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With humor and empathy, Mark Edwards's handbook provides undergraduate and early-career graduate students guidance in sociological writing of all kinds. Writing in Sociology offers unusual approaches to developing ideas into research questions, utilizing research literature, constructing research papers, and completing different kinds of course writing (including case studies, theory papers, and applied social science projects). New chapters in the Second Edition offer insights into giving and receiving effective peer review and presenting qualitative research results. By focusing on how to think about the goals and strategies implicit in each section of a writing project this book provides accessible advice to novice sociological writers.

Objective. Elaborating on conventional explanations for rapid employment growth of married mothers of preschoolers, I propose that pursuit of home ownership contributed to this trend differently in different decades since 1950. Methods. Measuring husbands' income in terms of mortgage qualification and using logistic regression analysis of pooled Current Population Survey data to estimate trends standardized for compositional change, I compare hypothetical with observed trends since 1970. Results. Declining ability of husbands' income to qualify for mortgages and rising educational attainment of mothers explains the post‐1970 accelerated employment growth for preschoolers' mothers. By the 1980s, other influences have greater relative effects on young mothers' employment. Conclusion. Home ownership contributed to slower growth in preschoolers' mothers' employment through the 1950s and 1960s, raising standard‐of‐living expectations. Declining affordability in the 1970s inspired even more rapid growth. Pursuit of prescribed standards of living has increasingly motivated families to embrace dual‐earner work and family arrangements.

Objective. Elaborating on conventional explanations for rapid employment growth of married mothers of preschoolers, I propose that pursuit of home ownership has contributed to this trend differently in different decades since 1950. Methods. Measuring husbands' income in terms of mortgage qualification & using logistic regression analysis of pooled Current Population Survey data to estimate trends standardized for compositional change, I compare hypothetical with observed trends since 1970. Results. Declining ability of husbands' income to qualify for mortgages & rising educational attainment of mothers explains the post-1970 accelerated employment growth for preschoolers' mothers. By the 1980s, other influences have greater relative effects on young mothers' employment. Conclusion. Home ownership contributed to slower growth in preschoolers' mothers' employment through the 1950s & 1960s, raising standard-of-living expectations. Declining affordability in the 1970s inspired even more rapid growth. Pursuit of prescribed standards of living has increasingly motivated families to embrace dual-earner work & family arrangements. 1 Table, 3 Figures, 39 References. Adapted from the source document.

Communities all rely to some degree on residents to serve in and lead the local organizations that make those communities vital. Recognizing barriers experienced by specific groups helps community leaders identify why various groups do not participate. Using data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey, this analysis examines perceived barriers to community involvement among individuals in rural and urban areas. Findings are generally consistent with earlier research into volunteer behavior, but, among several unexpected findings, we note that parents and employed people are more likely to lack the information they think they need, and minority group members, net of other characteristics, feel unwelcomed and ineffective. Patterns sometimes differ for rural and urban places, particularly when comparing men and women. The results highlight barriers that community leaders can seek to reduce and suggest areas where further place-based research could be beneficial.

Abstract  Economic and demographic changes in rural areas continue to introduce big‐city problems in small towns. These communities' ability and willingness to respond are likely to be influenced by the geography, culture, and array of organizations in rural places. But how these characteristics of rural places shape local response is hard to predict and as yet unexplored. This article reports data from interviews with social‐service providers and homeless youth in a rural county in the northwestern United States, drawing insights from both groups about the challenges of providing social services in rural places. Findings about drug use, sexual abuse and prostitution in rural communities illustrate how aspects of a rural context can influence the way small towns address social problems.

Objective. We estimate a model of social‐psychological determinants of entry into Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the primary cash welfare program in the United States until 1996. Methods. Using information from the youngest cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate logit models of the probability of ever participating in AFDC and hazard models of the timing until first use of AFDC. Results. We find strong associations between welfare use and several attitudes and personality characteristics, but with two exceptions, most of the associations are not robust to the inclusion of exogenous background characteristics. There is consistent, strong evidence that positive attitudes toward school lower the likelihood of using welfare and increase duration until first receipt. Family background and social environment characteristics show strong robust effects. Conclusions. Our results point to relatively weak evidence for the hypothesis that individual attitudes in adolescence have a significant impact on initial welfare receipt.

Objective. We estimate a model of social-psychological determinants of entry into Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the primary cash welfare program in the US until 1996. Methods. Using information from the youngest cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate logit models of the probability of ever participating in AFDC & hazard models of the timing until first use of AFDC. Results. We find strong associations between welfare use & several attitudes & personality characteristics; however, with two exceptions, most of the associations are not robust to the inclusion of exogenous background characteristics. There is consistent, strong evidence that positive attitudes toward school lower the likelihood of using welfare & increase duration until first receipt. Family background & social environment characteristics show strong robust effects. Conclusions. Our results point to relatively weak evidence for the hypothesis that individual attitudes in adolescence have a significant impact on initial welfare receipt. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

Using data from the youngest cohorts of women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study constructs Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) histories starting at age 15. Most young women go on AFDC for the first time between ages 18 & 25 & do so in the first few years after the birth of their first baby. These histories are used to estimate models of the determinants of initial use of AFDC. The models provide mixed evidence that the financial or other incentives of welfare policy affect the likelihood & timing of AFDC use. Benefit levels do not seem to affect participation, but the presence of a program for medically needy families who are not on welfare appears to decrease entrance to welfare for some groups. Parental poverty, family structure, academic achievement, attitudes toward school, & race are significantly related to the likelihood of participating in AFDC, & the rate of entry. 6 Tables, 2 Figures, 31 References. [Copyright 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.]