Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Sociology

Socioeconomic status (SES) and health research often ignores heterogeneity related to individual social mobility. While trends in social mobility are well-documented, the health consequences of social mobility, including causal mechanisms and confounders, remain poorly understood. To address this gap in the literature, this dissertation examines SES and social mobility status variation in three interrelated set of health outcomes after accounting for multiple sources of confounding bias including adolescent health status, cognitive skills, height, personality, and physical attractiveness using longitudinal data from the Add Health study (n=13,937). In chapter 2, I consider how SES and mobility affect stress exposures, social resources, and personal resources. I examine variation in four measure of stress exposures (including stressful life events and economic hardship), eight measures of social resources (including perceived social isolation and number of friends), and four measures of personal resources (including sense of mastery and optimism). I use diagonal reference models to explore variation in these stress process outcomes across immobile persons and to compare socially mobile persons to the immobile in their origins and their destinations. I find that higher SES immobile persons report more favorable stress process profiles than lower SES immobile persons. I also find that socially mobile persons stress process outcomes often, but do not always, resemble the immobile in their new destination SES position. In chapter 3, I examine how SES and mobility affect risky health behaviors. I examine variation in 8 measures of health behaviors including fast food and sugary beverage consumption, preventive physical and dental healthcare use, physical activity, and tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Diagonal reference models are used to explore differences in these measures of risky health behaviors across immobile persons and to compare socially mobile persons to th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Hui Zheng (Committee Chair); Vincent Roscigno (Committee Member); Christopher Browning (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2017, History

Through textual analysis and mapping of 1790s published travel accounts, this project examines how lower class individuals utilized the growing British Empire to expand their societal status and travel opportunities. Modeled on early novels of the mid-eighteenth century such as Robinson Crusoe and Pamela, these supposedly “true” travel accounts showed their protagonists using personal connections, patronage, and employment to overcome adversity and rise socially. Individuals demonstrated mobility through their public image, dress, and speech. Passing for middle class was difficult, although often achievable through education, conduct, and finances. A publicly available interactive map in ArcGIS Online was created. It shows the routes of travel, characteristics of the travelers' social status, and quotations from the primary sources, allowing them to be compared. The interactive map was built from the travel accounts descriptions of their travels, social status, financial status, and employment through manual data entry. The map is designed to be accessible and appealing to a broad public, enlarging the audience beyond specialists in digital humanities.

Committee: Renee Baernstein Dr. (Advisor); Lindsay Schakenbach Regele Dr, (Committee Member); Robbyn Abbitt Mrs. (Committee Member) Subjects: British and Irish Literature; European History; Geographic Information Science; Geography; History; Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1958, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2023, College of Education and Human Services

Urban ethnic churches across the nation continue to be beacons of light in communities throughout the United States. The people within have endured the same centralized struggles found in every impoverished urban neighborhood, be it crime or gentrification. Many, like the millions of Latinos across America, find respite in belonging to ethnic spaces where they can preserve parts of their cultural identities as they navigate the duality of their culture, what it means to be Latino, while navigating acculturation, what it means to be American. Whether they are immigrants, English Language Learners, or second-and-third-generation Latinos, the meaning-making found in faith-based affinity groups, like ethnic churches, where faith and ethnicity intersect, can serve as a source for understanding leadership and social mobility among minority groups. The leaders of these communities, or pastors, have a unique ability to function as transformational leaders, gatekeepers of social capital, and agents of social and economic advancement in addition to their role as spiritual leaders. This hermeneutic phenomenological study conducted in the Midwest region of the United State States, questions whether urban pastors perceive themselves as social and economic transformational agents, and how keen they are on discovering the meaning-making that happens within the walls of their often small but mighty congregations. When urban Latina/o pastors and their churches discover the intersection of their ethnic and religious identity and their ability to use their social capital through trust (Coleman, 1988), networks (Bourdieu, 1986), and resources (Putman, 2000), they may not only empower their congregations spiritually but also socially and economically.

