Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Introduction To The Political Economy And Feasibility Of Bitcoin And Cryptocurrencies, Spencer J. Pack

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Social Psychology Of Inclusion: How Diversity Framing Shapes Outcomes For Racial-Ethnic Minorities, Jamillah Bowman Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Research on the efficacy of organizational diversity efforts has yielded mixed results. It remains unclear when positive or negative outcomes should be expected, and why. This article fills a gap in the sociological literature by examining critical social psychological mechanisms. In Experiment 1, I found that common diversity messaging led to increased bias towards racial minorities. In Experiment 2, I examined how alternative framing may influence these outcomes. Findings revealed that the common “business case” emphasizing profit and performance gains made decision-makers less likely to select a Black job candidate than emphasizing civil rights law. I then examined social psychological …

The Most Dangerous Branch Of Science? Reining In Rogue Research And Reckless Experimentation In Social Services, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Most people are unaware how much public policy is either lacking in any empirical-research support or driven by bad research. Political actors motivated by ideology or donor/constituent demands propose new government practices—in areas ranging from policing to funding of treatments for gender dysphoria in youth to welfare-qualification rules—that will greatly impact people’s lives, and if anyone asks what basis they have for thinking the impact will be good, they can readily find some study to support their case. Especially when powerless populations are put at risk, neither the legislative process nor peer review in the publication process provides a real …

Ukrainian Interfaith Families In The Context Of Church, Marriage, And Social Relations Of The 19th Century, Olena Borodenko, Roman Sitarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim. In the article (based on the materials of church statistical books of Orthodox parishes in the Right and Left Bank of Ukraine, ego-documents, documentation of the directive and administrative direction, canonical and fiction), an imaginary collective portrait of interfaith families is created in the representation of marriage partners of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths—in the context of marriage-social policy of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.

Research methods. The interdisciplinary direction of intelligence led to the use, in addition to general scientific methods, of special historical methods: quantitative, comparative, prosopographic and critical analysis.

Main results. Based …

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 3), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Nato And The Swedish Churches: Dealing With Defence Policy In The Midst Of A European Crisis, Erik Sidenvall

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Just like the rest of the population, Swedish Christians remain fundamentally divided in their opinions about the best way to arrange Sweden’s relationship to NATO. But the responses on the part of the churches also seem to hark back to bygone ages. National defense and foreign policy remain, in a country for centuries fundamentally shaped by Lutheran doctrine concerning the division between faith and politics, a matter for the political realm. A tense and potentially threatening geopolitical situation tends to reinforce long cherished views."

Clergy Social Activity During War Conditions: The Case Of Western Regions Of Ukraine, Ihor Lutsan, Iryna Horokholinska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this article, the authors analyze the impact of Russia-Ukraine war on church-religious life and the state of public consciousness in Ukraine and identify the main trends and contradictions in public reactions to threats to their lives and spirituality. The research focuses on religious communities of the western regions of Ukraine and their socially significant activities. The primary empirical source of the article was the study (by questionnaire survey) of the opinions of the clergy of this religious organization on the characteristics of parish life and the role of the pastor in the conditions of war. Three defining vectors that …

Beyond Diversion: Regime Security And The 1990–91 Gulf War, Drew Horne

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Whether and to what degree internal threats could indeed lead to external conflict has been the focus of great swaths of International Relations scholarship. In their seminal work on International Relations, Haas and Whiting (1956) argue that state leaders “may be driven to a policy of foreign conflict—if not open war—to defend themselves against the onslaught of domestic enemies” (62). The default explanation for this connection, it seems, has been the widely touted diversionary war hypothesis, which supposes that domestically embattled leaders will seek to divert the public’s ire from their failures by provoking foreign conflicts (see Levy 1989; Oakes …

Poll Booth Proximity, Tribal Id, And Bilingual Accessibility: Three Provisions To Increase Native American Turnout In The Native American Voting Rights Act Of 2019, Grant Baldwin

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

On March 12, 2019, Senator Udall (D-NM) and Representative Lujan (D-NM- 3) introduced the Native American Voting Rights Act of 2019 (S.739; HR 1694) to both chambers of the United States Congress as a proposed solution to problems concerning low voter turnout among Native Americans and Alaska Natives. (While I recognize there are notable differences between Native American groups and Alaska Native groups, for the remainder of this analysis I use the terms Native, Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native interchangeably.) If enacted, the bill would provide voting assistance to Native communities by bringing poll booth and voter registration …

