Scholar Commons - Institutional Repository of the University of South Carolina
Not a member yet
34867 research outputs found
Sort by
SS-22 Correlation Between Attitudes Towards Out-Groups and Populist Voting
No full textThe democratic paradox is inevitable in representative democracy, which means that populism will occur. Given the rise in populism in advanced democracies over the past 15 years it is important to understand what attitudes drive citizens to vote for populist candidates and parties. I will be focusing on the impact that attitudes towards out-groups and elites have on populist voting to further understand the effects of populism. Using the data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) – Module 5, I compared the variables that included attitudes towards out-groups and populist voting. According to the results, as people become more tolerant of out-groups, populist voting decreases. The results also show that the odds of populist voting increase by .87 as positive attitudes towards out-groups rise. Since the odds ratio is less than one, then it is a negative relationship which means as tolerance rises, populist vote would decrease. These findings show that attitudes toward out-groups does have an effect on populist voting. The data shows that there may be a small effect on this large dataset that scales from 1-16, but in further research I think that a greater effect could be shown. The limitations in my findings are that the dataset is on a large scale and if narrowed down, may provide more accurate and useable results. The application of this research is to further understand the dangers that populism may bring to the legitimacy of democratic elections
SS-12 Clickbait or not? How headlines and tone shape reading comprehension and social behavior
No full textNews headlines are often the first element readers encounter before engaging with an article. The initial impression created by headlines may be affected by various factors, including the choice of wording. For example, media outlets commonly use “clickbait,” where appealing titles are used to attract reader engagement. However, these headlines can mislead the reader as they may not be relevant to the article’s content. Previous research has indicated that headlines influence reading comprehension by directing readers\u27 attention to specific aspects of the text. However, more research is needed to investigate how headlines and article contents interact to affect cognitive processes (e.g., reading comprehension) and social behaviors. This current study aimed to observe if there was a causal relationship between headline phrasing and article tone on reading comprehension and measures of reader perception of the article. In the experiment, college students were randomly assigned to read a news article written in a positive or negative tone, and the headline was either congruent or incongruent with the article’s tone. After reading the article, participants were presented with reading comprehension questions and behavioral items (e.g., would you share the article you just read?). It was hypothesized that an incongruent headline would negatively affect reading comprehension and reduce readers\u27 likelihood of engaging in social behaviors related to the article. Implications from this research would suggest that misleading readers for engagement may have detrimental effects on people’s ability to understand content information. This is especially a problem when the content is important to society’s well-being
UH-56 The Impact of Upper Extremity Injury, Playing Experience, and Bilateral Deficit on Performance in the Non-Dominant Tennis Shot
No full textBackground: Tennis players heavily rely on their lumbar pelvic hip complex (LPHC) and upper extremity to generate this power through the shot, especially on the non-dominant side where power output is naturally reduced. Top tennis players are the ones who can maximize their physical attributes while minimizing the effects that injury has on their ability to generate power. Additionally, injury in the upper extremity affects the player’s core stability and therefore their ability to generate rotational power through the shot. Discrepancies in power between the dominant and non-dominant side can lead to a bilateral deficit which occurs when the unilateral limb is stronger than the bilateral limbs.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to look at how previous upper extremity injury, playing experience and bilateral deficit of the upper body affects performance in the non-dominant tennis shot.
Methods: The sample will be made up of four groups consisting of the following: collegiate female tennis players with previous LPHC or upper extremity injury, collegiate female tennis players without previous injury, active individuals with previous LPHC or upper extremity injury, and active individuals without previous injury. Previous injury must have occurred within the past 3 years to be considered. Active individuals must participate in moderate to vigorous intensity activity for at least 25 minutes, 3 days a week for a total of 75 minutes. The seated medicine ball throw test will measure power and bilateral deficit. Participants will perform the test in two ways: throwing with one arm (three trials each side) and throwing with both arms (three trials). The average distance for each method will be calculated and analyzed. Tennis shot performance will be measured in the non-dominant shot using a radar gun where participants will complete five trials with the average velocity of the middle three trials being taken. A linear regression will be used to assess the impact LPHC and upper extremity injury, tennis experience and bilateral deficit has on non-dominant tennis shot performance.
