Digital Commons Network^™

Cargo Bikes As A Growth Area For Bicycle Vs. Auto Trips: Exploring The Potential For Mode Substitution Behavior, William W. Riggs

William W. Riggs

Cargo bikes are increasing in availability in the United States. While a large body of research has continued to investigate traditional bike transportation, cargo bikes offer the potential to capture trips for those that might otherwise be made by car. To investigate this, data from a survey of cargo bike users are evaluated using descriptive and inferential statistics. The survey queried how use and travel dynamics of characteristics with the hypothesis that cargo bike ownership has the potential to contribute to mode substitution behavior. From a descriptive standpoint, 68.9% of those surveyed changed their travel behavior after purchasing a cargo …

Government Insurance, Information, And Asset Prices, Danilo Lopomo Beteto Wegner

Danilo Lopomo Beteto Wegner

An investment decision problem is studied, in a framework where the government offers insurance against the possibility of the price of a risky asset falling drastically. The problem is considered under different informational scenarios, i.e., information quality, under which agents have to infer the state of fundamentals of the economy. Changes in information quality is shown to affect equilibrium prices despite no concomitant changes in the fundamentals, creating excess volatility. The possibility of government intervention is shown to increase equilibrium prices, which can be ordered as a function of information quality. Empirical evidence supporting the model is presented.

Towards A Model Of Optimal Family Leisure, Keri Schwab, Daniel Dustin

Keri Schwab

Towards a model of optimal family leisure Keri A. Schwaba and Daniel L. Dustin Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA; bDepartment of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA Leisure is an important component of family life, yet many families struggle to focus on or participate in family leisure. This study examined the structural characteristics of family life that can impede or promote family leisure. Employing a systems perspective, a literature-based model of family leisure was created, and in-depth interview data were gathered from three families …

Are Citizens “Receiving The Treatment”? Assessing A Key Link In Contextual Theories Of Public Opinion And Political Behavior, Benjamin J. Newman, Yamil R. Valez, Todd K. Hartman, Alexa Bankert

Todd K. Hartman

The theorization and empirical exploration of contextual effects is a long standing feature of public opinion and political behavior research. At present, however, there is little to no evidence that citizens actually perceive the local contextual factors theorized to influence their attitudes and behaviors. In this article, we focus on two of the most prevalent contextual factors appearing in theories—racial/ethnic and economic context—to investigate whether citizens’ perceptions of their local ethnic and economic contexts map onto variation in the actual ethnic composition and economic health of these environments. Using national survey data combined with Census data, and focusing on the …

Health Disclaimers And Website Credibility Markers: Guidance For Consumer Health Reference In The Affordable Care Act Era, Deborah H. Charbonneau

Deborah H. Charbonneau

This article reports on the current state of health disclaimers, online health resources, and credibility markers provided on public library websites (N = 105) for those seeking health information. In light of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), these findings have implications for consumer health reference services in public libraries. Approximately half of the public library websites in the study sample (n = 52, 49.5%) referred users to the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace website (HealthCare.gov). When referring to online consumer health resources, a small number of public library websites identified the authors of online health content (n = 16, 15.2%) or …

Inclusively Walkable: Exploring The Equity Of Walkable Housing In The San Francisco Bay Area, William W. Riggs

William W. Riggs

This study evaluates the inclusiveness of walkable housing in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a series of regression models that control for an array of factors, this study finds that blacks are more likely to live in less walkable areas, a factor which could result in increased societal costs. These models suggest that this factor may mask other highly collinear factors including income, education, and social networks. This phenomenon is explored with qualitative interviews that reinforce this finding and illustrate the many push and pull factors that influence housing choice. These findings are then used to develop potential hypotheses …

Preparedness Of Americans For The Affordable Care Act, Silvia Helena Barcellos, Amelie Wuppermann, Katherine Carman, Sebastian Bauhoff, Daniel L. Mcfadden, Arie Kapteyn, Joachim K. Winter, Dana Goldman

Silvia Helena Barcellos

No abstract provided.

Decoding Prejudice Toward Hispanics: Group Cues And Public Reactions To Threatening Immigrant Behavior, Todd K. Hartman, Benjamin J. Newman, C. Scott Bell

Todd K. Hartman

Consistent with theories of modern racism, we argue that white, non-Hispanic Americans have adopted a “coded,” race-neutral means of expressing prejudice toward Hispanic immigrants by citing specific behaviors that are deemed inappropriate—either because they are illegal or threatening in an economic or cultural manner. We present data from a series of nationally representative, survey-embedded experiments to tease out the distinct role that anti-Hispanic prejudice plays in shaping public opinion on immigration. Our results show that white Americans take significantly greater offense to transgressions such as being in the country illegally, “working under the table,” and rejecting symbols of American identity, …

Social Dominance And The Cultural Politics Of Immigration, Benjamin J. Newman, Todd K. Hartman, Charles S. Taber

Todd K. Hartman

We argue that conflict over immigration largely concerns who bears the burden of cultural transaction costs, which we define as the costs associated with overcoming cultural barriers (e.g., language) to social exchange. Our framework suggests that the ability of native-born citizens to push cultural transaction costs onto immigrant outgroups serves as an important expression of social dominance. In two novel studies, we demonstrate that social dominance motives condition emotional responses to encountering cultural transaction costs, shape engagement in cultural accommodation behavior toward immigrants, and affect immigration attitudes and policy preferences.

