Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Instruction 2.0 - What Are We Actually Doing?, Greg Bobish

Communications in Information Literacy

This survey looks at ARL Libraries' instruction websites and tries to identify publicly available Library 2.0 tools focused on user education. The reasons for each tool's presence or absence are discussed and an overall assessment of the current state of the use of these tools in the field is offered.

A City Club Report On Ballot Measure 73, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Heard On The Net: One Byte, Two Bytes, Three Bytes For Dollars. All For E-Books, Stand Up And Holler!, Jill Emery

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

This column explores two e-book purchasing models, Evidence-Based Selection (EBS) and patron-driven (demanddriven) model. Both hold promise as new ways to purchase e-books in libraries and provoke interesting questions about the future of e-book purchasing.

Technology In Practice. Nurturing Innovation: Tips For Managers And Administrators, Meredith G. Farkas

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on how library managers and administrators can encourage innovation in libraries and prevent the failure of new library services. The author suggests that managers should encourage staff to learn about new trends in technology, give staff time to experiment with new initiatives, and develop a work culture that is tolerant of risks. Other topics include budget cuts to libraries, patron population, and rate of return (ROI) for libraries.

Demonstrating The Benefits Of Green Streets For Active Aging: Initial Findings, Jennifer Dill, Margaret B. Neal, Vivek Shandas, Gretchen Luhr, Arlie Steven Adkins, Darin Lund

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This project will help demonstrate how sustainable ("green") streets contribute to the well-being of a community, including the physical and mental health of older and younger adults, along with the environment and economy. The project will collect data in Portland, OR neighborhoods to answer the following research questions: Are residents living near sustainable streets more physically active in their neighborhood? Do residents living near sustainable streets interact with neighbors more and demonstrate higher levels of neighborhood social capital? What are residents’ opinions of sustainable streets? Are there variations in responses to sustainable streets by age or other demographics? In particular, …

A New Perspective On Late Holocene Social Interaction In Northwest Alaska: Results Of A Preliminary Ceramic Sourcing Study, Shelby L. Anderson, Matthew T. Boulanger, Michael D. Glascock

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research examines the evidence for prehistoric ceramic exchange networks over the last 2000 years in northwest Alaska through the use of neutron activation analysis of ceramic artifacts. Results from ceramic analysis on eight coastal and inland archaeological sites identified three source macrogroups and three associated subgroups. Clay source diversity and shared source macrogroups between geographically distant sites suggest the use of multiple sources and/or the movement of pots between production locales, mirroring related patterns in pottery stylistic data. Although additional analytical work is needed to fully understand the changing character of clay procurement and ceramic distribution across this time …

Evaluation Of Bike Boxes At Signalized Intersections [Presentation], Jennifer Dill, Christopher M. Monsere

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A presentation summarizing findings of a study on the effectiveness of bike boxes at signalized intersections. Presentation delivered to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference in Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 7-10, 2010.

Community Engaged Research At The Regional Research Institute For Human Services, Diane Yatchmenoff, Laurie E. Powers

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Participatory models of research, in which communities are actively engaged in the research process through partnerships with academic institutions, are restructuring how scientific knowledge is being created. Community engaged research, also known as, community based participatory research (CBPR), and participatory action research (PAR) is increasingly recognized as a framework for high quality scientific inquiry. In community engaged research, researchers and evaluators work side‐by‐side with community members in all phases of the research process, from defining social problems and research questions, conceptualizing research design, carrying out research, and interpreting and disseminating findings. It requires partnership development, collaboration and cooperation, and commitment …

Making Ecodistricts Concepts And Methods For Advancing Sustainability In Neighborhoods, Ethan Seltzer, Timothy W. Smith, Joseph Cortright, Ellen M. Bassett, Vivek Shandas

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report is about how developing "EcoDistricts" in Portland can result in more sustainable neighborhoods and a more sustainable city. With generous funding from the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle, we have been able to take a deeper look into core concepts underlying the notion of pursuing citywide sustainability through neighborhood-scale action. The question becomes: What needs to be done to enable communities to self-manage their resource using behavior by creating community-inspired interventions that change relationships between people and between people and place? To answer these questions and to contribute to the emerging practice of EcoDistrict formation and development, what follows …

Community-Based Approaches To Reduce Toxins In Housing: Lessons Learned From Working With Diverse Communities, Erin Mcnally, Ian Blazina, Stephanie Farquhar

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article will review lessons learned from a community-based participatory research project with Latino and Somali residents in Portland, Oregon. The aim of the Healthy Futures Collaborative (HFC) project was to reduce in-home environmental health hazards associated with childhood respiratory illness and asthma through a process that strengthened social support and civic engagement. Using a community-based approach, the HFC trained community residents as community scientists to ensure local leadership and participation. Results suggest an increase in Somali and Latino residents' knowledge of environmental stressors and changes in behavior that may improve indoor environmental quality. Especially when working with historically marginalized …

Technology In Practice. Your Reality, Augmented, Meredith G. Farkas

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article discusses library applications of global positioning system (GPS) functionality available in mobile telephones. Augmented reality applications and location-aware mobile Web sites are examined and their possible connection with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to assist library users are explored. The development of location-based applications to enhance library services is also discussed.

