Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Video-Based Interviewing: A Systematic Comparison Of Videoconferencing Based Dyadic Interviews And Focus Groups, Bojana Lobe, David L. Morgan

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article introduces a systematic comparison of video-based dyadic interviews and focus groups using newly developed tools for evaluating the success of one way of doing focus groups over another. We conducted a series of online discussions using a video conferencing tool, half of which consisted of four-person focus groups and the other half were two person dyadic interviews. Moderators, who were well-trained master students of a course on digital technologies and data collection, answered systematic questions that compared their experiences with each type of group. All participants were contacted after their interviews to complete an online survey rating their …

Repairing Historicity, Bennett Gilbert

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper advances a fresh theorization of historicity. The word and concept of historicity has become so widespread and popular that they have ceased to have definite meaning and are used to stand for unsupported notions of the values inherent in human experience. This paper attempts to repair the concept by re-defining it as the temporal aspect of the interdependence of life; having history is to have a life intertwined with the lives of all others and with the universe. After separating out the looser uses, surveying some of the literature, and defining what needs to be done, the paper …

Patterns Of Substance Use Before And After Hospitalization Among Patients Seen By An Inpatient Addiction Consult Service: A Latent Transition Analysis, Caroline King, Christina Nicolaidis, P. Todd Korthuis, Kelsey C. Priest, Honora Englander

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background and aims: Polysubstance use is common and contributes to morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients, and yet little is known about patterns of substance use among hospitalized patients, or how an addiction consult service (ACS) might impact polysubstance use after discharge. The objective of this study was to identify patterns of substance use at admission and after discharge among hospitalized patients with substance use disorders who saw an ACS.

Design: Prospective cohort study. We used latent transition analysis of substance use scores at the time of hospital admission and 30 to 90 days posthospitalization.

Setting: Single, …

Learned Lessons: Growing Social Workers’ Preparation For Upstream Policy Practice, Ann Curry-Stevens, Lisa Hawash, Sarah Bradley

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last 10 years, the MSW program at Portland State University has gone from graduating 15% of its students in the macro concentration, to 32%, while the national average remains under 9%. This article traces that experience through a historically-grounded narrative line, and extracts learnings that are potentially relevant for the profession. Curricular practices include reviewing the content for horizontal and vertical integration, introducing macro content early in the first year of the program with sufficient time to inform students’ choice of concentrations, and providing students influence to shape content in the advanced year. Faculty specializations and community reputation …

Easa Connections: Community-Based Participatory Research To Develop A Peer-Based Early Psychosis Web Resource With Young Adults, Dora Raymaker, Tamara G. Sale, Mariam Rija, Nicholas Buekea, Nybelle Caruso, Ryan P. Melton, Natalie Cohrs, Veronica Gould, Christina Wall, Mirah L. Scharer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young adults (YA) who have experienced early psychosis (EP) have valuable information about their recovery process yet are often left out of research. We used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in partnership with the Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA) EP program and Portland State University to develop a peer-driven, web-based, recovery resource.We used our CBPR process to collaboratively develop the resource and conducted an iterative usability study to test and refine it. The resource was well-received and accessible. YA partners emphasize the importance of being prepared to learn about research and one’s self, being open to new experiences, …

Strong Men, Strong Communities: Design Of A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Diabetes Prevention Intervention For American Indian And Alaska Native Men, Ka‘Imi Sinclair, Cara Carty, Kelly L. Gonzales, Cassandra Nikolaus, Lucas Gillespie, Dedra Buchwald

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Type 2 diabetes is a serious global epidemic that disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations. American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIs/ANs) have the highest rates of diabetes in the nation with a prevalence of 14.7% in 2018, more than twice that of non-Hispanic Whites. AI/AN men have the highest prevalence of diagnosed type 2 diabetes (14.5%) compared to non-Hispanic Black (11.4%), non-Hispanic Asian (10.0%), and non-Hispanic White (8.6%) men. Several landmark clinical trials have shown that lifestyle interventions can effectively prevent or delay the onset of diabetes among those at risk, including in AIs/ANs. Despite positive outcomes for AIs/ANs in these studies, …

