Clayton graduated from St. Benedict’s Prep. He was born and raised in Newark, New jersey. The passion to explore this topic was ignited when he read Richard’s Wright novel Native Son. Wright mentioned how when people are denied basic control over their own life, it can manifest in negative forms such as crime. Clayton wanted to test this correlation empirically using the statistical tools he learned in this class. Also, Clayton is considering being a government major.
Abstract: The objective of this study was to see if low expectations and depression was linked with delinquency. Moreover, the sample consisted of about 6,500 adolescents in 7th to 12th grade from socioeconomic and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Most of the literature focusing on low expectations, depression, and delinquency focus predominately on urban and African American communities. After combining variables different variables for low expectation, depression, and delinquency, different statistical analysis tests was ran on these variables. The statistical analysis showed that low expectation and depression is associated with delinquency, but it is unclear whether it is a negative or positive association. This correlation is important because the United States has one of the highest rates of juvenile delinquency among developed countries. If there is a clear association between the three variables mentioned above, then the justice system could help the juvenile delinquents in different ways other than punishment.
I’m Max and I am a first-year student here at Wesleyan. I’m from New York City and I’m considering a major in psychology. I’m interested in optimism because I consider myself a fairly optimistic person, and I want to see if this optimism has any real effect on whether or not I achieve my goals.
Abstract: It is a well known fact that our world consists of optimists, who tend to hope for the best, and pessimists, who tend to expect the worst. This project explored the association between optimism and goal achievement using data from the General Social Survey (GSS). It was discovered that there is a significant positive association between optimism and goal achievement, meaning the more optimistic someone is, the higher their rate of goal achievement is expected to be. Even after controlling for potential confounders, including age, yearly income, and effective goal pursuit, the relationship was still significant.
The link doesn’t work unless you copy and paste it in the search bar.
Dove Bonjean-Alpart
Hi everyone! I’m a first-year student at Wesleyan from Brooklyn, NY. I’m still undecided about my major but I’m considering pursuing either Psychology or Neuroscience as well as minors in IDEAS and French. Outside of class, I wrestle and play chess. I look forward to sharing my presentation with everyone.
Abstract: This study analyzes the relationship between political involvement and consequential awareness of racial inequality in the United states using the Outlook on Life survey from 2012. The survey included 2,294 respondents randomly sampled from around the U.S. This study operationalizes “political involvement” as a binary categorical response with “1” indicating that the respondent answered “no” both to whether they attended a voter registration drive in the past two years and to whether they attended a protest demonstration in the past two years. The category “2” indicates that the respondent had participated in at least one of the two forms of political involvement. My response variable is a scale from 1-5 based on respondents accordance (strongly disagree – strongly agree) with several provocative statements such as “discrimination against blacks is no longer a problem in the U.S”. I studied this relationship across respondents level of education based on their highest level of schooling (middle school-graduate school). The results indicate that participants who had been politically involved received a higher score on the scale of awareness of racial inequality. Education level also helped to explain this relationship by indicating that higher levels of education were also associated with higher scores on the scale.
Keywords: Racial Inequality, Political Involvement, Education, Protest
Hayes is a sophomore student that majors in Computer Science and Government at Wesleyan University. He’s studying data analysis, software and product development to build multiple social enterprises in the future. In 2020 so far, Hayes pitched two business ideas competitively and created a demo for an educational STEM game* targeted to elementary students.
Abstract: A lack of renewable energy and energy efficient (RE3) policies in the Unites States has contributed to faster erosion for infrastructure and habitable land in the United States. Previous research has demonstrated that state politics have an influence over voter perceptions of proposed legislation. However, these investigations have focused on longitudinal analyses of general information; there was no connection established to RE3 policies–critical information that could inform lawmakers on what solutions their citizens support. We used data from the 2017 National Survey on Energy and the Environment (NSEE), a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized adults in the U.S. Using this survey, we gathered information related to (a) region residency and (b) political party affiliation to determine what connections existed between these variables and the support of RE3 policies. Despite earlier predictions, there was no association found between region residency and average support for RE3 policies. These findings indicate that while some regions hold varying views around renewable energy solutions, there is not enough evidence that their political views influence them further.
Keywords: climate, energy, efficient, policy, United States, state, renewable, region, political party
Video/Audio Component: (Optional) – You can delete this section if you don’t use it
Sara Parmet is a freshman at Wesleyan University from Westchester, New York. She hopes to major in Science in Society.
Abstract:
On average, children of divorced parents are less likely to be well-adjusted socially, emotionally, and academically than children whose parents remain together. One issue that is seen more in children of divorce is alcohol use disorders. The connection between parental divorce and the development of alcohol use disorders in children has only recently been explored. Based on current literature, there is clear evidence that parental divorce or separation is a significant predictor of offspring developing an alcohol use disorder. However, it is unclear whether the age of the offspring at the time of separation has any significance. The goals of my study were to establish the relationship between parental divorce or separation and the development of alcohol use disorders in offspring and determine whether that relationship strengthens depending on the age of the respondent at the time of divorce.