Making Choice That Change Lives, Yizhao Yang

TREC Project Briefs

Children’s ability to walk or bike to school depends largely on where they live. Surprisingly, we know very little about how families make choices about where to live in relation to school travel. Existing school travel research has generally focused on the effects of environmental characteristics on the likelihood of children walking or biking to school. This project took a more comprehensive approach by examining the relationships between transportation to school, neighborhood walkability and where families choose to live.

Tracking Missing Drivers, James G. Strathman

TREC Project Briefs

By understanding driver absenteeism, transit providers can learn to manage it, Portland State University research suggests.

Technology And Communications Coursework: Facilitating The Progression Of Students With Learning Disabilities Through High School Science And Math Coursework, Dara Shifrer, Rebecca Callahan

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students identified with learning disabilities experience markedly lower levels of science and mathematics achievement than students who are not identified with a learning disability. Seemingly compounding their disadvantage, students with learning disabilities also complete more credits in non-core coursework—traditionally considered nonacademic coursework—than students who are not identified with a learning disability. The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a large national dataset with both regular and special education high school students, is utilized to determine whether credit accumulation in certain types of non-core coursework, such as technology and communications courses, is associated with improved science and math course taking outcomes for …

Places For Races: The White Supremacist Movement Imagines U.S. Geography, Barbara Perry, Randy Blazak

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasingly, scholars are acknowledging that racial and other forms of animus assume a spatial dimension. Not only does intercultural hostility take different forms depending on location, but so, too, does the concomitant bias-motivated violence imply “places for races.” The very intent and motive of hate crimes are grounded in the perceived need of perpetrators to defend carefully crafted boundaries. While these boundaries are largely cultural, they may also take on a real, physical form, at least from the perpetrator’s perspective. Nowhere is this more evident than in the geographical imagination of the White Supremacist movement. This paper will trace the …

Sex And Laughter In Women's Music, 1970-77, Sarah Dougher

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The women's music movement of the early 1970's was created by and for women who came to political consciousness as a result of the women's liberation movement. The music culture that emerged was originally called "lesbian music", but later gained the less controversial descriptor "women's music". Outside of this music movement music produced during this period rarely made explicit links with emerging feminist consciousness.What differentiated "women's music" from other music made by women of the period was its lesbian focus (in both lyrics and performance contexts). Women's music was created for a lesbian audience to describe lesbian experiences and desires. …

News Images, Race, And Attribution In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina, Eran Ben-Porath, Lee Shaker

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study looks at the effect of news images and race on the attribution of responsibility for the consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Participants, Black and White, read the same news story about the hurricane and its aftermath, manipulated to include images of White victims, Black victims, or no images at all. Participants were then asked who they felt was responsible for the humanitarian disaster after the storm. White respondents expressed less sense of government responsibility when the story included victims' images. For Black respondents this effect did not occur. Images did not affect attribution of responsibility to New Orleans' residents …

Mentoring: Meanings, Models, And Metaphors, Thomas E. Keller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a PDF of a PowerPoint program presented at the UNST Peer Mentor Program, Fall Mentor Development Conference, September 2010

Is School-Based Mentoring Effective? Making Sense Of Mixed Findings, Marc E. Wheeler, Thomas E. Keller, David L. Dubois

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation summarizes the findings and conclusion of a recent issue of the Social Policy Report, a publication of the Society for Research on Child Development, that was co-authored by Mr. Wheeler and Drs. DuBois and Keller.

Regional Transportation And Land Use Decision Making In Metropolitan Regions, National Policy Consensus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In 2010, an interdisciplinary team from the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University and the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon conducted a study examining the arrangements and mechanisms for integrating land use and transportation in metropolitan regions and assessing these arrangements based on current practice and future potential. The four case study regions were: Portland, Oregon; Puget Sound, WA; San Diego, CA, and Denver, CO.

The methods used in this study included a research forum held in September, 2010 in Portland, Oregon to share findings, discuss implications, identify lessons learned and …

The Dynamics Of Autistic-Academic Partnerships, Dora Raymaker, Christina Nicolaidis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditionally, research about autistics has been developed without autistics, leading to systemic problems that reinforce stereotypes and divide communities. Some academics find the idea of autistics contributing meaningfully to research unthinkable, while the autistic community is often angered by research which holds no potential benefit, or is even directly harmful, to community aims. Problematic dynamics between academics and minority populations are neither new nor specific to autism research. Research approaches involving academic-community partnerships can change these dynamics to benefit all partners. Academic-community partnerships empower minorities to execute research relevant to community priorities and enable academics to perform high-quality, ethical science. …

Characteristics Of Transitions In Freeway Traffic, Robert L. Bertini, Soyoung Ahn

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research seeks to understand the characteristics of transitions as freeway traffic changes from one state to another. This study addresses the features of two types of transitions; transitions near a merge and transitions along shock waves during the onsets and dissipations of queues at several freeway sites.

