Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using Web Analytics For Mobile Interface Development, Junior R. Tidal

Publications and Research

Libraries are developing mobile Web sites to keep up with the dynamic landscape of emerging technologies. However, the development of a mobile Web site is not as simple as serving the existing desktop Web site on a handheld device. Library developers can use analytics software to better understand users and to develop a user-centered mobile Web site. This case study explores the use of a library’s traditional desktop Web site’s analytics information in creating a mobile interface. 2 Although Web analytics can provide a great amount of information about users, data should be used as supplementary information. Usability testing, focus …

Community Loss: A New Social Indicator, Jochen Albrecht, Mimi Abramovitz

Publications and Research

The Community Loss Index ðCLIÞ, a new social indicator, focuses on the understudied role of place as a source of stress and an aggregator of individual experiences. Building on the relationship between loss and stress, the index attempts to capture collective loss, defined as the chronic exposure by neighborhood residents to multiple resource losses at the same time. Using maps, the article analyzes the spatial distribution of six types of loss in New York City and the characteristics of people who live in high- and low-loss neighborhoods. Regionalization reveals a neighborhood-based concentration of loss, patterns of loss that are both …

Like A Hurricane: A Citation Analysis Of Emergency Management Scholarly Literature, Jennifer Noe, Julia M. Furay

Publications and Research

This bibliometric study used citation analysis to uncover citing characteristics in the burgeoning academic field of emergency management. Of the 281 degree programs listed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency nationwide, those at community colleges accounted for 17 percent of the total. Using the interdisciplinary database of Academic Search Complete, a sample of 5,099 citations was collected from 146 articles published between 2002 and 2012. The most strongly represented disciplines revealed by the analysis were Social Science, Science/Technology and Medicine. A majority of citations (45%) came from academic journals, with nearly half (44%) of those from Social Science. When citing …

Tarrying With The "Private Parts", Robert F. Reid-Pharr

Publications and Research

Two-thirds of the way through Object Lessons (2012), Robyn Wiegman's provocative study of the institutional and ideological development of what she names identity-based modes of inquiry in US colleges and universities, the author recounts a 2003 trip she took to Leiden to attend the inaugural meeting of the International American Studies Association. There, she was regularly met with the claim that American studies, at least as it is practiced by citizens and long-term residents of the United States, was deeply provincial and too caught up with rehearsals of the humdrum difficulties of American social and cultural life, particularly our always …

Strengths And Limitations Of Qualitative Approaches To Research In Occupational Health Psychology, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Joseph J. Mazzola

Publications and Research

Like all research methods, qualitative methods have strengths and limitations. This chapter describes seven strengths and five limitations. With an understanding of their strengths and limitations and how to minimize and/or balance them, occupational health psychology (OHP) researchers can benefit from qualitative methods. It is important to understand that qualitative findings do not establish generalizable cause-effect relations. However, qualitative methods can help an OHP researcher develop a theory of causality and derive hypotheses related to the theory and, thus, motivate quantitatively organized research designed to test the hypotheses. The challenge for the OHP researcher is to be mindful of what …

International Organizations, Free Trade And Environmental Citizenship: Mexico And Chile In Comparative Perspective, Sherrie Baver

Publications and Research

This paper focuses on the potential of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and specific International Organizations (IOs) to promote democratic and effective environmental governance. FTAs are often cited in the political science literature for their negative impacts; yet, they are central to the present stage of economic globalization. Given that U.S. FTAs have environmental requirements as do accession agreements to developed country IOs (e.g. OECD), they remain under-explored institutions providing space for activists to expand environmental citizenship. The specific research question explored here is how might activists use these institutions to promote procedural environmental rights to information, participation, and justice, collectively …

Local Connections To Global Collections: The Power Of Interlibrary Loan Services, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

Interlibrary loan services facilitate access to both print and digital information, be it from other libraries nearby or from around the world. ILL librarians and staff members also provide integrated, or global, access to library and information services, in general. They help patrons discover holdings in their own local collections, online open access material, and items available only for purchase from publishers or booksellers. By working closely with colleagues in other libraries, and despite copyright and license restrictions on the sharing of information, as well as limits in budget and staffing, library resource sharing specialists offer both global information and …

Finding Room For Everyone: Libraries Confront Social Exclusion, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

Communities that are working to combat exclusion have greater potential for success if they enlist the support of public libraries, which are in many ways ideally situated to welcome marginalized populations and provide programs and services that combat social exclusion. This chapter explains how this adaptability in response to social problems fits with the mandate of public libraries; examines why and how libraries should confront social exclusion; and looks at the Atwater Library and Computer Centre (ALCC) in Westmount, Québec, as an illustration of how this has been successfully accomplished.