Censorship Sensing: The Capabilities And Implications Of China’S Great Firewall Under Xi Jinping, Emily Quan

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Totaling over 989 million users at the end of 2020, Chinese Internet users interact with unprecedent amounts of data, communication, and media (Xu 2020). It is a far cry from 1987, when the first email was sent from China to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The message in the email, later popularized on QQ desktops, was this: “Across the Great Wall, we can reach every corner of the world” (越过长城，走向世 界, Yuèguò Chángchéng, Zouxiàng Shìjiè) (Internet Archive 2013).

President Trump’S 2018 Tariffs On Steel, Davis Forster

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, much of the United States working and middle class found themselves struggling. The factory, manufacturing, and metalworking jobs they had been doing for decades continued to move overseas, where others could do it cheaper and faster. The US steel industry, in particular, had been contracting steadily since the 1990s with no signs of stopping, despite several previous government revitalization efforts, such as Bush’s steel tariffs in 2002 (York 2018). As the 2016 election approached, America’s middle and working classes were looking for someone who would bring their jobs back.

Party Institutionalization And Public Confidence, Blake West

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Confidence in America’s government institutions has continually decreased over the past decade. In the year 2020, this growing lack of public confidence in government became apparent as the government failed, in the public’s eye, to solve numerous problems over the course of the year. The 2020 election showcased suspicions and fears directed at the American electoral system and the validity of America’s constitutional institutions. In recent polling data by the Hill, it was revealed that 33% of United States citizens believed that the Presidential Election in 2020 was unfair (The Hill 2021). Within the Republican Party alone, Forbes magazine …

Covid-19 Isolation Mandates Decrease Out-Group Hostility In The Mena Region, Annie Gold

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economic landscape, leading to unprecedented unemployment spikes, supply chain standstills, and small business shutdowns. From a healthcare perspective, national governments have struggled to provide sufficient care and vaccination to citizens, often requiring strict curfews to remedy the lack of available healthcare provisions. The MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region has especially suffered during the pandemic. However, despite the challenging fiscal climate and underprovision of healthcare services, results from the 2021 Arab Barometer survey indicate that citizens’ tolerance of different ethnic and religious groups has increased since the onset …

Full Issue

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

A Letter From The Editor, Zeke Peters, Editor-In-Chief

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

This past year has proven to be different than expected. The COVID-19 pandemic still looms in the background of a domestic inflation crisis and international peace conflicts throughout EUrope and Asia. Uncertainty is high and the view of what tomorrow will bring consistently shifts, but there are some things that remain constant. Our interactions with one another—whether digitally or in person—matter. Our ability to sympathize and to come together in troubled times is what makes us human.

Harry Redner. Beyond Civilization: Society, Culture And The Individual In The Age Of Globalization. Routledge, 2014., Mariana Tepfenhart

Comparative Civilizations Review

Harry Redner was a reader at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a visiting professor at Yale University, University of California-Berkeley and Harvard University. His book has three parts: An Overview of History, The Present Predicament of History, and The Future Prospects of Civilization.

The book addresses two major issues affecting our society today. One of them is globalization and its effect on civilization. The topic is analyzed not only from a cultural perspective but also from a political and cognitive standpoint. The second issue is technology and its place in a global society. Redner argues Western civilization’s development of …

Lack Of Quality Civic Education In Public Schools In The United States, Sydney Ward

Ballard Brief

A lack of quality civic education affects nearly every K-12 student in the United States. The content and methods of civic education curriculum focus on memorization, lecture, and textbook learning, creating an ineffective learning method for students. Teachers are met with polarized classrooms and communities, creating hesitancy to approach political topics while inequity in funding between states and districts leaves schools without consistent resources or emphasis on civics. legislative policies and nonprofit organizations have dictated some of civic education's most recent standards and practices, though this federal approach has not been universally adopted in local classrooms. As a result of …

