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There is a growing awareness that the condition of the built environment has a substantial impact on health. Systematic housing conditions surveys are a method for developing information about the physical condition of housing. This paper introduces the Center for Economic Information's (CEI) Neighborhood Housing Conditions Survey (NHCS). We discuss the history and implementation of the NHCS in light of other academic and civic housing conditions surveys. The paper also reviews the history and method of the NHCS. We find that housing conditions surveys are generally designed from scratch for each new research program, translating survey results into policy remains underdeveloped in the scholarly literature, and heterogeneity between surveys reduces the ability to compare observations across space and time. The NHCS may address some of these issues, suitable as an "off the shelf" template, adjustable to suit programmatic needs, and providing a baseline consistency across space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erving Goffman has a reputation as an intellectual maverick who did not fit neatly into any disciplinary mold. His failure to adhere to professional conventions and occasionally off-putting demeanor are mentioned as an aside that has little to do with his oversize influence on the science of society. This paper advances a thesis that Goffman's status as the most cited American sociologist and widespread influence across social science is related to his principled refusal to fit his scholarship into prevailing scholarly canons. The argument is made that Goffman shared with his mentor, Everett Hughes, misgivings about the narrow professional focus in contemporary sociology, that his cross-disciplinary approach advanced social inquiry beyond its traditional confines, and that his colloquial style and penchant for long essays helped disseminate his ideas. The discussion starts with an overview of Goffman's professional career, after which it moves to the reception of his ideas by fellow sociologists and the impact of his work on neighboring disciplines. The study draws on the interviews, correspondence, and other documents assembled in the Erving Goffman Archives, as well as on several social science citation indexes and datasets illuminating Goffman's stature in various fields of scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to comprehensively examine the effects of societal and individual characteristics on work-related attitudes, specifically work commitment and work orientations, using a single dataset and comparable models. It also seeks to relate these attitudes to classic theories and understand how societal factors shape work-related attitudes. The analysis is based on data collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in its work orientations survey. Data is analyzed using factor analyses, correspondence analyses, and multilevel regressions. The paper provides an overview of work-related attitudes at the country level and a detailed analysis of societal and individual variables that shape these attitudes. The results indicate that individual attitudes reflect large societal trends and developments, which are discussed with reference to current studies and classic theories. This paper contributes to understanding work-related attitudes by offering a comprehensive analysis of the effects of societal and individual characteristics, using a single dataset and comparable models. It also relates these attitudes to classic theories and discusses how societal factors shape work-related attitudes. The findings also have policy implications, particularly in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified and motivated workers in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many contradictions in previous studies of the status of depressive symptoms among Chinese migrant children, the number of which in the compulsory education stage is about 13.9 million. This systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to compare depressive symptoms among migrant children and their urban children. Around 2,710 papers were retrieved from PubMed, OVID, the Web of Knowledge, CNKI, Wan Fang, Chongqing VIP, and Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index on January 27, 2020. Thirty-Two studies met study criteria with 14,906 migrant children and 10,792 urban children. Migrant children scored significantly higher for depressive symptoms score (SMD = 0.307, 95% CI [0.222, 0.393]). Region significantly influenced the difference of depressive symptoms between migrant children and urban children. Large effect sizes came from studies using scales that focus on depressive mood while studies using scales that focus on depressive behavioural symptoms had small effect sizes. Future research should focus on treatments to decrease depressive mood of migrant children. Future studies can add information about the length of their current stay in the urban location to improve the quality of study. PROSPERO registry: Systematic review registration no. CRD42018090676. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings reflexivity into conversation with debates about positionality and live sociology to argue for reflexivity to be reimagined as an enduring practice that is collaborative, responsible, iterative, engaged, agile and creative. We elaborate our argument with reference to examples and contemplations drawn from our experiences researching what Brexit means for Britons living in the EU-27 for the BrExpats research project, which was informed from the outset by reflexive practice. We outline three (of a number of) potential strategies for engaging in reflexive practice: reflexive positioning, reflexive navigating and reflexive interpreting or sense-making. We acknowledge that these are not separate actions in practice but are conceptually distinguishable aspects of an ongoing reflexive practice, informed by our understanding of the cognitive relationship between reflexivity and practice theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to an increasingly complex mixture of different types of public spaces and their functions in cities, the role of public spaces can be enhanced to serve users under certain circumstances. This paper examines Carmona's classification of urban spaces in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia. Carmona introduces a classification that uses aspects of function, perception, and ownership to distinguish between space types. Twenty urban space types are recognized in four groups, representing a variety from clearly public to private space. The classifications of public spaces will be discussed to arrive at classifications for public spaces based on how public spaces are managed. The article builds an understanding of how such classifications relate to how real public spaces are provided today. In this case study, a Geographic Information System (GIS) map is created for Al-Baha Central District and includes the resulting classifications. From the 119 urban spaces selected to represent this study equally distributed across the study area, there are 12 types that public spaces match Carmona's classification. The classification of urban spaces for this case study revealed the complexity of public spaces' nature and the difficulty of distinguishing what is public. Public spaces tend to change and develop over time through other uses and activities. However, the classification of public spaces is a valuable tool that policymakers and planners can use to set comprehensive development plan programs and plan open space strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active transportation modes such as walking and biking are gaining popularity for their extensive health and environmental benefits, yet scholars know little about how place-based accessibility varies by area sociodemographic composition. This study is among the first to examine sociodemographic disparities (by both race and socioeconomic status) in bikeability while allowing for heterogeneity in disparities. Consideration of bikeability disparities is particularly critical within the framework of urban planning concepts that promote equitable accessibility and reduced dependency on automobiles, such as the 15-minute city. Geographically Weighted Regressions examined associations between census tract-level bikeability (using an index that combines five components), socioeconomic status, and percentage non-White residents (controlling for age of structures in tracts). Findings showed that the strength and directionality of associations between bikeability and race/socioeconomic status varied throughout the county, providing targeted information on where greater concentrations of low socioeconomic status and non-White residents were associated with lower bikeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the returns (measured by hourly earnings) to education, experience, and social networking in India using individual-level panel data from the India Human Development Surveys. We combined the two latest waves of this survey using individual-level identifiers to generate a balanced panel and merged it with various household characteristics. We provide estimates of private returns for an additional year of education and experience by consumption quintiles, gender, caste, and religion in a fixed-effects Heckman model that controls for selection bias. This methodology improves upon estimates of all earlier studies on earnings in India, as most of the literature has relied on cross-section data or pseudo-panel data. We also examine the impact of social networking on earnings, which is under-explored in nationwide studies in India. We find that education significantly and positively affects earnings for all consumption quintiles, gender, caste (except schedule castes), and religious groups. Among economic groups, the highest returns are observed for the third quintile above the poverty line. Returns to females for an additional year of education are nearly double that of males but the difference in starting earnings keeps earnings of males higher for long periods. Among the castes, scheduled castes have the highest returns to education and other minorities among religious groups. Social networking positively impacts males, Hindus, and the quintile just above the poverty line. Experience positively impacts women's earnings, general caste and scheduled caste, Hindus and Other minorities and two consumption quintiles (two and five) above the poverty line. Plain Language Summary: Impact of Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion Purpose: Enhancing human capital is critical for India's development. It would help overcome existing labor market hierarchies based on economic class, gender, religion, and caste. We study the impact on private earnings of (a) an additional year of