Book reviews

Christiane Brosius and Melissa Butcher (Eds.), Image Journeys: Audio‐Visual Media & Cultural Change in India New Delhi: Thousand Oaks; & London: Sage Publications, 1999, 339 pp.

Clement Y. K. So and Joseph M. Chan (Eds.), Press and Politics in Hong Kong: Case Studies from 1967 to 1997. Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999, 539 pp.     

Alphabetization and the skewing of first authorship towards last names early in the alphabet

The practice of listing co-author surnames in alphabetical order, irrespective of their contribution, can make it difficult to effectively allocate research credit to authors. This article compares the percentages of articles with co-authors in alphabetical order (alphabetization) for two-author, three-author and four-author articles in eighteen social sciences in 1995 and 2010 to assess how widespread this practice is. There is some degree of alphabetization in all disciplines except one but the level varies substantially between disciplines. This level is increasing slightly over time, on average, but it has increased substantially in a few disciplines and decreased in others, showing that the practice of alphabetization is not fading away. A high correlation between alphabetical order and the proportion of first authors near the beginning of the alphabet confirms that high percentages of alphabetical order could affect the appropriate allocation of research credit. Similar patterns were found for science and the humanities. Finally, since some degree of alphabetization is almost universal in social science disciplines, this practice may be affecting careers throughout the social sciences and hence seems indefensible.     

Digital Media and Disciplinarity

Browsing the Web gives one the heady feeling of walking without footprints in cyberspace. Yet data surveillance can be both ubiquitous and transparent to the user. Can those who browse the Web protect their privacy? And does it matter if they cannot? I offer answers to these questions from the American legal tradition. The American legal tradition focuses on a right to privacy, rather than a need for data protection. To answer these questions I begin by delineating the differences among privacy, security, and anonymity. I then discuss what information is transferred during Web browsing. I describe some of the available technology for privacy protection, including public and private key cryptography and Web proxies. I then describe the American tradition of privacy in common, statutory, and constitutional law. With the support of this tradition, I close by arguing that although privacy in Web browsing has no current legal protection in the United States, the right to privacy in the analogue equivalents has been recognized in the American legal tradition.     

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis lupus familiaris</Emphasis>)

The reverse-reward contingency (RRC) task involves presenting subjects with a choice between one plate containing a large amount of food and a second plate containing a small amount of food. Subjects are then required to select the smaller of the two options in order to receive the larger-magnitude reward. The RRC task is a commonly used paradigm for assessing complex cognition, such as inhibitory control, in subjects. To date, the RRC task has not been tested with pet dogs as subjects, and it may provide insights to their ability to perceive quantities of differing magnitudes. Nine dogs were tested in an RRC task involving three conditions. In Condition 1, plates of food were presented, and the dogs were allowed to consume their choice. In Condition 2, plates with different-sized symbols resembling the quantities of food in Condition 1 were presented, and dogs received food quantities of the same size as their choice (e.g., a larger-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). In Condition 3, the same plates were presented, but dogs received a reverse-sized quantity of food, relative to their choice (e.g., a smaller-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). A novel addition here to the traditional RRC task was the inclusion of a third, empty (control) plate that was present throughout all conditions, and no programmed consequences were provided when that plate was selected. Our results were consistent with the previous RRC literature: All dogs developed and maintained a preference for the larger stimulus option across conditions. The use of symbolic representations did not ameliorate performance on the RRC task. Applied implications are discussed.     

Student Newspapers and University Libraries: Uncovering Your Library's Reputation and Promoting Its Services

ABSTRACT

To help librarians use their campus newspapers more effectively as a communications tool, this paper discusses the type of information about campus libraries that ten student newspapers published over the course of one year and discusses strategies that librarians can use to build more productive, collaborative relationships with the people who work for their campus newspapers.     

Variation in Motivational Appeals to Survey Completion: Lessons from a Randomized Experiment with Teachers

Sample attrition increases the risk of statistical bias and hinders the ability to plausibly estimate causal effects when patterns of nonresponse are correlated with key variables of interest. Drawing on leverage-salience theory and other work in the behavioral psychology field, we empirically capture the impact of distinct motivational appeals on the survey response rates of elementary education teachers in a large urban school district in the northeastern United States. During spring 2017, teachers were randomized to receive one of six motivational appeals and were rerandomized to receive a different appeal each subsequent week, conditional on not having completed the survey. We observe the results on four different margins that range in their time intensity (open email and click, start, and complete survey). We find that extrinsic rewards improved teacher response across all four margins, and the social norm of reciprocity substantially improved teacher response along margins of lower time intensity. As researchers continue to conduct multitreatment arm studies and large-scale evaluations that can suffer from serious issues of sample attrition, this work highlights the contribution of message framing in survey response.     

Informants' Traits Weigh Heavily in Young Children's Trust in Testimony and in Their Epistemic Inferences

This study examined how informants' traits affect how children seek information, trust testimony, and make inferences about informants' knowledge. Eighty‐one 3‐ to 6‐year‐olds and 26 adults completed tasks where they requested and endorsed information provided by one of two informants with conflicting traits (e.g., honesty vs. dishonesty). Participants also completed tasks where they simultaneously considered informants' traits and visual access to information when inferring their knowledge and trusting their testimony. Children and adults preferred to ask and endorse information provided by people who are nice, smart, and honest. Moreover, these traits influenced the knowledge that young children attributed to informants. Children younger than 5 years of age reported that people with positive traits were knowledgeable even when they lacked access to relevant information.     

Beyond Construction: Five arguments for the role and value of critique in learning science

This paper argues that science education has overemphasized the importance of construction at the expense of critique. In doing so, it draws on two key premises—Ford's argument that the construction of knowledge requires a dialectic between construction and critique and Mercier and Sperber's theory of argumentative reasoning that critique is essential for epistemic vigilance. Five separate cases are presented which argue that the absence of critique within school science limits the opportunities for students to engage in scientific reasoning making the learning of science less effective. These five arguments incorporate research literature surrounding the nature of science, epistemology, literacy, pedagogy, and motivation. Furthermore, we draw on data collected from cognitive think-aloud interviews to show that students can, with the appropriate prompts, engage in the important epistemic activity of critique. We conclude by examining the implications for the teaching and learning of science. In essence, we argue that the undervaluing of critique within the curriculum and pedagogy of school science results in a failure to develop the analytical faculties which are the valued hall mark of the practicing scientist; a misrepresentation of the nature of science; and, more importantly, a less effective learning experience. Critique, therefore, needs to play a central role in the teaching and learning of science.     

Validating NSSE Against Student Outcomes: Are They Related?

While there exist many examples of institutional use of the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), there is a relative paucity of research explicitly linking student outcomes to responses on the survey. A major Doctoral-Extensive institution in the Southeast recently conducted a large-scale implementation of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). We have linked multiple years of NSSE responses to several student outcomes: freshman retention, GPA, pursuit of graduate education, and employment outcome upon commencement/degree conferral. Our research finds minimal explanatory power in the NSSE benchmarks for these outcomes. A statistically derived model from the individual NSSE items shows greater promise, although there are difficulties in replicating the model for previous student cohorts.