Friday, December 20, 2013

The Numbers Behind “Young Invincibles” and the Affordable Care Act

Description:
As enrollment statistics in the new health insurance marketplaces start to become available, there is a growing focus on whether the enrollment of so-called “young invincibles” will be sufficient to keep insurance markets stable. Enrollment of young adults is important, but not as important as conventional wisdom suggests since premiums are still permitted to vary substantially by age. Because of this, a premium “death spiral” is highly unlikely.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Read The Numbers Behind “Young Invincibles” and the Affordable Care Act

Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy an Intervention for Possible Internet Addiction Disorder?

Abstract:
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) has been proposed to describe uncontrollable, damaging use of Internet technology leading to some changes in the autonomic nervous system. IAD can be defined as an impulse-control disorder that does not involve an intoxicant. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) does not recognize it as a disease but the new approach of research domain criteria (RDoC) considers re-evaluating DSM because of the change in global prevalence of IAD from 0.3% to 38%. Treatment of IAD is still unsolved due to the lack of concrete evidence, knowledge, and information about the disease. Some therapeutic examples are medications and psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The CBT approach addresses dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors and cognitive processes. Modified CBT is used for the treatment of IAD but better results are observed when it is combined with other therapies. This commentary is based on full research papers and some specific case reports recording CBT as the treatment for IAD. PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink are the databases used for this commentary. More exhaustive research is needed in this field as to confirm the etiology of IAD and its intervention with CBT. 
Source: Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research

Download pdf publication:  Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy an Intervention for Possible Internet Addiction Disorder?

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Bonuses More Satisfying When Spent on Others, Study Suggests

Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

Abstract:
In three field studies, we explore the impact of providing employees and teammates with prosocial bonuses, a novel type of bonus spent on others rather than on oneself. In Experiment 1, we show that prosocial bonuses in the form of donations to charity lead to happier and more satisfied employees at an Australian bank. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we show that prosocial bonuses in the form of expenditures on teammates lead to better performance in both sports teams in Canada and pharmaceutical sales teams in Belgium. These results suggest that a minor adjustment to employee bonuses – shifting the focus from the self to others – can produce measurable benefits for employees and organizations.
 Source: PLOS One

Download article pdf: Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Changing Patterns of Global Migration and Remittances

From the overview:
Patterns of global migration and remittances have shifted in recent decades, even as both the number of immigrants and the amount of money they send home have grown, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the United Nations and the World Bank.
A rising share of international migrants now lives in today’s high-income countries such as the United States and Germany, while a growing share was born in today’s middle-income nations such as India and Mexico, the analysis finds.
Source: Pew Research

Download complete pdf publication: Changing Patterns of Global Migration and Remittances

VisIt: An End-User Tool for Visualizing and Analyzing Very Large Data

Abstract:
VisIt is a popular open source tool for visualizing and analyzing big data. It owes its success to its foci of increasing data understanding, large data support, and providing a robust and usable product, as well as its underlying design that fits today's supercomputing landscape. This report, which draws heavily from an earlier publication at the SciDAC Conference in 2011 describes the VisIt project and its accomplishments. 
Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory via eScholarship repository

Download pdf report: VisIt: An End-User Tool for Visualizing and Analyzing Very Large Data


Measuring ‘neighborhood’: Constructing network neighborhoods

 Abstract:
"This study attempts to measure neighborhood boundaries in a novel way by creating network neighborhoods based on the density of social ties among adolescents. We create valued matrices based on social ties and physical distance between adolescents in the county. We then perform factor analyses on these valued matrices to detect these network neighborhoods. The resulting network neighborhoods show considerable spatial contiguity. We assess the quality of these aggregations by comparing the degree of agreement among residents assigned to the same network neighborhood when assessing various characteristics of their “neighborhood”, along with traditional definitions of neighborhoods from Census aggregations. Our findings suggest that these network neighborhoods are a valuable approach for “neighborhood” aggregation."
Source: U.C. Irvine retrieved from eScholarship repository

Download full pdf of Measuring ‘neighborhood’: Constructing network neighborhoods

Open Access Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences

From the Foreword:
So long as books and journals lived in the world of physical products – and incredibly enough all too many academic books still languish on in this status alone – the roles of publishers and book retailers and book sellers all made sense. And modern publishing has generally developed in ways that in many countries (like the USA) and in some markets (like popular fiction) deliver remarkable value for money. But academic publishing has been a great exception to the rule, especially in high cost countries like the UK and (even more so) Australia. Paper books have for years competed unavailingly against journals, as academics and universities move towards setting (and to a large extent only discussing in classes) items that can be accessed directly and simultaneously by whole class groups from learning management systems like Moodle and Blackboard... Journals secured a key advantage by going digital first, radically improving their accessibility versus books, for a time and at a huge price.
Source: London School of Economics (LSE) Public Policy Group

Download full pdf publication of Open Access Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A Dozen Facts about America’s Struggling Lower-Middle-Class

From the introduction:

This Hamilton Project policy paper provides a dozen facts on struggling lower-middle-class families focusing on two key challenges: food insecurity, and the low return to work for struggling lower-middle-class families who lose tax and transfer benefits as their earnings increase. These facts highlight the critical role of federal tax and transfer programs in providing income support to families struggling to remain out of poverty.
Source: Brookings Institution

Download pdf policy paper: A Dozen Facts about America’s Struggling Lower-Middle-Class

Parenthood and Leaving Home in Young Adulthood


With increases in non- marital fertility, the sequencing of transitions in early adulthood has become even more complex. Once the primary transition out of the parental home, marriage was first replaced by nonfamily living and cohabitation; more recently, many young adults have become parents before entering a coresidential union. Studies of leaving home, however, have not examined the role of early parenthood. Using the Young Adult Study of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ( n = 4,674), we use logistic regression to analyze parenthood both as a correlate of leaving home and as a route from the home. We find that even in mid- adolescence, becoming a parent is linked with leaving home. Coming from a more affluent family is linked with leaving home via routes that do not involve children rather than those that do, and having a warm relationship with either a mother or a father retards leaving home, particularly to nonfamily living, but is not related to parental routes out of the home.
Source: Maryland Population Research Center (University of Maryland)

Download pdf publication: Parenthood and Leaving Home in Young Adulthood

Even When Test Scores Go Up, Some Cognitive Abilities Don’t

From the APA press release:

To evaluate school quality, states require students to take standardized tests designed to measure the knowledge and skills that students have acquired in school — what psychological scientists refer to as “crystallized intelligence.” These high-stakes tests have been shown to predict students’ future educational attainment and adult employment and income.
But new research shows that schools whose students have the highest gains on test scores do not produce similar gains in “fluid intelligence” — the ability to analyze abstract problems and think logically.
The research, conducted by researchers at MIT, Harvard University, and Brown University, is forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Data from nearly 1,400 eighth-graders in the Boston public school system showed that some schools have successfully raised their students’ scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). However, those schools had almost no effect on students’ performance on tests of fluid intelligence skills, such as working memory capacity, speed of information processing, and ability to solve abstract problems.
Read full story: Even When Test Scores Go Up, Some Cognitive Abilities Don’t

Friday, December 13, 2013

Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Skills Competencies

Abstract:
This research study investigates academic faculty perceptions of information literacy at eight New Jersey higher educational institutions.
The study examines the value and importance faculty place on information literacy (IL), the infusion of IL into curricular learning outcomes and an assessment of the competency levels students achieve in mastering IL skills. This study adds to the research in the field as a multi-institutional study conducted at both two-year and four-year institutions, investigating full-time and part-time faculty perspectives. Findings are based on results from an online survey, with a total of 353 usable responses.
Overall, faculty familiarity with IL concepts was high; faculty are overwhelmingly supportive of IL and are incorporating these skills into learning outcomes for their courses; and there are strong expectations of students’ achieving IL skills by graduation, but faculty perceptions are that students fall short of mastering those skills by the end of their programmes.
Source: Journal of Information Literacy

Download pdf of: Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Information Literacy Skills Competencies

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises

From the description

Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change is an updated look at the issue of abrupt climate change and its potential impacts. This study differs from previous treatments of abrupt changes by focusing on abrupt climate changes and also abrupt climate impacts that have the potential to severely affect the physical climate system, natural systems, or human systems, often affecting multiple interconnected areas of concern. The primary timescale of concern is years to decades. A key characteristic of these changes is that they can come faster than expected, planned, or budgeted for, forcing more reactive, rather than proactive, modes of behavior.