Image And Storytelling New Approaches To Hispanic Cinema And Literature, Gina Herrmann, Isabel Jaén Portillo

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This special issue of Periphērica, Image and Storytelling: New Approaches to Hispanic Cinema and Literature, features leading research by scholars of Hispanic cultures at the crossroads of literature, film, mind, and society. The collection showcases cutting-edge fields and themes including cognitive studies, affect studies, embodiment, and empathy, as well as new perspectives on adaptation, film typology, film teaching, gender, and genre. The research presented in this special issue underscores the excitement produced by crossing disciplinary boundaries in the study of verbal and visual narratives, moving beyond prevalent transnational approaches that do not sufficiently address key factors in the creation and …

Do Farmers Manage Weeds On Owned And Rented Land Differently? Evidence From U.S. Corn And Soybean Farms, George Frisvold, Joshua Albright, David Ervin, Micheal Owen, Jason Norsworthy, Katherine E. Dentzman, Terrance M. Hurley, Raymond A. Jussaume, Jeffrey Gunsolus, Wesley Everman

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND

It has been frequently argued that growers have less incentive to manage the evolution and spread of herbicide‐resistant weeds on leased than on owned land. This is because resistance management provides long‐term rather than short‐term benefits that operators may be less assured of capturing on land they do not own. Yet, empirical evidence supporting this argument has been lacking.

RESULTS

This study reports on results from a large‐scale national survey of weed management and other crop production practices on US agricultural fields. Up to 11 weed management practices were compared across owner‐operated versus renter‐operated fields. Analysis of survey data …

Wage Differences Matter: An Experiment Of Social Comparison And Effort Provision When Wages Increase Or Decrease, Jose A. Rojas-Fallas, J. Forrest Williams

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wage rates, efficiency wages, and gift exchange in a labor market are all crucial aspects in regard to designing contracts to ensure high effort from workers. We extend this literature by discussing the relationship between known differences in wages (social comparison) and workers’ effort provision. We conduct an experiment in which subjects perform effort tasks for piece-rates. All subjects are paid the same wage rate in the first half of the experiment, but in the second half are paid different wage rates; the primary variable we study is the information about others’ wage rates given to a subset of subjects. …

To Disclose Or Not To Disclose? Self-Disclosure Of Mental Health In The Workplace, Samantha Margaret Reynolds

Dissertations and Theses

When making the decision to disclose a mental illness, individuals may be met with a number of factors that impact disclosure. This study examines the relationship between self-stigma, psychological safety, social support and self-disclosure of mental illness in the workplace. The present study surveyed 756 participants and found a positive relationship between stigma and self-disclosure as well as a positive relationship between social support and self-disclosure. For work outcomes, there was a negative relationship between both job satisfaction and productivity in relation to self-disclosure. This study potentiates the antecedents and consequences of self-disclosure of mental illness and how it impacts …

The Afghan Peace Talks, China, And The Afghan Elections, Grant M. Farr

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

After more than a year of negotiations it appeared in the fall of 2019 that an agreement had been reached between the United States and the Afghan Taliban. Yet before the agreement could be formally signed, the United States backed away from the agreement citing the death of an American serviceman as a result of a Taliban bomb. The negotiations are now officially on hold, although Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States Special Representative, continues to talk to the Taliban through other channels. The failure, at least so far, of an agreement between the United States and Taliban has numerous consequences, …

Systems Isomorphisms In Stochastic Dynamic Systems, Rajesh Venkatachalapathy

Dissertations and Theses

The identification of isomorphisms between disparate systems is an important focus of systems science. Such isomorphisms have not only conceptual and pedagogical value to systems science, but they also provide pragmatic value to specific disciplines by suggesting new ways to model familiar phenomena and by serving as reference models that show how even simple models can generate complex behavior. Specifically, this dissertation looks at certain classes of stochastic dynamic systems (SDS) and shows that similar equations can model phenomena in sociology and psychology. In both disciplines, what is modeled by these SDS isomorphisms is a certain type of reliability, defined …

