Digital Commons Network^™

Re-Spatializing Gangs: An Exponential Random Graph Model Of Twitter Data To Analyze The Geospatial Distribution Of Gang Member Connections, Ryan J. Roberts

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Gang studies often use location-based approaches to explain gang members’ interconnectedness. Although this perspective remains consistent with the proximity principle that the smaller the geographic space, the greater the likelihood of observing connections between individuals, location-based studies limit our understanding of gang member connections to narrowly defined geographic spaces at specific points in time. The advent of social media has re-spatialized gang member interconnectedness to unbounded geographic spaces, where the preservation of online activity can extend indefinitely. Despite having an online presence, most research examining the digital footprint of gangs tends to be descriptive. This study collects Twitter data to …

The Technology Transfer Network Dynamic In The Information Technology Industry Of Yucatan, Mexico, Francisco Cima, Pilar Pazos, Ana Maria Canto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The present paper explores the technology transfer linkages among universities, research centers, and private companies in Yucatan, Mexico's information technology industry. Social network analysis (SNA) was used as a method to identify the structural characteristics of the technology transfer collaborations, and the changes in the patterns of interactions among institutions over the years. Data were obtained from the National Council for Science and Technology repository (CONACYT). Associations formed to enhance technology advancement and innovation practices between 2010 and 2018 were analyzed in this study. Network transitivity, the patterns of triadic configurations, and heterophily were compared to uncover the evolution of …

Society Doesn’T Owe You Anything: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas & Video Games As Speculative Fiction, Marc A. Ouellette

English Faculty Publications

Since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, popular and scholarly commentators have been looking for speculative and/or dystopic literary works that might provide analogues for the Trump-era. Perhaps the most famous of these was the renewed popularity of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In this regard, though, video games remain an underexplored fictional form. With its exaggerated and parodic satire of an America ruled by the corruption and greed of extreme right-wing populism, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) offers a speculative fiction that players can enact as well as imagine and simulate as well as prepare. Thus, reading the …

Understanding The Impact Of Encrypted Dns On Internet Censorship, Lin Jin, Shuai Hao, Haining Wang, Chase Cotton

Computer Science Faculty Publications

DNS traffic is transmitted in plaintext, resulting in privacy leakage. To combat this problem, secure protocols have been used to encrypt DNS messages. Existing studies have investigated the performance overhead and privacy benefits of encrypted DNS communications, yet little has been done from the perspective of censorship. In this paper, we study the impact of the encrypted DNS on Internet censorship in two aspects. On one hand, we explore the severity of DNS manipulation, which could be leveraged for Internet censorship, given the use of encrypted DNS resolvers. In particular, we perform 7.4 million DNS lookup measurements on 3,813 DoT …

Ssentiaa: A Self-Supervised Sentiment Analyzer For Classification From Unlabeled Data, Salim Sazzed, Sampath Jayarathna

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In recent years, supervised machine learning (ML) methods have realized remarkable performance gains for sentiment classification utilizing labeled data. However, labeled data are usually expensive to obtain, thus, not always achievable. When annotated data are unavailable, the unsupervised tools are exercised, which still lag behind the performance of supervised ML methods by a large margin. Therefore, in this work, we focus on improving the performance of sentiment classification from unlabeled data. We present a self-supervised hybrid methodology SSentiA (Self-supervised Sentiment Analyzer) that couples an ML classifier with a lexicon-based method for sentiment classification from unlabeled data. We first introduce LRSentiA …

Detecting Incentivized Review Groups With Co-Review Graph, Yubao Zhang, Shuai Hao, Haining Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Online reviews play a crucial role in the ecosystem of nowadays business (especially e-commerce platforms), and have become the primary source of consumer opinions. To manipulate consumers’ opinions, some sellers of e-commerce platforms outsource opinion spamming with incentives (e.g., free products) in exchange for incentivized reviews. As incentives, by nature, are likely to drive more biased reviews or even fake reviews. Despite e-commerce platforms such as Amazon have taken initiatives to squash the incentivized review practice, sellers turn to various social networking platforms (e.g., Facebook) to outsource the incentivized reviews. The aggregation of sellers who …

Assessment Of Cooking Matters Facebook Platform To Promote Healthy Eating Behaviors Among Low-Income Caregivers Of Young Children In The United States: A Pilot Study, Qi Zhang, Jill Panichelli, Leigh Ann Hall

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

How best to deliver healthy-eating education through social media among a low-income population remains understudied. To assess the impact of the Cooking Matters (CM) Facebook page on healthy eating behaviors among low-income caregivers, we conducted a pre–post survey of new CM Facebook followers in early 2020. A convenience sample was recruited at baseline from WICShopper app users and the CM Facebook page. The recruited sample included 397 low-income caregivers of a child younger than 6 who never followed CM Facebook. Among the baseline caregivers, 184 completed the follow-up survey. Paired t-test and McNemar–Bowker tests were conducted to compare the outcomes …

