Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Other Sociology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Other Sociology

The Liberating Role Of Conflict In Group Creativity: A Cross Cultural Study, Charlan Nemeth, Marie Personnaz, Bernard Personnaz, Jack Goncalo Apr 2003

The Liberating Role Of Conflict In Group Creativity: A Cross Cultural Study, Charlan Nemeth, Marie Personnaz, Bernard Personnaz, Jack Goncalo

Jack Goncalo

Researchers of group creativity have noted problems such as social loafing, “production blocking,” and especially, evaluation apprehension (Paulus, 2000). Thus, brainstorming techniques have specifically admonished people “not to criticize” their own and others’ ideas, a tenet that has gone unexamined. In contrast, there is research showing that dissent, debate and competing views have positive value, stimulating divergent and creative thought (Nemeth, 2002, in press). In this experimental study, traditional brainstorming instructions admonishing people not to criticize were compared with instructions encouraging people to debate and even criticize. A third condition offered no specific instructions. This study was conducted both in …


Expertise, Trust, And Communication About Food Biotechnology, John Lang, Karen O'Neill, William Hallman Dec 2002

Expertise, Trust, And Communication About Food Biotechnology, John Lang, Karen O'Neill, William Hallman

John T. Lang

Experts typically presume to speak with authority about complex concerns, such as agricultural biotechnology. Research indi- cates, however, that the effectiveness of risk communication depends on perceptions about the trustworthiness of the institu- tions and experts providing information. This exploratory study investigates how experts from a range of food-associated pro- fessions and institutions perceive their own roles in communi- cating about biotechnology. Most of the respondents rated scientists and other experts as most likely to tell the truth about biotechnology, but many felt that members of the public were most influenced by the mass media and by critics of biotechnol- …


Public Perceptions Of Genetically Modified Foods: A National Study Of American Knowledge And Opinion., William Hallman, W. Hebden, Helen Aquino, Cara Cuite, John Lang Dec 2002

Public Perceptions Of Genetically Modified Foods: A National Study Of American Knowledge And Opinion., William Hallman, W. Hebden, Helen Aquino, Cara Cuite, John Lang

John T. Lang

The report begins with an investigation of Americans’ awareness of the presence of genetically modified (GM) ingredients in the foods they encounter everyday. Next, the report describes Americans’ actual and perceived knowledge of science, biotechnology and food production. It then examines American opinions about GM foods in general, along with their opinions on a variety of existing and potential GM food products with direct or indirect consumer benefits. The report discusses the relationship between opinions of GM food and a variety of factors, including demographics, knowledge of biotechnology, purchasing behaviors and styles of food selection. Finally, it describes Americans’ thoughts …


Looking Good : College Women And Body Image, 1875-1930, Margaret Lowe Dec 2002

Looking Good : College Women And Body Image, 1875-1930, Margaret Lowe

Margaret Lowe

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, as young women began entering college in greater numbers than ever before, physicians and social critics charged that campus life posed grave hazards to the female constitution and women's reproductive health. "A girl could study and learn," Dr. Edward Clarke warned in his widely read 1873 book Sex in Education, "but she could not do all this and retain uninjured health, and a future secure from neuralgia, uterine disease, hysteria, and other derangements of the nervous system." For half a century, ideas such as Dr. Clarke's framed the debate over a woman's place …