scholarly journals Conceptions of university students on microplastics in Germany

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257734
Author(s):  
Patricia Raab ◽  
Franz X. Bogner
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Collaborative Behavior ◽  
Knowledge Transfers ◽  
Crucial Information

Microplastics are a global challenge and a frequently studied environmental issue. Hence, the knowledge body about microplastics within the scientific community is growing fast and challenges an elaborated knowledge transfer from science to the general public. Just as well-informed people are the basis for reducing microplastics’ impact on the environment, knowledge of the audience’s conceptions is the basis for an accurate and successful dissemination of scientific findings. However, insights into the publics’ perceptions of microplastics are still rare. The present study aimed to capture students’ conceptions about microplastics based on their individual experiences following qualitative inductive, exploratory research. Therefore, 267 students of a state university in Germany responded to a paper-and-pencil questionnaire containing open and closed questions on microplastic-related conceptual understanding, risk perception, information behavior, sources, and sinks. The inductive classifying of all responses by a qualitative content analysis revealed six basic concepts: 1) Microplastics are mainly understood as small plastic particles. 2) Microplastics are closely associated with its negative consequences. 3) The most labeled source in households is plastic packaging. 4) Compared to other water bodies, microplastics are rarely suspected in groundwater. 5) A high threat awareness exists in classifying microplastics as very dangerous and dangerous. 6) Media such as TV or the Internet are the most crucial information sources while the school has less importance in acquiring information. It is precisely this pattern that indicates the need for profound science communication to establish a joint and scientifically sound knowledge base in society. Knowledge about conceptions of potential “customers” allows tailor-made scientific knowledge transfers to shape public awareness, initiate changes in thoughts and prepare the field for collaborative behavior.

Keeping in School Shape (KiSS): A Program for Rehearsing Math Skills Over Breaks from School

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Carla C. Van de Sande
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Retrieval Practice ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
State University ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Math Skills ◽  
Formal Instruction ◽  
Prerequisite Knowledge

If you don’t use it, you lose it. School breaks, during which students do not regularly participate in instruction, can therefore have negative consequences on learning. This is especially true for mathematics learning since skills build progressively on earlier materials. How can we bridge these gaps in formal instruction? The Keeping in School Shape (KiSS) program is a mobile, engaging, innovative, and cost-effective way of using technology to help students who have time off between related math courses stay fresh on prerequisite knowledge and skills. Founded on learning theory and designed on a model of behavioral change, the KiSS program embodies retrieval practice and nudges by sending students a daily multiple-choice review problem via text messaging over school break. After rating their confidence in solving the daily problem students receive feedback and a solution. This study explores measures of participation, accuracy, and confidence in an implementation of the KiSS program over winter break between two sequential introductory engineering courses at a large state university in the Southwest United States. Results indicate that careful attention should be paid to the construction of the first few days of the program, and that encouragement, additional resources for review and practice, and an increased breadth of problem difficulty may improve participation.

Public Awareness and the Behavior of Unpopular Courts

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jay N. Krehbiel
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Institutional Stakeholders

Abstract Scholars have long debated the positive and negative consequences of an aware public for the quality of governance in modern liberal democracies. This article extends this debate to the context of constitutional review by exploring how public awareness can limit the effective exercise of review by courts lacking strong public support. Incorporating aspects of both the legitimacy and separation of powers theories on judicial power, the author argues that public awareness weakens the efficacy of such unpopular courts by creating an electoral incentive for governments to defy adverse rulings, even when doing so may lead to punishment from other institutional stakeholders. The article develops a simple formal model that identifies how and under what conditions public awareness can influence an unpopular court's decision making. An analysis of rulings issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union finds support for the model's empirical implications.

scholarly journals Access to information and decision making on teenage pregnancy prevention by females in Tshwane

Curationis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.P.F. Masemola-Yende ◽  
Sanah M. Mataboge
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Teenage Pregnancy ◽  
Hormonal Contraception ◽  
Pregnancy Prevention ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Female Teenagers

Background: The increase in the number of teenage pregnancies and its negative consequences has encouraged various researchers to explore the possible causes of teenage pregnancy. Findings from previously-conducted research have indicated different preventable factors that predispose female teenagers to pregnancy, such as staff attitudes and the lack of information resulting from poor access to health facilities.Objective: To explore and describe access to information and decision making on teenage pregnancy prevention by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane, South Africa.Method: In this study, the researchers used a descriptive qualitative and exploratory research design to explore and describe the verbal reports regarding prevention of teenage pregnancy by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane, South Africa. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 female participants aged between 15 and 26, who had been pregnant once or more during their teens.Results: Two themes emerged, namely, access to information and decision making by female teenagers. Five categories that emerged were: access to information on pregnancy prevention; ignoring of provided information; the use of alternative medicine with hormonal contraception; personal reasons for use and non-use of contraception; and decisions made by teenagers to not fall pregnant. Females in this study fell pregnant in their teens, even though they had access to information.Conclusion: Given the complexity of this problem, female teenagers should use their families as primary sources of information for reproductive health promotion and educational institutions should build on this to aid the prevention of teenage pregnancy.