Individual vehicle trajectory data were analyzed for studying the transitions near a merge. The length of a transition zone was measured by analyzing the spatial changes in flow, density and speed along kinematic waves near a merge. It was found that the length of transition in terms of flow, density and speed …

Modeling Acoustic Scattering From The Seabed Using Transport Theory, Jorge Quijano, Lisa M. Zurk

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Radiative Transfer (RT) theory has established itself as an important tool for electromagnetic remote sensing in parallel plane geometries with random distributions of scatterers, and most recently it has also been proposed as a model for the propagation of elastic waves in layered ocean sediments. In this work the capabilities of this model are illustrated, as the RT method is used to predict backscattering strength from laboratory models of random media. The RT model is characterized by its flexibility on accommodating scatterers in a broad variety of sizes, shapes, and acoustic contrast relative to the background media. Additionally, this formulation …

Empirical Observation Of The Impact Of Traffic Oscillations On Freeway Safety, Christopher M. Monsere, Soyoung Ahn

TREC Final Reports

Traffic oscillations are typical features of congested traffic flow that are characterized by recurring decelerations followed by accelerations (stop-and-go driving). The negative environmental impacts of these oscillations are widely accepted, but their impact on traffic safety has been debated. This report describes the impact of freeway traffic oscillations on traffic safety. This study employs a matched case-control design using high resolution traffic and crash data from a freeway segment. Traffic conditions prior to each crash were taken as cases, while traffic conditions during the same periods on days without crashes were taken as controls. These were also matched by presence …

Oregon Freight Data Mart, Miguel A. Figliozzi, Robert Bertini

TREC Final Reports

Increasing freight volumes are adding pressure to the Oregon transportation system. Monitoring the performance of the transportation system and freight movements is essential to guarantee the economic development of the region, the efficient allocation of resources, and the quality of life of all Oregonians. Freight data is expensive to collect and maintain. Confidentiality issues, the size of the datasets, and the complexity of freight movements are barriers that preclude the easy access and analysis of freight data. Data accessibility and integration is essential to ensure successful freight planning and consistency across regional partner agencies and planning organizations. In relation to …

Technology In Practice. Guided By Barcodes, Meredith G. Farkas

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article explores the application of Quick Response (QR) barcodes in library settings, with particular focus given to their possible use in library orientation. It notes that QR codes can be scanned and read by camera-enabled mobile telephones, directing the user to a predetermined location which could include Web sites, telephone numbers, or images. Public service applications of QR codes are examined and the use of QR codes in Japan is discussed.

Working Overseas As A Librarian For The United States Or Non-Governmental Organizations, Joan Petit

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

In this article, I focus on international jobs with the US Federal Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the United Nations. Please note that this is not an exhaustive summary of opportunities available abroad for Americans, but I do hope it will get you started.

The Boulevard Study: From Arterial To Asset -- Examining The Role Of The Multi-Way Boulevard In Coordinated Transportation And Land Use Planning, Mark L. Gillem

TREC Final Reports

Cities that were once considered the most-desired places to live or for businesses to locate are now seeking ways to unclog their increasingly congested roadways and regain their quality of life. U.S. Department of Transportation Strategic Plan Background Cities across the U.S. that are struggling with congestion resort to remedies that are increasingly difficult to implement. Adding capacity is a more challenging proposition given limited land availability, greater environmental constraints, and fiscal barriers. Replacing individual trips with transit has seen limited success and can typically only be justified at greater levels of density than many communities currently support. Multiway boulevards …

Climate Change And Globalization In The Americas: Case Studies Of Mitigation And Adaptation, Mary Finley-Brook, Melissa Haeffner, Charmaine Heslop-Thomas, Elma Montaña, Leah Sprain

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robin Leichenko and Karen O‘Brien have proposed ―double exposure‖ as a conceptual framework to demonstrate how processes of globalization and global environmental change (GEC) redefine risk and encourage new, interrelated responses to social and ecological transitions (O‘Brien and Leichenko, 2000; Leichenko and O'Brien, 2008). In particular, the concept encourages researchers and policy makers to consider interplay between global climate change and globalization and how this is expressed unevenly across space. After reviewing the ways double exposure has been used in the literature, we consider four case studies to investigate the utility of the framework for analyzing and understanding climate change …

Portland Public Schools Enrollment Forecasts, 2010-11 To 2020-21, Based On October 2009 Enrollments, Portland State University. Population Research Center

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

The Portland Public School District (PPS) enrolled 45,592 K-12 students in Fall 2009, an increase of 568 students (1.3 percent) from Fall 2008. This growth breaks the string of 12 consecutive years of enrollment losses and represents the District’s biggest growth since 1992. Growth was concentrated at the elementary level (K-5th grade), which added 577 students (2.6 percent). District-wide secondary levels experienced relatively stable enrollments, with a loss of 55 students (0.6 percent) in middle school grades (6th-8th), and growth of 46 students (0.4 percent) in high school grades (9th-12th). The medium growth scenario forecast prepared last year, based on …