Source: National Academies Press

Download full pdf publication: Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises

User recommendation in reciprocal and bipartite social networks—a case study of online dating

via Science Daily
Most online dating users don't choose a potential mate the same way they choose a movie to watch, but new research from the University of Iowa suggests they'd be more amorously successful if that's how their dating service operated.

Kang Zhao, assistant professor of management sciences in the Tippie College of Business, and UI doctoral student Xi Wang are part of a team that recently developed an algorithm for dating sites that uses a person's contact history to recommend more compatible partners. It's similar to the model Netflix uses to recommend movies users might like by tracking their viewing history.
Source: IEEE Intelligent Systems and University of Iowa

Download pdf of User recommendation in reciprocal and bipartite social networks—a case study of online dating

Preventing Revictimization in Teen Dating Relationships

Decription:
Revictimization refers to the occurrence of two or more instances of violence and poses an enormous criminal justice problem . Adolescent girls in the child welfare system are at high risk of revictimization in adolescence. Most interventions with teens have focused on primary prevention (that is, prevention in teens not previously exposed to violence) of physical (usually not sexual) violence. In addition, interventions have frequently targeted youth in school settings, though youth in the child welfare system experience frequent transitions in housing/care that disrupt regular attendance at a single school. Thus, child welfare youth at high risk of revictimization may not receive prevention programming as consistently as their peers. Thus, the current study compared two active interventions designed to decrease revictimization in a diverse sample of adolescent girls in the child welfare system. The interventions targeted theoretically distinct risk factors for revictimization. The social learning/feminist (SL/F) intervention focused on concepts derived from social learning and feminist models of risk, such as sexism and beliefs about relationships. The risk detection/executive function (RD/EF) intervention focused on potential disruptions in the ability to detect and respond to risky situations/people due to problems in executive function.
Source: National Institute of Justice

 Download pdf of Preventing Revictimization in Teen Dating Relationships

Changing Travel Patterns in America’s Biggest Cities

Description:
Americans’ transportation habits have changed. The average American drives 7.6 percent fewer miles today than when per-capita driving peaked in 2004. A review of data from the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Census Bureau for America’s 100 most populous urbanized areas – which are home to over half of the nation’s population – shows that the decline in per-capita driving has taken place in a wide variety of regions. From 2006 to 2011, the average number of miles driven per resident fell in almost three-quarters of America’s largest urbanized areas for which up-to-date and accurate data are available. Most urbanized areas have also seen increases in public transit use and bicycle commuting and decreases in the share of households owning a car.
Source: U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Download full pdf publication: Transportation in Transition

13th Annual Digital Cities Survey – 2013 Results

From the press release:
This year’s top-ranked cities—Boston; Irving, Texas; Avondale, Ariz.; and Palo Alto, Calif.— improved transparency with open government initiatives and access to city services via mobile apps. The cities eliminated waste and enhanced service levels using agile project management, and reduced costs and improved services through advanced analytics and performance measures.

In its 13th year, the annual survey is a part of the Digital Communities Program and is open to all U.S. cities. The survey criteria focused on results achieved by cities - via the use of technology - in operating efficiencies, realizing strategic objectives, innovative or creative solutions or approaches, effective collaboration and transparency measures, among others.

Source: Center for Digital Government and the Digital Communities Program

Link to 13th Annual Digital Cities Survey – 2013 Results

How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Communities

From the summary:

Americans strongly value the role of public libraries in their communities, both for providing access to materials and resources and for promoting literacy and improving the overall quality of life. Most Americans say they have only had positive experiences at public libraries, and value a range of library resources and services.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Download pdf report: How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Communities
Download topline questionnaire (pdf)

Skilled Immigrants in the Global Economy: Prospects for International Cooperation on Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

Abstract:
Skilled migration is an important resource for governments seeking to build their country’s human-capital base and make the most of global trade and investment opportunities. In many cases, however, migrant professionals face barriers transferring their skills and experiences across borders — with professional regulation one such barrier. Mutual recognition agreements that set out clear rules for licensing practitioners who move between signatory countries represents one solution. But reaching agreement on mutual recognition is no easy feat. Overall, as this report explores, the challenge for policymakers is to determine how governments can get more out of MRAs than they have done to date.
Source: Migration Policy Institute

Download pdf of Skilled Immigrants in the Global Economy: Prospects for International Cooperation on Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

Contractors Who Worked in Conflict Zones Suffer High Rates of PTSD, Depression and Get Little Help

From the press release:
Private contractors who worked in Iraq, Afghanistan or other conflict environments over the past two years report suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression more often than military personnel who served in recent conflicts, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Researchers found that among the contractors studied, 25 percent met criteria for PTSD, 18 percent screened positive for depression and half reported alcohol misuse. Despite their troubles, relatively few get help either before or after deployment.
Source: RAND Corporation
Download pdf of Out of the ShadowsThe Health and Well-Being of Private Contractors Working in Conflict Environments

APA Report on Gun Violence Identifies Precursors and Promising Solutions

Behavioral threat assessment identified as most effective prevention strategy

From the press release:
There is no single personality profile that can reliably predict who will use a gun in a violent act — but individual prediction is not necessary for violence prevention, according to a comprehensive report on gun violence released today by the American Psychological Association. 
 
The report summarizes the psychological research that has helped develop evidence-based programs that can prevent violence through both primary and secondary interventions. Primary prevention programs can reduce risk factors for violence in the general population. Secondary prevention programs can help individuals who are experiencing emotional difficulties or interpersonal conflicts before they escalate into violence.
Source: American Psychological Association

Download full pdf publication: Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention, and Policy

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

How Researchers Can Develop Successful Relationships with Criminal Justice Practitioners

From the Summary:

The benefits of researcher‐practitioner collaborations within the criminal justice (CJ) system are many. They enhance responses to critical challenges facing communities. They lessen the gap between those who work on the front lines and those who study the system. They provide practitioners with evidence upon which to base their practices, services, and policies, and researchers with experience upon which to further their programs of research. By working together and pooling their distinct knowledge, experience, and talent, researchers and practitioners can create uniquely comprehensive projects and products that have the potential to change practices, policies, and services.
Source: U.S. National Institute of Justice

Download pdf: How Researchers Can Develop Successful Relationships with Criminal Justice Practitioners

View more reports from the NIJ-sponsored Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships Study

Monday, December 09, 2013

Sport participation and alcohol and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults: A systematic review of longitudinal studies

Abstract:
Sport participation can play an important and positive role in the health and development of children and youth. One area that has recently been receiving greater attention is the role that sport participation might play in preventing drug and alcohol use among youth. The current study is a systematic review of 17 longitudinal studies examining the relationship between sport participation and alcohol and drug use among adolescents. Results indicated that sport participation is associated with alcohol use, with 82% of the included studies (14/17) showing a significant positive relationship. Sport participation, however, appears to be related to reduced illicit drug use, especially use of non-cannabis related drugs. Eighty percent of the studies found sport participation associated with decreased illicit drug use, while 50% of the studies found negative association between sport participation and marijuana use. Further investigation revealed that participation in sports reduced the risk of overall illicit drug use, but particularly during high school; suggesting that this may be a critical period to reduce or prevent the use of drugs through sport. Future research must better understand what conditions are necessary for sport participation to have beneficial outcomes in terms of preventing alcohol and/or illicit drug use. This has been absent in the extent literature and will be central to intervention efforts in this area.