Entertaining, Informing, Persuading: Figures Of Speech To Prepare For Health And Safety, David H. Lee, Frederick Steier, Wit Ostrenko

Publications and Research

The public mandates science center exhibits that are entertaining as well as informative. In addition, exhibits can also be performative, in that they act back upon the visitors with an injunction to change their ways. We give examples from two exhibits that not only inform, but also open up space for changes in behavior and perception, particularly in arenas of public health. We look at two recent and ongoing exhibits at MOSI – “Disasterville” and “The Amazing You” - and examine the affordances suggested by figures of speech such as eponymy, hyponymy, hypernymy and retronymy. Tropological research into museum exhibits …

Greece In Crisis: An Interview With Despina Lalaki, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Critical Information Literacy And The Technology Of Control: The Case Of Armenia, John Carey, D. Aram Donabedian

Publications and Research

As direct providers of information literacy, librarians can help patrons analyze the social and economic forces involved in the creation and use of information. This chapter will discuss why critical information literacy and critical pedagogy are especially important in the Armenian context, with its unique historical, cultural, and geopolitical concerns. The authors will document how the Armenian government has used cutting-edge Internet controls to block online content or misdirect users. We will also examine how Armenians perceive the independence of their available media and explore current efforts by telecom, publishing, and governmental concerns to restrict Internet freedom. The authors suggest …

The Three-Credit Solution: Social Justice In An Information Literacy Course, Anne E. Leonard, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Gender Relations Of Space: Impact On Women’S Leadership In Nigeria [Pilot Study], Oluremi Alapo

Publications and Research

This qualitative phenomenological research study examines women in Nigeria and how they continue to face enormous set-backs regarding development and leadership capabilities. The socio and economic roles that many women occupy in Nigerian society affects leadership roles, especially in the context of sexual division of labor and in decision-making. The national and family culture present prevents women to fully adapt to innovative 21st century leadership. Culture is socialized in a person through the shared values of social groups that in turn play key roles in a person’s cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. The national and family culture is one in …

Teaming Up For Safer Cities: A Report From The Implementation Assessment Of The National Forum On Youth Violence Prevention (2012), Jeffrey A. Butts, Caterina Gouvis Roman, Kathleen A. Tomberg

Publications and Research

The efforts inspired by the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention will take time to develop, but survey results from the first 15 months of implementation suggest that the initiative may be generating some important changes. In five communities, survey respondents report a number of potentially valuable improvements. The results imply that the cities involved in the National Forum may be increasing opportunities for youth and improving the extent to which violence prevention approaches draw upon the perspectives and expertise of a broad range of community members. There are also indications that some cities are developing better overall capacity to …

On The Social Construction Of Hellenism Cold War Narratives Of Modernity, Development And Democracy For Greece, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

Hellenism is one of those overarching, ever-changing narratives always subject to historical circumstances, intellectual fashions and political needs. Conversely, it is fraught with meaning and conditioning powers, enabling and constraining imagination and practical life. In this essay I tease out the hold that the idea of Hellas has had on post-war Greece and I explore the ways in which the American anti-communist rhetoric and discussions about political and economic stabilization appropriated and rearticulated Hellenism. Central to this history of transformations are the archaeologists; the archaeologists as intellectuals, as producers of culture who, while stepping in and out of their disciplinary …

The Effect Of Weight Loss On Changes In Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Overweight And Obese Women With Urinary Incontinence, Angela Marinilli Pinto, Leslee L. Subak, Sanae Nakagawa, Eric Vittinghoff, Rena R. Wing, John W. Kusek, William H. Herman, Delia Smith West, Miriam Kuppermann

Publications and Research

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of change in weight and change in urinary incontinence (UI) frequency on changes in preference-based measures of health-related quality of life (HRQL) among overweight and obese women with UI participating in a weight loss trial.

METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal cohort analysis of 338 overweight and obese women with UI enrolled in a randomized clinical trial comparing a behavioral weight loss intervention to an educational control condition. At baseline, 6, and 18 months, health utilities were estimated using the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), a transformation of the SF-36 to the preference-based SF-6D, and …

Mobile First Web And Content Strategy, Stefanie Havelka, David Stevens

Publications and Research

The paradigm shift from the traditional desktop to the mobile web experience is fast approaching, and providing relevant date, location and time-sensitive content to users via mobile devices becomes an essential piece of the overall web strategy. This presentation demonstrates the concepts, techniques and technologies used to develop both the overall mobile content strategy and user experience, as well as the aggregation and delivery of content to both the desktop and mobile form factors from a single content source.

Naturalization Ceremonies And The Role Of Immigrants In The American Nation, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Although immigration is an essential element in the American national story, it presents difficulties for constructing national membership and national identity in terms of shared intrinsic values. In this article, I analyze speeches made at naturalization ceremonies during two time periods (1950 – 1970 and 2003 – present) to examine the evolving roles of immigrants, as articulated to immigrants themselves. Naturalization ceremonies are a unique research site because the usually implied nationalist content is made explicit to brand new members of the nation. I find a shift in the framing from immigrants as potential liabilities and weak links in the …

Individual Differences In The Discrimination Of Novel Speech Sounds: Effects Of Sex, Temporal Processing, Musical And Cognitive Abilities, Vera Kempe, John C. Thoresen, Neil W. Kirk, Felix Schaeffler, Patricia J. Brooks

