Digital Commons Network^™

Seeing Beyond The State: Private Sector-Led Smart City Governance In Bsd City, Indonesia, Prerona Das, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In recent decades new cities have sprung up at a rapid pace, aided by private sector funding (Hogan et al., 2012). Within the realm of smart city development, private sector influence over urban governance has substantially increased, particularly through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). However, in Indonesia, there is an emerging trend of the private sector exerting significant control over ‘independent’ greenfield smart cities beyond state-led frameworks. This paper develops the idea of seeing beyond the state which involves looking past conventional state-centered approaches to urban governance. It considers instead how power and control are exercised outside or beyond the usual boundaries …

Rewilding The Built Environment: Navigating Economic, Political, And Social Barriers To Urban Ecological Restoration, Carly E. Smith

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Urban rewilding offers a nature-based approach to restoring ecological processes in cities while advancing climate resilience, biodiversity, and public well-being. Unlike conventional green infrastructure, rewilding allows ecosystems to develop with minimal intervention, emphasizing succession, complexity, and long-term adaptability. This paper examines the political, economic, and social factors that frame how rewilding is understood and implemented in urban planning. Governmental frameworks often prioritize order, predictability, and short-term results, making it difficult to accommodate the uncertainty and ecological complexity that rewilding requires. Economic models struggle to capture its long-term value, frequently overlooking ecosystem services or reconciling competing land uses. Social perceptions of …

A Descriptive Study Of Black College Students’ Perceptions Of Law Enforcement After Police Brutality, Alisia L. Collins

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Police brutality is a social issue that has tormented the mental health of the Black community for decades. Seeing brethren battered and bruised countless times has taken an emotional toll on the relationship of the Black community with the American justice system and the officers meant to uphold it. Previous research has shown that the Black community primarily has a negative perception of law enforcement because of factors like police brutality, unjustified shootings, and legal policies within the justice system. Compounding experiences can occur for people with disabilities within the Black community. Specifically, autistic people have a higher risk of …

How Does County Industry Mix Matter For Working-Age Mortality?, Xue Zhang, Iliya Gutin, Shannon M. Monnat, Jennifer Karas Montez

Population Health Research Brief Series

The types of industries that dominate employment in a county shape the health of the entire community, even for people who don't work in those sectors. This brief summarizes findings of a study that examined how five major employment sectors—agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction, services, and professional services—were associated with overall county-level mortality rates and with mortality from drug overdoses, suicides, alcohol-related causes, and cardiometabolic disease among U.S. adults ages 25-64 from 2000 to 2022 Data are from the National Vital Statistics System and County Business Patterns. Findings show that the effects of local industries shift vary across time and …

Migration And U.S. Labor Market Effects Of The Mexican Drug War, Mark Borgschulte, Yuci Chen, Eduardo Medina-Cortina

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We estimate the effect of the Mexican drug war on Mexico-to-U.S. migration and the resulting effects on population, employment, and wages in U.S. labor markets. Our empirical strategy compares U.S. counties differentially connected to Mexican municipalities through historical migration networks, using drug violence triggered by close municipal elections in 2007–2008 as a source of exogenous variation. Over the following decade, migrants fleeing the violence—the vast majority of whom are undocumented—cause native-born U.S. workers’ employment rates to increase and unemployment rates to fall, while wages do not change. Employment gains are largest for natives without a college degree. Employment effects fade …

Balispirit Festival As A Regenerative Event Transformation Model: The Tri Hita Karana Framework In Support Of Sustainable Spiritual Tourism, Maha Dewi

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

The global tourism sector is undergoing a transition toward Regenerative Tourism (RT). RT emphasizes active ecosystem restoration and community empowerment, surpassing the objectives of passive sustainability. In Bali, this transition appears in the Trilogy of Serenity, Spirituality, and Sustainability. This study examines the BaliSpirit Festival (BSF) as a case study that operationalizes the local Tri Hita Karana (THK) philosophy. This philosophy integrates spiritual (Parhyangan), social (Pawongan), and environmental (Palemahan) harmony as its foundation. The study uses a descriptive-analytical qualitative methodology to evaluate BSF's practices in advancing Sustainable Spiritual Tourism (SST). Results show BSF has established a culturally grounded regenerative event …