Source: Addictive Behaviors

Download full pdf publiction of Sport participation and alcohol and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults: A systematic review of longitudinal studies

Friday, December 06, 2013

Sector-Level Productivity, Structural Change, and Rebalancing in China

Summary:
This paper studies structural changes underlying China's remarkable and unprecedented growth in recent years. While patterns of structural transformation across China's provinces are broadly in line with international experience, one important difference is in labor productivity differentials between services and the rest of the economy. Specifically, the gap between labor productivity in the rest of the economy and services has widened across China's provinces as they have moved from low to middle income, which is contrary to the trend observed in cross-country experience. Evidence from a panel of China's provinces suggests that credit and labor market frictions have inhibited labor productivity growth in services relatively more than in the rest of the economy. Reducing these frictions is essential for achieving the next stage of China's development, one in which the service sector will need to play a more prominent role as an engine of growth. The evidence also suggests that improving labor productivity in services will lift the consumption share of GDP, thereby advancing the needed rebalancing of domestic demand in China.
Source: International Monetary Fund 

Download pdf of Sector-Level Productivity, Structural Change, and Rebalancing in China

The danger of high home ownership: greater unemployment

Description:

On the basis of evidence from the United States and Europe, the authors maintain that high home ownership is a major reason for the high unemployment rates of the industrialized nations in the post-war era. They argue that governments should encourage more renting, as the Swiss and Germans do, and they should not give financial incentives for ownership.
Source: Chatman House / Competitive advange in the global economy

Download pdf of:  The danger of high home ownership: greater unemployment

Is the Demographic Dividend an Education Dividend?

Abstract:

The effect of changes in age structure on economic growth has been widely studied in the demography and population economics literature. The beneficial effect of changes in age structure after a decrease in fertility has become known as the “demographic dividend.” In this article, we reassess the empirical evidence on the associations among economic growth, changes in age structure, labor force participation, and educational attainment. Using a global panel of countries, we find that after the effect of human capital dynamics is controlled for, no evidence exists that changes in age structure affect labor productivity. Our results imply that improvements in educational attainment are the key to explaining productivity and income growth and that a substantial portion of the demographic dividend is an education dividend.

Source: Demography

Download pdf: Is the Demographic Dividend an Education Dividend?

Congressional Research: How Measures Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction

From the introduction:
Two basic methods are used by the Senate to bring legislation to the floor for consideration. The Senate, at the majority leader’s request, grants unanimous consent to take up a matter or agrees to his motion to proceed to consider it. Because the motion to proceed is subject to debate in most circumstances, it is less frequently used. Both methods are derived from the basic premise that the Senate as a body may decide what matters it considers. The Senate may also use the same two methods to bring up executive business (nominations and treaties).
This report will be updated to reflect changes in Senate practice.
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)

Download full pdf publication: Congressional Research: How Measures Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction


Qualitative evaluation of mental health services for clients with limited English proficiency

From the abstract:
This paper builds on promising results from quantitative evaluations by reporting on qualitative interviews with Latino and Vietnamese LEP clients in mental health services (N = 20) to examine the awareness, impact, and implications of these threshold language policies. 
Source: International Journal of Mental Health Systems [via eScholarship repository]

Download pdf: Qualitative evaluation of mental health services for clients with limited English proficiency

Media, messages, and medication: strategies to reconcile what patients hear, what they want, and what they need from medications

Background:
Over the past 30 years, patients’ options for accessing information about prescription drugs have expanded dramatically. In this narrative review, we address four questions: (1) What information sources are patients exposed to, and are they paying attention? (2) Is the information they hear credible and accurate? (3) When patients ask for a prescription, what do they really want and need? Finally, (4) How can physicians reconcile what patients hear, want, and need?
Source: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision-making [via eScholarship Repository]

Download pdf:  Media, messages, and medication: strategies to reconcile what patients hear, what they want, and what they need from medications

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments

From the overview:
At a time of national debate over health care costs and insurance, a Pew Research Center survey on end-of-life decisions finds most Americans say there are some circumstances in which doctors and nurses should allow a patient to die. At the same time, however, a growing minority says that medical professionals should do everything possible to save a patient’s life in all circumstances.

When asked about end-of-life decisions for other people, two-thirds of Americans (66%) say there are at least some situations in which a patient should be allowed to die, while nearly a third (31%) say that medical professionals always should do everything possible to save a patient’s life. Over the last quarter-century, the balance of opinion has moved modestly away from the majority position on this issue. While still a minority, the share of the public that says doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save a patient’s life has gone up 9 percentage points since 2005 and 16 points since 1990.

Source: Pew Research

Read online: Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments

Report and Data: America’s Place in the World 2013

Introduction:
Growing numbers of Americans believe that U.S. global power and prestige are in decline. And support for U.S. global engagement, already near a historic low, has fallen further.  The public thinks that the nation does too much to solve world problems, and increasing percentages want the U.S. to “mind its own business internationally” and pay more attention to problems here at home.

Yet this reticence is not an expression of across-the-board isolationism. Even as doubts grow about the United States’ geopolitical role, most Americans say the benefits from U.S. participation in the global economy outweigh the risks. And support for closer trade and business ties with other nations stands at its highest point in more than a decade.

These are among the principal findings of America’s Place in the World, a quadrennial survey of foreign policy attitudes conducted in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a nonpartisan membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy.
Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download pdf complete report: America’s Place in the World 2013
Download pdf of topline questionnaire

New Data Released: Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2012

Introduction:
In 2012, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $691. On average in 2012, women made about 81 percent of the median earnings of male full-time wage and salary workers ($854). In 1979, the first year for which comparable earnings data are available, women earned 62 percent of what men earned.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Download pdf Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2012

No Compelling Interest: The 'Birth Control' Mandate and Religious Freedom

Abstract:
Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a regulation (the "Mandate") requiring employers of a certain size -- including religious institutions and businesses led by religious individuals -- to provide their employees health insurance covering birth control, sterilization, and emergency contraception, with no co-pay. The rationale underlying the Mandate was contained in an Institute of Medicine report (the "Report") commissioned by the Department. The Report claimed that birth control and emergency contraception were "preventive medical care" for women and girls, claiming that they would lead to less unintended pregnancy and the associated health consequences thereof. This article takes a very close look at the sources cited by the Report for its preventive health care claims. It concludes that the Report is poorly sourced, poorly reasoned, biased and incomplete. The Report fails to show, inter alia: that more accessible contraception and emergency contraception have lowered rates of unintended pregnancy or abortion over time; and that "free" contraception and emergency contraception will provoke greater usage. It also fails to attend to the substantial risk of harming women's individual and social health, by further delinking sex and procreation. Because the Mandate burdens the free exercise of religion, it must demonstrate a "compelling state interest" in order to survive a constitutional challenge. Given the weakness of the factual case for the Mandate, it cannot meet the "compelling state interest" test.
Source; Villanova Law Review, Vol. 58, No. 3, pp. 379-436, 2013; George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 13-35. Available at SSRN