education and experience, and (b) social networking. Methods: We use an individual level panel dataset assembled from the two latest rounds of the Indian Human Development Survey (I&II). Our Heckman type earnings equation controls for selection bias. Results: An additional year of education increased earnings between (a) 2.4% and 8.8% among different consumption quintiles (b) 3.7% for males to 5.2% for females, (c) 1.5% (STs), to 5.9% (SCs), and (d) 2.3% (Muslims), to 9.9% (Other Minorities). Experience increased earnings of two economic groups, females, the General and Scheduled castes, and of Hindus and Other Minorities. Social networking increased earnings of males, Hindus, and one economic quintile. Conclusions: Higher marginal returns to education for females justifies greater investment in women's education. Lower returns on education among STs and Muslims indicate the need for affirmative action for these groups. The positive returns to education for the poor suggests that anti-poverty programs in combination with educational opportunities for the less privileged would meet the goals of social justice. Implications Better education (SDG4) would help achieve gender equality (SDG5), and social justice for marginalized (economic, caste and religious) groups (SDG1, SDG10). Limitations: We were unable to account for ability bias. Stratification by state and sector would provide better estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Finnish Labour Force Surveys merged with register-based follow-up data, we analyzed how different characteristics of part-time work predict employees' and entrepreneurs' employment trajectories in an 8-year follow-up. We analyzed careers by the length of weekly working hours and the reason for part-time work, that is, childcare, studies, health, part-time pension, other voluntary choice, or if full-time work was not available (involuntary part-time). We applied sequence analysis to define work career clusters based on the continuum of spells spent in different labor market statuses, that is, in upper and lower white-collar, manual, or entrepreneurial employment, unemployment, studying, pensioned, or inactivity. According to the results, involuntary part-timers have a significantly higher probability of entering the unemployment trajectory than full-time workers. Those working part-time hours due to care responsibilities were also more likely to face frequent periods of unemployment, whereas part-time work combined with studies was associated with stable white-collar trajectories. Our results also show that weakened labor outcomes following marginal part-time jobs associate with disability retirement instead of unemployment later in time, most probably determined by ill health. Therefore, we suggest further studies to consider marginal part-time workers' health as the determinant of weakening career outcomes. Overall, our results highlight the need to improve part-time working conditions, a concern that organizations like the OECD have also raised. This improvement could reduce the risk of unemployment, promote health, extend work careers, and consequently increase the employment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "childless" is highly problematic. Attempts to split it into "voluntary" and "involuntary" may appear to give more detail on context, but the differentiation can be misleading. The condition of "-less" has negative connotations and implies "missing" something; possibly something which is "natural." The term "childfree" has been employed as an alternative expression which denotes active choice, freedom, and emancipation. Few studies, however, have explored how individuals refer to themselves, or how they interpret—or even care—about these distinctions. Such existing studies only explore the use of these English expressions among speakers of English as their primary language. This exploratory qualitative study explores how women without children define themselves in their native language in an Asian setting—Cantonese in Hong Kong. It also explores how such women interpret the various terms developed in English to describe their circumstances. Respondents refer to themselves in neutral, factual terms—literally "without children." Others make an explicit link between being unmarried and childless status. While respondents find the English expression of "childfree" positive, they do not express a strong need to either deploy it in English, nor "develop" a Cantonese equivalent. The study provides further evidence that "labels" generated and applied by academics in one context and in one language may not be universally applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunization is considered one of the most cost-effective public health interventions for reducing childhood morbidity, mortality, and disability globally. However, while global achievement of over 70% coverage rates was sustained in 1990s, wide variations exist between and within countries. In some developing countries, immunization rates increased substantially, but in sub-Saharan Africa, immunization rates plummeted, leaving millions of children vulnerable to life-threatening diseases. In Nigeria, coverage rates for routine immunization for all antigens still fall below 50%. The study examined the overall influence of household vulnerability dimensions, maternal health practices on childhood immunization status in Nigeria. The study used secondary data from 