Projects
Closing the Rural Broadband Gap: A Field Experiment 2004-2009
Why is rural America lagging in broadband Internet adoption, and what effect will efforts to close the gap have on rural residents and communities? The long term goal of this USDA-funded project is to build an integrated model of the relationship between community develpoment and broadband adoption and to assess its impact on rural residents and communities.
Portrayals of Health in Black-Targeted and White-Targeted Magazines 2004
A recent study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation (Ashish, K. J. et al, 2003) reported that black women were twice as likely as white women to incur heart attack and death due to coronary heart disease. One of the contributing factors described in the study was that black women were less likely to receive preventive treatment. Women in the study who were considered the most at risk for heart disease or heart attack were being undertreated. One potential reason black women are receiving inadequate care is lack of awareness of the risks of heart disease. This study examines how popular media cover health issues, including heart disease. Four magazines targeted at black readers were compared to four magazines with similar editorial focus and subscriber base targeted at white readers. In short, magazines targeted at black readers present health issues differently than magazines targeted at white readers. By not accurately representing health issues, popular media are not empowering women to participate in their own health care.
Attention to Television 2002-2004
This project examines television viewers’ attention to news “tickers.” The central hypothesis of the project is that viewers will have difficulty attending to both a news broadcast and the “ticker” at the bottom of the screen accompanying the broadcast.
Telewindows 1998-2000
Emerging telecommunication technologies could extend participation in social groups for homebound and mobility-limited people. Like a window in a room, a telewindow can be opened anytime. In ten-week case studies of four recently homebound elderly, Telewindows were opened and kept open for long periods of time. Telewindows enable a new kind of social experience: an ambient presence, a shared window between a homebound senior’s living room and the senior center they used to frequent.