Publications and Research

This study examined whether rapid temporal auditory processing, verbal working memory capacity, non-verbal intelligence, executive functioning, musical ability and prior foreign language experience predicted how well native English speakers (N = 120) discriminated Norwegian tonal and vowel contrasts as well as a non-speech analogue of the tonal contrast and a native vowel contrast presented over noise. Results confirmed a male advantage for temporal and tonal processing, and also revealed that temporal processing was associated with both non-verbal intelligence and speech processing. In contrast, effects of musical ability on non-native speech-sound processing and of inhibitory control on vowel discrimination were not …

Violent Youth Crime Plummets To A 30-Year Low, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

FBI crime data show a considerable drop in violent youth crimes between 2010 and 2011, with arrests for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter dropping 20 percent in one year. Violent crime arrest rates in 2011 were 30 percent lower than in 2008. This databit shows the percent change in violent offenses charged against youth under 18 between 2010 and 2011 and the youth violent crime rate since 1981.

Lgbt Life With Full Text, Matthew Harrick

Publications and Research

This publication reviews the EBSCO database LGBT Life with Full Text, and includes pricing options, a product description, a critical evaluation of the product, and starred evaluations for content, user interface/searchability, pricing, and contract options.

What’S The Evidence For Evidence-Based Practice?, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Practitioners need to understand that statistically significant results are not necessarily evidence of effectiveness, and being evidence-based does not mean a program is guaranteed to work. Asking questions on the substantive importance, statistical significance, and effect size of the program are key when gathering evidence for program evaluations. Practitioners must remember that evidence should inform but never dictate the shape of policy and practice.

Government Information For Your Mobile Phone, Rebecca Arzola, Debbie Rabina

Publications and Research

A tasting menu of selected apps, created by U.S. government agencies, that provides information accessible from your mobile phone.

“Municipal Welfare” And The Neoliberal Prison Town: The Political Economy Of Prison Closures In New York State, Andrea Morrell

Publications and Research

Since 2010, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has closed nine state prisons for adults. For the prison towns that dot diversely rural and urban places of New York —each uniquely tied to the maintenance of mass incarceration— the closure of a state prison marks the end of an infusion of state capital constructed and construed quite explicitly as projects of economic development in the 1980's. After decades of growing corrections budgets and expanding prisons across the United States, why is New York closing prisons now? Tracing the history of prison growth and urban governance in prison towns, I posit …

Central Park East Secondary School: Teaching And Learning Through Freire, Alia R. Tyner-Mullings

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Multiculturalist Liberalism And Harms To Women: Lookin Through The Issue Of "The Veil", Anissa Helie, Marie Ashe

Publications and Research

Hélie & Ashe law review writing raises and responds to a reformulated and broadened version of Susan Okin’s 1999 inquiry, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? It identifies social and political developments, as well as legal and theoretical developments, that have occurred in the 21^st century and that demand that reformulation.

Not limiting itself (as did Okin’s question) to interrogating the relationship between women’s equality interests and interests in “religious freedom” advanced by minority-religious groups, Hélie & Ashe is the broader inquiry, critical for liberal theory of the 21^st century which has been greatly affected by the “ethos …

Students As Donors To University Archives: A Study Of Student Perceptions With Recommendations, Jessica Wagner, Debbi A. Smith

Publications and Research

Most of the literature that explores the relationship between students and university archives focuses on how to integrate archival materials into the undergraduate curriculum. Little exists that analyzes student perceptions of the types of materials that are found in archives; even less discusses how to induce students to donate materials that document life on campus. This case study examines student perceptions of various aspects of university archives, with the goal of developing better methods of reaching out to encourage donation of student life materials.

Who Defaults On Their Home Mortgage?, Eric Doviak, Sean P. Macdonald

Publications and Research

Since Feb. 13, 2010, detailed information on every home mortgage default and foreclosure in New York State must be filed with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). The data come from pre-foreclosure filing (PFF) notices that mortgage servicers must send to both the borrower and the DFS 90 days prior to initiating the foreclosure process and when a foreclosure has commenced. Pairing the PFF data with data on originations from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reveals the race and ethnicity of borrowers who defaulted on their home mortgages. HMDA analyses consistently reveal strong racial and ethnic …

A Librarian's Defense Of The Practicable Over The Perfect In Scholarly Communication, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This peer commentary is an invited response to "Scientific Utopia: I. Opening Scientific Communication" by Brian A. Nosek and Yoav Bar-Anan. It appeared alongside the target article in Psychological Inquiry, Volume 23, Issue 3, 2012.

Children’S Eyewitness Identification As Implicit Moral Decision-Making, Toni Spring, Herbert D. Saltzstein, Roger Peach

Publications and Research

Why are young children particularly prone to make false positive errors or false alarms when identifying a wrongdoer? In three studies the problem was approached using a signal detection analysis, focusing on the moral costs of false alarms, as understood at different points in development. The findings are: (1) decisional criteria became more conservative, indicating fewer false alarms, with age in three studies, (2) children’s beliefs about the seriousness of false alarms and misses changed from (a) a non-moral concern to (b) a moral concern for false negatives or misses to (c) a moral concern for false alarms. (3) These …