Statistical Analysis Of Social Network Change, Teresa Danielle Schmidt

Dissertations and Theses

This project explores two statistical methods that infer social network structures and statistically test those structures for change over time: regression-based differential network analysis (R-DNA) and information theory-based differential analysis (I-DNA). R-DNA is adapted from bioinformatics and I-DNA employs reconstructability analysis.

This project applies both R-DNA and I-DNA to analyze Medicaid claims data from one-year periods before (May 2011- Apr 2012) and after (Jan 2013-Dec 2013) the formation of the Health Share of Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). The formation of CCOs was legislated by the state of Oregon in 2012 with the triple aim of improving health outcomes, reducing …

Middle East, North Africa, South Asia Initiative Report, Portland State University. Cultural Resource Centers, Wafaa Almaktari, Bo Koering, Kevin Thomas, Shanice Clark, Stacie Taniguchi, Cynthia Carmina Gómez

Cultural Resource Centers Reports and Resources

The Middle East, North Africa, South Asia (MENASA) Initiative was created to address a lack of resources and services to support the MENASA student population at Portland State University (PSU). Formed by a group of undergraduate and graduate MENASA students, and supported administratively by the Cultural Resource Centers, the MENASA Initiative is a student-centered effort with the goal of creating a MENASA Student Center to match the other five Cultural Resource Centers (La Casa Latina Student Center, the Multicultural Student Center, the Native American Student and Community Center, the Pacific Islander, Asian, and Asian American Student Center, and the Pan-African …

Explaining The Sectarian Violence In The Middle East: A Conflict Analysis Of The Case Study Of Saudi Arabia And Iran, Ahmed Elsayed Eltally

Dissertations and Theses

The Middle East has been rife with conflicts, extremism, and sectarianism in recent decades. Many explanations attribute the rise of sectarianism in the Middle East to the historical divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims, while others attribute it to power or identity concerns. This thesis explores the factors that contributed to the rise of contemporary sectarianism in the Middle East through the case study of Saudi-Iranian rivalry. Drawing on the literature on the history of the Middle East, Islam, theories of international relations, and conflict studies, it underlines how Saudi Arabia and Iran use sectarianism to further their interests. This …

Erotic Manga, Its Artists, And The Pressures Of Censorship, Dominique Andrée Lief

University Honors Theses

Erotic manga (エロマンガ), a genre of adult-oriented Japanese comics is subjected to censorship that may seem irrelevant or confusing to people outside of the industry. Why is erotic manga censored? How is erotic manga censored? How does censorship affect erotic manga artists? These questions are examined through use of English academic sources, Japanese academic sources and news articles, and interviews with professional erotic manga artists translated into English.

How Urban Land Use Contributes To Inequitable Health Outcomes: An Interdisciplinary Review & Analysis, Bliss Storm Croton

University Honors Theses

Using existing literature as a basis for initial review, this paper seeks to explore the relationship between urban land use and socioeconomic status as both pertain to the prevalence of psychological health diagnoses among neighborhood residents. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the combined literature from multiple areas of research in order to gain a more holistic, up-to-date scope of knowledge regarding how discriminatory neighborhood land use may result in poorer psychological health outcomes for urban populations. By utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, some of the locally relevant, long-term impacts of uneven development and environmental injustice are examined based …

Support From Inside Out: Exploring Whether Various Social Supports Assist In Reducing Prison Rule Violations, Sarah Renee Lazzari

