California State University (CSU): Open Journal Systems
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Employee Empowerment and Employee Satisfaction in the Workplace
Get PDFOrganizations adapt different strategies or methods for managing their labor forces. Every discussion of management of labor compels analysis within the framework of schools of thought in the field of Organizational Sociology, Industrial Organizational Psychology, and Organizational Management. This study evaluates a healthcare organization’s efforts derived from Humanistic Management and coordinated through its Human Resources department to improve workforce morale. The study’s hypothesis contends that employee empowerment positively affects employee satisfaction levels. The empirical findings support this hypothesis. In addition, the findings reflect that employee empowerment has a stronger effect over employee satisfaction than other variables including employees’ salaries. This study’s findings have major significance for corporations given the steadfast globalization of the economy. Employee empowerment may offer organizations an invaluable tool in their quest for organizational competitiveness
Change in Progress
Get PDFThis paper explores the beginnings of the movement of the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual & Transgendered community (GLBT). By analyzing pioneers such as Henry Hey, Dr. Evelyn Hooker and Harvey Milk, and also by revisiting events such as the stonewall riots, the paper illustrates the social stigma that the GLBT community has been enduring.
Also, by exploring institutionalized discrimination, a better understanding of the adversity that some people face can be reached
Authority and Conformity: Does it Deter or Motivate Deviance in a Work Setting?
Get PDFTraditionally, sociological theories are concerned with criminal behavior being traced to ones socioeconomic status, race, and gender. Other theoretical frameworks also mention the distribution of wealth and resources as factors inherently linked to the motivation of criminal behavior. However, most of these theories fail to describe the role of authoritative figures in affecting people’s behavior. This paper will discuss how individuals are influenced by authoritative figures and their own rational choice to commit acts of deviance. Questions included in this research assess whether or not people would execute orders at the behest of their superiors. Overall, this research proposal looks to examine the role of authoritative figures in influencing people’s ability to make decisions and behave in a certain way
Letter from the Editors
Get PDFThis is a letter from the editors of the California Sociology Forum Student Journal of Sociology Volume 5 Spring 2023
Generalizing the German Tank Problem
Get PDFThe German Tank Problem dates back to World War II when the Allies used a statistical approach to estimate the number of enemy tanks produced or on the field from observed serial numbers after battles. Assuming that the tanks are labeled consecutively starting from 1, if we observe k tanks from a total of N tanks with the maximum observed tank being m, then the best estimate for N is m(1 + 1/k) - 1. We refer to an estimate as "best" when the estimate is closest to the actual number of tanks. We explore many generalizations; first, we looked at the discrete and continuous one-dimensional case. We attempted to improve the original formula by using different estimators such as the second largest and Lth largest tank, and applied motivation from portfolio theory by seeing if a weighted average of different estimators would produce less variance; however, the original formula, using the largest tank proved to be the best; the continuous case was similar. Then, we looked at the discrete and continuous square and circle variants where we pick pairs instead of points, which were more complex as we dealt with problems in geometry and number theory, such as dealing with curvature issues in the circle, and the problem that not every number is representable as a sum of two squares. In some cases, when we could not derive precise formulas, we derived approximate formulas. For the discrete and continuous square, we tested various statistics, but found that the largest observed component of our pairs is the best statistic to look at; the scaling factor for both cases is (2k+1)/2k. For the circle we used motivation from the equation of a circle; for the continuous case, we looked at the square root of X2+Y2 and for the discrete case, we looked at X2+Y2 and took a square root at the end to estimate for r. Interestingly, the scaling factors, a number, generally a little greater than 1, that we multiplied to scale up to get our estimation, were different for the cases. Lastly, we generalized the problem into L-dimensional squares and circles. The discrete and continuous square proved to be similar to the two-dimensional square problem. However, for the Lth dimensional circle, we had to use formulas for the volume of the L-ball, and had to approximate the number of lattice points inside it. The discrete circle formula was particularly interesting, as there was no L dependence in the formula
The Importance of [Non]Identification
Get PDFEmily Aguilar and Taylor Marty discuss how their combined teaching strategies transformed an international, ESL, Latinx, and first-generation college student’s experience in the first-year writing classroom. Not only did their teaching strategies contribute to a sense of belonging for their student and immense academic growth from the student, but they also demonstrated the importance of teaching by listening, with and without a need for understanding and identifying with a student’s background
Who am I?
Get PDFThis is a personal narrative of Gary Reynolds, a first-generation Ph.D. student at Durham University. This narrative outlines Reynolds’ struggle with overcoming early life experiences to achieve his ambition of gaining a Ph.D. at an elite higher education university in England. Reynolds discusses how issues such as early childhood trauma, crime, drug use and homelessness have impacted his life and how these experiences have shaped who he is today. This narrative concludes with Reynolds explaining how he has used these experiences as a positive influence in his studies and why he feels this makes him and other first-generation scholars valuable additions to the higher education system. Content Advisory: This narrative contains content that may be upsetting to readers
Infusing Mindfulness Practices in University Pilates and Yoga Courses
Get PDFBackground: Mindful self-compassion practices (MSCP) are a type of contemplative exercise akin to mindful meditation. Yoga and Pilates are two movement-based mindfulness activities that have been linked to an assortment of desired mental and physical outcomes. However, there is a dearth of empirical inquiry for which MSCP has been combined with yoga or Pilates in an effort to promote stress reduction. Even less is known about using MSCP with yoga or Pilates in higher education settings, as most of the previous research using these meditation techniques has been conducted in clinical settings.
Purpose: The aim of this qualitative case study was to determine the perceived benefits from combining MSCP with a yoga and Pilates course at a university.
Methods: Two college courses served as the bounded case for this exploratory, qualitative study. Two instructors and 26 college students volunteered to participate. Data were collected and triangulated through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and written essay assignments. Analysis of the data consisted of constant comparative method, open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Trustworthiness was established through prolonged engagement, data triangulation, peer debriefing, thick and rich description, and an audit trail.
Findings: Four major themes emerged from the data corpus and a metaphor of a tree created: 1) Roots—trial and error: discovering pedagogical implications for delivering MSCP; 2) Trunk—students define self-compassion; 3) Flowers—tools for self-compassion; & 4) Fruits—benefits of MSCP.
Implications: Combined, the emerging themes illustrate that students utilized MSCP, breathing techniques, and yoga/Pilates to relax, reduce stress, and cultivate self-compassionate thoughts and feelings toward self and others. Outcomes from these types of courses and mindfulness practices may prove beneficial in similar educational settings or even K-12 schools