Do Online Comments Influence the Public's Attitudes Toward an Organization? Effects of Online Comments Based on Individuals’ Prior Attitudes

The authors investigated the effects of reading different types of online comments about a company on people's attitude change based on individual's prior attitude toward the company. Based on Social Judgment Theory, several hypotheses were tested. The results showed that the effects of online comments interact with individuals’ prior attitudes toward a corporation. People with a strong negative attitude toward a corporation were less influenced by other's online comments than people with a neutral attitude in general. However, people with a prior negative attitude were more affected by refutational two-sided comments than one-sided comments. The results suggest that the effects of user generated content should be studied in a holistic manner, not only by investigating the effects of online content itself, but also by examining how others’ responses to the content shape or change individuals’ attitudes based on their prior attitudes.     

Online Calibration Via Variable Length Computerized Adaptive Testing

Item calibration is an essential issue in modern item response theory based psychological or educational testing. Due to the popularity of computerized adaptive testing, methods to efficiently calibrate new items have become more important than that in the time when paper and pencil test administration is the norm. There are many calibration processes being proposed and discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Among them, the online calibration may be one of the most cost effective processes. In this paper, under a variable length computerized adaptive testing scenario, we integrate the methods of adaptive design, sequential estimation, and measurement error models to solve online item calibration problems. The proposed sequential estimate of item parameters is shown to be strongly consistent and asymptotically normally distributed with a prechosen accuracy. Numerical results show that the proposed method is very promising in terms of both estimation accuracy and efficiency. The results of using calibrated items to estimate the latent trait levels are also reported.     

Do Online Exams Facilitate Cheating? An Experiment Designed to Separate Possible Cheating from the Effect of the Online Test Taking Environment

Despite recent growth in distance education, there has been relatively little research on whether online examinations facilitate student cheating. The present paper utilizes an experimental design to assess the difference in student performance between students taking a traditional, proctored exam and those taking an online, unproctored exam. This difference in performance is examined in a manner which considers both the effect of the different physical test environments and the possible effect of a difference in the opportunity for students to cheat. This study, utilizing regression models that also account for relevant control variables, examines 44 undergraduate statistics students, finds evidence that the difference in the testing environment creates a disadvantage to students taking the online exam which somewhat offsets the advantage that the unproctored students gain from greater opportunities to cheat.     

German matchmaking web sites: Online trafficking in women?

This article reports on a study of Germany-based matchmaking agencies operating on the Internet, investigating how they are organized and how they advertise their commodities. Matchmaking has rapidly grown into a big digital business. This has engendered debate regarding the sexual behavior of its users, consequences of the resulting intermarriages, and on successful international policy for regulating the related migration. Being a new phenomenon, matchmaking on the Internet has largely remained unresearched until very recently. This analysis is a preliminary attempt to address online introduction services in one industrialized western country, Germany. It examines the size and extent of this kind of German business. One goal is to explore regional manifestations of the trade such as which countries are the counterparts in the other end of the trade? The article also highlights features typical for the advertising on this kind of web site, keeping in mind gender, ethnic, and race aspects. Finally, the issues are raised of whether matchmaking agencies are providing equal possibilities to different kinds of people in this kind of transaction, and whether these kinds of services have an impact on gender and ethnic equality.     

Comprehension of Online Informed Consents: Can It Be Improved?

This study examined possible ways to ensure that participants provide fully informed consent for online surveys. Participants were randomly assigned to read either a traditional informed consent or one of three modified versions: enhanced (e.g., images, bullet points), consent for each key element, or a combination of these two. Those who read the combination version scored higher on a comprehension quiz, guessed at fewer questions, and were more likely to read all of the informed consent than those who received the traditional version. These findings suggest that comprehension can be improved by adopting alternatives to the traditional informed consent.     

Challenges Since Wikipedia: The Availability of Rorschach Information Online and Internet Users’ Reactions to Online Media Coverage of the Rorschach–Wikipedia Debate

We conducted 2 studies to assess the availability of Rorschach information online and Internet users’ attitudes since the inkblots were published on Wikipedia. In the first study, the authors conducted 2 Google searches for Web sites containing Rorschach-related information. The top 88 results were classified by level of threat to test security; 19% posed a direct threat. The authors also found Web sites authored by psychologists that divulged sensitive Rorschach information. In the second study, 588 comments to online news stories covering the Rorschach–Wikipedia debate were coded as expressing favorable or unfavorable opinions regarding the field of psychology, psychologists, and the Rorschach. Eight percent of comments described unfavorable opinions toward psychology, 15% contained unfavorable opinions toward psychologists, and 35% portrayed unfavorable opinions of the Rorschach. Common themes and popular misconceptions of the Rorschach contained in these comments are described. Implications and recommendations for practice are discussed. Limitations, including the second study's narrow sample and self-selection bias, are also detailed.     

