Digital Commons Network^™

Survey Costs: Where Are We And What Is The Way Forward?, Kristen M. Olson, James Wagner, Raeda Anderson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey costs are a major driver of survey design decisions and thought to be related to survey errors. Despite their importance, no common language exists for discussing survey costs, nor are there established criteria for identifying which cost metrics are useful for which purposes. Past efforts to study survey costs may have been hampered by the notion that more reporting is better reporting. This article starts by introducing a typology for survey cost metrics defined by the type of cost (estimated, observed in records, and actually incurred), currency versus non-currency measures, and level of aggregation (total, by components, per unit, …

A Comparison Of Frequency Of Alcohol And Marijuana Use Using Short Message Service Surveying And Survey Questionnaires Among Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: There are several benefits to using short message service surveying (SMS) to gather data on substance use from homeless youth, including capturing data “in the moment” and verifying the timing of one behavior relative to another. Though SMS is a valuable data collection tool with highly mobile populations that otherwise are difficult to longitudinally sample, the reliability of SMS compared with surveys is largely unknown with homeless youth. Examining the reliability of SMS is important because these data can provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between various risk behaviors, which may lead to better intervention strategies …

Are Self-Description Scales Better Than Agree/Disagree Scales?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Questions using agree/disagree (A/D) scales are ubiquitous in survey research because they save time and space on questionnaires through display in grids, but they have also been criticized for being prone to acquiescent reports. Alternatively, questions using self-description (SD) scales (asking respondents how well a statement describes them from Completely to Not at All) can also be presented in grids or with a common question stem, and by omitting the word agree, SD scales may reduce acquiescence. However, no research has examined how response patterns may differ across A/D and SD scales. In this article, we compare survey …

How Do Interviewers And Respondents Navigate Sexual Identity Questions In A Cati Survey?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey-based research has demonstrated that sexual minority individuals experience unique outcomes in areas such as physical and mental health (Boehmer et al. 2007; Hatzenbuehler 2014, 2017), crime (Herek 2009), public education (Kosciw et al. 2015), same-sex romantic relationships and family (Powell and Downey 1997; Umberson et al. 2015), and economics (Black et al. 2007). Having a reliable and valid measure of sexual identity (i.e., the way in which an individual self-describes their sexual orientation) (Gagnon and Simon 1973) is essential for conducting research on sexual minorities. Indeed, many national surveys such as the General Social Survey, the National Health Interview …

Male/Female Is Not Enough: Adding Measures Of Masculinity And Femininity To General Population Surveys, Jolene Smyth, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey research and sociological theory each provide insights into how and why people and groups act, think, and feel. Sociological theories identify what concepts are important for understanding and representing the social world. That is, sociological theories inform what to measure in surveys, and, to a certain extent, how to measure it. Survey research permits sociologists to carefully specify what is to be measured vis a vis sociological theory, setting surveys apart as a social research tool. It is this level of specification of concepts and measures that allow surveys to provide continued value at a time when “big data” …

The Effect Of Question Characteristics On Question Reading Behaviors In Telephone Surveys, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Antje Kirchner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Asking questions fluently, exactly as worded, and at a reasonable pace is a fundamental part of a survey interviewer’s role. Doing so allows the question to be asked as intended by the researcher and may decrease the risk of measurement error and contribute to rapport. Despite the central importance placed on reading questions exactly as worded, interviewers commonly misread questions, and it is not always clear why. Thus, understanding the risk of measurement error requires understanding how different interviewers, respondents, and question features may trigger question reading problems. In this article, we evaluate the effects of question features on question …

Immunization Strategies In Networks With Missing Data, Samuel F. Rosenblatt, Jeffrey A. Smith, G. Robin Gauthier, Laurent Hébert-Dufresne

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Network-based intervention strategies can be effective and cost-efficient approaches to curtailing harmful contagions in myriad settings. As studied, these strategies are often impractical to implement, as they typically assume complete knowledge of the network structure, which is unusual in practice. In this paper, we investigate how different immunization strategies perform under realistic conditions—where the strategies are informed by partially- observed network data. Our results suggest that global immunization strategies, like degree immunization, are optimal in most cases; the exception is at very high levels of missing data, where stochastic strategies, like acquaintance immunization, begin to outstrip them in minimizing outbreaks. …

Competing Forces Of Withdrawal And Disease Avoidance In The Risk Networks Of People Who Inject Drugs, Elspeth Ready, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We analyze a network of needle-sharing ties among 117 people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico, using exponential random graph modeling to examine whether network members engage in partner restriction to lower their risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV), or in informed altruism to prevent others from contracting these infections. Although sharing of used syringes is a significant risk factor for transmission of these diseases among PWID, we find limited evidence for partner restriction or informed altruism in the network of reported needle-sharing ties. We find however that sharing of needles is strongly reciprocal, and individuals …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