Prevalence Of Tuberculosis In Sub-Saharan Africa, Brooke Heaton

Ballard Brief

Tuberculosis is an endemic problem for much of the sub-Saharan African region. High infection rates, caused by high population density and the infrastructure of the living environment, contribute to high infection rates, as well as compromised immune systems from diseases such as HIV/AIDS and health issues like malnutrition . The insufficient infrastructure of medical care and the underutilization of such also contribute to the perpetuation of the disease. Tuberculosis negatively affects the physical health of infected individuals, whose effects can be long-lasting and decrease quality of life. It can also lead to the social rejection of those infected and place …

Exchange Rate Forecast Model: Factor Analysis, Swapnil Landge

Publications and Research

Forecasting the exchange rate using factor analysis, factors based on cross section exchange rates of different economies in terms of trade, would beat random walk model in longer out of sample horizon forecasting. In this research project, we will replicate the NBER working paper Factor Model Forecasts of Exchange Rates” by Charles Engel, Nelson C. Mark & Kenneth D. West (2012) which has used 17 OECD countries exchange rates in getting the potential factors but with extended time period from 1973:1-2021:4. We will report early sample forecasting statistics for a 1987-1998 sample. Results for late samples (1999-2022) were promising, at …

The Impact Of Academic Aspirations And Career Uncertainty On Students’ College Outcomes, Mary Edwin, Hannah Pulse, Nour Alhiyari, David Salvatierra, Claire Martin, Rachel Gaglio

Journal of College Access

Between the fall of 2009 and 2019, total postsecondary institution enrollment in the United States decreased by 5%, and for those students who do enroll in college, many who lack clear career objectives drop out, making the U.S. the nation with the highest college dropout rate in the industrialized world. Students’ academic aspirations and career certainty have been shown to impact college outcomes. However, the impact of career uncertainty and academic aspirations on students’ college outcomes has not been studied nationally. Using binomial regression analyses and a nationally representative sample (N = 23,503) of high school students, we investigated …

A National Investigation On The Effect Of College Readiness Counseling On Postsecondary Outcomes, Dana L. Brookover, Kaprea Johnson

Journal of College Access

The current study utilized the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, from the National Center for Education Statistics, to conduct a longitudinal investigation into how access to school counseling impacts postsecondary outcomes. Findings indicate that school counselor time spent college readiness counseling, in addition to lower student socioeconomic status and identifying as multiracial, were predictive of lesser odds of college attainment and persistence. The results of the current study offer practice, policy, and training implications.

Checklist For Open Access Publishers On Implementing The Unesco Recommendation On Open Science, Unesco, Oaspa

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Within the subset of open scientific knowledge, this document refers to scientific publications that include, inter alia, journal articles and books, research reports and conference papers. These publications may be, contain or be accompanied by original scientific research results, research data, software, source code, source materials, workflows and protocols, digital representations of pictorial and graphical materials and scholarly multimedia material. According to the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, access to scientific knowledge should be as open as possible, and may need to be restricted, in specific circumstance, for example to protect human rights, confidentiality, intellectual property rights, personal information, threatened …

Perspectives On Georgia Vowels: From Legacy To Synchony, Joseph A. Stanley, Jon Forrest, Leila Glass, Margaret Renwick

Faculty Publications

Nexuses of change in Georgia English

Mid vowels

• How are FACE and DRESS distinguished over time?
• Which speakers show DRESS raising/fronting (SVS, AAVS)?
• When does DRESS lowering/backing begin (LBMS)?
• Which speakers show GOAT fronting (SVS, LBMS vs. AAVS)?

Low vowels

• Which speakers show TRAP raising/fronting (SVS, AAVS)?
• When does TRAP lowering/backing begin (LBMS)?
• Which speakers have the LOT/THOUGHT merger (LBMS)?