Female Online Sex Workers’ Perceptions of Exit from Sex Work

Although the sex work industry has evolved with the emergence of internet marketing, little research examines sex workers who advertise online (i.e., online sex workers) and how their work experiences may differ from those of other sex workers who have been studied more extensively. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining female online sex workers’ perceptions of exit from sex work. Data come from semi-structured interviews conducted in Southern California in 2014, with twenty-seven female online sex workers. Participants varied in their perceptions of exit meaning, desirability, and feasibility, and in their intentions to exit from sex work.     

Do Parents Benefit From Help When Completing a Self-Guided Parenting Program Online? A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Triple P Online With and Without Telephone Support

In response to recent increases in the dissemination of Web-based parenting supports, an important consideration is whether the core benefits of self-directed participation in online parenting interventions are counterbalanced by issues such as high dropout and noncompletion rates commonly reported within the Internet intervention literature. This study outlines a randomized controlled trial of Triple P Online, a Web-based variant of the Triple P—Positive Parenting Program, delivered with varied levels of support scaffolding. Participants were 183 parents of children between 1 and 8 years of age with concerns about their child’s behavior and at least one area of disadvantage or family difficulty. Participants were randomized to self-directed Triple P Online, telephone-supported Triple P Online, or a wait-list control. Primary outcomes measured at baseline, postintervention, and 5-month follow-up were negative parenting styles and child behavior problems. Secondary outcomes included parent confidence, anger, and adjustment; relationship quality; program engagement; and parent satisfaction. Self-directed participants showed short-term treatment effects, including reductions in overall negative parenting and frequency of child behavior problems, while practitioner support led to greater improvements in negative parenting and intensity of difficult child behaviors. Participants in the supported condition were also more likely to complete modules and reported greater program satisfaction. At follow-up, 50% of outcomes for the self-directed condition were significantly better than the control, while 94% of outcomes were significantly better than the control in the practitioner-supported condition. Although self-directed online approaches to parenting intervention are promising, this research highlights how minimal support can improve effective engagement and enhance outcomes for families.     

Virtual Empathy? Anxieties and Connections Teaching and Learning Pastoral Care Online

Is it possible to teach pastoral care online? McGarrah Sharp and Morris describe their process of transforming a residential on‐campus pastoral care course into the first online offering of the course at their seminary. They begin by describing a series of pedagogical choices made with the intent of facilitating dynamic movement between peer‐to‐peer, small group, and whole class discussions throughout the semester. Before and during the course, anxieties arose at many levels of instruction for the professor, teaching assistant, and students. Anecdotes and examples from the online course show how the online course design and facilitation was able to name and respond to anxieties as part of integrating pastoral care course content and practice – a key learning goal for the course. The authors are persuaded that online pedagogy can help identify how anxieties create space for developing empathy as much, if not more than, a traditional on‐campus format.     

Therapists' Experiences of Conducting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Online vis-à-vis Face-to-Face

This study has explored therapists' experiences of conducting cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) online and face-to-face. Eleven therapists partook in semi-structured interviews, which were thematically analysed using an abductive approach. The results indicate that the therapists viewed face-to-face therapy as a stronger experience than Internet-based CBT (ICBT), and the latter as being more manualised, but providing more work-time control. Several participants also thought that working alliance may be achieved faster and more easily in face-to-face therapy, and might worsen with fewer modalities of communication. Clinical implications in need of investigation are whether working with ICBT might buffer therapist exhaustion, and whether this therapy form can be improved by becoming less manual dependant in order to be easier to individualise.     

Marriage and Family Therapists’ Use and Comfort with Online Communication with Clients

Despite the growth in computer and Internet use, marriage and family therapists’ (MFT) use of such technologies to communicate with clients has received limited attention. The purpose of the current research was to understand the frequency and ways in which MFTs are communicating online with clients and identify their level of comfort with online treatments. We administered a survey to practicing MFTs across the US to identify the frequency with which they used online communications with their clients, and the extent to which they felt comfortable using online communications in various treatment modalities. Implications for research, training, and practice are discussed.     

