Stephen J. Sills

Dr. Stephen Sills is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department of the University of North Carolina Greensboro teaching in the Global Social Problems concentration. His scholarship includes research on the feminization of labor migration, transnational identity, and social networks. His recent projects have included studies of transnational Mexican communities, Filipino factory workers in Taiwan, and homeless youth in the United States. All of his current projects incorporate the methods of visual sociology including photo elicitation, photovoice, visual ethnography, and production of collaborative video documentaries. Dr. Sills holds a PhD in Sociology from Arizona State University with concentrations in Methods and Globalization. While attending Arizona State he took an advanced course on Visual Methods from Eric Margolis, current president of the International Visual Sociologists Association. This course led him to his first documentary project in 2002 entitled Street Life.

There are 9 included publications by Stephen J. Sills :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Becoming an OFW: Renegotiations in Self-Concept Among Filipino Factory Workers in Taiwan 2008 5541 This study focuses on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan and probes into how their migration experiences shape self construction. Data for the study came from surveys, key informant interviews, Twenty Statement Tests (TST), and observations i...
Consistency-based Compliance across Cultures 2007 3832 A field study investigated cross-cultural differences in choice-congruent behavior and its impact on compliance. U.S. and Asian participants received a request to complete an online survey and a month later they were approached with a larger, related...
Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Drug Norms and Drug Use Among Preadolescents in the US Southwest 2004 2861 This article reports the results of research exploring how ethnicity and ethnic identity may "protect" adolescents against drug use and help them form antidrug use norms. This study was conducted in 1998 and is based on a sample of 4364 mostly Mexica...
Informal economic activity: Early thinking, conceptual shifts, continuing patterns and persistent issues - a Michigan study 2006 6728 In this paper we review theoretical perspectives on the informal economy that developed during the period 1958–1992. We describe shifts in thinking in two phases that we identify as =first wave studies‘ and =second wave studies,‘ and we identify a se...
Innovations in Survey Research: An Application of Web-Based Surveys 2002 10077 The rapid expansion of Internet users has given Web-based surveys the potential to become a powerful tool in survey research. As an application of this technique for gathering data, the International Student Survey was designed to explore factors tha...
“Maquilapolis.” Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre, dirs. (Film Review) 2007 3517 A review of the film “Maquilopolis” (city of factories), produced and directed by Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre.
Social Capital and the Experience of Prejudice, Aggression and Discrimination among Immigrants, US-Born Minorities, and Whites in Greensboro, NC. 2011 2379 Immigrants experience a myriad of pressures in accessing resources and negotiating culture that other city populations typically do not experience. At the same time, immigrants report use of unique protective factors, or behaviors and conditions that...
Ties That Protect: An Ecological Perspective on Latino/a Urban Pre-Adolescent Drug Use 2002 2979 An ecological risk and resiliency framework was applied to explore how social contexts, especially the role of families and schools, are affecting Latino/a pre-adolescent substance use in the urban Southwest. A mixed research design, using both quant...
Transnational Migration and Work in Asia [book review] 2009 1207 A Review of Transnational Migration and Work in Asia edited by Kevin Hewison and Ken Young.