Internet Memes: Leaflet Propaganda Of The Digital Age, Joshua Troy Nieubuurt

English Faculty Publications

Internet memes are one of the latest evolutions of “leaflet” propaganda and an effective tool in the arsenal of digital persuasion. In the past such items were dropped from planes, now they find their way into social media across multiple platforms and their territory is global. Internet memes can be used to target specific groups to help build and solidify tribal bonds. Due to the ease of creation, and their ability to constantly reaffirm axiomatic tribal ideas, they have become an adroit tool allowing for mass influence across international borders. This text explores the link between internet memes and their …

Ranking Influential Nodes Of Fake News Spreading On Mobile Social Networks, Yunfei Xing, Xiwei Wang, Fang-Kwei Wang, Yang Shi, Wu He, Haowu Chang

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Online fake news can generate a negative impact on both users and society. Due to the concerns with spread of fake news and misinformation, assessing the network influence of online users has become an important issue. This study quantifies the influence of nodes by proposing an algorithm based on information entropy theory. Dynamic process of influence of nodes is characterized on mobile social networks (MSNs). Weibo (i.e., the Chinese version of microblogging) users are chosen to build the real network and quantified influence of them is analyzed according to the model proposed in this paper. MATLAB is employed to simulate …

A Sociological Perspective On Pidgin's Viability And Usefulness For Development In West Africa, Victoria M. Time, Daniel K. Pryce

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This essay examines the viability and usefulness of pidgin for development in West Africa. Pidgin in West Africa has endured as a unifying medium of communication among people who do not share a common language. It has been lauded as a neutral language that facilitates trade, commerce, and everyday dealings among people of all walks of life. Some have proposed supplanting English, which is the official language in most of the West African countries where the use of pidgin is prevalent, with either pidgin or some other indigenous language. Contrarians, however, consider pidgin to be a limiting factor, in that, …

Critical Media Literacy And Black Female Identity Construction: A Conceptual Framework For Empowerment, Equity, And Social Justice In Education, Petra A. Robinson, Ayana Allen-Handy, Kala Burrell-Craft

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the issues of knowledge production, which interrogate and disrupt dominant narratives that subjugate Black females related to their identity. We contextualize our discussion through the lens of critical consciousness and critical media literacy by exploring the role of popular media in identity development/imposition for Black females. We outline issues of Black female identity politics by framing them through the description of critical media literacy as a 21st century literacy, with Black Feminist Theory as our theoretical lens. Similar discussions have remained centered in the field of Media Studies and there has been inadequate attention to these issues …

Lights, Camera, Activity! A Systematic Review Of Research On Learner-Generated Videos, Bridgette Shade Epps, Tian Luo, Pauline S. Muljana

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Aim/Purpose

The current literature discusses the use and benefits of learner-generated videos (LGVs). However, it rarely addresses any correlation between the types of subjects that are best suited for using these videos or what techniques should accompany the use of LGVs.

Background

This systematic review synthesizes current literature to identify patterns and implications that develop from the use of LGVs so that their future use can be both consistent and effective. This paper also reviews the studies to establish the most consistent educational benefits that emerge from this activity.

Methodology

Employing the Preferred-Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses …

Free Asynchronous Professional Development By, From, And For Instructional Designers: How Informal Learning Opportunities Shape Our Professional Learning And Design Practices, Pauline S. Muljana, Kristen Austion, Kayla Jutzi, Lora B. Pezzell, Malgorzata (Gosia) Pytel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Instructional designers (IDs) need to maintain an understanding of the current trends and issues within the field. Pursuing professional learning informally supports IDs’ effort to keep up with current trends and issues because it is not restricted by curriculum and time. Professional development (PD) offered by Professional Development for Instructional Designers (PD4IDs) learning group can address issues related to geographical and funding limitations. This application paper presents the coordination of PD based on the conceptual framework (e.g., Community of Practice and Social Network Knowledge Construction) and reflections of several PD4IDs members with various roles. The reflections indicate the benefits of …

How Interesting Is This To You: Rating The Interestingness Of Auditory Clips, Hanna Zakharenko, James R. Unverricht, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology Faculty Publications

Modern technological environments integrate multiple devices, competing for limited attentional resources of users. This study aimed to validate the auditory stimuli used in Horrey et al. (2017) with a college student population and examine the psychological structure of task engagement. Thirty-nine students listened to thirty-nine auditory stimuli used in Horrey et al. (2017) for their level of engagement. Participants rated how interesting they found the material on a slider from -7 (boring) to 7 (interesting) while listening to each clip. Participants also rated levels of difficulty, entertainment, and likelihood to attend to each clip. Participants who rated high on difficulty, …