Download pdf of No Compelling Interest: The 'Birth Control' Mandate and Religious Freedom

Experiences with Military Online Learners: Toward a Mindful Practice

Abstract:

Active military service members are increasing as constituents of online distance learning environments in America. For instructors, first-time engagement with military learners poses challenges and opportunities. This paper considers military learners through a framework of stereotype, labeling, and culture. It explores the use of stereotypes in new social engagements and provides a brief discussion of the cultural differences that military learners bring to the learning environment. It presents a small-scale phenomenological study of military learners' experiences in online courses, and suggests that their values and concerns do not differ significantly from non-military students. It concludes that, as with all learners, the most effective way of engaging with military students is for the instructor to be actively present, critically aware, and genuinely open. This approach, mindful practice, is presented as a strategy for exploring and developing a deeper understanding of the military learner. Suggestions for such practice are offered in the concluding section.
Source: Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

Read online: Experiences with Military Online Learners: Toward a Mindful Practice

The Price Had Better Be Right Women’s Reactions to Sexual Stimuli Vary With Market Factors

Abstract:
Two experiments tested when and why women’s typically negative, spontaneous reactions to sexual imagery would soften. Sexual economics theory predicts that women want sex to be seen as rare and special. We reasoned that this outlook would translate to women tolerating sexual images more when those images are linked to high worth as opposed to low worth. We manipulated whether an ad promoted an expensive or a cheap product using a sexually charged or a neutral scene. As predicted, women found sexual imagery distasteful when it was used to promote a cheap product, but this reaction to sexual imagery was mitigated if the product promoted was expensive. This pattern was not observed among men. Furthermore, we predicted and found that sexual ads promoting cheap products heightened feelings of being upset and angry among women. These findings suggest that women’s reactions to sexual images can reveal deep-seated preferences about how sex should be used and understood. 

Source: Psychological Science

Download PDF of The Price Had Better Be Right Women’s Reactions to Sexual Stimuli Vary With Market Factors

How Learning a Musical Instrument Affects the Development of Skills

Abstract:
Despite numerous studies on skill development,we know little about the causal effects of music training on cognitive and non-cognitive skills. This study examines how long-term music training during childhood and youth affects the development of cognitive skills, school grades, personality, time use and ambition using representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Our findings suggest that adolescents with music training have better cognitive skills and school grades and are more conscientious, open and ambitious. These effects do not differ by socio-economic status. Music improves cognitive and non-cognitive skills more than twice as much as sports, theater or dance. In order to address the non-random selection into music training, we take into account detailed information on parents, which may determine both the decision to pursue music lessons and educational outcomes: socio-economic background, personality, involvement with the child’s school, and taste for the arts. In addition, we control for the predicted probability to give up music before age 17 as well as the adolescent’s secondary school type. We provide evidence that our results are robust to both reverse causality and the existence of partly treated individuals in the control group.
Source: German Socio-Economic Panel paper No. 591. Available at SSRN

Download pdf of How Learning a Musical Instrument Affects the Development of Skills

Friday, November 22, 2013

America's Big Cities in Volatile Times

Summary:
This report examines how America’s big cities navigated the worst U.S. economic downturn since the Great Depression. It focuses on postrecession revenue as compared with earlier peaks, explores future prospects, and considers cities’ remaining fiscal challenges and their ability to manage future uncertainty while continuing to provide key services to taxpayers.
Source: Pew American Cities Project

Download full pdf report: America's Big Cities in Volatile Times

Risking Your Health : Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors

From the description:
Changing behaviors is tricky — public health interventions via legislation with strong enforcement mechanisms can be more effective than simple communication campaigns informing consumers about the risks associated with certain behaviors, since translating knowledge into concrete changes in behavior seems to be hard to achieve. Economic mechanisms such as taxes (especially on alcohol and tobacco products), subsidies (such as free condoms), and conditional/unconditional cash transfers are also used to reduce risky behaviors (for example in HIV prevention). Of great interest to policy makers, academics and practitioners, this book assesses the efficiency of those interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of behaviors that endanger health. 
Source: World Bank


Download pdf: Risking Your Health : Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors

How Medicaid Expansions and Future Community Health Center Funding Will Shape Capacity to Meet the Nation’s Primary Care Needs

Without Sufficient Support, Community Health Centers Will Drop 1 Million Patients

A new report by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) examines the impact of federal and state policy decisions on community health centers (CHCs) and their ability to continue providing primary care to the nation’s poorest residents. The report, “How Medicaid Expansions and Future Community Health Center Funding Will Shape Capacity to Meet the Nation’s Primary Care Needs,” estimates that under a worst-case scenario, the nation’s health centers would be forced to contract, leaving an estimated 1 million low-income people without access to health care services by the year 2020.
Source: Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS)

Download pdf: How Medicaid Expansions and Future Community Health Center Funding Will Shape Capacity to Meet the Nation’s Primary Care Needs

Diversity in Old Age: The Elderly in Changing Economic and Family Contexts


The longevity of today’s older adults offers greater opportunities for meaningful interactions with children and grandchildren. Yet, the strength of these ties has been tested by changes in the structure and composition of families caused by high rates of cohabitation, childbearing outside of marriage, and divorce. And the rates of disruption are higher for poorer families, so older parents with the fewest resources to share are most likely to be called on for help. 
Source: Brown University

Download pdf: Diversity in Old Age: The Elderly in Changing Economic and Family Contexts

Mining Large-scale TV Group Viewing Patterns for Group Recommendation

Description:

We present a large-scale study of television viewing habits, focusing on how individuals adapt their preferences when consuming content in group settings. While there has been a great deal of recent work on modeling individual preferences, there has been considerably less work studying the behavior and preferences of groups, due mostly to the difficulty of data collection in these settings. In contrast to past work that has relied either on small-scale surveys or prototypes, we explore more than 4 million logged views paired with individual-level demographic and co-viewing information to uncover variation in the viewing patterns of individuals and groups. Our analysis reveals which genres are popular among specific demographic groups when viewed individually, how often individuals from different demographic categories participate in group viewing, and how viewing patterns change in various group contexts. Furthermore, we leverage this large-scale dataset to directly estimate how individual preferences are combined in group settings, finding subtle deviations from traditional preference aggregation functions. We present a simple model which captures these effects and discuss the impact of these findings on the design of group recommendation systems.

Source: Microsoft Research

Download pdf report: Mining Large-scale TV Group Viewing Patterns for Group Recommendation

The “Daily Grind”: Work, Commuting, and Their Impact on Political Participation

Abstract:

Past research demonstrates that free time is an important resource for political participation. We investigate whether two central drains on citizens’ daily time—working and commuting—impact their level of political participation. The prevailing “resources” model offers a quantity-focused view where additional time spent working or commuting reduces free time and should each separately decrease participation. We contrast this view to a “commuter’s strain” hypothesis, which emphasizes time spent in transit as a psychologically onerous burden over and above the workday. Using national survey data, we find that time spent working has no effect on participation, while commuting significantly decreases participation. We incorporate this finding into a comprehensive model of the “daily grind,” which factors in both socioeconomic status and political interest. Our analysis demonstrates that commuting leads to the greatest loss in political interest for low-income Americans, and that this loss serves as a main mechanism through which commuting erodes political participation.
Source: American Politics Research

Download: The “Daily Grind”: Work, Commuting, and Their Impact on Political Participation


Survey Results: Offering Benefits Still Gives Employers a Competitive Advantage

From the press release:

The vast majority or workers say that the benefits package an employer offers―especially health insurance―is important to their decision to accept or reject a job, but a quarter are not satisfied with them, according to a new survey.
More than three-quarters of employees state that the benefits package an employer offers prospective employees is extremely (33 percent) or very (45 percent) important in their decision to accept or reject a job, according to the 2013 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey (WBS), by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald and Associates.
Source: EBRI

Download pdf results: 2013 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey

Impact of a mobile phone and web program on symptom and functional outcomes for people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: a randomised controlled trial

From the abstract:

Mobile phone-based psychological interventions enable real time self-monitoring and self-management, and large-scale dissemination. However, few studies have focussed on mild-to-moderate symptoms where public health need is greatest, and none have targeted work and social functioning. This study reports outcomes of a CONSORT-compliant randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the efficacy of myCompass, a self-guided psychological treatment delivered via mobile phone and computer, designed to reduce mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress, and improve work and social functioning.