[Impact Factor: 1.614 (2011); Rank: 12 of 148 (Political Science); …

From The Outside Looking In: A Response To The Hijacking Of Recreational Therapy, Daniel L. Dustin, Kelly S. Bricker, Keri A. Schwab

Keri Schwab

Where does Dr. Austin want his line of thought to lead and what does he expect from the larger field of parks and recreation in return? Is he after reassurance that recreational therapy is valued by the rest of us? Does he want recreation therapists to be acknowledged as the closest thing we have in our midst to medical doctors? Or does he want recreational therapy to disassociate itself from the field of parks and recreation altogether? If recreation therapists want to be viewed as distinct and different from the rest of us, if it is autonomy they are after, …

Engaging Youth In Lifelong Outdoor Adventure Activities Through A Nontraditional Public School Physical Education Program, Keri Schwab, Daniel L. Dustin

Keri Schwab

Engaging Youth in Lifelong Outdoor Adventure Activities through a Nontraditional Public School Physical Education Program

Education, Complaints, And Accountability, Juan Botero, Alejandro Ponce, Andrei Shleifer

Alejandro Ponce

Better educated countries have better governments, an empirical regularity that holds in both dictatorships and democracies. A possible reason for this fact is that educated people are more likely to complain about misconduct by government officials and that more frequent complaints encourage better behavior from officials. Newly assembled individual-level survey data from the World Justice Project show that, within countries, better educated people are more likely to report official misconduct. The results are confirmed using other survey data on reporting crime and corruption. Citizen complaints might thus be an operative mechanism that explains the link between education and the quality …

Socially-Mediated Internet Surveys (Smis): Recruiting Participants For Online Experiments, Erin C. Cassese, Leonie Huddy, Todd K. Hartman, Lilliana Mason, Christopher R. Weber

Todd K. Hartman

Socially-Mediated Internet Surveys (SMIS) is a new method to obtain web-based, adult samples for experimental political science research. SMIS targets central figures in online social networks to help recruit participants, who visit their websites. We present data from six samples collected using the SMIS method and compare them to those gathered by other sampling approaches such as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. While not representative of the general adult population, our SMIS samples are significantly more diverse than undergraduate convenience samples, not just demographically but also politically. Moreover, we also discuss how the SMIS approach can be used to target special subpopulations …

Faculty Experiences With The National Institutes Of Health (Nih) Public Access Policy, Compliance Issues, And Copyright Practices, Deborah H. Charbonneau, Jonathan Mcglone

Deborah H. Charbonneau

Objectives:

The research assessed faculty awareness of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) public access policy and faculty experiences with the copyright terms in their author agreements with publishers.

Methods:

During the fall of 2011, 198 faculty members receiving funding from NIH at a large urban academic institution were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey. A total of 94 faculty members responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 47%.

Results:

Thirty percent of the survey respondents were either unaware of or not familiar with the NIH policy. Further, a significant number of faculty members (97.8%) indicated …

Choosing Sport Management As A College Major, Keri Schwab, Daniel Dustin, Eric Legg, Danielle Timmerman, Mary Wells, Skye Arthur-Banning

Keri Schwab

No abstract provided.

Crowd Control: Organizing The Crowd At Yelp, David A. Askay

David Askay

This dissertation investigates how businesses are able to align the collective actions of a disconnected crowd with the strategic goals of the organization. I examined this questions within the context of the business review website Yelp through a quantitative analysis of nearly 60,000 business reviews, 17 in-depth qualitative interviews with reviewers, and a two-year ethnography. Interpreting the results of this data within the framework of the collective action space (Bimber, Flanagin, & Stohl, 2012) indicates that Yelp is able to manage the contributions of a relatively small subset of reviewers through the Yelp Elite Squad. Rather than simply motivating more …

Undiagnosed Disease, Especially Diabetes, Casts Doubt On Some Of Reported Health 'Advantage' Of Recent Mexican Immigrants, Silvia Barcellos, James Smith, Dana Goldman

Silvia Helena Barcellos

No abstract provided.

Foreign Language Exposure, Cultural Threat, And Opposition To Immigration, Benjamin J. Newman, Todd K. Hartman, Charles S. Taber

Todd K. Hartman

In the present article, we extend the notion of cultural threat posed by immigrants beyond its current conceptualization as symbolic, collective-level threats to American culture and identity. Instead, we argue that routine encounters with non-English-speaking immigrants cause many individuals to feel threatened because of real barriers to interpersonal communication and exchange. We draw upon survey and experimental data to demonstrate that local contact with immigrants who speak little to no English, as well as incidental exposure to the Spanish language, heighten feelings of cultural threat, which increases anti-immigrant sentiment and policy preferences.