Digital Marketing Opportunities For The Advancement Of The Tourism Industry Case Study: Indihome Pt. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Abiyyu Sangaji

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

Digital marketing is becoming increasingly important in the tourism industry as a way to reach a wider target market and increase sales. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method aimed at exploring digital marketing opportunities in the tourism industry through a case study of IndiHome PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia. The results of the study indicate that digital marketing can provide significant opportunities for the tourism industry, particularly in terms of the use of social media, websites, and engaging visual content. Furthermore, the results also show that the use of data and analytics can help companies optimize their digital marketing campaigns. However, …

Taming The Chaos: Strategies For Streamlining Library Work In An Interruption-Driven World, Melanie S. Brasher, Amanda K. Izenstark

Public Services Faculty Presentations

Library workers often can’t follow the typical productivity advice doled out by productivity experts. In a job that is essentially managing ongoing interruptions with the added bonus of needing to describe what you’ve accomplished to numerous stakeholders, how can you keep track of what you do, what you need to do, and what you need to know? Join this session for some examples of frameworks and connect with others to tame the chaos that is modern library work. Due to the size of this topic, we will poll attendees live in order to choose the topics of greatest interest to …

How Sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld Became An Influencer: 80 Years Of Opinion Leader Research, Amelie Duckwitz, Hermann Strasser

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Probation Officers' Experiences Working With Individuals Who Have Antisocial Personality Traits, Katherine Ore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In fulfilling their role of monitoring individuals outside of a prison setting, probation officers may encounter individuals who have antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) or antisocial personality (ASP) traits. Individuals who have ASP traits and are not diagnosed with ASPD are still impacted by recommendations of punishment, higher recidivism rates, and a lack of treatment resources provided. Individuals in the criminal justice system with ASP traits are not a new phenomenon, but there is a lack of research on the probation officers' experience working with these individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine and explore the experiences of probation …

Mixed-Methods & Ai For Methodological Literature Reviews, António Pedro Costa, Pablo Burneo, Judita Kasperiuniene

The Qualitative Report

In the Generative AI (GenAI) era, social researchers have explored different tools for different phases of research projects. Despite AI and GenAI being highly relevant topics in current literature, few researchers have addressed the question of how to explore GenAI tools based on human-AI collaboration to improve the quality of methodological literature reviews. Based on a real project as a sample, “a competence framework for social researchers integrating GenAI”, we propose a detailed analytical model that triangulates evidence from both quantitative and qualitative data analyses. A mixed-methods approach is looked at, with a focus on the qualitative dimension (quant-QUAL). The …

Sarah Lewis’ Terrific Toolkit: A Positive Psychology Perspective On The Practicality Of Appreciative Inquiry Application, Ronald J. Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Sarah Lewis (2025) has made a strong contribution to the “How To” resources for conducting Appreciative Inquiry with her new book, Practical Appreciative Inquiry: A Toolkit for Applying Appreciative Inquiry to Organisational Challenges, Opportunities, and Aspirations. She has crafted the tome from a positive psychology perspective and her extensive experiences as an organizational consultant and facilitator, author, and postgraduate level lecturer in the United Kingdom. Her presentation is divided into two interrelated major sections - Background and Practice Theory and Applications, in which the backgrounding is full of practicalities and the applications are grounded in sound Appreciative Inquiry thinking. Through …

Qualitative Insights Into The Complexity Of Calling: Moving Beyond Quantitative Boundaries, Jeannel King

