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Communication with Kin in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFThis study investigates patterns of communication among non-coresident kin in the aftermath of a crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic – focusing on a representative sample of New York City residents from the Poverty Tracker survey. Over half of New Yorkers spoke to their non-coresident family members several times a week during the pandemic and nearly half reported that their communication with non-coresident kin increased since March 2020. Extended kin proved to be important with 27.57% of respondents reporting that they increased communication with at least one extended family member. However, the kin type that New Yorkers were most likely to report increased communication with were siblings, revealing the importance of these ties during times of crisis. Communication with kin varied by sociodemographic characteristics. Women spoke with family members outside of their household more frequently and had higher odds of reporting that their communication increased. There was little support for the oft-stated premise that disadvantaged families by race or social class display greater patterns of kin engagement. In fact, the findings point to the opposite conclusion that families with greater economic resources generally engage with both their nuclear and extended kin more frequently, illuminating patterns of inequality in access to kin resources that may extend well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, this study sheds light on an important yet oft-neglected driver of intra- and inter-generational inequalities, namely access to kin ties as a form of social capital to be activated and leveraged when need arises
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Longevity Perceptions and Implications for Financial Decision-Making
Get PDFInaccurate perceptions regarding life expectancy can lead to suboptimal financial decisions with long-term consequences, including undersaving prior to retirement, and overspending during retirement. As prior research suggests that Covid-19 mortality has disproportionately harmed those with low incomes, African Americans, and Hispanics in the United States, we seek to determine whether subjective survival perceptions among these groups changed in a manner consistent with observed outcomes. We fielded two online experimental surveys of US residents: one took place early in the pandemic outbreak, and the second, a year later. Using vignettes, we examine whether minorities’ perceptions regarding longevity at the outbreak were consistent with observed reality, and how these compared to members of the white majority population. Furthermore, the panel aspect of our study enables us to test whether and how these perceptions updated over time during the pandemic. Finally, we show how these perceptions related to advice regarding retirement saving and drawdowns
The Safety Net Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic Recession and the Older Population
Get PDFWe examine how receipt of several major transfer programs changed for individuals age 50-74 during the pandemic recession. Unemployment Insurance and SNAP receipt grew for less educated men and women age 50-61, and both, especially SNAP, provided significant support to those 62 and older. Receipt responded more strongly during the pandemic than during the Great Recession. Medicaid receipt responded much less and little response occurred for the SSI, DI, and social security programs. We provide policy suggestions for reforms of the SSI and DI programs and for safety-net programs in general for greater countercyclical assistance to the older population
Penn Library\u27s LJS 435 - Maqālah fī al-ʻamal bi-al-yad. = مقالة في العمل باليد (Video Orientation)
No full texthttps://repository.upenn.edu/sims_video/1180/thumbnail.jp
Preface
No full textThe University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) is an occasional series published by the Penn Graduate Linguistics Society. The series has included volumes of previously unpublished work, or work in progress, by linguists with an ongoing affiliation with the Department, as well as volumes of papers from NWAV and the Penn Linguistics Conference.
This volume contains selected papers accepted into the 45th Penn Linguistics Conference. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, PLC 45 took place virtually and all authors of oral presentations were invited to contribute a ten page paper to this volume. We thank our authors for their contribution and their patience and understanding in this editing process. We also thank Pik Yu May Chan, June Choe, Gwen Hildebrandt, Aini Li, Daoxin Li, Karen Li, Lefteris Paparounas, and Christine Soh for their help in editing.
Since Vol. 14.2, PWPL has been an internet-only publication. As of September 2014, the entire back catalog has been digitized and made available on ScholarlyCommons@Penn. Please continue citing PWPL papers or issues as you would a print journal article, though you may also provide the URL of the manuscript. An example is below:
Lee, Soo-Hwan, and Yining Nie. 2022. In University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 28.1, ed. Johanna Benz and Yiran Chen, 86-95. Available at: http://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol28/iss1/11.
Publication in the University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) does not preclude submission of papers elsewhere; copyright is retained by the author(s) of individual papers.
The PWPL editors can be contacted at: U. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, 3401-C Walnut Street, Suite 300, C Wing, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228 and [email protected].
