Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this article I draw on my own fieldwork in child support agencies to examine the epistemological implications of ethnographers’ use of case records in bureaucratic field settings. I conceptualize case records as a locus of social practice, rather than simply social artifacts or documents, by researchers as well as research subjects. Thus the researcher’s as well as subjects’ practices in the production and use of case records are a primary source of data. I analyze how aspects of my positionality in the field and specific features of the case records themselves shaped the research questions I asked and the knowledge claims I produced.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines when and how political campaigns use the record of the two candidates in the messages they disseminate to voters. To examine these issue, I develop a theory of record use in political communication, which contends that campaigns use the candidates’ records as an efficient means of building their candidate’s credibility with voters, or undermining their opponent’s. Credibility is defined as the voters’ belief that the candidate will enact his campaign promises once in office. Based on the theory, I develop four expectations about candidate record use: that such usage will be frequent, that incumbent will be the target of more record appeals, that negative information will be more specific than positive information, and that campaigns cannot claim a more extensive record than they can defend against attacks from their opponents. The data provide supportive, though not conclusive, evidence for each of these expectations.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the federal agency responsible for preservation of, and access to, the permanently valuable records of the federal government. The Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division has custody of the permanently valuable computerized records of federal agencies transferred into the National Archives for long-term preservation. The Division has over 200,000 computerized data files from over 100 federal agencies in all three branches of government. Topics reflected in the electronic records holdings at NARA include agricultural data, attitudinal data, demographic data, economic and financial statistics, education data, environmental data, health and social services data, international data, military data, and scientific and technological data

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The House of Records is a one-of-a-kind independent record store located in Eugene, Oregon. The store is situated in a colorful old house, and has been a staple of the local community for 36 years. While many small independent record stores are closing around the country, the economic future of The House of Records is precarious as it struggles to compete with a variety of social forces (mainly from the corporate hegemony of chain stores, the prevalence of digital downloading, and CD piracy.) This ethnographic project explores the independent spirit of the employees and customers associated with the store and how they actively articulate a variety of cultural meanings in terms of cultural resistance, community, and subcultural identity formation. At the heart of this resistance is a desire for independence, locality and cultural diversity.

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: Can inconsistency in legislators’ voting records be explained by the uncertainty they have about their constituency? Why does a two-dimensional model of roll-call voting explain the votes of some legislators better than others? In this paper, we present an uncertainty-based theory of legislative voting and inconsistency. We test this theory by examining whether U.S. senators’ uncertainty about their constituency leads to higher levels of inconsistent voting in Congress. Specifically we compare southern senators who faced a large influx of black voters in the 1960s and 1970s with southern senators from more stable constituencies. We also examine other factors that can cause legislator uncertainty, such as legislators’ backgrounds. Our results suggest that what some call “maverick” behavior by legislators can be better characterized as best responses by incumbents to a changing environment.