“Caballo”: Risk Environments, Drug Sharing And The Emergence Of A Hepatitis C Virus Epidemic Among People Who Inject Drugs In Puerto Rico, Roberto Abadie, K. Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background: Sharing drug injection equipment has been associated with the transmission of HCV among PWID through blood contained in the cooker and cotton used to prepare and divide up the drug solution. While epidemiologists often subsume this practice under the sharing of “ancillary equipment,” more attention should be paid to the fact that indirect sharing takes place within the process of joint drug acquisition and preparation.

Methods: We employed an ethnographic approach observing active PWID (N = 33) in four rural towns in Puerto Rico in order to document drug sharing arrangements involved in “caballo”, as this practice is locally …

Soldiers To Scientists: Military Service, Gender, And Stem Degree Earning, Christina Steidl, Regina E. Werum, Sela R. Harcey, Jacob Absalon, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The authors use 2014–2018 data from the American Community Survey to answer two questions: To what extent is military service associated with higher rates of earning a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (vs. a non-STEM field)? To what extent is this relationship gendered? The findings suggest that military service is associated with higher odds of completing a STEM degree and that this association is particularly strong for female veterans. Comparison across multiple STEM definitions suggests that military service does not simply channel women into traditionally female-dominated STEM fields. Instead, the findings show the biggest …

Immunization Strategies In Networks With Missing Data, Samuel Frederick Rosenblatt, Jeffrey A. Smith, G. Robin Gauthier, Laurent Hébert-Dufresne

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Network-based intervention strategies can be effective and cost-efficient approaches to cur- tailing harmful contagions in myriad settings. As studied, these strategies are often impracti- cal to implement, as they typically assume complete knowledge of the network structure, which is unusual in practice. In this paper, we investigate how different immunization strategies perform under realistic conditions—where the strategies are informed by partially-observed network data. Our results suggest that global immunization strategies, like degree immunization, are optimal in most cases; the exception is at very high levels of missing data, where stochastic strategies, like acquaintance immunization, begin to outstrip them in mini- …

The Politics Of Religious Nones, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Americans with no religious affiliation (aka religious “Nones”) are not a politically homogeneous community. Just as there are political differences between groups of Christians, there are political differences between groups of religious Nones. I use nationally representative survey data to examine the political activities and perspectives of atheists, agnostics, and those who are “nothing in particular.” Results show that Americans who report that their religion is nothing in particular are relatively uninterested in politics and unlikely to be politically active; atheists are relatively liberal and likely to experience political conflict and follow political news; and agnostics are particularly likely to …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Research On Interviewer Effects, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Jennifer Dykema, Allyson L. Holbrook, Frauke Kreuter, Brady T. West

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Interviewer-administered surveys are a primary method of collecting information from populations across the United States and the world. Various types of interviewer-administered surveys exist, including large-scale government surveys that monitor populations (e.g., the Current Population Survey), surveys used by the academic community to understand what people think and do (e.g., the General Social Survey), and surveys designed to gauge public opinion at a particular time point (e.g., the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll). Interviewers participate in these data collection efforts in a multitude of ways, including creating lists of housing units for sampling, persuading sampled units to participate, and administering survey …

What Do Interviewers Learn?: Changes In Interview Length And Interviewer Behaviors Over The Field Period, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Interviewers are important actors in telephone surveys. By setting the pace for an interview, interviewers communicate the amount of time and cognitive effort respondents should put into their task. It is well-established that interviewers vary widely in the time they spend administering a survey, and that this time changes over the course of the data collection period as interviewers gain experience (Bohme and Stohr 2014; Kirchner and Olson 2017; Loosveldt and Beullens 2013a, 2013b; Olson and Bilgen 2011; Olson and Peytchev 2007). In particular, interviewers get faster as they gain experience over the field period of a survey.