Johanna Benz and Yiran Chen, Issue Editor
Negative Comparison, or how to be Judgmental and Ignorant with Scalar Alternatives
Get PDFThe English negative comparative-modified numerals (CMNs) no more than n and not more than n different in surprising ways: The former conveys exactness (EX) and evaluativity (EVAL), and the latter conveys no exactness (NO-EX) and ignorance (IG). The existing literature offers 3 proposals, one based on Horn (1972), one based a combination of Horn (1972) with the Universal Density of Measurement hypothesis, and one based on a combination of Horn (1972) with the Modifier Alternatives hypothesis. In this paper I argue that both modifications of Horn (1972) are in fact too drastic. And point out that none captures both EX and NO-EX, nor do they make any provisions for IG or EVAL. I propose what I argue is a smaller departure from Horn (1972), and I show it captures all of EX, NO EX, IG, and EVAL. The explanation crucially relies on a combination of Horn (1972) with Negation Alternatives - the idea that for some negative expressions the set of scalar alternatives include variants with the negation as well as without - plus silent exhaustification with O(nly) and E(ven)
The Effect of Source Credibility on Promising Belief Messages: A Message Pretesting Study to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Black Americans
No full textPublic health messaging campaigns can be useful tools for addressing vaccine hesitancy. Behavior change theory-driven formative research, which guides campaign planners in message topic selection, is necessary for campaigns’ success. However, such research cannot advise on how to communicate campaign messages. Information processing theories propose avenues through which messages can be made more persuasive. Focusing on Black Americans, this dissertation aims to test an approach to improve future public health messaging campaigns targeting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Specifically, it investigates whether source credibility (an information processing theory variable) can enhance the persuasiveness of differentially promising campaign message topics. These message topics refer to beliefs associated with intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Study 1 was a two-part belief elicitation. In the first part (Study 1A) participants (N=117) reported their most salient beliefs related to the COVD-19 vaccine in an open-ended survey. The second part involved topic modeling on 5945 tweets discussing the vaccine. Beliefs identified from these studies were transformed into cross-sectional survey items for Study 2. Results from this study highlighted the utility in combining traditional survey data with publicly available social media data to learn about the health concerns of a target population. Study 2 (N=500) identified beliefs varying in promise, following the Hornik & Woolf approach, to be transformed into message topics. Study 3 was a message experiment where participants (N=245) were exposed to messages, addressing either a “more” or “less” promising topic, designed to increase vaccination intention. The messages were also either communicated by a health professional, or layperson source. Results of Study 3 indicated no main effects of neither message promise, nor source credibility on vaccination intention. Messages targeting the “less” promising topic shifted the linked belief, but the belief was not associated with intention. Messages on the “more” promising topic did not shift the linked belief, but the belief was strongly associated with intention. Evidence from these studies underline the benefit of choosing the most promising message topics when planning a public health messaging campaign. These results also suggest that additional research is needed to identify credible sources for vaccine non-intenders, and other differentiating characteristics of this unvaccinated population to develop effective public messaging campaigns in the future
Strategic Response in Regional Comprehensive Universities: The Influence of the Environment in Higher Education
No full textU.S. higher education (HE) faces a multitude of challenges brought on by shifts in demography, the economy, technology, and global competition. The disconnect between these realities and HEIs\u27 perception of and response to their organizational environment may have negative implications for national educational attainment and the knowledge economy. While environmental analysis contributes to successful strategic response, many postsecondary leaders struggle to clearly understand their respective organizational environments. This multiple-case study examined how regional comprehensive universities leaders’ understanding of the external environment influenced the strategic response of their institutions. Research findings revealed that environmental scanning and analysis tools influenced leaders’ sensemaking during the strategic planning and, in turn, modulated their institutions’ strategic response. Macro- contextual and prospective sensemaking conditioned a future-focused strategy, relevant to the external organizational environment. In contrast, micro-contextual and retrospective ways of thinking produced an internally-oriented strategic response. This study provides evidence that universities’ leaders routinely make sense of their internal organizational environment, but only occasionally engage in sensemaking of the external surroundings. While the study confirms that university presidents played a crucial role in the strategy creation process, it also reveals that their average tenure might not be long enough to produce a successful strategic response. Findings illustrates how internal organizational challenges might lead to a deviated use of the strategic planning process, as compared to the processes suggested by extant literature. This research enhances extant theory via evidence that a developed definition of “strategy” separate from “planning” is crucial for producing an externally relevant organizational strategy. These findings could help HE practitioners to better understand their organizational environments and to enact strategic decision-making which allows for effective strategic response by their entire institutions. Understanding the relationships between the type of sensemaking and organizational environment as well as using macro-contextual, prospective, and routine scanning and analysis tools could produce an externally relevant strategic response