Expected Results and Conclusion: The groups that have suffered from injury and who do not have any tennis experience will have reduced power in the one-arm medicine ball throw as well as reduced average velocity in their tennis shot performance indicated the impact of a bilateral deficit on non-dominant tennis shot performance.
The findings from this study will help sports medicine professionals develop training and rehabilitation programs to improve the deficit in power caused by previous injury. This will therefore benefit their tennis performance
Post-Pandemic Inflation and Compensatory Changes: Perception, Stress, and Difficulties by Race, Ethnicity, and Those Recovering from COVID-19 Infection
No full textPrice increases following the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately impacted lower-income households and historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups—those populations who were also disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This study examined reported economic struggles among Black, White, and Hispanic Americans and evaluated the differential experiences of those infected with COVID-19. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey collected between July 2022 and 2023, logistic regression assessed the likelihood of concern about price increases, stress from price changes, and difficulty paying their expenses between racial, ethnic, and sex subgroups who had been infected with COVID-19. Poisson models assessed differences in the compensatory coping strategies used by each group. Relative to White respondents, Black (concern OR = 1.7139, CI = 1.6522,1.7755; stress OR = 1.1627, CI = 1.068, 1.2573; difficulty OR = 1.321, CI = 1.321, 1.322), Hispanic (concern OR = 1.8708, CI = 1.7712, 1.9704; stress OR = 1.5385, CI = 1.451, 1.6261; difficulty OR = 1.343, CI = 1.342, 1.343), and Asian, any other race alone, or race in combination (concern OR = 1.9434, CI = 1.8645, 2.0223; stress OR = 1.4236, CI = 1.3471, 1.5001; difficulty OR = 1.221, CI = 1.22, 1.222) adults were more likely to be concerned about price increases, experience stress from increased prices, and have difficulty paying expenses. Individuals previously infected with COVID-19 (ME = 0.35, CI = 0.30, 0.39) reported making more changes to cope with price increases compared to those who had not been infected with COVID-19, particularly Black adults (ME = 0.01, CI = 0.08, 0.11). Black and Hispanic adults, particularly those who were infected with COVID-19, were more likely to report financial strain, experience difficulties, and use twice as many resources to meet their needs, suggesting that the COVID recovery likely exacerbated post-pandemic financial strain
Examining Racial Discrimination Index and Black-Years of Potential Life Lost (Ypll) in South Carolina: a Real-Time Social Media Research
No full textPurpose: Despite efforts to reduce health disparities, Black Americans still face higher mortality rates than Whites. Racism has been recognized as a significant social determinant of health. Using social media data, human-being qualitative coding, and AI, we created a county-level racial discrimination index, exploring its association with years of potential life lost (YPLL) rates. Methods: Through human-AI collaborative approaches using X/Twitter data, we calculated yearly county-level racial discrimination index (RDI)—number of racial discrimination posts per 100,000 in-county non-duplicated posts and examined the relationship between RDI terciles and YPLL per 100,000 non-Hispanic Black individuals. Annual data for the covariates were derived from 2018–2022 County Health Rankings and American Community Surveys across all South Carolina (SC) counties. Results: RDI increased from 2018 (mean [SD], 1.443 [1.991]) to 2022 (3.439 [5.761]). Adjusting for county sociodemographic factors and historical trends, RDI was associated with the YPLL rate (marginal effects, highest vs. lowest tercile, 421.3; 95% confidence interval, 134.7–709.8; p = 0.006). Conclusions: Digital racial discrimination was highly associated with Black YPLL rates, confirming the importance of racial discrimination in health disparity, especially premature deaths. Addressing explicit and implicit racism in highly affected counties is crucial for reducing persistent health inequities and promoting equity in communities
Availability and Use of Digital Technology Among Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Scoping Review
No full textBackground: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy among women that requires self-management to improve mental and physical health outcomes and reduce risk of comorbidity. Digital technology has rapidly emerged as a valuable self-management tool for people with chronic health conditions. However, little is known about the digital technology available for and used by women with PCOS. Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify what is known about digital technology currently available and used by women with PCOS for PCOS-specific knowledge, self-management, or social support. Methods: The databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Compendex were searched using Medical Subject Headings terms for PCOS, digital technology, health knowledge, self-management, and social support. Inclusion criteria were full-text, peer-reviewed publications of primary research from 2010 to 2025 in English about digital technology used for PCOS-specific knowledge, self-management, or social support by women aged 18 years and older with PCOS. Exclusion criteria were articles about pediatric populations and digital technology used for intervention recruitment or by health care providers to diagnose or treat patients. Results: In total, 34 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria. Given the scope of digital technology, eligible studies were grouped into 7 domains: mobile apps (n=14), internet-based programs (eg, Google; n=6), social media (n=6), SMS text message (n=2), machine learning (n=2), artificial intelligence (eg, ChatGPT [OpenAI]; n=3), and web-based intervention platforms (n=1). Findings highlighted participants’ varied perceptions of technology usefulness based on reliability of health care information, application features, accuracy of PCOS or fertility prediction, social group engagement, user-friendly interfaces, cultural sensitivity, and accessibility. Conclusions: There is potential for digital technology to transform PCOS self-management, but further design and development are needed to optimize the technologies for women with PCOS. Future research should focus on including end users during the design phase of digital technology, refining predictive models, improving app inclusivity, conducting frequent reliability testing, and enhancing user engagement and support via additional features to promote more comprehensive self-management of PCOS
The Serendipity of Discovery: Life of a Geochemist
No full textMy strategy for writing this autobiography is to use examples of how working on seemingly different projects can often lead to outcomes more important than originally envisioned. Serendipity is a happy accident ; specifically, the accident of discovering something useful without directly looking for it. This often occurs when two research projects converge unexpectedly. The main text contains examples of how serendipity has led me to important discoveries including: (a) finding surprisingly high 228Ra activities in the ocean, (b) developing a means of rapidly and quantitatively extracting radium from seawater, (c) devising a rapid, sensitive method of measuring 224Ra and 223Ra, (d) realizing the scale and biogeochemical importance of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), and (e) conceiving a method to estimate the total flux of SGD to the Atlantic Ocean. The supplementary materials help flesh out details of these discoveries and place them in the context of my other investigations
Do They Belong? Inquiries Into The Perceptions Of The Black Male College Athlete Identity In Higher Education
No full textThis qualitative study examined attitudes about Black male college athletes (BMCA)in predominantly White higher education institutions. To investigate the experience in the classroom, the purpose of this study was to inquire into the perception of the BMCA identity from the identity of the non-college athletes (NCA). Using the social identity complexity model, we sought to understand the perceptions that influence group formation among college students. The present study employed the film elicitation technique to examine the NCAs’ perceptions of the legitimacy of the BMCA identity in higher education during faculty interactions and its correlation to ingroup formation. The findings from this study indicate that the presence of the BMCA increases the perceived stress of NCAs. As a result, NCAs isolate BMCAs from the ingroup and tolerate BMCAs as outgroup members for their value to the institution as a corporation. Implications for student affairs practitioners on social integration are discussed
“I Want to Continue Athletics and I Also Want to Study”: Exploring International Student Athletes’ Transition Experiences to the NAIA Affiliated Colleges
No full textThere are over a million international students pursuing their degrees in U.S. universities. Among them are 25,000 international student-athletes (ISAs) who are enrolled in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) affiliated Universities. While studies have been striving to foster and support this population’s successful transition to the U.S., few studies are available that deal with international student-athletes competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) affiliated universities. Hence, based on the transition theory, this study utilized focus group interviews to explore the transition experiences of ISAs competing in NAIA. Based on previous studies that explored the transition experiences of ISAs in NCAA-affiliated universities, the results of this study found similarities in the hardships that ISAs in NAIA experience during their transition to the U.S. Potential differences were found as lack of support from their coaches and resource available from NAIA to support their transition. Practical implications were suggested for NAIA to develop a comprehensive handbook to guide ISAs’ successful transition, strengthen relationships with the local community to foster a stronger sense of community for ISAs, and add dedicated staff to support ISAs during their transition