[Impact Factor: 1.614 (2011); Rank: 12 of 148 …

Size, Role And Performance In The Oil And Gas Sector, Robert Mansell, Jennifer Winter, Matt Krzepkowski, Michal C. Moore

Matt Krzepkowski

Examines the relative performance of producing firms in Alberta's oil and gas sector

Motivated Reasoning, Political Sophistication, And Associations Between President Obama And Islam, Todd K. Hartman, Adam J. Newmark

Todd K. Hartman

Recent polls reveal that between 20% and 25% of Americans erroneously indicate that President Obama is a Muslim. In this article, we compare individuals' explicit responses on a survey about religion and politics with reaction time data from an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to investigate whether individuals truly associate Obama with Islam or are motivated reasoners who simply express negativity about the president when given the opportunity. Our results suggest that predispositions such as ideology, partisanship, and race affect how citizens feel about Obama, which in turn motivates them to accept misinformation about the president. We also find that these …

Toll Booths On The Information Superhighway? Policy Metaphors In The Case Of Net Neutrality, Todd K. Hartman

Todd K. Hartman

Scholars have argued for centuries that metaphors are persuasive in politics, yet scant experimental research exists to validate these assertions. Two experiments about the issue of federally regulating the Internet were conducted to test whether metaphors confer a unique persuasive advantage relative to conventional messages. The results of these studies confirm that an apt metaphor can be a powerful tool of persuasion. Moreover, the evidence suggests that metaphor-induced persuasion works particularly well for politically unsophisticated citizens by increasing assessments of message quality. Ultimately, this research concerns how individuals make sense of politics and how policymakers can use what we know …

Metropolitan Growth Policies And New Housing Supply: Evidence From Australia's Capital Cities, Ralph B. Mclaughlin

Ralph B. McLaughlin

This paper empirically examines the relationship between house price change, metropolitan growth policies, and new housing supply in Australia's five major capital cities. Our hypothesis suggests capital cities with tighter regulations on new development will have fewer housing starts and price elasticities than those in less- regulated markets. The empirical procedure used in this paper utilises the Urban Growth Model of Housing Supply developed in Mayer and Somerville (2000a and 2000b) and employed in Zabel and Patterson (2006) by using quarterly data on housing approvals and house prices from 1996-2010. Data on metropolitan growth policies in Australia is borrowed from …

People And Nature: Toward An Ecological Model Of Health Promotion, Daniel Dustin, Kelly Bricker, Keri Schwab

Keri Schwab

No abstract provided.

Who Said What? The Effects Of Source Cues In Issue Frames, Todd K. Hartman, Christopher R. Weber

Todd K. Hartman

Drawing on previous research concerning the role that source cues play in political information processing, we examine whether an ideological identity match between the source of a framed message and the respondent moderates framing effects. We test our hypotheses in two experiments concerning attitudes toward a proposed rally by the Ku Klux Klan. In Experiment 1 (N = 274), we test our hypothesis in a simple issue framing experiment. We find that framing effects occur for strong identifiers only when there is a match between the ideology of the speaker and respondent. In Experiment 2 (N = 259), we examine …

Re-Examining The Politics Of U.S. Intervention In Early 20th Century Nicaragua: José Madriz And The Conservative Restoration, Yann P. Kerevel

Yann P. Kerevel

This research re-examines the U.S. intervention in Nicaragua in 1909-10. Most literature of this period argues that the United States forced the dictator Zelaya out of office in 1909; however, I contend that the argument that U.S. intervention caused the fall of Zelaya does not clearly match up to the historical record. Instead, I argue it is much more compelling to examine U.S. policy toward José Madriz to understand the impact of the intervention. It is clear that U.S. policy was the decisive factor in the fall of Madriz, while it is less convincing in the case of Zelaya.

Newspaper Errors: Reporters Dispute Most Source Claims, William A. Tillinghast

William A. Tillinghast

The article presents a study related to the newspaper errors. Deep probe of disagreements suggests errors are really differences of opinion between sources and reporters. Research on newspaper accuracy has shown that news sources contend that about half the newspaper articles citing them contain at least one mistake, usually a misquote, omission or distorted emphasis. But, most of the half dozen studies which examined errors in newspapers excluded the reporter from the analysis, concentrating almost entirely on the perceptions of news sources. One study which did look at reporter response found that a reporter's focusing on a particular element of …

Source Control And Evaluation Of Newspaper Inaccuracies, William A. Tillinghast

William A. Tillinghast

No abstract provided.

Government Publications: Government Information, Jo Bell Whitlatch

Jo Bell Whitlatch

No abstract provided.

Government Publications: Human Rights, Jo Bell Whitlatch

Jo Bell Whitlatch

No abstract provided.

Government Publications: Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Jo Bell Whitlatch

Jo Bell Whitlatch

No abstract provided.