Journal of Applied Social Science

Driven by the dual goals of training students to apply their research skills in a community setting and providing much needed research to local community and governmental agencies, three social science professors created a center to conduct community research. This address details the steps used to build clientele in the community and discusses how to integrate applied research with academic expectations. Three major issues are addressed. The first consists of building relationships with community entities to acquire the necessary opportunities for research and, in so doing, for finding the program. The second involves educating faculty colleagues and university administrators to provide institutional support for community research. The third concerns developing applied courses with minimal faculty that meet the academic demands of a university, while protecting the privacy needs and meeting the time constraints of community clients. Several outcomes attest to the success of this endeavor. These include an integrated undergraduate/graduate program in applied research; city agencies that make data-based decisions and contact the Center for program evaluations, population projections, needs assessments and data collection; and, shared respect and stronger relationships between the university and community.

Issues in the application of sociological theory to practice in the control, prevention, and treatment of criminal and delinquent behavior are reviewed. The validity of the distinction between applied and pure sociology in the case of criminology is questioned. Application of theory occurs not only in the formal criminal justice system but also in the informal system of private and public practice directed toward criminal and deviant behavior. Moral and ethical values are necessarily implicated in any policy or practice, as illustrated in a hypothetical program for segregation and insulation of youth for delinquency prevention. An outline, with some examples, of what would be involved in reviewing the application of theory to the control, prevention, and treatment of criminal or delinquent behavior and the implications of practice for theory is given.

In light of the increasing emphasis on the use of instructional technology in higher education, sociology graduate students need to become conversant with instructional technology and its pedagogical implications. Yet, the literature on graduate instructor training has almost completely neglected this issue. This paper directly addresses this important pedagogical issue. After a discussion of the benefits of instructional technology training, we describe how to integrate training in instructional technology into graduate training programs in sociology. Our discussion offers specific suggestions for incorporating instructional technology training throughout the instructor training process. Our recommendations focus on helping graduate students employ effectively instructional technology and to become conversant with its pedagogical implications.

The use of triangulated research designs is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in applied sociology and evaluation research. There is a substantial amount of literature on triangulated research methods, particularly in the fields of social research methods and nursing. This paper examines the uses of the concept of triangulation in applied sociological research. It does so first by reviewing uses of the term in various applied contexts. We then turn to whether and how the information derived from multiple methods is actually integrated by the applied researcher. Finally, we discuss the importance of triangulation for the quality of work in the field of applied sociology.

This study examines the innovativeness of Iowa community economic development director change agents. Change agents such as economic development directors are employed by communities because of their expertise and assumed enthusiasm for innovation and change. Telecommunications innovations are being widely promoted in helping America's rural communities overcome some factors that historically have handicapped small and remote communities maintain economic viability. But achieving the utility of these technologies in local development is dependent upon leadership from the economic development directors to help communities acquire, implement, and fully exploit them. We hypothesize that change agents will be more innovative in using telecommunications technologies with greater exposure to information about the technologies. Findings reveal significant variation in the innovativeness of these change agents and that recent information and experience with the technologies are particularly important in their use by the economic development directors.

Previous research by Borgeson and Valeri (2004) suggests that individuals may not recognize the intolerance of hate web sites. The present study examines the impact of content-warning notices on both an individual's ability to detect the intolerance of a hate site and the specific target of a hate site.