Digital Commons Network^™

Minimizing And Addressing Microaggressions In The Workplace: Be Proactive, Part 2, Shamika Dalton, Michele Villagran

Faculty Publications

Our nation’s history plays a huge role in the way we perceive underrepresented groups. From slavery to segregation, to the inequality in compensation for women and people of color, to the refusal to wed same sex couples, discrimination and opposition has plagued the United States for decades. Since the Civil Rights Movement, discrimination towards underrepresented groups has shifted from overt acts to subtle and semiconscious manifestations called microaggressions. These manifestations reside in well-intentioned individuals who are often unaware of their biased beliefs, attitudes, and actions. They can lead to inequities within our relationships and affect our work productivity.

Outdoor Activity Involvement And Postsecondary Status Among Rural Adolescents: Results From A Longitudinal Analysis, Jayson O. Seaman

Faculty Publications

Outdoor recreation and leisure are being promoted in some rural communities as an economic revitalization strategy and an arena for youth development. This research brief reports on a study analyzing a five-wave longitudinal dataset that examined the influence of outdoor activity involvement on postsecondary educational status in a sample of emerging adults from a large, rural county in the northeastern U.S. (N=114). Differences in educational predictors were found between individuals participating in different outdoor activity types and at different levels throughout adolescence. Multinomial regression found the degree of outdoor activity involvement and parental education levels to predict postsecondary enrollment status …

The Great Recession And The Destruction Of Minority Wealth, Douglas S. Massey, Jacob S. Rugh

Faculty Publications

It seems obvious now, but there was a time when social scientists paid little attention to wealth as a factor in America's system of racial stratification. For many years, researchers focused primarily on black-white differentials in education, employment, and earnings; and in these dimensions progress was clearly being made. From 1963 (just before the passage of major civil rights legislation) to 2001 (just after the economic boom of the 1990s), the ratio of black-to-white median household income rose from 33 percent to 64 percent. Over the same period, the black-white ratio for high school graduates climbed from 51% to 89%, …

The Multi-Scalar Organization Of Aging-Related Services In Us Rural Places, David L. Brown, Nina Glasgow, Laszlo J. Kulcsar, Scott R. Sanders, Brian C. Thiede

Faculty Publications

Many rural communities in the United States are experiencing significant population aging, and these changes in age structure are often associated with shifts in economic activity. The demands for certain goods and services are expected to vary across age groups, and public- and private-sector service providers may make decisions based on their interpretation of demographic trends. The extent to which these perceived changes in the demand for services align with their provision has significant implications for the well-being of the older residents of aging communities. In this article, we draw on case studies of four aging communities across the rural …

An Overview Of Factors Affecting Distribution Of The Atlantic Surfclam (Spisula Solidissima), A Continental Shelf Biomass Dominant, During A Period Of Climate Change, Eileen E. Hoffman, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klink, Daphne M. Munroe, Roger Mann, Dale B. Haidvogel, Diego A. Narváez, Xinzhong Zhang, Kelsey M. Kuykendall

Faculty Publications

The Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) is a dominant member of the biological community of the Middle Atlantic Bight continental shelf and a commercially harvested species. Climate warming is affecting the biology and distribution of this species, which provides an opportunity to investigate the processes and conditions that are restructuring this fishery and the implications for ecological and socioeconomic systems. A Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) developed for the surfclam fishery provides a mechanistic description of the surfclam's response to climate change and understanding of the cascade of effects initiated by changes in oceanographic conditions that ultimately appear as social and economic …

Social Class Divergence In Family Transitions: The Importance Of Cohabitation, Heather M. Rackin, Christina M. Gibson-Davis

Faculty Publications

Objective: This study examined trends in familial transitions by maternal education and whether transitions rose because of changes in prevalence (the share of children exposed to a relationship state, either marriage or cohabitation) or churning (the number of entrances and exits conditional on being exposed to a relationship state). Background: Children's experiences of transitions, an important predictor of well-being, have leveled off in recent decades. Plateauing in transitions may reflect heterogeneity by socioeconomic status. Method: Data came from the National Survey of Family Growth on firstborn children observed from ages 0 to 5 among mothers aged 15 to 34 at …

Stressors, Self-Esteem, Social Activities, And Depression: A Sample Of Patients At A Federally Qualified Health Center Who Experienced Homelessness, Joohee Lee, Morgan W. Bradwell, Michelle Brazeal, Timothy A. Rehner, Stephanie T. Mcleod

Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationships between current stressors and depressive symptoms among Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) patients who experienced homelessness, with a particular focus on the role of self-esteem and social activities on these relationships. The sample included patients who visited any clinic site of a FQHC in the southern part of Mississippi and qualified for the Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Program. Assessments included the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the DUKE Health Profile, and a checklist of stressors. Results of the multivariate analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that ambulation difficulties were related to depressive symptoms directly …

Delineating Victims From Perpetrators: Prosecuting Self-Produced Child Pornography In Youth Criminal Justice Systems, Bryce Westlake

Faculty Publications

Video recording technology advancements and accessibility has been paralleled by a growth in self-produced child pornography (SPCP). Although social and judicial attention has been given to instances of teenage sexting, Internet-based forms of SPCP, such as webcam/website sex tourism, have almost been ignored. While some of the proposed legislation reform has referenced video-based SPCP, the majority has focused on SPCP distributed through cellular phones; excluding that which is manifested online or through entrepreneurial efforts. The purpose of this article is to introduce non-sexting SPCP, using the case study of Justin Berry (in the United States), and to propose a broad …

Minimizing And Addressing Implicit Bias In The Workplace: Be Proactive, Part One, Shamika Dalton, Michele Villagran

Faculty Publications

Librarians and information professionals cannot hide from bias: a prejudice for or against something, someone, or a group. As human beings, we all have biases. However, implicit biases are ones that affect us in an unconscious manner. Awareness of our implicit biases, and how they can affect our colleagues and work environment, is critical to promoting an inclusive work environment. Part one of this two-part article series will focus on implicit bias: what is implicit bias, how these biases affect the work environment, and best practices for reducing these biases within recruitment, hiring, and retention in the library workplace.

Knowledge, Access And Practice: Understanding The Affordable Care Act From The Voices Of Somali Immigrant Women In The United States, Fareeda Griffith

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Text Mining Analysis Of Acquisition Reforms And Expert Views, Amanda L. Mcgowin, Jonathan D. Ritschel, R. David Fass, Bradley C. Boehmke

Faculty Publications

Legislation, in the form of acquisition reforms, is historically enacted to address perceived cost, schedule, and performance problems in the defense acquisition system. Text mining is utilized to examine five major reforms and a compendium of views from 32 acquisition experts to identify commonalities and disconnects.

Tweeting A Social Movement: Black Lives Matter And Its Use Of Twitter To Share Information, Build Community, And Promote Action, Candice Lashara Edrington, Nicole Lee

Faculty Publications

Public relations research has gradually incorporated the study of advocacy organizations. However, little research has focused on social movements in particular. Through a content analysis of all public tweets sent by Black Lives Matter (BLM) over a four-year period, this study examined the message strategies used on Twitter by the social movement as a means to share information, build community, and promote action. Consistent with research on other types of organizations, informational messages proved to be the most common. The study also analyzed the influence that these strategies had on audience engagement in terms of replies and retweets. Findings suggest …

Toxoplasma Gondii Seropositivity And Substance Use In Us Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Evan L. Thacker, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) infects humans resulting in acute toxoplasmosis, an infection that in immunocompetent people is typically mild but results in persistent latent toxoplasmosis. In that T. gondii appears to affect dopamine synthesis and because addicting drugs affect midbrain dopamine transmission, latent toxoplasmosis could influence substance use. Using both the third and continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we used logistic regression to test for associations between T. gondii seropositivity and subject self-report of having ever used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. …

Correction To: Emplaced Social Vulnerability To Technological Disasters: Southeast Louisiana And The Bp Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (Population And Environment, (2017), 38, 3, (217-241), 10.1007/S11111-016-0257-8), Michael R. Cope, Tim Slack

Faculty Publications

The original version of this article inadvertently did not include the following acknowledgement of funding: Funding information This research was made possible by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Data are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information & Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org (doi: https://doi. org/10.7266/N7T72FDS, https://doi.org/10.7266/N7PG1PP2, https://doi.org/10.7266/N7JQ0XZB, https://doi.org/10.7266/N7DZ068V).