Image Source Identification Using Convolutional Neural Networks In Iot Environment, Yan Wang, Qindong Sun, Dongzhu Rong, Shancang Li, Li Da Xu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Digital image forensics is a key branch of digital forensics that based on forensic analysis of image authenticity and image content. The advances in new techniques, such as smart devices, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial images, and social networks, make forensic image analysis play an increasing role in a wide range of criminal case investigation. This work focuses on image source identification by analysing both the fingerprints of digital devices and images in IoT environment. A new convolutional neural network (CNN) method is proposed to identify the source devices that token an image in social IoT environment. The experimental results …

Takin' Care Of Small Business: The Rise Of Stakeholder Influence, William P. Jimenez, Xiaohong (Violet) Xu, Emily D. Campion, Andrew A. Bennett

Management Faculty Publications

In this Exchange, we consider three crucial boundary conditions that Barnett, Henriques, and Husted (2020) overlooked in their model of diminished stakeholder influence. Although we agree that social media platforms have weakened stakeholder influence in certain conditions, such is not the case for all firms, all stakeholders, or all situations. Drawing from socio-cognitive and self-determination theories, we contend that (a) independent, owner-managed small firms present a context wherein information overload is rendered less of an issue because the information about the firm is more salient to locals; (b) stakeholders can be motivated to influence firms via social media platforms, which …

Agent-Based Modelling Of Values: The Case Of Value Sensitive Design For Refugee Logistics, Christine Boshuijzen-Van Burken, Ross J. Gore, Frank Dignum, Lamber Royakkers, Phillip Wozny, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

We have used value sensitive design as a method to develop an agent-based model of values in humanitarian logistics for refugees. Schwartz’s theory of universal values is implemented in the model in such a way that agents can make value trade-offs, which are operationalized into a measure of refugee wellbeing and a measure of public opinion about how the refugee logistics is being handled. By trying out different ‘value scenarios’, stakeholders who are responsible for, or involved in refugee logistics can have insights into the effects of various value choices. The model is visualized and made usable as a platform …

I-O Can Has Meme? Using Memes To Engage Others With I-O Psychology Content, William P. Jimenez, Lisa M. Kath, Sayeedul Islam, Gordon B. Schmidt

Psychology Faculty Publications

Memes are ubiquitous, and they have become a major part of online interactions (Kitchener, 2018). Memes may be an accessible medium that organizations can use to connect with potential employees, customers, and the general public. Not only have memes been used by companies for marketing (e.g., Murray et al., 2014), but they also have been used for outreach by organizations as diverse as academic libraries (e.g., Woodworth, 2018), government influence campaigns (e.g., Zakem et al., 2018), and political campaigns (e.g., Graham, 2020). In this paper, we discuss the current state of Internet memes in the I-O psychology community as well …

Workshop #4: Public Messaging: Risk Communication For Disaster Preparedness, Evacuation, And Sheltering: After-Action Report (Aar), Converge Covid-19 Working Group, Joshua G. Behr, Wie Yusuf, Jennifer Marshall, Elizabeth Dunn

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

Participants in the breakout sessions for the CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Group’s Workshop 4 (Public Messaging) identified key issues that included the need to provide timely and effective communication to the public, increasing awareness around using shelters as a refuge of last resort, addressing the risks associated with COVID-19 exposure at shelters, and using various inclusive forms of public messaging to reach a wide audience.

Workshop participants emphasized the importance of timely and effective communications to support informed decision making. There is ongoing concern over balancing the need to communicate the risks of COVID-19 exposure as it relates to evacuation shelters …

A Feel For The Game: Ai, Computer Games And Perceiving Perception, Marc A. Ouellette, Steven Conway

English Faculty Publications

I walk into the room and the smell of burning wood hits me immediately. The warmth from the fireplace grows as I step nearer to it. The fire needs to heat the little cottage through the night so I add a log to the fire. There are a few sparks and embers. I throw a bigger log onto the fire and it drops with a thud. Again, there are barely any sparks or embers. The heat and the smell stay the same. They don’t change and I do not become habituated to it. Rather, they are just a steady stream, …

Workflow For Constructing Social Networks From Automated Telemetry Systems, Daizaburo Shizuka, Sahas Barve, Allison Johnson, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Advances in datalogging technologies have provided a way to monitor the movement of individual animals at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales, both large and small. When used in conjunction with social network analyses, these data can provide insight into fine scale associative behaviors. The variety of technologies demand continuous progress in workflows to translate data streams from automated systems to social networks, based on biologically relevant metrics.