Dissertations and Theses

Scholars argue that prison rule violations are a way to assess whether individuals are engaging in prosocial behaviors. Individuals who engage in prosocial behaviors, during periods of incarceration, are less likely to engage in behaviors that result in official rule violations. Decreasing rule violations is one way to work towards a safer prison environment, while also preparing individuals for release. The current study uses cross-sectional data form the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Facilities, in order to examine whether multiple types of prisons programs, which will be framed as various types of social supports, influence the frequency …

Business Continuity Planning At Portland State University: An Adaptive Approach To Planning For Service Recovery After A Disruption, Heather Roberts

University Honors Theses

This paper examines a case study following the development of business continuity plans at Portland State University (PSU). The PSU business continuity planning team explored a new theory of Adaptive Business Continuity and evaluated its usefulness in an academic service industry. The business continuity project team set out to answer these critical questions: 'Could the Adaptive Business Continuity Theory work for PSU? Was it up to the challenge of many departments with varied regulations, rhythms and stakeholders? Could the Adaptive Business Continuity Theory be implemented by a limited emergency management staff? Would there be enough buy-in from the PSU department …

Psu Black Studies At Risk, Professor Says: Administration Called Out For Toxic Environment, Beverly Corbell, Ethan Johnson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This school year is the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Black Studies Department at Portland State University, a momentous occasion for celebrating the formation of a degree curriculum devoted to the history, culture and politics of black people, but the African-American director of the department doesn’t feel much like celebrating.

Ethan Johnson, who has headed the department for the past 15 years, says the university is failing to support the black studies curriculum and even more is failing to listen to the concerns of minority students and faculty at the school, a result that is disastrous to their …

Connections Between Sensory Sensitivities In Autism; The Importance Of Sensory Friendly Environments For Accessibility And Increased Quality Of Life For The Neurodivergent Autistic Minority., Heidi Morgan

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Many adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience sensory processing sensitivities. Research shows that 94.4% of adults with ASD report co-occurring sensory differences that impact their daily life in a significant way. These sensitivities can create accessibility challenges for the autistic neurominority, especially for autistic individuals with hypersensitivities. This literature review has two purposes. First, it seeks to better understand how these sensory differences impact the experience of individuals in the neurodivergent autistic minority and the correlations between sensory overload, accessibility, mental, emotional and physical health. Secondly, the epistemology influencing this review is critical in nature and is aligned …

Alignment Of Theoretically Grounded Constructs For The Measurement Of Science And Chemistry Identity, Kathryn Nicole Hosbein, Jack Barbera

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Identity has been theorized to aid in student persistence within STEM disciplines. In this study, science and chemistry identity were defined as being recognized as a science or chemistry person within the classroom. To generalize the effects that identity has on student persistence, a measurable construct must be defined, operationalized, and tested in multiple settings with different populations. This project addressed the first step in the process, defining the construct and grounding it in an established theoretical framework. This qualitative project utilized a previously described physics identity framework, with sub-constructs of performance/competence, recognition, and interest, as a starting point for …

Learn Model Of Career Trajectories: Application To The Stem Postdoctoral Scholar, Audrey J. Jaeger, Karen J. Haley, Tara D. Hudson

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Postdoctoral scholars constitute a sizeable population within the academic workforce. Given the intended role of a postdoc position as a time of advanced training and professional development for a future academic career, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, it is important to understand whether and how well the career-related needs of postdocs are being met. The purpose of this research was to understand STEM postdoctoral scholars’ career trajectories, with particular attention to the influences on their career-related decision making, by applying the Life Experiences and Role Negotiations (LEARN) model to qualitative data from interviews with 19 STEM …

Congestion Pricing Efficiency And Equity, Michael Manville

PSU Transportation Seminars

Congestion pricing is effective, and efficient, but is it fair? One of the biggest concerns surrounding dynamic road charges is that they will harm low-income people. This seminar examines the equity implications of congestion charging, and argues that road pricing can satisfy the demands of both equity and efficiency.