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS). The analytical weighted sample size was 5,824women of reproductive ages (15-49 years) with a live birth in the past 3 years, whose children were within age 12 to 23 months at the time of the survey. The data was analyzed using frequency distribution, chi-square test, and binary logistic regression. The results showed a decreasing regional variation in the proportion of fully immunized children from high of 23.6% in South-West, to a low of 9.1% in North-East. The overall household vulnerability status showed that children in more and most vulnerable households were 62% (OR = 0.38; p<.001; CI [0.32-0.46]) and 89%less likely (OR = 0.11; p <.001; CI [0.08-0.14]) to receive full vaccination compared with their counterpart in non-vulnerable households. The study revealed significant relationship between mothers': (i) number of antenatal visits (OR = 1.66; p<.05; CI [0.25-1.77]); (ii) quality of antenatal care (OR = 2.61; p<.05; CI [1.45-4.67]); (iii) place of delivery (OR = 0.62; p<.05; CI [0.45-0.86]); (iv) assistance during delivery (OR = 0.41; p<.001; CI [0.28-0.57]); (v) time of postnatal check (OR = 1.81; p<.001; CI [1.49-2.19]) and full childhood immunization status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracies are consequential and social, yet online conspiracy groups that consist of individuals (and bots) seeking to explain events or a system have been neglected in sociology. We extract conspiracy talk about the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter and use the biterm topic model (BTM) to provide a descriptive baseline for the discursive and social structure of online conspiracy groups. We find that individuals enter these communities through a gateway conspiracy theory before proceeding to extreme theories, and humans adopt more diverse conspiracy theories than do bots. Event-history analyses show that individuals tweet new conspiracy theories, and tweet inconsistent theories simultaneously, when they face a threat posed by a rising COVID-19 case rate and receive attention from others via retweets. By contrast, bots are less responsive to rising case rates, but they are more consistent, as they mainly tweet about how COVID-19 was deliberately created by sinister agents. These findings suggest human beings are bricoleurs who use conspiracy theories to make sense of COVID-19, whereas bots are designed to create moral panic. Our findings suggest that conspiracy talk by individuals is defensive in nature, whereas bots engage in offense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction positions the special issue by highlighting the inherent relationality of place as well as how place is not just an object of analysis but something that shapes thinking, writing and experiences of the world. We reflect on why sociology has found it somewhat more difficult than its social science counterparts to give place the centrality it merits, and discuss whether this reflects a problem with dealing with questions of 'scale' and thinking the 'in-betweenness' of place. We assess important formulations of place in recent place theories, including non-essentialist framings of place such as 'progressive' and as 'assemblage'. We make a case for seeing the articles in this special issue (and Thesis Eleven 's own long history of publishing writing on the topic of place) as resonating with the themes of place as materiality, atmospheres and spaces of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an introduction to the 20th Anniversary Special Issue of the Journal of Classical Sociology. It begins with some brief observations on the key developments that have shaped the disciplinary core of sociology over the past decades. It goes on to reflect on the role of classical sociology in Europe and beyond, drawing attention to its continuing presence in British and Anglo-American intellectual circles. Far from existing in a bubble of academic ivory towers, the paradigms emerging from disputes in the social sciences in general and in sociology in particular are profoundly shaped by wider historical trends – notably those influenced by different forms of collective action, as illustrated in the impact of social movements on the university sector in the late 1960s. In light of recent calls for 'the decolonization of academia', we ask to what extent sociology can, and should, strive to go beyond the hegemony of the 'Western' canon. Having given a succinct overview of the 20-year history of JCS, we elucidate the different formats of the material published in the journal, stressing the importance of editorial flexibility. On a more substantive note, we point out that the thematic scope of the work published in JCS has been wide-ranging and inclusive – not only because of its editors' broad conception of 'classics' and 'classicality', but also because of the interdisciplinary spirit permeating the journal. This commitment, as we explain, manifests itself in the wide range of thinkers and topics discussed – from a multiplicity of perspectives – in the journal. We also grapple with noteworthy challenges posed by the academic publishing industry in the early 21st century, including the difficulties arising from peer-review processes. Finally, we express our gratitude to those who have contributed to this 20th Anniversary Special Issue and emphasize the journal's commitment to defending the legacy of classical sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]