Committee: Frederick Hampton (Advisor); Steven Sanders (Committee Member); Mary Frances Buckley-Marudas (Committee Member); Katherine Clonan-Roy (Committee Member) Subjects: Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans; Regional Studies; Religion; Spirituality; Theology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1968, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Education and Human Services

This dissertation focused on understanding high school students' perception of the goals of education as they relate to those of policymakers, as these perceptions have largely been absent in the dialogue of education reform and policy. These goals may compete with each other, as do broader educational goals, reflecting different societal views of the purpose of education. Understanding students' perception of the goals of education (as framed by the goals of policymakers) may provide greater insight into current policy, and serve as a compass in directing future reforms that is inclusive of all stakeholders involved in this complex system. Using David F. Labaree's (1997a, 1997b, 2010) construct of the competing goals of education (democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility) as a theoretical framework, three research questions were examined through a quantitative design: to what extent do students identify with each of the competing goals of education? to what extent do students' course of study and grade point average (GPA) relate to each of the competing goals of education? and to what extent do students' GPA and the competing goal with which students most strongly identify with predict membership in course of study? This study employed chi-square analysis, multivariate dimension reduction factor and scale reliability, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and multinomial logistic regression as the statistical methods. Version 22.0 of Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Survey results indicated that students most strongly identified with the goal of social efficiency, followed by the goals of district stakeholders, democratic equality and social mobility. There was no statistically significant relationship between students' course of study and GPA, and the competing goals of education. The results from the multinomial logistic regression suggested statistically significant predictive value (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Galletta Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Brian Harper Ph.D. (Committee Member); Helen Liggett Ph.D. (Committee Member); James Moore Ph.D. (Committee Member); Paul Williams Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Sociology

The democratization of credit introduced consumer loans, particularly in the form of credit cards, to an increasing number of American households. Despite the salience of this financial resource, stratification researchers have yet to explore whether or not households use consumer credit as a financial resource to aid their children's status attainment. The prevailing assumption about consumer credit is that it is a liability that subtracts from a household's ability to accumulate resources. In this dissertation, I instead conceptualize consumer debt as a valuable financial resource that allows parents an additional means of investment in their young adult children. Because I expect resources to create cumulative advantage, I measure parents' consumer credit use over a 30-year span to understand how their histories of indebtedness influence their ability to invest in their children during young adulthood. I argue that parents' consumer credit use allows parents provide financial support for their young adult children which extends their adolescence and protects them from financial hardship during early adulthood. During this extended adolescence, young adults whose parents use consumer debt, I argue, will be more likely to pursue a college education and graduate with a Bachelor's degree. I find that parents' consumer debt meaningfully influences their young adult children similar to my expectations. When parents use consumer debt over time, they are more likely to financially provide for their young adult children. The advantages their children see from this financial investment also makes them more likely to enroll in college and graduate with a Bachelor's degree. Moreover, when parents have a history of not carrying consumer debt over time or historically carry low balances, I find their children are significantly less likely to receive help with educational expenses, are less likely to enroll in or graduate from college, and are more likely to experience finan (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rachel E. Dwyer PhD (Advisor); Robert L. Kaufman PhD (Advisor); Claudia Buchmann PhD (Committee Member); Zhenchao Qian PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, Oberlin College, 1966, Sociology

As introduction we have chosen to focus primarily on two issues encountered in the definition of the scope of the study. In chapter one the contributions and limitations of theory and research in the field of social stratification are reviewed. The synthesis of this chapter leads to a more general discussion of assumptions in the second part of the introduction. The postulates which are reviewed define both the philosophical biases and the level of generalization at which conclusions may be accepted. In the second and major part of the thesis we dissect the theory behind each of the major variables and discuss the particular modifications which are incorporated into the research instrument. The chapter on reference groups is particularly long and detailed for several reasons. From the outset, it was apparent that the phenomenon we desired to measure was not that commonly considered under the rubric "reference group." Two other concepts, role model and identification are also explored. Their utility for the particular sociological problem was considered, and their limitations are carefully noted. The outcome of this literature search is the series of operational measures of reference group employed in the study. Hopefully, it is more carefully delineated than it has been in past usage. Chapter four, on design and major hypotheses, summarizes the methodological strategy developed through review of similar studies. The three major hypotheses provide a focal point for preliminary analyses of the results. The third part of the thesis is an initial description of the data. They present the simple relationships between academic achievement and the salient characteristics of reference groups (taken ad seriatum) in graphic form. Several interesting configurations in the data are revealed by this particular form of presentation. Each of them is briefly explored for its potential in explaining the pattern of achievement. The summary and conclusion of the study are contained in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kiyoshi Ikeda (Advisor); George Simpson (Advisor) Subjects: Social Research; Sociology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1965, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

