James Roebuck, ABD

My research is two-fold. The first tends to focus on culture. I am currently working on my dissertation which proposes a new method for examaning musical genres. Specifically, I am using techniques from the field of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) to extract features from musical samples. I am then relating the formal socioacoustic properties of sound to the social world.

The other thread focuses on adolescence. Through my current position as research specialist, I have worked on numerous projects which involve researching issues associated with at-risk youth. Moreover, my current position has afforded me the opportunity to work in the field of applied research, and I have honed my skills as a data manager, survey researcher, and program evaluator.

Before coming to graduate school, I was a subsitute teacher in California. I taught grades 4 up through high school. Upon coming to the UA, I had the opportunity to lead discussion sections and be a TA for numerous courses. I have taught Soc101 during the summer, and I currently teach Introduction to Sociology (101) via correspondence.

My other occupational hazards include web development and design. I am somewhat of a self-described 'geek.' I enjoy computers and programming in my spare time.

Selected Publications/Presentations

Graduating The Cyfar Initiative: National Results Of Round Two Of The Organizational Change Survey. January 2002
Sherry C. Betts, Donna J. Peterson, And James Roebuck.

Master’s Thesis: “Composing the Orchestra: Linking Gendered Imagery of Musical Instruments with the Sexual Division of Labor in US Symphony Orchestras.”

“Postmodernism and the Possibility of Science: An Empirical Test of Textual Multivocality.” James Roebuck and John Sonnett. Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association, San Diego, 2000.

Report on Tucson’s Homeless Population 1997-1998” Prepared by David A. Snow, James Shockey, James Roebuck, Timothy Bartley, and Melissa Fry.