural stigma) and a general psychological process (rumination) as potential mechanisms through which stigma experiences confer mental health risk. Findings were mixed in terms of their support for study hypotheses. Overall, results indicate that a minority stress mediation framework is applicable with a Latinx population. Interpersonal ethnic stigma yielded direct and indirect associations with proximal stressors, psychological processes, and mental health outcomes, and both proximal stressors and psychological processes emerged as potential pathways through which stigma experiences confer risk. However, associations among structural ethnic stigma and study variables were mostly nonsignificant. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical practice, education of mental health practitioners, and immigration policy, along with limitations and future directions.

Hispanic college students are more at risk of poor academic performance and dropping out than any other racial group. The Hispanic college population continues to grow, yet rates of retention and achievement for this group continue to decline. Previous research on Hispanic college students has examined factors that contribute to underachievement and declining graduation rates, but they are limited to students attending 4-year institutions. This study examined if grade point averages (GPAs) were affected by levels of self-efficacy, resiliency, and sensation seeking. Bandura's self-efficacy and social cognitive theories along with Zuckerman and Kuhlman's theory of sensation-seeking were the theoretical frameworks that guided the present study. Hispanic students with high levels of self-efficacy were expected to have higher GPAs than students with low levels of self-efficacy. Students who were high sensation seekers were hypothesized to have lower GPAs than low sensation seekers. Lastly, it was hypothesized that sensation-seeking behaviors would be correlated with lower GPAs and lower levels of self-efficacy. The resiliency aspect 'coping with stress makes me stronger' was a significant predictor of GPA. Sensation-seeking activities such as roller coaster riding, sex before marriage, and skiing were shown to correlate with lower GPAs. College self-efficacy did not have a relationship to Hispanic community college students' GPAs. These findings may be important to educators, administrators, and others directly involved in promoting student success in college because students at risk for low academic performance and dropping out of college can be identified earlier and therefore early intervention strategies can be implemented.