The significant influx of immigrants into the United States over the past several decades has transformed higher education. This growth is largely driven by immigrant parents who push their children towards this pathway, captured by such narratives as the “immigrant drive” and “immigrant bargain,” as well as parent-child interdependency most common among young adults with two immigrant parents, which can become a tension-creating process. Beyond intergenerational expectations, siblings may also be meaningful for educational mobility. Specifically, and in this thesis, I analyze whether intrageneration dynamics benefit younger siblings through, for instance, the sharing of knowledge about college, or undercut educational aspirations and attainment owing to resource dilution within families. My discussion draws upon prior work on immigrants, kinship ties, and brokering, and my analyses use data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). Results provide more support for the resource dilution perspective. Specifically, the overall number of siblings and just having an older sibling negatively impact both aspirations during high school and eventual college going and completion. Such effects diminish somewhat once SES and family context are accounted for in the modeling. I conclude by discussing my most central findings and calling for richer data collection on immigrant populations—data collection that is more exhaustive in capturing key aspects of family, including sibling interaction, as well as educational experiences and vulnerabilities.

Committee: Vincent Roscigno (Committee Co-Chair); Rin Reczek (Committee Member); Reanne Frank (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1966, Sociology

Committee: Eldon E. Snyder (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Kinesiology

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) progression represents a leading cause of mobility disability for older adults in the U.S. Being overweight or obese is a primary modifiable risk factor. It is recognized that lifestyle intervention represents an integral component of disease management efforts. However, following primary intervention, significant weight regain and behavioral recidivism is common. The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to explore the temporal relationships between key social cognitive determinants of lifestyle behavior and determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of virtually- delivered extended care contacts for improving weight loss and behavioral maintenance. Study I: Dynamics of Self-Efficacy, Goal Commitment, and Self-Regulation was a mediation analysis of extant data from the 18-month, Collaborative Lifestyle Intervention Program in knee OA patients (CLIP-OA) trial (M [SD] age = 65.4 [7.3]; M [SD] BMI = 35.1 [6.5] kg/m2). Self-efficacy (SE), goal commitment (GC), and self-regulation (SR) for PA were measured at 6, 12, and 18-month follow-up. Path analysis using bias- corrected bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals (CI) revealed the effect of 6-month SE on 18-month SR was partially mediated by level of GC at 12 months (β = 0.053, 95% CI = 0.028, 0.085), controlling for age, explaining 32.4% of the total effect. Study I provides evidence supporting hypothesized temporal relationships among key determinants of PA adoption and adherence in overweight and obese knee OA patients. Study II: The CLIP-OA Expansion Pilot Trial was a 6-month, two-arm, randomized, controlled pilot trial examining two schedules of virtually-delivered, group- mediated cognitive behavioral (GMCB) extended care contacts in a subsample of participants from CLIP-OA (n = 32; M [SD] age = 66.2 [6.1]). Upon completing 18 months of CLIP-OA, participants were allocated to receive either traditional (i.e., monthly; TRAD; n = 16), or 2, 3-week clusters of contacts (CL (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Focht (Advisor); Carla Miller (Committee Member); Jeff Volek (Committee Member); Jerome D'Agostino (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Behavioral Sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Experiments; Health Sciences; Kinesiology; Social Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2021, Applied Behavioral Science: Criminal Justice and Social Problems

I measure the stickiness of social mobility in terms of meritocratic assumptions through the first-known Meritocracy-Based Stickiness Measure of Mobility (MBSMoM) using mobility transition matrices and assumptions based on Full Meritocracy (FM) and Lack of Meritocracy (LM). I develop the Simple Stickiness Measure of Mobility (SSMoM) and the Weighted Stickiness Measure of Mobility (WSMoM). In addition, I create the MBSMoM which is calculated from mobility transition matrices of intragenerational, intergenerational, and multigenerational correlations using various measures of status including education, occupation, class, consumption, income, and wealth. Utilizing mobility transition matrices employed by plethora of studies, MBSMoMs are calculated as a percentage between SSMoMs or WSMoMs under assumptions of FM and LM. The MBSMoM is a standalone measure and is interpreted as the percentage between outcomes under FM and LM assumptions. I calculate MBSMoM values for 92 mobility matrices from 22 previous studies of mobility and report individual and group results.