The within-survey …

Leader Readiness In A Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, And Ambiguous Business Environment, Karen Rimita, Stephanie N. Hoon, Robert Levasseur

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Organizational leaders in the 21st century face relentless changes in the business environments in which they operate. The diversity, intensity, and rapidity of these changes create volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), which challenge leaders on ways to lead effectively as existing methods prove inadequate. The problem in this study was that of inadequate leader preparedness to lead and win in VUCA environments. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of 15 Nigerian corporate executives about their VUCA business environment and the strategies they employed for VUCA-readiness and success using open-ended interview questions. The …

Knowledge Of Breast Cancer And Screening Methods Among Rural Women In Southwest Nigeria: A Mixed Method Analysis, Rowland Edet, Oluwayimika Ekundina, Obasanjo Afolabi Bolarinwa, Julianah Babajide, Juliet Amarachukwu Nwafor

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to assess the awareness of rural women on breast cancer and its screening methods in Southwest Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional survey design with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire was used to generate data among 422 rural women in selected communities in Egbeda local government area of Ibadan. The qualitative data was generated through in-depth interviews among rural women and key informant interviews among health workers in the communities. The study revealed that only 63.7% were aware of breast cancer screening methods compared to 31.6% who were not aware of it. The commonly known screening …

Paid Paternity Leave-Taking In The United States, Richard J. Petts, Chris Knoester, Qi Li

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Surprisingly few studies have focused on paternity leave-taking in the United States. This study utilizes data from three national datasets to provide a comprehensive examination of the attitudes, practices, and predictors of paid paternity leave-taking in the US. Specifically, this study focuses on (a) describing attitudes toward fathers receiving a share of paid parental leave, (b) describing rates and lengths of paid paternity leave-taking, and (c) analyzing the extent to which economic capital, cultural capital, social capital, and father identities predict paternity leave-taking practices. The results indicate that most people support fathers receiving a share of paid parental leave in …

Parents Coaching In Naturalistic Interventions To Improve Communication Skills For Adolescents And Adults With Autism Via Communication Skills For Adolescents And Adults With Autism Via Telepractice, Sanikan Wattanawongwan, J. Birdie Ganz, Valeria Yllades, Claudia Dunn, Sarah K. Ura

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Psychological Well-Being And The Charitable Bequest Decision, Lucy Margaret Lowthian

Plymouth Business School Theses

There are currently 168,000 charities registered in England and Wales who in 2017 raised a combined £75.35 billion (Hillier, 2018), yet less than £3 billion of this total was donated from gifts in wills (Smee & Ford, 2018). At present, only 6.3 per cent of people in the UK leave a bequest to charities in their will (Smee & Ford 2019) despite 70 per cent of people supporting a charity during their lifetime (Dauncey 2005). Legacy income is estimated to rise to £5.9 billion by 2045 (Legacy Foresight, 2019), yet despite the importance of gifts in wills to charities and …

Resilience Of Entrepreneurs In Conflict Zones: Evidence From Afghanistan, Iraq And Palestine, Doaa Althalathini

Plymouth Business School Theses

In places where there is violent conflict and substantial institutional deficiencies, entrepreneurial activity increases as self-employment becomes a necessary survival and coping mechanism and strategy. Women within context affected by long-term conflict are also more likely to engage in entrepreneurship whilst experiencing additional challenges to those experienced by women entrepreneurs in non-conflict affected developing economies. With the temporary or permanent loss of household income, women contribute an increased share of income-generating activities and may often be the main or sole providers for their families. Therefore, researching entrepreneurship in contexts of conflict is important for advancing our knowledge of entrepreneurship practises, …

How Power And Control Drive Behaviour & Identity Modification Among Cruise Ship Workers: A Qualitative Study, Richard Parkman

Plymouth Business School Theses

This study explores the workplace experiences of maritime hospitality officers on cruise ships. The study aims to evaluate the complexities and common influences of both work and social experiences of cruise ship officers as they negotiate, create and modify their identities in the cruise ship workplace. The qualitative approach adopted, used semi-structured interviews in a phenomenological paradigm of enquiry, dissecting the connections between power and control of the cruise ship setting as a panoptic environment by drawing on Irving Goffman’s [1922-1982] ‘total institution’ control, where behavioural performances and emotion management modify identities as acts of compliance to the highly regulated …

Employee Flourishing: The Application And Efficacy Of Workplace Coaching As A Methodology For Improving Mental Well-Being, Alison Leigh Sydenham

Plymouth Business School Theses

The literature concerning the well-being of the working age population demonstrates that being in good work supports health and mental well-being. However, there is a lack of preventative measures to facilitate this in spite of growing research into the measures and determinants of well-being. This thesis highlights the growing literature on the benefits of coaching and sought to determine the efficacy of workplace coaching as a methodology for improving mental well-being through addressing three key areas identified as gaps within the literature: Does participants’ well-being change as a result of a workplace coaching intervention; What changes to mental well-being occur …