Immigrant Volunteering and Integration
No full textThis three-paper dissertation aims to evaluate whether, how, and the extent to which immigrants\u27 volunteering affects their integration into the host country. I approach the thesis with a conceptual examination built on social theories (Paper 1), a quantitative analysis conducted with Canadian data (Paper 2), and a qualitative exploration based on 24 interviews conducted in Philadelphia (U.S.) (Paper 3). For Paper 1, I find that while existing social theories may explain ways volunteer activities positively influence the relationship between immigrants and nonimmigrants, they do not account for additional barriers newcomers experience during resettlement. Using an intersectional approach, I expand existing knowledge on immigrant-nonimmigrant relations by exploring volunteering as support that improves immigrant integration. In Paper 2, I use Canadian national survey data to examine three dimensions of immigrant integration: professional, psychosocial, and political. General volunteering is not significantly related to integration; however, there is a relationship between dimensions of integration and where immigrants choose to volunteer. Thus, the relationship between immigrant integration and volunteering is nuanced; it matters where immigrants decide to volunteer. I expand on this in Paper 3 by analyzing 24 semi-structured interviews to explore differences in social-integration experiences and perceptions of social integration between immigrant volunteers and nonvolunteers in Philadelphia. While past studies assert that volunteering increases feelings of social integration, this empirical study offers a comparative perspective between immigrants who volunteer and those who do not. The findings suggest that immigrant volunteers build a stronger sense of agency in their social integration journeys through contributions to society. Most nonvolunteering participants achieve similar yet minor benefits by engaging in informal volunteering outside of organizational auspices. This dissertation inspires recommendations for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working towards improved immigrant integration. Voluntary venues are unique for positive relational dynamics between immigrants and nonimmigrants. More research on the integrative qualities of voluntary work may lead to discovering best practices on how immigrants achieve high levels of integration within communities and beyond
User-Friendly, Low-Cost, Microfluidic Devices with Capillary Circuits for Multiplexed, Isothermal, Point-of-Care, Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests
No full textRapid, sensitive, and specific detection of causative pathogens is key to personalized medicine and the prompt implementation of appropriate mitigation measures to reduce disease transmission, mortality, morbidity, and cost. Conventional molecular detection methods require trained personnel, sophisticated equipment, and specialized laboratories, which limits their use to centralized laboratories. To enable molecular diagnostics at the point of need and in resource-poor settings, inexpensive, simple devices that combine multiple unit operations and are capable of co-detecting endemic pathogens are needed. In this work, I have developed microfluidic devices with capillary circuits to automate liquid distribution, eliminating the need for expensive equipment, sophisticated laboratory facilities, and skilled personnel to enable molecular diagnostics at the point of need. Capillary valves with different sizes were developed and implemented to aliquot samples and reagents to multiple reaction chambers and to enable draining liquids from supply lines without affecting liquids in the various reaction chambers, enabling bubble-free operation. The sealing of my microfluidic devices to prevent evaporation during incubation is facilitated with phase-change materials and capillary-induced motion. When my microfluidic chip is heated to its incubation temperature, the phase-change material melts and flows to seal ports of entry and air vent. Numerical simulations were carried out to assess the viability of on-chip, in-house developed, two-stage isothermal nucleic acid amplification in the presence of diffusion and advection. An Android-based smartphone application was developed to automate real-time signal monitoring, time series image analysis, and diagnostic result interpretation. Three 3D-printed, portable, microfluidic devices with capillary circuits were designed, fabricated, and tested for single-stage and two-stage, isothermal nucleic acid amplification with either liquid reagents or pre-stored dry reagents that do not require a cold chain. All devices have proved successful for rapid, sensitive, and specific multiplexed detections of human and animal pathogens