The Qualitative Report

Why are deeply personal and lived experiences often reduced to standardized measurements? Calling is one such experience. Although widely recognized as complex, personal, and contextually shaped, the concept of calling has most often been researched through quantitative methods over the past two decades. This study employed qualitative content analysis (QCA) to examine how calling was researched across 267 peer-reviewed journal articles, trace methodological patterns, and consider how those choices influence the field’s conceptualizations of the construct. The analysis integrated deductive coding of methodological features and inductive identification of conceptual themes, refined through abductive synthesis. This hybrid strategy positioned the study …

A Very Positive Review Of Positive Autoethnography: An Introduction To Theory And Practice, Ronald J. Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Emerging from a creative marriage of positive psychology and autoethnography, Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky and Claude-Hélène Mayer (2025) present a wonderful addition to both families with their new book, Positive Autoethnography: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. The authors do an excellent job situating this new methodology in the rich traditions of both foundational areas and present the theoretical and practical qualities of a variety of positive autoethnography derivations. In what might be the most interesting variation of this evolving form of autoethnography is its promise as a form of therapy – a very positive development indeed.

Professional Development Program: Sexual And Gender Minorities Education And Training, Aiden Echols, Bs, Madison Via, Bs, Audrey L. Zapletal, Otd, Ms, Otr/L, Cla, Chse, Karla A. Bell, Pt, Dpt, Phd, Fnap

Department of Occupational Therapy Posters and Presentations

Background

LGBTQ+ communities experience health care and health disparities; some reasons include:

• barriers in care
• negative attitudes
• lack of awareness by healthcare providers.

Studies have found healthcare professionals are not adequately trained in LGBTQ+ care

Educators benefit from professional development related to LGBTQ+ inclusivity in higher education.

Exploring The Impact Of Guangdong Province's Talent Policies On The Retention Of Fresh Master's Graduates For Employment In Guangdong, Kai Hong Sun

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

University graduates' choice of local employment serves as a core driver for promoting regional economic innovation, by effectively meeting corporate talent demands and injecting high-quality talent resources into regional development. This dynamic holds strategic significance for sustaining regional economic growth and fostering social stability. Talent policies attract graduates to local employment by offering preferential conditions and development opportunities while advancing their career growth and achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes for both talent and regions. Investigating the influence of talent policies on graduates' employment location decisions holds practical relevance in the current context.

This research examines the mechanisms through which …

Social Vulnerability Associations With Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma Treatment And Prognostic Disparities, Camaren M. Cuenca, David M. Bruss, David J. Fei-Zhang, Jill N. D'Souza, Anthony M. Sheyn, Jeffrey C. Rastatter, Daniel C. Chelius

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Objectives: Prior studies investigating the impacts of social determinants of health (SDoH) on hypopharyngeal cancer have only assessed the impact of individual factors on patient outcomes. This study uses the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and a national patient cohort to examine how the interrelational influence of SDoH affect hypopharyngeal cancer prognosis, treatment, and follow-up. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed patients from 1975 to 2017 with a diagnosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma in the NCI-SEER database. Net social vulnerability and its contributions from 15 SDoH variables were ranked and scored across all US counties, yielding a SVI. SVI scores were …

A Story Within Stories: Using An Analytic Framework To Move From Individual To Collective Storying In The Analysis Of Academic Entrepreneurship Narratives, Olga Gusak, Elena Lyutykh

The Qualitative Report

In this article the objective is to tell a story of one narrative inquiry that employed paradigmatic analytic procedures to explore academic entrepreneurship. Participating twelve college leaders in executive positions in vocational education schools in the USA, invited as information rich cases from personal networks, were powerful storytellers, comfortable with sharing representative anecdotes and shaping the strategic story for their organizations. Their stories were gathered during two rounds of in-depth interviews. Relational ontology and constructivist epistemology underpinned data collection and inductive analysis with assumptions about researchers and participants as co-constructors of the meaning of the social phenomenon of academic entrepreneurship. …

Participatory, Project-Based Approach To Migrant Employment Research: Engaging Entrepreneurs Through Social Innovation, Sabina Kubiciel-Lodzińska, Jolanta Maj