Family, School, And Forms Of Capital, Sonja Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation contains three separate but related papers, each with a different focus. In the three papers, I sought to gain a deeper understanding of how different forms of cultural and social capital appeared in the relationship between families and schools. The first paper covers an interview study exploring how teachers in elementary school understood and used email to facilitate partnership with parents, a form of social capital that has the potential to benefit families from all class backgrounds. The second paper investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status, bonding social capital and cultural capital; I tested whether social capital affected …

The Impact Of Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Summer Camps On Middle School Students' Understanding Of The Nature Of Science, SapoóQ'Is WiíIt'es Ciarra Solina Greene

Dissertations and Theses

The Nature of Science (NOS) and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) have commonalities in the knowledge bases: they are both ways of explaining the natural world; founded on a set of practices and the historical accumulation of knowledge; and part of the education is learning practices and developing knowledge of the concepts that are foundational to the disciplines. Throughout the United States, schools are attempting to strengthen students' understanding of NOS through various approaches, although few have adopted the integration of TEK into curriculum. This research assesses two summer camps for middle school students that are science focused, one with TEK …

Cultivating Moral Imagination Through Deliberative Pedagogy: Reframing Immigration Deliberation For Student Engagement Across Differences. A Response To "Deliberating Public Policy Issues With Adolescents: Classroom Dynamics And Sociocultural Considerations", Lisa Weasel

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In “Deliberating Public Policy Issues with Adolescents,” the authors described what they determine to be an unsuccessful attempt at deliberative pedagogy on the topic of immigration in three high school classrooms that differed demographically. Specifically, the authors observed that students failed to engage with evidence, stuck with their initial viewpoints, and only listened politely to those with different views, rather than interacting across differences to reach consensus. While student positionality, as the authors suggest, is important to take into account, there may be ways to reorient deliberations on “wicked problems” such as immigration, which are by their nature prone to …

Hot Neoliberal Commodities Or Tools For Empowerment? A Badges Case Study And Conversation, Emily Ford, Jost Lottes, Betty Izumi, Dawn Richardson

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

In Fall term of 2014, three instructors of Portland State University’s School of Community Health, in collaboration with the school’s subject librarian, deployed digital badges to certify information literacy and critical thinking outcomes in their classes. The badge curriculum, which was developed by mapping library learning outcomes to course learning outcomes, was designed to teach and assess students’ understanding of and skills acquisition in website evaluation, information formats, database searching, citing and plagiarism, and contributing knowledge to the information landscape. Badges were issued using Credly, and before and after the term, students were asked to provide feedback about their learning …

Open City'S Abschied: Teju Cole, Gustav Mahler, And Elliptical Cosmopolitanism, Josh Epstein

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay addresses Teju Cole’s Open City (2011), a deconstructed bildungsroman preoccupied with Gustav Mahler’s late compositions. Building on Theodor Adorno’s account of Mahler, the essay argues that Cole positions Julius’s violent subjectivity in dialectical tension with the patterns of consumption that inform both his and Mahler’s intellectual landscapes. Previous scholarship, though attentive to Cole’s cosmopolitanism, has ignored the novel’s fixation on Mahler: a Jewish Bohemian-Austrian composer whose cosmopolitan sensibilities led him to appropriate a range of literary and musical sources, Western and Eastern. These sources, Adorno argued, are mediated in Mahler’s music as “pseudomorphs” that unravel their own pretenses …

Twenty-First Century Book Studies: The State Of The Discipline, Rachel Noorda, Stevie Marsden

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the 25th annual Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) conference in 2017, held at the University of Victoria, Canada, Stevie Marsden and Rachel Noorda moderated a workshop on the topic of “The Twenty-First Century Book.” Six scholars (Beth Driscoll, Per Henningsgaard, Simone Murray, DeNel Rehberg-Sedo, Simon Rowberry and Claire Squires), whose research is predominantly positioned within the twenty-first century, were invited to discuss the challenges and opportunities for studying the twenty-first century book. The 2017 SHARP conference, “Technologies of the Book”, seemed the perfect setting to hold this workshop. Not only did the conference theme …