MFT Students’ Recount Experiences of Attending Phone and Online Overeaters Anonymous Meetings

The purpose of this study was to explore Marriage and Family Therapy students’ experiences attending Overeaters Anonymous (OA). Utilizing a qualitative survey administered in an addictions course at an institution located in a rural area of the United States, 18 marriage and family therapy (MFT) graduate students reflected on their participation in both online and telephone meetings. In this study, MFT students provided their perspectives regarding the feasible utilization of Overeaters Anonymous in clinical treatment, with an emphasis on the consideration of social support for clients who may reside in rural areas. Three major themes emerged which included (1) enlightenment through exposure; (2) OA as a viable adjunct to therapy; and (3) convenience and comfort. The study addressed recommendations for MFT education, clinical implications, and future research.     

Healthcare Chaplains’ Perspectives on Nurse–Chaplain Collaboration: An Online Survey

The collaboration between nurses and chaplains is essential to provide spiritual support in healthcare institutions. Given challenges in collaboration exist between these disciplines, this study sought to further understand the nature of the chaplain–nurse relationship. Data obtained from an online survey of members of the Association of Professional Chaplains (N = 266) provide a quantified and nuanced picture of how chaplains perceive nurse collaboration and provision of spiritual care. This study not only provides evidence that can inform chaplain and nurse practice, but also an instrument for measuring perceptions about collaboration to provide spiritual care.

     

Marking Sexuality from 0–6: The Kinsey Scale in Online Culture

Alfred Kinsey??s 0?C6 (heterosexuality?Chomosexuality) scale, first published in 1948, has become a method for Internet users to mark and to discuss their sexuality with others in forums and through quizzes. This article first analyzes the historical use and development of the scale and shows its built-in flexibility for individuals seeking tools for contemplating their sexual identities beyond the heterosexual-bisexual-homosexual identity triad. There is no place on the scale that is more ??normal?? than another; all placements have equal socio-cultural weight. This article then examines 29 quizzes and online forums in different languages that use a scale or a version of it and their user comments. Many users who do not feel that the present-day sexual identity triad adequately represents their sexual self-perception discover affirmation and solidarity in finding a place on the scale in either a whole-number or decimal form. The elasticity of placement on the scale??one can perceive one??s place on it differently at will over time??is particularly useful and applicable in a postmodern, online environment in which people are open to exploring sexual identities and to finding a precise labeling that fits them.     

Do Male Politicians Have Big Heads? Face-ism in Online Self-Representations of Politicians

Headshot portraits of all U.S. Governors, Senators, and Representatives and members of Parliament in Canada, Australia, and Norway are analyzed. In all countries, male politicians are represented with higher facial prominence than female politicians, paralleling a pervasive gender bias in media portraits. For American Congresswomen, high facial prominence is associated with a more pro-feminist voting record. Finally, anthropometric data show that gender differences in the facial prominence in portraits cannot be traced to gender differences in actual body proportions.     

#Respect: Applying Anderson’s Code of the Street to the Online Context

Anderson’s work on street codes has become a seminal piece in cultural criminology. Today, it is frequently argued that street-oriented cultural beliefs are strongly linked to criminal offending. While numerous studies have found support for this link, research has yet to examine this relationship as it applies to Internet-based criminal behaviors. The current study attempts to fill this gap by examining both the predictors and effect of similar cultural beliefs in the online context. Results indicate that while controlling for more commonly examined predictors of crime, individuals who adhere to street-oriented beliefs in an online context are more likely to commit cybercrime.     

Men’s Experiences of Miscarriage: A Passive Phenomenological Analysis of Online Data

Abstract

Miscarriage is a pervasive health care concern for couples. The impacts of miscarriage on men have not received adequate attention in the literature. The aim of this research was to understand the lived experience of 31 male participants whose partners had miscarried a child. This study analyzed online data using a passive phenomenological methodology. Researchers found four overarching themes including isolation, overwhelmed, protector, and coping. Results found that health professionals might overlook men when a woman experiences a miscarriage. Results suggest that professionals working with these couples could provide greater care by addressing the experiences of both men and women following a miscarriage.