Committee: Chigon Kim Ph.D. (Advisor); Jacqueline A. Bergdahl Ph.D. (Committee Member); Barbara E. Hopkins Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Sociology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 0, Civil Engineering

The spread of the COVID-19 from the end of 2019 has reached to epidemic level and become a global public health crisis. During this period, the responses for COVID-19 were highly diverse and decentralize across countries and regions. Understanding the dynamics of human mobility change at high spatial temporal resolution is critical for assessing the impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as stay-at-home orders, regional lockdowns, and travel restrictions) during the pandemic. Use a High resolution (HR) satellite image data provided by Planet Scope from November 2019 to Sep 2020 to capture traffic density trends in vehicle movement patterns for multiple cities around the world, this research is further evaluated how mobility patterns change in response to COVID-19 exposure. By developing a novel method combining radiometric correction, road mask generation, and morphological based vehicle detection, the study aims to capture traffic pattern from the satellite images with the resolution of 3-meter. Though varies by degrees, the result shows the traffic volume was significantly dropped in multiple cities after the exposure of COVID-19. This study strongly supports the social distancing as a non-pharmaceutical intervention is capable to mitigate COVID-19 transmission. Since the model has the capability to surveil traffic pattern at a high spatial-temporal resolution, it can support more timely policy making around social distancing at a small geography scale and inform future public health or planning decision making.

Committee: Rongjun Qin (Advisor); Lei Wang (Committee Member); Desheng Liu (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geotechnology; Remote Sensing

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Sociology

This study analyzes class origins, social mobility and educational and occupational trajectories among Germans citizens using the National Educational Panel Study adult cohort survey (N=9,099). Relative to one's origins, and using ordinal logistic modeling techniques, I first analyze the educational pathways that individuals of distinct social background tend to follow. Social origins matter, and significantly, for if and where one graduates, with respondents of the highest social origins graduating from the university and individuals of the lowest social origins attending the least prestigious education options. Secondly, my analyses interrogate the labor market implications of these patterns, focusing specifically on respondents' eventual occupational status and income levels. Generally, social mobility relative to one's parents only appears to occur for individuals with mid-tertiary degrees, but not for degrees of higher or lower prestige. This U-shaped relationship between social origins, education, and occupational destinations, recently seen in research from France and the United States, likewise appears to be prevalent in Germany despite unique economic and education structures. The bulk of my results point to some reproduction of existing inequalities within higher education and an important interaction between origins, career development and occupational trajectories that should be of interest to researchers and policymakers alike.

Committee: Vincent Roscigno (Advisor); Natasha Quadlin (Committee Member); Eric Schoon (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2018, Sociology

Despite approximately 48% of adults ages 25-64 in 2014 reporting some form of intergenerational educational mobility (OECD 2014), relatively little is known about how changes in upward or downward educational mobility across generations may impact health and well-being, and how these effects vary across racial groups. Integrating theories from social mobility and medical sociology, this research draws on a nationally representative sample from the General Social Survey (N=32613) and utilizes novel statistical techniques to isolate the health consequences of intergenerational educational mobility. Results demonstrate detrimental health consequences of downward mobility, and that downward mobility is more consequential to the subjective health of whites while it is more detrimental for the mortality risk of blacks. Results also show that while upwardly mobile whites come to resemble the health of those whites in their new social class, upwardly mobile African Americans have higher mortality risk than the cumulatively advantaged African Americans in their new social class. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the health impact of changes in socioeconomic position (SEP) across generations, and how the health advantage/disadvantage of early life SEP varies across race.

Committee: Hui Zheng (Advisor); Kammi Schmeer (Committee Member); Christopher Browning (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Sociology

A central question in criminology is the degree to which adult transitions are sources of stability or change throughout the life course. Transitions in the form of marriage and employment are said to represent turning points for those most prone for a life course of persistent offending, as such experiences 'knife off' a criminal past. Few studies, however, have considered college completion as an adult transition capable of redirecting one's criminal trajectory. Moreover, research largely assumes that any attainment represents a positive turning point, but whether transitions like educational attainment really are positive depends on how these resources compare to prior generations, such as those of one's parents. The study of social mobility broadens our understanding of socioeconomic attainments by encompassing continuity and change within the life course, as certain achievements may be indicative of stability while others may represent a change – either positive or negative. For instance, obtaining a high school diploma may symbolize a positive turning point for those who grew up in poverty, while similar achievements for those from a higher social class may reflect a loss in social status if it is not followed by further educational attainment. Drawing on theories of social mobility, strain, and relative deprivation, I analyze the relationship between educational mobility and crime using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). First, I examine the relationship between educational mobility (i.e., one's own achieved education in relation to parents' attainment) and various types of crime (i.e., instrumental crime, violent crime, and illegal drug use). Next, I investigate how gender and race/ethnicity moderate the association between educational mobility and crime. Finally, I assess the concern of selection into educational mobility pathways via propensity score analyses, with the purpose of accounting for the confoun (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Raymond Swisher Ph.D. (Advisor); Gregory Decker Ph.D. (Other); Jorge Chavez Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stephen Demuth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Danielle Kuhl Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1978, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1973, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Sociology