2. Here we present a workflow for generating flexible association matrices from automated radio-telemetry data that can be parsed into both spatial and temporal dimensions. These can then be used to generate …

The Game Studies Crisis: What Are The Rules Of Play?, Marc A. Ouellette, Steven Conway

English Faculty Publications

Though no field or discipline’s historical vector presents itself as a strictly linear building of knowledge, the historical trajectory of Game Studies is problematic: certainly not linear, yet also not even multiplicious or rhizomatic. Instead, we are cyclical. Past debates often re-emerge, zombie-like, muttering the same arguments, often encased in binaries as endemic to our field as they are to the objects we study: unbridgeable disagreements on fundamental concepts; incompatible ontologies and epistemologies; incommensurability writ large. We view this as a chronic issue which has of late culminated in a crisis, exacerbated by changing institutional prerogatives championing multidisciplinary approaches and …

Searching For I-O Psychology: How Practitioners, Academics, And Laypeople Engage With The I-O Brand Online, Bo Armstrong, Gordon B. Schmidt, Sayeedul Islam, William P. Jimenez, Eric Knudsen

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Journeying Into The Well: An Autoethnography Of 35 Retreats Across Two Decades, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

In this autoethnography I narrate the story of my retreat experiences and spiritual practices at the Well Retreat Center over a span of two decades. The Well is both a geographical place in the Isle of Wright County in Virginia, and a metaphor for a spiritual journey into the inner Well of our being. I chronicle an amalgam of 35 retreats in one 24-hour retreat, narrating stories about: leaving home and settling in, dreaming and awakening, sunrise and sunset, walking in nature and walking the narrow path, discovering life behind a cracked door, and uncovering the mystery that lies at …

Medical Students' Experiences And Outcomes Using A Virtual Human Simulation To Improve Communication Skills: Mixed Methods Study, Timothy Guetterman, Rae Sakakibara, Srikar Baireddy, Frederick W. Kron, Mark W. Scerbo, James F. Cleary, Michael D. Fetters

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Attending to the wide range of communication behaviors that convey empathy is an important but often underemphasized concept to reduce errors in care, improve patient satisfaction, and improve cancer patient outcomes. A virtual human (VH)–based simulation, MPathic-VR, was developed to train health care providers in empathic communication with patients and in interprofessional settings and evaluated through a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This mixed methods study aimed to investigate the differential effects of a VH-based simulation developed to train health care providers in empathic patient-provider and interprofessional communication.

Methods: We employed a mixed methods intervention design, involving a comparison of …

How Do Welcome Statements Differ From Mission Statements?: The Salience Of Genre, David Ayers, Wanda Brooks

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

In this analysis, we sought to identify key linguistic properties of mission statements and to explain how these properties function toward managerial purposes. Data included a target corpus of 920 community college mission statements (47,943 words), a domain-specific corpus of 632 “welcome statements” published on websites by community college presidents (173,534 words), and a general reference corpus extracted from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (16.53 million words) (Davies, 2017). We used specialized corpus linguistics software to generate standardized word frequencies and to tag each corpus for parts of speech. We then identified the words and parts of speech that …

The Prison-Televisual Complex, Allison Page, Laurie Ouellette

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

In 2016, the A&E cable network partnered with the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to incarcerate seven volunteers as undercover prisoners for two months. This article takes the reality television franchise 60 Days In as a case study for analyzing the convergence of prison and television, and the rise of what we call the prison-televisual complex in the United States, which denotes the imbrication of the prison system with the television industry, not simply television as an ideological apparatus. 60 Days In represents an entanglement between punishment and the culture industries, whereby carceral logics flow into the business and …

What's In A Tag? A Quick Primer On #Siop19, Paul H. Thoresen, J. Drake Terry

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

#Metoo And The Politics Of Collective Healing: Emotional Connection As Contestation, Allison Page, Jacquelyn Arcy

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Participants in the #MeToo movement on Twitter expressed emotions like rage, pain, and solidarity in their personal accounts of sexual violence. This article explores the digital circulation of these affects and considers how the outpouring of tweets about sexual harassment and abuse contribute to a feminist politics centered on collective healing. The particular emotions expressed in the #MeToo Twitter archive subvert the logics of quantification and visibility that undergird popular feminism and the attention economy, and produce an affective excess that works toward movement founder Tarana Burke’s original project of “mass healing.” At a moment wherein popular feminism emphasizes individual …

Using Twitter To Support Reflective Learning In An Asynchronous Online Course, Tian Luo, Smruti J. Shah, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of the use of Twitter for promoting reflective learning. Specifically, this study investigated how students participate in Twitter-supported activities, what type of knowledge are manifested when Twitter is used to reflect on the course readings, and how students perceive the Twitter-supported activities. The data showed that Twitter was successful in keeping the learners engaged in the reflective discussion activities for a prolonged period compared to Blackboard. Students overall had a positive perception towards the integration of Twitter to support reflection and discussion along with active participation. Twitter was effective in …