Source: BMC Psychiatry

Download pdf of: Impact of a mobile phone and web program on symptom and functional outcomes for people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: a randomised controlled trial.

Fatalities of Pedestrians, Bicycle Riders, and Motorists Due to Distracted Driving Motor Vehicle Crashes in the U.S., 2005–2010

From the abstract:
We obtained data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System database from 2005 to 2010 on every crash that resulted in at least one fatality within 30 days occurring on public roads in the U.S. Following the definition used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, we identified distracted driving based on whether police investigators determined that a driver had been using a technological device, including a cell phone, onboard navigation system, computer, fax machine, two-way radio, or head-up display, or had been engaged in inattentive or careless activities.
Source: Public Health Reports

Download full pdf publication:  Fatalities of Pedestrians, Bicycle Riders, and Motorists Due to Distracted Driving Motor Vehicle Crashes in the U.S., 2005–2010

The (In)compatibility of Diversity and Sense of Community.

Abstract:
Community psychologists are interested in creating contexts that promote both respect for diversity and sense of community. However, recent theoretical and empirical work has uncovered a community-diversity dialectic wherein the contextual conditions that foster respect for diversity often run in opposition to those that foster sense of community. More specifically, within neighborhoods, residential integration provides opportunities for intergroup contact that are necessary to promote respect for diversity but may prevent the formation of dense interpersonal networks that are necessary to promote sense of community. Using agent-based modeling to simulate neighborhoods and neighborhood social network formation, we explore whether the community-diversity dialectic emerges from two principles of relationship formation: homophily and proximity. The model suggests that when people form relationships with similar and nearby others, the contexts that offer opportunities to develop a respect for diversity are different from the contexts that foster a sense of community. Based on these results, we conclude with a discussion of whether it is possible to create neighborhoods that simultaneously foster respect for diversity and sense of community.
Source: Am J Community Psychol. 2013 Nov 6. [Epub ahead of print]- via PUBMed

Download pdf:  The (In)compatibility of Diversity and Sense of Community.

An Experiment in Hiring Discrimination Via Online Social Networks

Abstract:
Surveys of U.S. employers suggest that numerous firms seek information about job applicants online. However, little is known about how this information gathering influences employers’ hiring behavior. We present results from two complementary randomized experiments (a field experiment and an online experiment) on the impact of online information on U.S. firms’ hiring behavior. We manipulate candidates’ personal information that is protected under either federal laws or some state laws, and may be risky for employers to enquire about during interviews, but which may be inferred from applicants' online social media profiles. In the field experiment, we test responses of over 4,000 U.S. employers to a Muslim candidate relative to a Christian candidate, and to a gay candidate relative to a straight candidate. We supplement the field experiment with a randomized, survey-based online experiment with over 1,000 subjects (including subjects with previous human resources experience) testing the effects of the manipulated online information on hypothetical hiring decisions and perceptions of employability. The results of the field experiment suggest that a minority of U.S. firms likely searched online for the candidates’ information. Hence, the overall effect of the experimental manipulations on interview invitations is small and not statistically significant. However, in the field experiment, we find evidence of discrimination linked to political party affiliation. Specifically, following the Gallup Organization’s segmentation of U.S. states by political ideology, we use results from the 2012 presidential election and find evidence of discrimination against the Muslim candidate compared to the Christian candidate among employers in more Romney-leaning states and counties. These results are robust to controlling for firm characteristics, state fixed effects, and a host of county-level variables. We find no evidence of discrimination against the gay candidate relative to the straight candidate. Results from the online experiment are consistent with those from the field experiment: we find more evidence of bias among subjects more likely to self-report more political conservative party affiliation. The online experiment’s results are also robust to controlling for demographic variables. Results from both experiments should be interpreted carefully. Because politically conservative states and counties in our field experiment, and more conservative party affiliation in our online experiment, are not randomly assigned, the result that discrimination is greater in more politically conservative areas and among more politically conservative online subjects should be interpreted as correlational, not causal.

Source: Acquisti, Alessandro and Fong, Christina M., An Experiment in Hiring Discrimination Via Online Social Networks (November 20, 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2031979

Download pdf publication: An Experiment in Hiring Discrimination Via Online Social Networks

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Growth in Foundation Support for Media in the United States

New Report Shows Growing Role of Philanthropy in Shaping the Media Landscape 
Data Map and Knowledge Center to Serve as Resources for Funders and Grantseekers 

Foundation support for media is growing at nearly four times the rate of domestic giving in other areas, with $1.86 billion invested between 2009-2011, according to a report released today. The report, Growth in Foundation Support for Media in the United States, is a collaboration among the Foundation Center, Media Impact Funders, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and provides the most comprehensive view to date of philanthropy’s role in the media funding landscape.

Answering a demand for data in this area, the report provides a chronological view of media-related funding across organization types and areas of focus, providing a benchmark for further progress. The report is part of a larger project that includes an interactive data visualization tool and knowledge center that open up the findings for further analysis.
Source: Foundation Center
Download full pdf report: Growth in Foundation Support for Media in the United States
Link to interactive data map

Improving Health Care through Mobile Medical Devices and Sensors

Introduction:
Health care access, affordability, and quality are problems all around the world and large numbers of individuals do not receive the quality care that they need. Mobile technology offers ways to help with these challenges. Through mobile health applications, sensors, medical devices, and remote patient monitoring products, there are avenues through which health care delivery can be improved. These technologies can help lower costs by facilitating the delivery of care, and connecting people to their health care providers. Applications allow both patients and providers to have access to reference materials, lab tests, and medical records using mobile devices.
Source: Brookings Institution

Download pdf publication: Improving Health Care through Mobile Medical Devices and Sensors

The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children Ages 3 to 8

A Focus on Literacy and Math Achievement Outcomes and Social-Emotional Skills 

Abstract:
This report summarizes research conducted primarily over the past 10 years on how families’ involvement in children’s learning and development through activities at home and at school affects the literacy, mathematics, and social-emotional skills of children ages 3 to 8. A total of 95 studies of family involvement are reviewed. These include both descriptive, nonintervention studies of the actions families take at home and at school and intervention studies of practices that guide families to conduct activities that strengthen young children’s literacy and math learning. 
Source: MDRC

Key Findings
Download full pdf report: The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children Ages 3 to 8

Mothers, Friends and Gender Identity

Abstract:
This paper explores a novel mechanism of gender identity formation. Specifically, we explore how the work behavior of a teenager's own mother, as well as that of her friends' mothers, affect her work decisions in adulthood. The first mechanism is commonly included in economic models. The second, which in social psychology is also emphasized as an important factor in gender identity formation, has so far been overlooked. Accordingly, our key theoretical innovation is how the utility function is modeled. It is assumed that an adult woman's work decisions are influenced by her own mother's choices as well as her friends' mothers' choices when she was a teenager, and the interaction between the two. The empirical salience of this behavioral model is tested using a network model specification together with the longitudinal structure of the AddHealth data set. We find that both intergenerational channels positively affect a woman's work hours in adulthood, but the cross effect is negative, indicating the existence of cultural substitutability. That is, the mother's role model effect is larger the more distant she is (in terms of working hours) from the friends' mothers.
Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