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative research with entrepreneurs employing migrant workers poses significant challenges, particularly in recruiting respondents willing to discuss sensitive topics. This study explores an innovative method to overcome these barriers by engaging entrepreneurs through community-centered social initiatives. Specifically, we examine the "Opole Friendly Company for Migrants" project, a socially innovative competition conducted in the Opolskie Voivodeship from 2020 to 2024. The competition had two main goals. Firstly, it was aimed to foster participation in qualitative research by integrating respondents into a broader, socially meaningful context. The second goal was fostering community integration. The competition highlighted the role of entrepreneurs in supporting …

Exploring Ex-Offenders’ Perceptions Of Their Learning Experiences And The Shape Of Criminal Activity In Louisiana, Carla Buntyn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of 12 formerly incarcerated males in Louisiana between the ages of 18 and 25, with a focus on their perspectives related to schooling, social environments, and involvement in criminal activity. Guided by general strain theory, the research explored how participants described their learning experiences under Common Core standards and whether they perceived connections between those experiences and their criminal activity. The research question asked: How do American male ex-offenders between the ages of 18 and 25 in Louisiana describe the relationship between Common Core learning experiences and their criminal activity? Data were collected …

Police Officers’ Perceptions Of The Cultural, Structural, And Potential Training Barriers That Prevent Police Agencies From Adopting An Effective Emergency Response System, Allan David Dunham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the proven efficacy of the incident command system (ICS), police agencies face obstacles in effective critical incident response. This qualitative study explored the cultural, structural, and potential training barriers that hinder the adoption of the ICS within police agencies. The purpose was to investigate how police can more effectively adopt this unified command structure designed for multiagency emergency response. Guided by the theory of planned behavior, the research question addressed how California police officers’ attitudes, perceived social norms, and sense of behavioral control influence their adoption of incident command system principles. Data were collected using semistructured Zoom interviews with …

Resources And Strategies Needed To Address The Problem Of Child Labor In Erbil, Kurdistan Region Of Iraq, Evan Faiq

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child labor is an international practice that has been on the rise in some parts of the world including Erbil, the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the different resources needed but not available for the victims, how child labor has impacted the community, and how the criminal justice system can better approach the child labor issue and reduce it in Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq. Social conflict theory was used to guide the study. Data were collected from 15 interviews with individuals from different areas of the criminal justice department, local organizations …

Community Factors And County-Level Cancer Screening, Prevalence, And Mortality, Alexandra R. Drake, Eric W. Christensen, Augusto C. Ochoa, William Small, Jinel Scott, Elizabeth Y. Rula

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE Cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality vary across US counties; the broad set of community factors associated with these differences are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To assess the relative importance of diverse community measures for explaining county-level variance in cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality rates for breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This geospatial cross-sectional analysis across all US counties used random forest algorithms to estimate the relative importance of 24 community measures—including health behaviors and lifestyle, socioeconomic, and environment factors—as explanatory factors for cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality. For each cancer, county-level cancer screening and …

Bridging Language Barriers In Data Analysis For Constructivist Grounded Theory Research: A Case Study In Chinese Context, Wenyu Li, Catherine Elliott O’Dare, Catherine Conlon

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative studies across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts are rising in global social settings. However, literature addressing the potential methodology challenges of conducting such research using constructivist grounded theory (CGT) remains limited. This paper, therefore, highlights potential challenges in the data analysis phase of cross-cultural research using CGT and suggests a three-phase language conversion strategy to minimize data loss while avoiding superficial analysis based on my Ph.D. research experience, where interviews are conducted in Chinese while the target language is English. Additionally, this paper reflects on the role of bilingual researchers in CGT cross-cultural studies, exploring how the bilingual research …