Begin Again, Holt Zaugg

Faculty Publications

One of the hallmarks of any assessment or evaluation is that it serves as an agent for improved change. However, not all changes are positive. In some cases, improvements in one area of library service delivery have negative effects in other areas of service delivery. In addition to this, no assessment is ever perfectly planned nor conducted. Each of these factors contributes to the need for library assessments to be periodically repeated. This chapter begins with a description of an assessment planning guide and journal to chronicle how the assessment was planned and unfolded. From here it discusses factors of …

Advancing Social Connection As A Public Health Priority In The United States, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Theodore Robles, David A. Sbarra

Faculty Publications

A robust body of scientific evidence indicates that being embedded in high-quality close relationships and feeling socially connected to the people in your life is associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality as well as a range of disease morbidities. Despite mounting evidence that the magnitude of these associations is comparable to many leading health determinants (that receive significant public health resources), government agencies, healthcare providers and associations, and public/private healthcare funders are slow to recognize human social relationships as either a health determinant or health risk marker in a manner that is comparable to other public health priorities. This …

The Multimodal Interactional Work Of Having Wonderful Ideas, Benedikt Harrer

Faculty Publications

Learning physics is socially organized through interactions with peers and more competent others. Instructors' and peers' assessment of and responsiveness to learners' ideas in the moment is critical for the collaborative construction of knowledge in physics. However, we still know little about how instructors and learners negotiate the value and productiveness of ideas. While to an outsider, some of the ideas physics learners discuss do not seem immediately valuable or productive for the problem being solved, Duckworth encourages us to pursue an 'insider's view' on how a learner experiences their ideas. Building on Duckworth, I pursue an 'insider's view' to …

Business Volatility And Employee Performance, Wen-Chyuan Chiang, Li Sun, Brian Walkup

Faculty Publications

This study examines the impact of business volatility on employee performance. We posit that employees work harder in a more volatile business environment as prior research links business volatility to increased use of performance-based compensation systems, which may result in better employee performance. Our results suggest that business volatility has a significant and positive impact on employee performance. Furthermore, we find that the relationship between business volatility and employee performance is stronger for larger firms and firms with higher labor intensity.

Designing Agricultural Economics And Agribusiness Undergraduate Programs, Jeffrey M. Gillespie, Maria Bampasidou

Faculty Publications

© 2018 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence. Agricultural economics and agribusiness (AEAB) programs offer their graduates unique exposure to agricultural markets, policy, and production systems, which differentiates them from business programs. Despite the advantages associated with AEAB degrees, a significant challenge universities and AEAB graduates face is a general lack of recognition of what agricultural economics is and what an agricultural economist does. Using data collected from U.S. 1862 and 1890 land grant universities, we stress the importance of designing effective AEAB curricula based on enrollment trends, …

Influence Of Physicians’ Beliefs On Propensity To Include Religion/Spirituality In Patient Interactions, Aaron B. Franzen

Faculty Publications

This study examines physicians’ beliefs, their perceptions of whether religion impacts health outcomes, and their propensity to discuss religion/spirituality with patients. It is not uncommon for patients to want religious/spiritual conversations, but the occurrence is infrequent. This study adds to knowledge regarding which physicians include these topics. Using a nationally representative sample of physicians and a mediated bi-factor structural equation model, the author finds that “religious and spiritual” physicians connect religion and patient health more than other religious/spiritual orientations. As a result, “religious and spiritual” physicians include religion/spirituality most often (indirect path). After this variation is accounted for, “spiritual but …

Pondering Zeros: Uncovering Hidden Inequities Within A Decade Of Grades, Cassandra Paul

Faculty Publications

When assessing student work, graders will often find that some students will leave one or more problems blank on assessments. Since there is no work shown, the grader has no means to evaluate the student's understanding of a particular problem, and thus awards zero points. This practice punishes the student behavior of leaving a problem blank, but this zero is not necessarily an accurate assessment of student understanding of a particular topic. While some might argue that this grading practice is "fair" in that students know that they can't receive points for answers they don't submit, we share evidence that …

"The Family That Prays Together . . .": Relational Processes Associated With Regular Family Prayer, Joe M. Chelladurai, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks

Faculty Publications

In the present article we explore how family prayer reportedly influenced family relationships. We conceptualized family prayer as a family ritual in religious families and used a qualitative methodology to interview a religiously, ethnically, and geographically diverse sample of 198 families (N = 476). Analysis of data revealed 7 related themes. Family prayer served important functions and influenced relationships in various ways including (a) as time of family togetherness and interaction; (b) as a space for social support; and (c) as a means for intergenerational transmission of religion. Further, family prayer (d) involved issues and concerns of individuals and …

Remember My Chains: New Testament Perspectives On Incarceration, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

Understanding the physical realities and social attitudes concerning incarceration in the ancient world provides a fuller context to the New Testament’s unadorned and ambiguous references to people’s experience of being held in custody. The context is crucial for interpreting biblical passages that commend caring for prisoners, that reaffirm God’s strength and nullify the ignominy associated with incarceration, and that declare God’s power over the means and motives of imperial coercion. Such passages also compel the contemporary church to advocate on behalf of prisoners and to denounce the systems that regularly victimize them.

