Home  About us  Contact
 

Studies Data (studies + data)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Leading the Charge: Media, Elites, and the Use of Emotion in Stimulating Rally Effects in Wartime

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2010
Sean Aday
This study examines the relationship between media coverage, elite cues, and emotion in shaping public opinion about use of force. It utilizes data across three time periods: an experiment conducted in early 2005 during the Iraq War, National Election Studies data collected during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, and NES data collected shortly after the U.S./coalition victory in the 1991 Gulf War. The study finds that contrary to conventional wisdom, media exert less influence on public opinion when they report negative or controversial news than when they reflect elite consensus and/or patriotic fervor. However, their importance is likely dependent upon the state of elite opinion, and thus media are best thought of as intervening variables between policymakers and the public. [source]

The Consolidation of the White Southern Congressional Vote: The Roles of Ideology and Party Identification

POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 3 2008
Kenneth A. Wink
This article examines the effects of party identification and ideology on white southerners' vote choices in U.S. House races from 1980 to 1994. Using American National Election Studies data, we employ descriptive statistics and a variety of regression techniques to test these relationships. We find party identification was more important in explaining vote choice in the election of 1994 than in previous years, and a majority of white southerners first identified with Republicans in 1994. We also find ideology had an independent effect on party identification for white southerners throughout the time series. We conclude that increasingly class-based, ideologically polarized parties, opposition to President Clinton and his health care plan, the success of the Republicans in framing the election as a national ideological struggle, and race-based redistricting after 1990 created a tendency of conservative white southerners to identify with Republicans and to vote for Republican House candidates in 1994. [source]

Videotaped recording as a method of participant observation in psychiatric nursing research

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2000
Eila Latvala RN PhD
Videotaped recording as a method of participant observation in psychiatric nursing research This paper describes videotaped recording as a data collection method when conducting participant observation in a psychiatric nursing study. The videotaped episodes were part of the daily life of psychiatric nursing in a hospital environment. The advantages and limitations of using videotaped recording in nursing research will be discussed. This paper is based on two studies. The data consisted of 21 videotaped episodes of nursing report sessions or interdisciplinary team meetings in the psychiatric clinic of a university hospital. The participants consisted of patients, their significant others, nurses, doctors, social workers and physiotherapists. All videotaped material was transcribed verbatim. An essential advantage of videotaping is that most potentially useful interaction and behaviour can be captured. The advantage in terms of the credibility of videotaping was that the investigator was able to review the same videotaped situations again and again. Videotaped material is rich and provides several possibilities for analysing the data. In these studies data and source triangulation enabled the researchers to reduce personal influence on the results. The investigator must also be aware of the limitations concerning this method. The most essential limitations are mechanical problems and the influence of videotaping on behaviour. Careful ethical considerations are important concerning personal privacy, informed consent and respect for the self-determination of psychiatric patients. [source]

Das Magnitude 8.8 Maule (Chile)-Erdbeben vom 27.

BAUTECHNIK, Issue 8 2010
Februar 2010, Ingenieuranalyse der Erdbebenschäden
Das Maule (Chile)-Erdbeben vom 27. Februar 2010 gehört zu den stärksten, weltweit jemals registrierten Erdbeben. Die Bruchzone erstreckt sich über eine Länge von 500 km und eine Breite von 100 km, so dass acht Millionen Einwohner Chiles von dem Erdbeben mehr oder weniger direkt von den Schütterwirkungen betroffen waren. Bilder von spektakulären Schadensfällen aus der ca. 330 km entfernten Hauptstadt prägten die internationale Berichterstattung. Das seismische Ereignis löste einen Tsunami aus, der verheerende Schäden an der Küste Chiles verursachte und auch an den Küsten Hawaiis noch deutlich wahrgenommen werden konnte. Die seismischen Bodenbewegungen wurden bis ins Nachbarland Argentinien verspürt. Die Stärke des Bebens und ereignisspezifische Besonderheiten waren Motivation, im Rahmen einer Erkundungsmission der Ingenieurgruppe der Deutschen TaskForce Erdbeben im betroffenen Gebiet die Bauwerksschäden aufzunehmen und ihre regionale Verteilung zu dokumentieren. In fünf temporär, mit Starkbeben-Sensoren instrumentierten Gebäuden konnten mehrere Nachbeben aufgezeichnet werden, deren Beschleunigungsamplituden für allgemeine Hochbauten in deutschen Erdbebengebieten von Interesse bzw. maßgeblich wären. Die vorliegenden Messdaten ermöglichen die Interpretation der realen Gebäudereaktion und können in Folgeuntersuchungen zur Kalibrierung analytischer Modelle herangezogen werden. Der Beitrag vermittelt einen Eindruck von den erdbebenbedingten Schäden und soll das Verhalten der typischen Bauweisen unter diesen extremen Einwirkungen aufzeigen, das vor Ort festgestellte geringe Schadensausmaß durch die Umsetzung von Baunormen und darin verankerten Bemessungskonzepten erklären und letztlich die Übertragbarkeit dieser Beobachtungen auf andere Erdbebenregionen hinterfragen. In einem Folgebeitrag [1] werden die Schäden aus dem Tsunami einer Ingenieuranalyse unterzogen und die wesentlichen Wirkungsmechanismen bzw. einfachen baulichen Schutzmaßnahmen herausgearbeitet. The Magnitude 8.8 Maule (Chile) Earthquake of February 27, 2010 , Engineering analysis of earthquake damage. The Maule (Chile) February 27, 2010 Earthquake is regarded as one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded world-wide. The rupture zone reached a length of about 500 km and a width of about 100 km; almost 8 million inhabitants were directly affected by the consequences of the earthquake. Photos from spectacular failure cases in the Capital (330 km away) were documented across the world and dominated the international reporting. The seismic event triggered a tsunami which caused serious damage alongside the coastal border; the waves were observed in the far-distant Hawaii Islands, too. The seismic ground motions were felt in the neighboring country Argentina, as well. The strength of the earthquake and the event-specific characteristics motivated the "Engineering Group of the German Task Force for earthquake" to analyze the building damage and to document their regional distribution. Five multi-storey RC structures were temporarily equipped with Strong-Motion sensors. Several aftershocks could be recorded; the peak acceleration amplitudes were in a level which was of interest for buildings in highest zone of German earthquake regions. In a first attempt, the measurements are used to interpret the response of real buildings in both horizontal directions; in ongoing studies data are used for the calibration of analytical models. The paper provides an overview of the earthquake induced damages in several building types and its variation within different structural systems. Reasons of low to moderate observed damage will be discussed in close relation to the code development and the preferred design concepts. The application of observed effects and derived lessons to other seismic regions is critically reviewed. In a subsequent paper [1] the damage caused by the tsunami is investigated in more detail. The engineering analysis will include the currently used models for the impact description and will elaborate simple, but quite efficient measures of protection. [source]