Temporal Fluency And Floor/Ceiling Scoring Of Intermediate And Advanced Speech On The Actfl Spanish Oral Proficiency Interview–Computer, Troy L. Cox, Alan V. Brown, Gregory L. Thompson

Faculty Publications

The rating of proficiency tests that use the Inter-agency Roundtable (ILR) and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines claims that each major level is based on hierarchal linguistic functions that require mastery of multidimensional traits in such a way that each level subsumes the levels beneath it. These characteristics are part of what is commonly referred to as floor and ceiling scoring. In this binary approach to scoring that differentiates between sustained performance and linguistic breakdown, raters evaluate many features including vocabulary use, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, and pragmatics, yet there has been very little empirical validation …

Dna Methylation Pattern Of Cpg Site In The Promoter Region Of Calca-Alpha Gene As A Putative Epigenetic Biomarker In Neonatal Sepsis- A Prospective Observational Study In South India, Rudra Rupesh Reddy Narsapurapu, Deepti Thandaveshwara, Anshu Kumar Yadav, Akila Prashant

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Background: Recently, several studies have been reported on epigenetic modifications of DNA as a predisposing factor for several diseases among neonates and adults. Here we aimed to study the changes in the DNA methylation pattern in the promoter region of the CALCA gene among the neonates suspected to have sepsis in a tertiary care hospital.

Methodology: All the neonates suspected to have sepsis based on the inclusion criteria during the study period were included in the study as cases. Normal healthy neonates were included in the study as controls. Positive cases were isolated from suspected cases based on …

Screenlife Capture: An Open-Source And User-Friendly Framework For Collecting Screenomes From Android Smartphones, Andrew Z. H. Yee, Ryan Yu, Sun Sun Lim, Kwan Hui Lim, Tien Tien Anh Dinh, Lionell Loh, Andre Hadianto, Miguel Quizon

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

As our interactions with each other become increasingly digitally mediated, there is growing interest in the study of people’s digital experiences. To better understand digital experiences, some researchers have proposed the use of screenomes. This involves the collection of sequential high-frequency screenshots which provide detailed objective records of individuals’ interaction with screen devices over time. Despite its usefulness, there remains no readily available tool that researchers can use to run their own screenome studies. To fll this gap, we introduce ScreenLife Capture, a user-friendly and open-source software to collect screenomes from smartphones. Using this tool, researchers can set up smartphone …

Wages For Climate Stewardship?, Sayd Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

IN 1996, environmental historian Richard White published an essay with a title borrowed from a pissed-off bumper sticker: “Are You an Environmentalist or Do You Work for a Living?” White used the frictions between loggers and spotted owl advocates in the Pacific Northwest to show readers exactly how US-based environmentalism had come to be seen as orthogonal to productive labor. “Work,” he asserted, is in fact “where we should begin” when we talk about environmentalism. Set aside idealized images of natural spaces as best suited for leisure, he counseled. It’s only “[i]n taking responsibility for our own lives and work, …

Adaptation Des Milieux De Travail Aux Effets Des Changements Climatiques. Tome 1 : Identification Des Travailleurs Du Québec Les Plus À Risque Vis-À-Vis Des Dangers Prioritaires Liés Aux Changements Climatiques, Bouchra Bakhiyi, Ariane Adam-Poupart, Robert Bourbonnais, Marc-Antoine Busque, Joseph Zayed

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les changements climatiques (CC) constituent une menace reconnue et admise pour les travailleurs. Pour réduire leur vulnérabilité vis-à-vis des dangers liés aux CC, l’adaptation des milieux de travail est devenue incontournable. Cette recherche se propose de coconstruire des mesures d’adaptation qui permettraient de protéger la santé et l’intégrité des travailleurs du Québec malgré les répercussions appréhendées des CC.

Les travaux ont été réalisés en deux volets :

• Le premier volet avait pour objectif l’identification des travailleurs du Québec les plus à risque vis-à-vis des dangers prioritaires liés aux CC ;
• Le deuxième volet a visé la coconstruction des mesures d’adaptation …

Revised Corporate History Of Northern Pacific Railway Company As Of June 30, 1917. Centennial Edition Including A Foreword With Later Corporate Changes, Rollin R. Davis , Ed.

Zea E-Books Collection

doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.zea.1330

From the Foreword: Railroads have been important in American history since the mid-nineteenth century for national unification, the settlement of the American West, the industrial revolution, economic growth, models of complex organization for other large corporations, and the transition of America from rural, agrarian society to urban, industrial society. The railroads’ transformative influence of technological change and social change has been termed “railroadization” (Schumpeter 1939, 1:325-351). Alfred D. Chandler Jr. (1965, 9-12) characterized the railroad industry as the first big business in America. The transcontinental railroads were especially significant. A transcontinental railroad may be defined as a railroad …