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Translation That Transforms: Leadership and the Working Poor
Author(s) -
Mills Steven D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12275
Subject(s) - sophistication , population , context (archaeology) , scarcity , certification , public relations , psychology , public economics , economics , political science , sociology , management , paleontology , social science , demography , biology , microeconomics
Translational science, at its core, is about knowledge making a positive difference in the well‐being of others (Evans, 2012). This article explores how student attitudes, beliefs, and actions toward impoverished and working poor Americans were influenced by a data‐ and experience‐driven understanding of this population. The context is an undergraduate course called ADE 4930: Leadership and the Working Poor, a 3‐credit, service‐learning course requiring students to become Internal Revenue Service–certified tax preparers and provide 40 hours of free tax preparation assistance to the working poor. Students translated empirical evidence and data offered by ADE4930 through three primary applications: (a) behavioral guidance related to tax preparation and the Earned Income Tax Credit, (b) attitudinal shifts about poverty related to structural disadvantages and the psychological impact of scarcity, and (c) social policy sophistication related to political compromise and the complexity of personal experience.