An Evaluation Of College Student Attitudes Toward Gay Adoption, Cassandra Chaney Phd, Le'brian Patrick

Faculty Publications

Given the increasing debate regarding same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption, few studies to date have examined college student attitudes regarding this topic. This qualitative study explores the sentiments of 31 college students from a large university in the southern region of the country towards gay adoption before and after viewing the documentary We Are Dad (2005). The study allowed students to provide their level of agreement or disagreement with the statements provided by respondents on a public blog site who debated both sides of this issue. In addition, students responded to the following two questions during two points in time: …

Sexual Harassment Of Low-Income Women In Housing: Pilot Study Results, Rigel C. Oliveri

Faculty Publications

In recent months, high-profile and influential figures in media, government, and entertainment have been brought down by credible allegations that they have engaged in sexual misconduct. These revelations have sparked an important national discussion about the prevalence of sexual harassment in American society and the ways in which powerful people can use their positions both to exploit their vulnerable targets and to escape the consequences of their actions.

The conversation is a necessary starting point, but the focus on high-status workplaces overlooks other contexts in which sexual harassment occurs. This Article focuses on one overlooked, significant national problem: the sexual …

Longitudinal Change In High-Cost Prosocial Behaviors Of Defending And Including During The Transition To Adulthood, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, Madison K. Memmott-Elison, Matthew G. Nielson

Faculty Publications

Despite high profile examples that are highlighted in the popular media, we know little about high-cost prosocial behaviors such as defending and including, and how these behaviors might change over time and vary by individual. Thus, this study explored defending and including behaviors across the transition to adulthood by assessing growth and profiles of these high-cost prosocial behaviors over a four-year time span. In addition the study explored gender, emotional (sympathy), cognitive (personal values), individual (self-esteem), and relational (maternal warmth) factors during adolescence that predicted profiles of defending and including during the transition to adulthood. Participants were 469 individuals (52% …

Agency In Action: Exploring User Responses And Rhetorical Choices In Interactive Data Displays, Jacob D. Rawlins, Gregory D. Wilson, Kate Crane

Faculty Publications

n 2014, Rawlins and Wilson proposed a typology of agential interactions between users and designers of interactive data displays. This article tests that typology by studying 20 users working with three different types of interactive data displays and answering questions, which were coded by verb and actor and analyzed for themes. The authors show that rhetorical agency is marked by thoughts, actions, and language. Affordances by the designer open a shared rhetorical space where user and designer are coparticipants. As interactivity increases, participants see themselves as rhetorical agents in a community of rhetorical agents rather than as conduits of information.

Social Entrepreneurship In China: Driving Institutional Change, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the concern with exclusionary and unethical business practices has led to the growing popularity of social entrepreneurship, which focuses on the creation of social value, not wealth. In this article, I reflect on social entrepreneurship in China, a unique context given the strong Communist party leadership and the transition to a market economy. To begin, I discuss the legal and political framework for social entrepreneurship in China, followed by an overview of the sector’s characteristics, including age, size, social issues emphasized, leader characteristics, and the role of women. Next, I provide examples of …

The First World War (A Database Review), Patti Mccall-Wright

Faculty Publications

The First World War offers primary and secondary digitized content spread over four modules. The first module, Personal Experiences, focuses on the daily lives of men and women during wartime and addresses issues such as trench warfare, battle, training, death, and daily life in the military. The materials found in this module include diaries, letters, oral histories, cartoons, trench maps, and even sheet music. Propaganda and Recruitment addresses morale, censorship, recruitment, dissension, and propaganda development and includes posters, recruitment materials, tribunal case files, and papers from the UK Ministry of Information and the Kriegspresseamt in Berlin. Visual Perspectives and Narratives …

The Price Of Praise In The Market For Virtue: A Paradox Of Rating And Recognizing Responsibility, Ben William Lewis

Faculty Publications

In this study, I investigate how organizations respond to positive social ratings. Drawing upon theoretical insights from the organizational literatures on reputation, information disclosure, and commensuration, I argue that positive social ratings that define a specific and fixed threshold for recognition can alter the market price for a signal of virtue, and thus lead high-performing organizations to reduce their subsequent social performance. To test this hypothesis, I examine how large public corporations responded to a social responsibility rating that evaluated and recognized their prior philanthropic efforts. I find that firms recognized for their generosity were more likely to reduce their …