Saudi Equities Herding: The Role Of Regional And Global Factors, Dina Gabbori

Plymouth Business School Theses

Herding is an important stock market behaviour for investors and policymakers, it may affect market volatility, which investors need to understand to properly assess risks. Financial instability may deter risk-averse investors while benefitting investors seeking profit from market inefficiencies. Policymakers who understand herding impacts are better placed to improve the information available to investors. Herding behaviour in the Saudi equity market was examined between 2006 and 2016 using the method suggested by Change et al. (2000), from three related perspectives. Firstly, through its influence on oil market volatility, including during OPEC conference meetings. Results showed significant herding behaviour in most …

Transforming Organisations Into Entrepreneurial Communities: How Can Understanding The Constructions Of Organisational Agents And Their Experiences Of Human Resource Management Enable Smes To Sustain Strategic Entrepreneurship?, Jim Smith

Plymouth Business School Theses

It has been recognised that where entrepreneurship is adopted at a strategic level it can lead to continuous improvements in organisational performance. The United Kingdom (UK) is currently leaving the European Union, which it is anticipated will result in economic decline. Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) comprise 99.9% of private sector organisations within the UK and so have significant potential to mitigate or reverse any such decline. However, in recent years varying proportions of such organisations have reported that they lack people management skills. Yet organisations’ Human Resources (HR) provide the main source of entrepreneurship within existing organisations. Growing bodies …

A Pragmatist Context-Based Assessment Of The Economic Implications Of Eating Patterns In A Small Sub-Saharan Developing Economy: Focus On Togo, Corinne D. Tomta-Heinrich

Plymouth Business School Theses

Healthy nutrition is recognized as essential to a productive workforce and strategic in preventing healthcare costs. Meanwhile, food supply system proficiency requires socially coherent organizational efficiency. Sub-Saharan Africa is widely presented in agro-food economics literature as a cultural block whereas it enfolds context-specific nations with specific biophysical and historical ties. This thesis aims to determine the importance of investigating country-specific diets’ effects on economic welfare. Equally, it emphases national food system governance on which globalization, socio-economic and demographic transitions are increasingly influential. Normative, critical and grounded in poststructuralism and cultural/relativist pragmatism, the thesis shifts focus from generic material challenges emphasized …

Microfinance And Women Empowerment In Bangladesh: Impact In Economic, Social And Political Dimensions., Abm Mostafa

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis empirically examines the impact of microfinance services on women’s economic, social and political empowerment in Bangladesh. Microfinance is alternative financial services for poor people, predominantly for women as they are more poverty-stricken and discriminated in Bangladesh. These services are more likely to be flexible than formal financial services so that poor women can afford and use for productive activities which can generate income either for them or for their families. Thus, women may create a chance to uplift themselves from current deprived conditions in many aspects include financial, familial, social and public life. Therefore, this thesis aims to …

Increasing College Entrance Testing Vocabulary For Secondary Students With High-Incidence Disabilities, Cynthia C. Massey, Margarett E. Shippen, Margaret M. Flores, Cindy Head

Georgia Educational Researcher

This study investigated the effects of an instructional technology device, specifically, a computer-based graphic organizer, called the Real-World Connections Vocabulary graphic organizer (Ellis, 2015), on vocabulary acquisition for college entrance testing skills of students with high-incidence disabilities. Although graphic organizers have been studied since the 1960’s, there is very little research regarding the effectiveness of computer-based graphic organizers when used with high school students with mild disabilities, and their benefit acquiring college entrance exam vocabulary knowledge, namely, the ACT exam. By means of a single-subject, multiple probe across participants design, this study demonstrated that a functional relation did exist between …

Reducing Meat Consumption: Drawing On Participatory Action Research To Explore Ways Of Engaging In A Process Of Meat Consumption Reduction, Brittany Spadafore

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

With growing attention to climate change and human impacts on the environment, an emerging body of literature is exploring the impacts of global reliance on meat consumption. Research is increasingly supporting the feasibility of reducing meat consumption to address the environmental pressures of the global food system. However, recommended strategies to promote a reduction in meat consumption have been limited due to narrowly focusing on individual rational decision-making models. Centralizing a Social Practice theoretical lens, the present study utilized an approach to participatory action research to explore the experiences of seven (N = 7) green-building tenants reducing their meat consumption …

An Evaluation Of The Timeline As A Memory Retrieval Aid For Children’S Recall Of Specific Details From A Repeated Event, Huan Huan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Investigators and prosecutors are heavily dependent on children’s testimony in abuse cases where physical evidence is often lacking, making children the sole source of information. Decades of research have shown that young children are indeed capable of accurately recalling events from the past. Findings from research on interview techniques suggest that interview aids such as dolls and human diagrams are often not helpful and pose risks of eliciting inaccurate reports unless they are used cautiously and non-suggestively at the end of the interview.

The timeline, which is a visual depiction of time, is another type of interview aid that is …