Download pdf report: Mothers, Friends and Gender Identity

When Ideas Trump Interests: Preferences, World Views, and Policy Innovations

Abstract:
The contemporary approach to political economy is built around vested interests – elites, lobbies, and rent-seeking groups which get their way at the expense of the general public. The role of ideas in shaping those interests is typically ignored or downplayed. Yet each of the three components of the standard optimization problem in political economy – preferences, constraints, and choice variables – rely on an implicit set of ideas. Once the manner in which ideas enter these frameworks is made explicit, a much richer and more convincing set of results can be obtained. In particular, new ideas about policy—or policy entrepreneurship—can exert an independent effect on equilibrium outcomes even in the absence of changes in the configuration of political power.
Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

Download pdf report: When Ideas Trump Interests: Preferences, World Views, and Policy Innovations

Why do academics blog? An analysis of audiences, purposes and challenges

Abstract
Academics are increasingly being urged to blog in order to expand their audiences, create networks and to learn to write in more reader friendly style. This paper holds this advocacy up to empirical scrutiny. A content analysis of 100 academic blogs suggests that academics most commonly write about academic work conditions and policy contexts, share information and provide advice; the intended audience for this work is other higher education staff. We contend that academic blogging may constitute a community of practice in which a hybrid public/private academic operates in a ‘gift economy’. We note however that academic blogging is increasingly of interest to institutions and this may challenge some of the current practices we have recorded. We conclude that there is still much to learn about academic blogging practices.
Source: Studies in Higher Education

Download pdf: Why do academics blog? An analysis of audiences, purposes and challenges

Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange

Open Doors 2013: International Students in the United States and Study Abroad by American Students are at All-Time High
Description:
The Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange is published by the Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States. IIE has conducted an annual statistical survey of campuses regarding the international students in the United States since 1919, and with support from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since the early 1970s. The census is based on a survey of approximately 3,000 accredited U.S. institutions. Open Doors also conducts and reports on separate surveys on U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit (since 1985), and on international scholars at U.S. universities and international students enrolled in pre-academic Intensive English Programs.
Source: Institute of International Education

Press Release | Data Sets available online

The Youngest Americans: A Statistical Portrait of Infants and Toddlers in the United States

Introduction:
America’s youngest children—12 million infants and toddlers—are the leading edge of a demographic transformation in the U.S. They herald a nation more diverse with respect to race/ethnicity, country of origin, language, and family type than at any time in our recent history. They are surrounded by, and engaged with, new technology. Most of our youngest Americans, according to their parents, have at least some of the important characteristics associated with optimal development.

At the same time, they are a generation characterized by marked inequities, with disturbing proportions facing severe disadvantage that imposes both immediate and lasting threats to well-being. Significant numbers are born into families without the human and financial resources to pro- mote their development; disparities by race and Hispanic origin persist; public policy responses have been slow to materialize and, where they exist, often serve only a fraction of the children in need.
 Source: Child Trends and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Download pdf of The Youngest Americans: A Statistical Portrait of Infants and Toddlers in the United States


Narcissistic CEOs and Executive Compensation

Abstract:
Narcissism is characterized by traits such as dominance, self-confidence, a sense of entitlement, grandiosity, and low empathy. There is growing evidence that individuals with these characteristics often emerge as leaders, and that narcissistic CEOs may make more impulsive and risky decisions. We suggest that these tendencies may also affect how compensation is allocated among top management teams. Using employee ratings of personality for the CEOs of 32 prominent high-technology firms, we investigate whether more narcissistic CEOs have compensation packages that are systematically different from their less narcissistic peers, and specifically whether these differences increase the longer the CEO stays with the firm. As predicted, we find that more narcissistic CEOs who have been with their firm longer receive more total direct compensation (salary, bonus, and stock options), have more money in their total shareholdings, and have larger discrepancies between their own (higher) compensation and the other members of their team.
 Source: Working Paper Series, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley [via eScholarship Repository]

Download pdf publication: Narcissistic CEOs and Executive Compensation

Improving Maternal Depression Screening and Treatment for Pregnant Women

From introduction:

Although depression is highly treatable, especially in early stages, only half of women are screened for maternal depression, and only a minority receive treatment. Untreated depression puts women and children at risk, as pregnant women with depression are 3.4 times more likely than baseline women to deliver preterm, and children of depressed mothers also demonstrate high lifetime medical spending, because maternal depression can impact child development. Maternal depression disproportionately impacts low-income women, as evidenced by their overrepresentation among women suffering from depression overall.
Source: Policy Briefs, UCLA Center for the Study of Women, UCLA [via eScholarship Repository]

Download: Improving Maternal Depression Screening and Treatment for Pregnant Women

Thursday, November 07, 2013

What If You Had Been Less Fortunate: The Effects of Poor Family Background on Current Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract:
This study examines the correlation between childhood poverty and its influence on adulthood wage distribution, where childhood poverty refers to experience of poverty or poor family background during one's childhood. With the data from Korean Labor Income Panel Study, KLIPS, quantile regression technique and decomposition method are conducted to identify and decompose the wage gap between low (poor) and middle class income group along the whole current wage distribution, based on a simulated counterfactual distribution. The results show that, those who had been less fortunate during their childhood likely had less opportunity to gain labor market favored characteristics such as a higher level of education, and even earn lower returns to their labor market characteristics in the current labor market. This leads to a discount of about fifteen percentages points off of the wage on average in total for those with underprivileged backgrounds during childhood compared to those with the middle class background, and that disadvantage is observed heterogeneously, greater at the lower quantiles than the higher quantiles of the current wage distribution. Then this research contributes to the literature by providing a partial understanding of poverty in Korea and its possible causes, in particular, in form of poor family background or childhood poverty, with which the implication of intergenerational effect issue is considered.
Source: Institute for the Study of Labor

Download full pdf of What If You Had Been Less Fortunate: The Effects of Poor Family Background on Current Labor Market Outcomes

Engaging in Corruption: The Influence of Cultural Values and Contagion Effects at the Micro Level

Abstract:
Previous empirical work on corruption has generally been cross-country in nature and focused on utilizing country-level corruption ratings. By using micro-level data for over 20 European countries that directly measure individual characteristics, corruption experiences, gender roles, trust and values to examine the determinants of corruption, this paper goes beyond the search for associations between various macro factors and perceptions of corruption that is prevalent in the economic literature. One focus of the paper is on how cultural norms such as gender roles and risk preferences influence corruption and whether there are gender differences in the determinants of corruption. In addition, this paper also seeks to determine if there are contagion effects in corruption at the micro level. Using a seemingly unrelated probit approach, this paper provides empirical estimates of how past experiences with corruption affects both how bribery is viewed and the actual act of offering a bribe. 
Source: Institute for the Study of Labor

Download full pdf of Engaging in Corruption: The Influence of Cultural Values and Contagion Effects at the Micro Level

Burden of Depressive Disorders by Country, Sex, Age, and Year

From the abstract:

Depressive disorders were a leading cause of burden in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 1990 and 2000 studies. Here, we analyze the burden of depressive disorders in GBD 2010 and present severity proportions, burden by country, region, age, sex, and year, as well as burden of depressive disorders as a risk factor for suicide and ischemic heart disease.