Comparing Parents' And School Officials' Perceptions Of School Safety In A Rural Community In North Texas, Gidget S. Pettibon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With different types and sizes of school districts across the United States, not all federal safety and security recommendations will work for every school district. The school district stakeholders are important components to help administrators understand whether the current policies are working and provide recommendations for change. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and compare the perceptions of parents and school officials on safety practices at a rural school district in North Texas. Using routine activity theory, this study provided information on how current practices were perceived by stakeholders in ensuring a safe school environment. Data were …

Naturalizing Motherhood: Neoliberal Femininity And The Re-Traditionalization Of Gender In Turkey, Canan Tanir

Sociology Faculty Publications

The recent trends in the social construction of “good mothering” through “naturalism” have become remarkably definitive in Turkey in the last decade. This study presents data from in-depth interviews with naturalist mothers in Istanbul demonstrating four operative mechanisms in their narratives with regard to their conception of gender. Practices of naturalist motherhood depart from systemic criticism and opposition to the ongoing neoliberal conservatization process in Turkey. However, at the same time, they are congruent with the normalization of a patriarchal gender order in this context. I propose that addressing this controversy is contingent on problematizing the focus on choice and …

Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion And Well-Being During The Covid-19 Pandemic In The U.S., Jennifer W. Robinette, Brooke Jenkins, Nicole-Marie Duran, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The U.S. entered a “second pandemic” characterized by depression and loneliness after the initial outbreak of COVID-19. These psychological consequences have driven researchers to identify protective factors during this crisis. The present study tested whether perceived neighborhood cohesion, or that neighbors trust and count on one another, related to fewer depressive symptoms and less loneliness as the pandemic unfolded. Two waves of data were collected online from the same adults in April and October, 2020 (N = 1,928). People who reported greater neighborhood cohesion had fewer depressive symptoms (b = −1.01, p <  0.001) and were less lonely (b = −0.20, p <  0.001), even when considering other pandemic-related risk factors. The association between cohesion and loneliness was even stronger 6 months into the pandemic (b = …

Red, Yellow, And Green: Traffic Signals As Symbols Of Authority In The United States, Alek Villarreal

ENGL 1102 Showcase

Traffic signals are ubiquitous in American society, but traffic laws themselves are violated with extreme frequency. The reasons for such a discrepancy between the widely understood benefits of tools like stoplights and their practical application in the everyday lives of individuals often goes underdiscussed.  The aim of this project is to explore how the reciprocal relationship between the authority of large-scale institution like the United States government and the agency of individual citizens can be examined by analyzing both the implementation and public impact of traffic signals. By consulting a variety of previously published academic, journalistic, and commercial sources, it …

The Political Construction Of Anti-Transgender Policy: A Critical Policy Analysis Of North Carolina State Legislators' Discursive Strategies, David Osworth, Morgan Edlin

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

In recent year anti-LGBTQ policy has been cropping up at the state level across the United States. While these policies have been described as unprecedented, they signal a period of retrenchment for the rights of queer and transgender individuals in the United States. This critical policy analysis of North Carolina state legislation that is decidedly homophobic and transgender examines the discursive tactics of policy actors (i.e. North Carolina Legislators) as they argue these policies during legislative sessions. Through our analysis of legislators’ commentary during House of Representative sessions we identified discursive formations that were considered allied with the LGBTQ community …

Wayward Joy In Queer Femme-Inist Educational Research, Sarah Stapleton, Lindsay Cavanaugh, Jade Crimson Rose Da Costa

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article draws on our experiences with “Femme Educational Futurities,” a dream-mapping (Author 2, 2023), critical arts-based, participatory-informed project about softness in K–12 schools, to explore the boundaries of queer, femme-inist research. We trace how our attempts to enact research softly (Schwartz, 2020) led us towards wayward joy (Hartman, 2019): a messy affective terrain marked by connection, vulnerability, shame, and hope. For each author, we identify what Applebaum (1995) calls a “stop” moment and explore within each instance the convergence of softness, radical love (hooks, 2000) and tender failure (Halberstam, 2011), and discuss what joy means to us as a …