Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Abstract: The measurement of Internet usage in communication research and information system research has undergone a process from uni-item measurement to multi-item measurement. Based on the operationalizations of Internet usage in existing empirical studies, the paper proposed a reflective measurement model ‘Sophistication of Internet Usage (SIU)’. With empirical data from a longitudinal random survey conducted in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2005, a uni-dimension measurement model is established with a confirmatory factor analysis approach. Convergent and discriminant validity of the uni-dimension model has also been tested within MTMM paradigm by confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, alpha, beta, and gamma change of Internet users’ sophistication of Internet usage across years, which are operationalized as a test of measurement equivalence across years, are also investigated with a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis approach. The theorectical and methodological significances of the study are also discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Results from a national representative telephone survey of Americans in 2002 show that several digital divides exists with respect to both Internet and mobile phone usage. Internet gaps between users and nonusers are associated with education, income, age, but no longer with gender and race, once other variables are controlled. There are also considerable gaps between mobile phone users and nonusers, but influenced somewhat differently. The paper identifies and analyzes three kinds of digital divides for both the Internet and mobile phones (usage, dropouts and recency), and similarities and differences among those digital divides based on demographic variables within and across the two media.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Religion plays an important role in the lives of Americans and touches many aspects of society. However, it remains one of the least explored and understood forces in media research. Using survey data of the Pew Internet and American Life Project and multivariate analysis, study explores whether religious activity is affected by Internet usage on the part of the user, if Internet usage is affected by the religiosity of the user, and if religious affiliation has an effect on Internet usage. The results suggest that Religiosity seems to be a stronger predictor of going online than religious activity and that non-Catholics are more likely to use the Internet than Catholics.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examined nonverbal communication in relation to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) use during the medical interview. 6 physicians were videotaped during their consultations with 50 different patients at a single setting Veterans Administration Hospital. 3 different office spatial designs were identified and named “open,” “closed” and “blocked.” The “open” arrangement put physicians in a position to establish better eye contact and physical orientation than did the alternative “closed” and “blocked” office configurations. Physicians who accessed the EMR and took “breakpoints” (short periods of no computer use and sustained eye contact with patients) used more nonverbal cues than physicians who tended to talk with their patients while continuously working on the computer. Long pauses in conversational turn taking associated with EMR use may have positively influenced doctor-patient communication. High EMR use interviews were associated with patients asking more questions than they did in low EMR use interviews. Implications for medical education and future research are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The authors examine the implication and ramifications of the Supreme Court usage of foreign and international law in the context of a growing political and cultural conservatism in America.