Source: Public Library of Science, Medicine

Link to article: Burden of Depressive Disorders by Country, Sex, Age, and Year

How's life? 2013 Measuring well-being - Report from the OECD

Description:
Every person aspires to a good life. But what does “a good or a better life” mean? The second edition of How’s Life? paints a comprehensive picture of well-being in OECD countries and other major economies, by looking at people’s material living conditions and quality of life across the population. In addition, the report contains in-depth studies of four key cross-cutting issues in well-being that are particularly relevant: how has well-being evolved during the global economic and financial crisis?; how big are gender differences in well-being?; how can we assess well-being in the workplace?; and how to define and measure the sustainability of well-being over time?
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Link to site for full text of How's life? 2013 Measuring well-being.

Also available is an interactive info-graphic where you can rate your own priorities and well being.

NCHS Data Brief: Emergency Department Visits by Persons Aged 65 and Over

Summary:
This analysis examined ED visits made by persons aged 65 and over in 2009–2010 and identified a number of differences by age. The ED visit rate and the percentage of ED visits made by nursing home residents, patients arriving by ambulance, and patients admitted to the hospital increased with age. The percentage of injury-related ED visits was highest among persons aged 85 and over, and the percentage of visits caused by a fall increased with age. As the proportion of older individuals in the United States continues to rise, the recognition of age differences in the utilization and provision of ED services among this population will be important.
Data Source info:
Data for this analysis are from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), an annual, nationally representative survey of nonfederal, general, and short-stay hospitals. NHAMCS is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics and provides data on the utilization and provision of ambulatory care services in hospital emergency and outpatient departments 
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

 Download pdf of National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief: Emergency Department Visits by Persons Aged 65 and Over

The FY2014 Government Shutdown: Economic Effects-A report from the Congressional Research Service


From the Summary
 
This report discusses the effects of the FY2014 government shutdown on the economy. It also reviews third-party estimates of the effects of the shutdown on the economy, which predicted a reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) growth of at least 0.1 percentage points for each week of the shutdown, with a cumulative effect of up to 0.6 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2013. The Congressional Research Service does not plan to provide an independent estimate of the economic impact of the shutdown.
 Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress [via Secrecy News]

Download full pdf report: The FY2014 Government Shutdown: Economic Effects

Pew Report: The Role of News on Facebook | Twitter News Consumers: Young, Mobile and Educated

From the overview:
On Facebook, the largest social media platform, news is a common but incidental experience, according to an initiative of Pew Research Center in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Overall, about half of adult Facebook users, 47%, “ever” get news there. That amounts to 30% of the population.
Most U.S. adults do not go to Facebook seeking news out, the nationally representative online survey of 5,173 adults finds. Instead, the vast majority of Facebook news consumers, 78%, get news when they are on Facebook for other reasons. And just 4% say it is the most important way they get news. As one respondent summed it up, “I believe Facebook is a good way to find out news without actually looking for it.”
Source: Pew Research Journalism Project

Download complete report:  The Role of News on Facebook
Also available: Questionnaire for The Role of News on Facebook survey

Related Pew Report: Twitter News Consumers: Young, Mobile and Educated

Monday, November 04, 2013

Changing Course: Preventing Youth From Joining Gangs

From the introduction:
The consequences of gangs — and the burden they place on the law enforcement and public health systems in our communities — are significant. People who work in the fields of public health and public safety know that efforts to address the problem after kids have already joined gangs are not enough. To realize a significant and lasting reduction in youth gang activity, we must prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place.
Source: National Institute of Justice (U.S.A.)

Download full ebook:  Changing Course: Preventing Youth From Joining Gangs

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Pew Report: Three-Fourths of Hispanics Say Their Community Needs a Leader

From the overview:

Three-quarters of Latinos living in the U.S. say that their community needs a national leader, but about the same share either cannot name one or don’t believe one exists, according to a new national survey of 5,103 Latino adults conducted by the Pew Research Center from May 24 to July 28, 2013.

When asked in an open-ended question to name the person they consider “the most important Hispanic leader in the country today,” 62% say they don’t know and an additional 9% say “no one.”
Source: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project

Download full pdf report: Three-Fourths of Hispanics Say Their Community Needs a Leader 

Download pdf questionnaire for Three-Fourths of Hispanics Say Their Community Needs a Leader

Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and America's Persistent Talent Underclass

Online Article:

The circle of high-achieving American students is becoming a preserve for the white and well-off, with potentially severe consequences for the country’s promise of equal opportunity, according to a new report by UConn professor Jonathan Plucker and colleagues at two other universities.
“Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and the Persistence of America’s Permanent Talent Underclass” examines the underreported problem of students from particular racial and socioeconomic backgrounds dominating the ranks of those who perform best on national assessment tests. While a great deal of attention and resources have been focused on the achievement gap among students, which measures basic proficiency in subjects like math and reading, almost none have been devoted to the “excellence gap” at the highest achievement levels.
Source: University of Connecticut

Download: Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and America's Persistent Talent Underclass
Link to download site with state by state reports

What Are We Not Doing When We're Online

Abstract:
The Internet has radically transformed the way we live our lives. The net changes in consumer surplus and economic activity, however, are difficult to measure because some online activities, such as obtaining news, are new ways of doing old activities while new activities, like social media, have an opportunity cost in terms of activities crowded out. This paper uses data from the American Time Use Survey from 2003 – 2011 to estimate the crowdout effects of leisure time spent online. That data show that time spent online and the share of the population engaged in online activities has been increasing steadily. I find that, on the margin, each minute of online leisure time is correlated with 0.29 fewer minutes on all other types of leisure, with about half of that coming from time spent watching TV and video, 0.05 minutes from (offline) socializing, 0.04 minutes from relaxing and thinking, and the balance from time spent at parties, attending cultural events, and listening to the radio. Each minute of online leisure is also correlated with 0.27 fewer minutes working, 0.12 fewer minutes sleeping, 0.10 fewer minutes in travel time, 0.07 fewer minutes in household activities, and 0.06 fewer minutes in educational activities.
Source: National Bureau for Economic Research

Download: What Are We Not Doing When We're Online

Migration and Distributive Politics in an Indigenous Community: Oportunidades, Educational Surveillance and Migration Patterns in La Gloria

Abstract:
Conditional Cash Transfers are a type of welfare program in which recipients receive funds contingent on certain actions or involvement in activities. Governments and multilateral banks frame conditional Cash Transfers as an effective poverty alleviation strategy that provokes greater civic engagement in the Global South. Mexico’s Conditional Cash Transfer program, Oportunidades, includes an educational requirement for children. Studies of Oportunidades focus primarily on its impact on student enrollment, but lack research on the quality of education, retention and employment outcomes, and the impact on emigration. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research in a rural indigenous community in the Mexican state of Chiapas, I examine how teachers utilize Oportunidades conditional requirements as a form of surveillance in the classroom. My findings reveal how emigration in La Gloria and its impact on student retention increases the vulnerability of teachers’ employment. These pressures unintentionally help shape how teachers perceive the program – as an intervention to an ongoing culture of migration. Finally, I discuss the impact that surveillance has in shaping educational and migratory aspirations among students and employment outcomes.
Source:  Program on International Migration, UCLA International Institute, UCLA [via eScholarship Repository

Download pdf publication:  Migration and Distributive Politics in an Indigenous Community: Oportunidades, Educational Surveillance and Migration Patterns in La Gloria

Friday, October 18, 2013

Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry

Executive Summary

Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of enrollments in America's major public benefits programs are from working families. But many of them work in jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to provide for life's basic necessities. Low wages paid by employers in the fast-food industry create especially acute problems for the families of workers in this industry. Median pay for core front-line fast-food jobs is $8.69 an hour, with many jobs paying at or near the minimum wage. Benefits are also scarce for front-line fast-food workers; an estimated 87 percent do not receive health benefits through their employer. The combination of low wages and benefits, often coupled with part-time employment, means that many of the families of fast-food workers must rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet.

