Sociology

Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Research Conference

Related Links

• American Sociological Association
• Alternative Breaks
• Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
• Rural Sociological Society
• Society for the Study of Social Problems
• Child Trends

The Annual Mary Lou Fulton Mentored Research Conference is a full day event designed to showcase mentored student learning.  It is an opportunity for students to present and explain their research to the public and their peers.  The fourth annual conference took place on April 3, 2008, and students from all departments in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences were invited to attend and participate.  Some of these posters are still on display outside of the Sociology department office (2008 JFSB).  The following are just a few examples of some of the projects that were submitted by sociology undergraduate and graduate students.

For more information on this event, please go to the Mary Lou Fulton Chair website.

		Rebecca Gray.  In her project, Rebecca evaluated whether the OUT (On-Unit Treatment) program at the Utah County jail was effective in helping participants remain drug free and crime free after release.  She completed this through Sociology 481, with Drs. Stephen Bahr and Bert Burraston as her mentors.
		Mimose Francois.  In her project, Mimose discovered that interracial adoption has become more prominent as the availability of white babies has declined.  Also, interracial adoption has become more common as international adoptions have increased.  This project was completed with Dr. Marie Cornwall as her mentor.
		Jennifer Mendoza.  Shown here with Jonathan Morgan, Jennifer has found that couples initiate pregnancy and child birth at a higher rate over time if the wife has health insurance available to her through her husband's insurance policy.  Previous research suggested that one reason women return to employment after child birth may be because the family relies on her for the health insurance policy.  This project was completed with the help of Dr. Marie Cornwall.
		Keith Osai. In his project on Summer of Academic Refinement, Keith found that attending college preparation programs such as SOAR helps students better prepare for college and the scholarship process, which can lead to higher graduation rates.  Also, SOAR did not seem to have a significant impact on graduation rates among multicultural students.  This, among other findings, were helped in part by Dr. Cardell Jacobson (his mentor on the project). Katy Tindall. In her project, Katy found that an English-speaking ability is positively associated with personal income for foreign-born Hispanics in Utah.  Other factors included sex, post-high school educational attainment, and year of entry.  Her mentor on this project was Dr. Charlie Morgan.
		Kelsey Harmon & Allysha Snow (left, middle).  In their project (along with Kara Bernard, Brad Brown, and Scott McNairy), Kelsey and Allysha found that although employed women report slightly higher self-esteem, this positive association is no longer significant after controls are introduced.  However, higher wages and a greater education were linked with increased self-esteem. Krista Frederico (right). In her project (along with Ashley Mollerup and Marianne Turner), Krista did content analysis on more than forty years of advertisements and articles in Seventeen magazine.  While they found less aspiration towards marriage over time, emphasis on romantic relationships that were not assumed to end in marriage persisted.  Also included in the analysis were an increase in occupational aspiration with jobs in the entertainment industry, a focus for education as a frame to promote beauty and fashion, as well as an almost non-existent presence of non-white models and article subjects.  Mentoring for this project was Dr. Mikaela Dufur.