Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: More than ten million Americans are diagnosed with a functional somatic syndrome. In part because of the medically marginal nature of these syndromes, hundreds of electronic support groups have been created to address the concerns of this population. Medical researchers are split in their evaluation of the impact of these electronic support groups, and there is growing awareness that new methods, borrowed from ethnography, are needed in this area. The proposed project aims to combine methods of ethnographic research and textual analysis to study a year in the life of one such electronic support group. Substantively, particular interest is paid to the role of electronic support groups in the medicalization of human experience and the impact of this on the well being of participants. Methodologically, I hope to add to the tools available for the broader study of cybercommunities and cybertexts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Considerable research in the public management literature looks at the implementation and evolution of electronic government strategies in municipal governments. However, there is limited empirical investigation of how members of the political community actually interact online with their local governments. Using data collected by the authors through the People, Organizations, and Information Technology (POINT) Project at the Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO), we look at the actual behaviors of individuals at their local government websites in 12 geographically diverse MSAs across the United States. The probability sample includes 1200 respondents. Most e-government strategies are animated by the management model of providing efficient access to the "citizen as a consumer" of government information and services. However, these websites also contain more distinctly democratic artifacts such as ways to connect persons and government officials, provide them with the resources to engage in discussions about policy. This paper explores the relationship between the political system and members of the political Community in terms of the options available for users, the way the e-government strategies are presented to members of the political community via municipal websites and how members interact with their government in response. Our findings indicate that despite the availability of more democratically empowering options, people tend to define themselves in line with the management model.

Publication Type: Multiple Paper Format
Abstract: This session will examine how teacher candidates use electronic portfolios for collecting and analyzing multiple perspectives, and discuss how principals consider these portfolios during the interview process.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The concept of presence has become central to research on many forms of new media technology. This paper examines how presence relates to the experience of electronic games. It begins by defining the presence. Then it provides a more detailed discussion of how developments in game technology are related to three dimensions of presence: spatial presence (feeling “in” a media environment), social presence (feeling “with” a mediated other), and self presence (experiencing a virtual “self” as an actual self). Finally we argue that changes in presence corresponding with technological advances not only affect electronic game use, but also shape user experiences that govern the development of mental models and other outcomes of exposure.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study extends Communication Privacy Management theory (CPM; Petronio, 2002) to online commercial relationships to explore the tension between information disclosure and individual privacy. It is proposed that consumers engage in “online privacy management” (OPM) through their decisions to reveal or conceal information about themselves in interactions with online retailers. Rates of withholding information, deception, and information seeking are framed as OPM strategies and data from 213 participants visiting an ecommerce website are used to test a series of research questions based on CPM logic. Key factors proposed to provide insight into decisions to disclose or withhold information include gender, past online and ecommerce experience, generalized concern about online privacy issues, type of information requested by a web site, and the impact of the specific language used in online retailers’ privacy policies. Findings suggest that online consumers erect boundaries around personal information and form rules to decide when to reveal information based on risk-benefit calculations and situational demands, consistent with CPM theory. Overall, results of this study provide important knowledge about privacy in online commercial transactions, serve as a sound basis for more directed theory construction in this arena, and have important practical and policy implications.