Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

Beyond Vox Pop: The Role Of News Sourcing And Political Beliefs In Exemplification Effects, Brandon Bosch

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The people we see in news media can affect our perceptions of public opinion through exemplification. Although research shows that individuals interviewed in a news story can influence perceptions of public opinion, little attention has been paid to the role that source type and audience attitudes play in the exemplification process. This study tests how the exemplification process is influenced by different types of news sources featured in an article (e.g., vox pop, protester, and interest group interviews) and the audience’s own political ideology. The study finds that the perceived typicality of sources is affected by both source type and …

Identifying Predictors Of Survey Mode Preference, Jolene D. Smyth, Kristen Olson, Morgan Millar

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

To increase the likelihood of response, many survey organizations attempt to provide sample members with a mode they are thought to prefer. Mode assignment is typically based on conventional wisdom or results from mode choice studies that presented only limited options. In this paper we draw heavily on research and theory from the mode effects and the survey participation literatures to develop a framework for understanding what characteristics should predict mode preferences. We then test these characteristics using data from two different surveys. We find that measures of familiarity with and access to a mode are the strongest predictors of …

Life In Hampton Roads 2014 Survey: Methodology And Sample Demographic Coverage, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[From the Introductory paragraph]

The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Old Dominion University recently completed data collection for the fifth annual Life in Hampton Roads telephone survey. The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Hampton Roads. The survey also attempted to determine the attitudes and perceptions of citizens regarding topics of local interest such as transportation and traffic, local and state government, crime, education, and other issues. Funding for the 2014 survey was provided by the Social Science Research Center.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #4: The Changing Transportation Picture: Tolls And Traffic, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional and sub-regional measures of transportation perceptions from the 2014 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2014) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center.

Life In Hampton Roads Report: The Fifth Annual Life In Hampton Roads Survey, Steve Parker, Charles Bush, Jesse Richman, Tancy Vandecar-Burdin

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[From the Executive Summary]

The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Old Dominion University recently completed data collection for the fifth annual Life in Hampton Roads telephone survey. The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Hampton Roads. The survey also attempted to determine the attitudes and perceptions of citizens regarding topics of local interest such as transportation and traffic, local and state government, crime, education, and other issues. The SSRC completed interviews with 853 Hampton Roads residents via landline and cell phones.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #5: Under Water? Sea Level Rise And Environmental Risks, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional and sub-regional measures of environmental risk perceptions from the 2014 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2014) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: A Tale Of Many Cities: Economy, Crime, And Politics, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional and sub-regional measures of economy, crime, and politics perceptions from the 2014 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2014) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #1: Regional, Neighborhood, And City Quality Of Life, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

The Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center is proud to release the first part of the 2014 Life in Hampton Roads (LIHR) Survey Report. LIHR has been conducted by the Social Science Research Center with support from the Old Dominion University Office of Research and the College of Arts and Letters since 2010 and is now in its fifth year. Release #1 focuses on regional quality of life indicators. Subsequent releases will focus on health and education, the economy and politics, transportation and tolls, crime and police, and flooding and sea level rise.

Do Groups Matter? An Agent-Based Modeling Approach To Pedestrian Egress, Andrew Collins, Terra Elzie, Erika Frydenlund, R. Michael Robinson

VMASC Publications

Festivals in city parks attended by individuals and families are a universal feature of urban life. These venues often have the common attributes of vendors and other obstacles that restrict pedestrian movement through certain areas, as well as fixed number of exits. In this study, the authors build an agent-based model (ABM) that incorporates group cohesion forces into this type of pedestrian egress scenario. The scenario considered was an evacuation of 500 people through a single exit. This allowed an investigation into the use of two different simulated pedestrian's heading updating rules.

A Hybridized Approach To Validation: The Role Of Sociological Research Methods In Pedestrian Modeling, Erika Frydenlund, Terra Elzie, Andrew Collins, R. Michael Robinson

VMASC Publications

Pedestrian and crowd-movement models are difficult to validate using traditional empirical methods because of data-related issues such as generalizability, collection ethics, and costs. Commonly used validation methods make strong assumptions about emergence and the importance of crowd structure, leaving a gap in validation literature. The paper reviews the most common methods of validating pedestrian models and proposes a hybridized qualitative approach to validating models that covers more complex group dynamics and possible situations of panic.

Efficacy Of Cultural-Based Psychoeducational Group Therapy For Increasing Marital Satisfaction Among Latino Couples, Maria Jesus Ampuero

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has indicated the importance of providing marriage education to ethnic minority couples who are struggling with their marital relationships. Despite this known importance, significantly fewer resources are available for Latino couples, who have a high rate of divorce. The purpose of this quantitative, randomized, wait-list control group trial design was to determine whether Couples in Contact, a culturally-based, psychoeducational intervention group program for Latino couples, increases marital satisfaction, as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory, Revised (MSI-R). This study drew on cognitive behavioral therapy applied to couples, and the supportive theories underlying family systems theory and Gottman's theory. …

Social Consequence, Stakeholder Influence, And Resource Needs For Marcellus Shale Communities, Mary Kathleen Gorman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The process of natural gas recovery by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, is a major scientific advance in unconventional energy development. Attention has largely been focused on its economic advantages and potential negative environmental repercussions, while less consideration given to its social dimensions. The purpose of this study was to explore the social consequences of fracking for communities in the Appalachian Basin's Marcellus shale. Research questions focused on the role of stakeholders and the resource needs of localities in shaping public policy. This study was guided by the tenets of the Boomtown theory along with key issues …

