Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The item count method allows survey respondents to remain anonymous when reporting a sensitive behavior such as cocaine use. This is accomplished by including the sensitive behavior of interest in a list of other relatively non-stigmatizing behaviors. The respondent reports only number of items in the list in which he/she has engaged, not which behaviors. If the average number of non-stigmatizing behaviors is known for the population, one can estimate the rate of the sensitive behavior for the population by the difference between the average number of behaviors reported for the population including and excluding the stigmatized behavior. A very large test of this methodology (n=70,000 persons) was conducted for the NSDUH in 2001 in order to estimate past year cocaine use. The project involved cognitive laboratory research to determine the number of item count questions that should be included and the topics to be covered by those questions (other than cocaine use). In addition, replications of item count questions were embedded in the questionnaire in order to estimate the response variance associated with the item count methodology. This paper reports on the results of the cognitive testing and the estimates of cocaine use that were obtained from the item count methodology. We also report on the results of the response error analysis which helps to explain the poor results obtained by the method.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Many devices – for example, a multi-functional printer and a mobile phone – have integrated many distinct functions into one single unit. Previous research in the acceptance studies, specifically studies examining multi-functional devices, continues to examine the adoption of these technologies by applying an overall evaluation. Analyzing different functions separately is important as these functions may be unique. Especially, some individual functions – such as a camera or an mp3 player which is integrated in a mobile phone – are still sold separately. Drawing upon studies on information systems acceptance, this paper analyzes phone, organizer, Internet access, camera, and mp3 player, the five functions, in the PDA. A survey with more than 200 respondents showed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of each function in the PDA can explain about 47 to 67 percent of the variance in usage intention of its function. Implications for manufactures of such a device are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: For most of its history, the National Park Service has encouraged visitor use of the National Parks without any consideration of the ecological impacts of visitors on Park ecosystems, or plans to mitigate those effects. Yet, in the last ten years an increasing number of Park managers utilized use-restricting policies to limit the effects of visitors upon Park ecosystems. The creation of these new Park-level policies, despite 70 years of contrary institutional history, leads to the two central questions of this paper: a) what factors have changed in the decision-making of the National Park System to allow Parks to implement use-restricting policies, and b) what factors affect the successful implementation of these policies? To answer these questions, a theoretical model of interest group participation based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework is used to examine three Parks-Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion-which have adopted use-restricting policies with varying success. Unlike most of the prevailing research examining the National Parks Service, this paper assumes that Parks are semi-autonomous policy subsystems influenced predominantly by interest group interactions and the policy preferences of Park managers.

Supporting Publications:
Supporting Document
Supporting Document
Supporting Document

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper discusses what type of message cues a mass media print advertisement should include if it aims to motivate college students to visit an educational website about alcohol. After elicitation of beliefs associated with student drinking, three advertisements were designed which included attention-getting and likeable message cues, a message tailored to the most important determinant of drinking, or both. Each contained a different URL. They were sent to 639 Dutch college students, who participated in a survey one week later. Measures were alcohol use, intention to drink moderately, recall and recognition of the advertisement, talking with others about the advertisement, attention to the advertisement, attitude towards the advertisement and the website, attitude and intention towards visiting the website, and actual visits to the website. Results indicate that including both attention-getting and likeable message cues and a message tailored to the most important determinant increases the advertisement’s effectiveness in motivating people to visit the campaign website.