This report estimates the public cost of low-wage jobs in the fast-food industry. Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the other public benefits programs discussed in this report provide a vital support system for millions of Americans working in the United States' service industries, including fast food. We analyze public program utilization by working families and estimate total average annual public benefit expenditures on the families of front-line fast-food workers for the years 2007–2011.1 For this analysis we focus on jobs held by core, front-line fast-food workers, defined as nonmanagerial workers who work at least 11 hours per week for 27 or more weeks per year.
Source: Center for Labor Research and Education (UC Berkeley)

Download full pdf report Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry

Policies for Inclusive Urbanisation in China

Abstract:
Urbanisation in China has long been held back by various restrictions on land and internal migration but has taken off since the 1990s, as these impediments started to be gradually relaxed. People have moved in large numbers to richer cities, where productivity is higher and has increased further thanks to agglomeration effects. In the process, the rural-urban income differential has narrowed. Urbanisation also entails costs, however, notably in the form of congestion, all the more so as public transport provision has not kept up. Demand for living space is set to continue to increase as living standards improve, putting pressure on land prices. This can be offset by relaxing the very stringent restrictions on the use of agricultural land for building. For migrants to better integrate in the cities where they work, their access and that of their families to education, health and other social services must continue to improve, in particular via further changes to the registration system, coupled with more market-based rules on land ownership and use.
Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Download pdf of Policies for Inclusive Urbanisation in China 

Tablet and E-reader Ownership

From the Overview:

The number of Americans ages 16 and older who own tablet computers has grown to 35%, and the share who have e-reading devices like Kindles and Nooks has grown to 24%. Overall, the number of people who have a tablet or an e-book reader among those 16 and older now stands at 43%.

Up from 25% last year, more than half of those in households earning $75,000 or more now have tablets. Up from 19% last year, 38% of those in upper-income households now have e-readers.
 Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Download full pdf publication: Tablet and E-reader Ownership
Download pdf of survey questions

Survey: Tea Party’s Image Turns More Negative

From the Overview:

The Tea Party is less popular than ever, with even many Republicans now viewing the movement negatively. Overall, nearly half of the public (49%) has an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party, while 30% have a favorable opinion.

The balance of opinion toward the Tea Party has turned more negative since June, when 37% viewed it favorably and 45% had an unfavorable opinion. And the Tea Party’s image is much more negative today than it was three years ago, shortly after it emerged as a conservative protest movement against Barack Obama’s policies on health care and the economy.
Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf report: Tea Party Image Survey
Download topline questionnaire

Method of recording brain activity could lead to 'mind-reading' devices

From the Press Release:
Using a novel method, the researchers collected the first solid evidence that the pattern of brain activity seen in someone performing a mathematical exercise under experimentally controlled conditions is very similar to that observed when the person engages in quantitative thought in the course of daily life. (Stanford School of Medicine)
Abstract of study:

Human cognition is traditionally studied in experimental conditions wherein confounding complexities of the natural environment are intentionally eliminated. Thus, it remains unknown how a brain region involved in a particular experimental condition is engaged in natural conditions. Here we use electrocorticography to address this uncertainty in three participants implanted with intracranial electrodes and identify activations of neuronal populations within the intraparietal sulcus region during an experimental arithmetic condition. In a subsequent analysis, we report that the same intraparietal sulcus neural populations are activated when participants, engaged in social conversations, refer to objects with numerical content. Our prototype approach provides a means for both exploring human brain dynamics as they unfold in complex social settings and reconstructing natural experiences from recorded brain signals.
Study published in Nature Communications as Numerical processing in the human parietal cortex during experimental and natural conditions. (link)


Download pdf of  Numerical processing in the human parietal cortex during experimental and natural conditions.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Veterans With Gulf War Illness Show Brain Changes Linked to Memory Deficits

From the Press Release:
New research illuminates definitive brain alterations in troops with Gulf War Illness (GWI) thought to result from the exposure to neurotoxic chemicals, including sarin gas, during the first Persian Gulf War.

“More than 250,000 troops, or approximately 25% of those deployed during the first Persian Gulf War, have been diagnosed with Gulf War Illness (GWI). Although medical professionals have recognized the chronic and often disabling illness for almost two decades, brain changes that uniquely identify GWI have been elusive until now,” explained researcher Bart Rypma, principal investigator at the Center for Brain Health at The University of Texas at Dallas.

This study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is novel in that it confirms GWI deficits in working memory, a critical cognitive function that enables short-term retention of information for higher-level thinking ability. In addition, brain alterations revealed in the study show a consistent pattern representing a neurobiological marker that could potentially be used to positively identify GWI.

Source: APA

Link to full press release: Veterans With Gulf War Illness Show Brain Changes Linked to Memory Deficits
Link to abstract for study published in Clinical Psychological Science (free to all)
Download pdf article: Central Executive Dysfunction and Deferred Prefrontal Processing in Veterans With Gulf War Illness (May require academic affiliation or subscription)

Alternatives to Peer Review in Research Project Funding

Abstract:
Peer review is often considered the gold standard for reviewing research proposals. However, it is not always the best methodology for every research funding process. Public and private funders that support research as wide-ranging as basic science, defence technology and social science use a diverse set of strategies to advance knowledge in their respective fields. This report highlights a range of approaches that offer alternatives to, or modifications of, traditional peer review — alternatives that address many of the shortcomings in peer review effectiveness and efficiency. The appropriateness of these different approaches will depend on the funder's organisational structure and mission, the type of research they wish to fund, as well as short- and long-term financial constraints.

We hope that the information presented in this pack of cards will inspire experimentation amongst research funders by showing how the research funding process can be changed, and give funders the confidence to try novel methods by explaining where and how similar approaches have been used previously. We encourage funders to be as inquisitive about their funding systems as they are about the research they support and make changes in ways that can be subsequently evaluated, for instance using randomised controlled trials. Such an approach would allow researchers to learn more about the effects of different methods of funding and, over time, to improve their knowledge of the most effective ways to support research.

Source: RAND Corporation

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The Cost of Racial Bias in Economic Decisions

From Press Release

When financial gain depends on cooperation, we might expect that people would put aside their differences and focus on the bottom line. But new research suggests that people’s racial biases make them more likely to leave money on the table when a windfall is not split evenly between groups.

The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

 “It has been suggested that race bias in economic decisions may not occur in a market where discrimination is costly, but these findings provide the first evidence that this assumption is false,” explain psychological scientists Jennifer Kubota and Elizabeth Phelps of New York University. “Our work suggests that after offers are on the table, people perceive the fairness of those offers differently — even when they are objectively identical — based on race.”

The research was inspired by the debt ceiling debates that raged on in the summer of 2011.

“Many members of both the House and Senate seemed willing to incur costs that would hurt their own constituents in order to vote along political lines,” say Kubota and Phelps. “The debate led us to wonder: Are people willing to punish members of another group when they perceive their behavior as unfair, even when exacting that punishment comes at a personal cost?”

The researchers decided that an important first step in understanding this phenomenon, given race-based financial disparities in the United States, would be to examine interracial economic decisions.

Source: APA

Link to full APA Press Release: The Cost of Racial Bias in Economic Decisions

Link to abstract for study published in Psychological Science: The Price of Racial BiasIntergroup Negotiations in the Ultimatum Game

Download pdf of The Price of Racial BiasIntergroup Negotiations in the Ultimatum Game (academic affiliation / subscription may be required)