Motivations For Volunteering In A Faith-Based Mentoring Program, Trudy Weatherspoon Willis-Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Adolescent males are being suspended or expelled at high rates. Faith-based organizations have developed programs to address these problems by using adult male volunteers to mentor high-risk youth; however, recruiting sufficient mentors is a problem because organizers lack an understanding of the factors that motivate men to volunteer. If this problem can be alleviated, then faith-based organizations will be better able to recruit volunteers to serve students. Guided by the functionalist theory, the purpose of this study was to determine what demographic characteristics and motivating factors discriminated between volunteers and non-volunteers. A causal comparative design was employed and the …

Male Spouses Of Women Physicians: Communication, Compromise, And Carving Out Time, Carol Issac, Kara Petrashek, Megan Steiner, Linda Baier Manwell, Molly Carnes, Angela Byars-Winston

The Qualitative Report

As the numbers of female physicians continue to grow, fewer medical marriages are comprised of the traditional dyad of male physician and stay - at - home wife. The “two - career family” is an increasingly frequent state for both male and female physicians’ families, and dual - doctor marriages are on the rise. This qualitative study explored the contemporary medical marriage from the perspective of male spouses of female physicians. In 2010, we conducted semi - structured, in - depth interviews with nine spouses of internal medicine resident and faculty physicians. Interviewers queried work - home balance, career choices, …

Could Neuro-Phenomenology Deepen An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Seizure Consciousness Drawings, Valerie Featherstone, Peter Campion, Anna Sandfield

The Qualitative Report

This article proposes a methodological stance, an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of participants’ drawings as one that is useful for research into people’s experiences of seizure consciousness. Using empirical examples located in an original, larger study, this article offers a rationale for, and illustrates the analytic potential of, this combination. It also considers that elicitation interviewing techniques and methods from the field of neuro - phenomenology could take this work further in terms of deepening the analysis by reaching people’s pre - reflexive conscious experiences. This theoretical and practical combination has the potential to develop this work significantly.

Deciphering Babel: Dis/Locations Of The Professional Self And The Second Language Curriculum, Sandra R. Barros

The Qualitative Report

In the following (auto) ethnographic study, I draw from Burdick’s (2012) analogy of qualitative research as “auto - archeology” and from parrhesia (Foucault, 1988) as a rhetorical device of self - definition and preservation to explore the interplay of power and identity within the context of second language education discourses. Specifically, I focus on the ways in which, through the creation of particular performative strategies, two educators working within the context of Liberal Arts institutions negotiate, construct and resist the everyday pressures and implied prejudices often associated with the curriculum and instruction of second languages in the United States. I …

How Does My Research Question Come About? The Impact Of Funding Agencies In Formulating Research Questions, Massimiliano Tarrozzi

The Qualitative Report

It is a widespread claim that the research question should primarily come from a careful literature analysis (Creswell, 2007). Actually, it is basically a good suggestion, mainly for novices, to avoid the mistake of choosing a research method only for ideological reasons, and far from the phenomenon that one is willing to explore. However, this idea does not take into account other complex phenomena involved in constructing a research question. First of all, the epistemological framework, which is never neutral and performs what I am supposed to investigate; second, the kind of funding agency, which has an indisputable impact not …

Negotiating Responsibility For Navigating Ethical Issues In Qualitative Research: A Review Of Miller, Birch, Mauthner, And Jessop’S (2012) Ethics In Qualitative Research, Second Edition, Michelle C.E. Mccarron

The Qualitative Report

Ethics in Qualitative Research (Miller, Birch Mauthner, & Jessop, 2012), now in its second edition, uses a feminist framework to present a variety of issues pertinent to qualitative researchers. Topics include traditional challenges for qualitative researchers (e.g., access to potential participants, informed consent, overlapping roles), as well as those that have garnered more attention in recent years, particularly with regard to uses and consequences of technological advances in research. The book is critical of committees whose function it is to review proposed research and grant research ethics approval (e.g., University Research Ethics Committees [URECs], Research Ethics Boards [REBs], and Institutional …

Students’ Perceived Utility Of Precision Taught Calculus, Rebecca- Anne Dibbs, David Glassmeyer, Wafa Yacoub

The Qualitative Report

The last decade of calculus research has showed students learn best when lecture is supplemented with thoughtful use of technology and group work; however, educators are given little direction of how they are to balance the already full first semester calculus class. Precision teaching is an instructional model that employs formative assessment to provide information on what topics are understood by students as well as indicate troublesome concepts. With this information, the instructor can adjust class time accordingly by incorporating supplemental activities most beneficial to students. The purpose of this interview study was to explore the perceived utility of precision …

Collaboration Vs. Individualism: What Is Better For The Rising Academic?, Andrew T. Kemp

The Qualitative Report

In academia, scholarship and research productivity is the lifeblood of success. The question is, “What is the best way to be productive and more forward in an academic career — collaboration or individualism?” Obviously, the final choice is personal. However, for the purpose of this paper, the two sides will be discussed regarding the strengths and weaknesses of each avenue. Recommendations regarding the viability of collaboration and competition will be discussed in relation to personal attributes, career goals, and rank. In addition, a new methodology, tentatively called Layered Narrative, will be piloted with this project