I am Sophomore and Science and Society Major and Environmental Studies Minor. My coursework, which thus far has been concentrated in sociology, neuroscience, and the ways in which the two fields interact within society, as long with my various work experiences, have catalyzed my interest in Health Studies. I am particularly fascinated in the ways in which social determinants can create barriers to health care access.
Abstract: Access to comprehensive healthcare insurance is necessary for maintaining a healthy, livable life. However, social determinants, like race, criminal records, and employment status, as well as the cost of private coverage, make the fundamental human need of healthcare a privilege. This project explores the ways in which race and criminal record status create barriers to healthcare access. Through analyzing the Addhealth Wave 4 codebook, it is apparent that there is a significant association between said variables and those who are black, unemployed and have a criminal record are more likely to not have insurance than to have it.
Ashley is a Government and English double-major from Massachusetts. She loves to read literature and theory texts, write, and learn about the various aspects of American politics. On-campus she is passionate about immigration rights and BIPOC issues and is active in groups such as Wesleyan Refugee Project, where she is an IRAP Co-Coordinator, as well as Wesleyan Dreamers and Allies.
One of the facets of the so-called “American Dream” often connotes a better quality of life with pursuing education. That is to say, higher education is the key to climbing the socioeconomic ladder for anyone in the U.S.. However, race, gender, predisposed socioeconomic backgrounds, etc., have proven to halt equal opportunity for individuals because of their identities. This project zooms in the Outlook On Life survey and examines the gender effect within a radicalized context as it explores the role gender plays when exploring the relationship between Black adults’ education level and their income. The findings of the study suggest that a Black adult’s education level plays a major role in determining their personal annual income. Despite there being income differences between the genders alone, gender overall has no effect on income when considering the various levels of education.
It is necessary to study how parental relationships can have lasting effects on children. When relationships between adults and children struggle, there can be subsequent effects on the children subject to this behavior. One study concluded that interpersonal violence had a direct effect on bullying, another found that 97% of the bullies were also victims themselves indicating a clear correlation between the victim becoming the perpetrator. This statistical analysis will examine the relationship that parental neglect can have on adolescents to see if there are any similarities.
(she/her) From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Lincoln is a junior at Wesleyan where she majors in Government with a minor in Religion. She’s a captain on the Wesleyan Mock Trial Team, and hoping to go to law school after graduation. She has three cats and a dog at home, whom she loves very much.
Abstract: As recent research hasn’t looked into the ways various forms of political participation affect a person’s outlook on the future, this study aims to investigate the possible relationship between being a member of a political organization, group, and/or movement and an how an individual imagines the future of the country, the economy, and their own life. Using data from the Outlook on Life Survey conducted in 2012, this research project asks “Is there an association between membership in a political organization and optimism about the future?” and considers the possible moderating effects of a person’s political party affiliation within this association.
Emily is a freshman at Wesleyan from New York City. She is a prospective Economics and Psychology double major and is also interested in pursuing the international relations minor. Aside from academics, she is a part of Wesleyan’s Investment Group, the EduMate NYC tutoring program, POC Pre-Law Society, and Wesleyan’s Outing Club.
Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well being. It is well established that depression is linked with poorer sleeping patterns among adolescents as well as young adult groups, and that those who experience poor sleep are more likely to experience poor mental health issues later on in their lives. This study uses a nationally representative sample, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ADDHEALTH), to study the relationship between depression and sleep problems in order to determine whether those respondents with depression are more sensitive to the development of sleep problems. It’s important to study this relationship so that those disorders associated with poor sleep quality can be diagnosed and treated, bringing relief to those who suffer from them.
A sample of the fourth wave of ADDHEALTH which consisted of an in home interview survey based on 15,701 original Wave I participants ages 24 to 32 was used in which respondents reported how often they had trouble falling and staying asleep, as well as whether they had felt depressed during the past 4 weeks to answer the following two questions:
Does depression make adults (ages 24 to 32) more sensitive to the development of sleeping problems?
Does the association between depression and sleep problems differ for individuals’ depending on their living quarters?
Overall, the results suggested that depression in adults of ages 24 to 32 does play a pivotal role in worsening their sleep quality and mental health. Bivariate testing, which modeled sleep problems by depression, revealed that respondents with depression were significantly more likely to have a sleep problem compared to those who don’t. However, a multivariate test that controlled for respondents’ living quarters, revealed that there was no longer a relationship between the two variables but that living quarters is then a potential explanation for why respondents’ have depression. On this basis, the concept of depression should be taken into account when designing customized plans for those individuals with bad sleeping patterns alongside factors like those individuals’ work schedule, living quarters, diet, and medical issues in attempts to improve their overall mental health.