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 on Residents’ Willingness to Consume Wild Animals: Empirical Insights From China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Ruishi ◽  
Lu Qian ◽  
Noshaba Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Market Control ◽  
The Government ◽  
Household Heads

Abstract Background: It is argued that wild animals are the culprit of transmission of COVID-19 and poor health of the people, though any evidence is not found, the government has widely publicized the risk allied with eating wild animals. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the effect of COVID-19 on residents’ willingness to consume wild animals (WCWA) and their amount of willingness to pay (AWP). Methods: Data were gathered online from 1250 household heads of both urban and rural residents of Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces during the period of 19th to 26th March 2020 and Probit and Tobit model is employed to meet the study objectives. Results: The results showed that around 39.20% of residents are willing to consume wild animals and their amount of willingness to pay was 34.65 USD/year. In the context of market control policy & home restriction policy, the mediating effect is 34.20% & 27.73% respectively. In contrast, in the context of ecological environment risk and food security risk perception, the mediating effects are 7.94% and 10.16% respectively. Conclusions: Although COVID-19 reduced the probability of residents’ WCWA, the effect on AWP was not significant. Moreover, COVID-19’s effects on residents’ WCWA through market control and home restriction policies were strong, but perceptions of the ecological environment and food safety risk were relatively weak. These results provide insights for policymakers in terms of raising public awareness of the negative consequences of consuming wild animals and increasing knowledge of the animals’ protection.

scholarly journals Reasoning on Controversial Science Issues in Science Education and Science Communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 522
Author(s):  
Anna Beniermann ◽  
Laurens Mecklenburg ◽  
Annette Upmeier zu Belzen
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Informal Reasoning ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
Category System

The ability to make evidence-based decisions, and hence to reason on questions concerning scientific and societal aspects, is a crucial goal in science education and science communication. However, science denial poses a constant challenge for society and education. Controversial science issues (CSI) encompass scientific knowledge rejected by the public as well as socioscientific issues, i.e., societal issues grounded in science that are frequently applied to science education. Generating evidence-based justifications for claims is central in scientific and informal reasoning. This study aims to describe attitudes and their justifications within the argumentations of a random online sample (N = 398) when reasoning informally on selected CSI. Following a deductive-inductive approach and qualitative content analysis of written open-ended answers, we identified five types of justifications based on a fine-grained category system. The results suggest a topic-specificity of justifications referring to specific scientific data, while justifications appealing to authorities tend to be common across topics. Subjective, and therefore normative, justifications were slightly related to conspiracy ideation and a general rejection of the scientific consensus. The category system could be applied to other CSI topics to help clarify the relation between scientific and informal reasoning in science education and communication.

scholarly journals Les joueurs sans problème de jeu de 55 ans et plus : événements, conséquences et caractéristiques structurelles et environnementales influençant les habitudes de jeu

2016 ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Isabelle Giroux ◽  
Francine Ferland ◽  
Cathy Savard ◽  
Christian Jacques ◽  
Priscilla Brochu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Gambling Problems ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Individual

Gambling habits of people aged 55 years and over without gambling problems are rarely being investigated. In order to document life events and to identify the impacts of gambling on quality of life, 19 participants aged 55 to 74 years without gambling problems, male and female, were assembled in three focus groups. Qualitative content analysis of the groups reveals changes in gambling habits associated with transition to retirement and occurrence of health problems. The content analysis further reveals a variety of positive and negative consequences of gambling habits on finances, hobbies, social relationships, and psychological health. Although the focus groups did not target the structural or environmental characteristics of gambling that influence participants' gambling habits, those themes were brought up spontaneously. Results highlight the necessity to study life events from a larger perspective including, for example, protective and risk factors, in order to better understand the life contexts and the individual characteristics that may lead to an alteration or not of gambling habits.

scholarly journals Barriers to timely disclosure of HIV serostatus: A qualitative study at care and treatment centers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256537
Author(s):  
Neelam Ismail ◽  
Nancy Matillya ◽  
Riaz Ratansi ◽  
Columba Mbekenga
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Dar Es Salaam ◽  
Hiv Care ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Hiv Serostatus ◽  
Care And Treatment ◽  
Living With Hiv

Introduction Disclosure of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status is important to prevent the spread of HIV and maintain the health of people living with HIV, their spouses, and the community. Despite the benefits of disclosure, many people living with HIV delay disclosing their status to those close to them thereby increasing the risk for disease transmission. This study aimed to determine the barriers to timely disclosure of HIV serostatus for people living with HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and identify what motivated disclosure. Methods A qualitative descriptive study using in-depth individual interviews was conducted with10 participants attending HIV care and treatment centers in Dar es Salaam. The participants were people living with HIV who had delayed disclosing their serostatus for more than one month after diagnosis. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Three categories emerged from the analysis: Barriers hindering timely disclosure, motivation for disclosure of serostatus, and consequences of delayed disclosure. Barriers to timely disclosure included denial of one’s status, the fear of stigmatization, fear of being separated or divorced, the need to protect loved ones, and lack of adequate knowledge about the disease. Reasons that motivated disclosure included gaining social support, preventing disease transmission and wanting to be at peace. Conclusion Timely disclosure is hindered by stigma because HIV is negatively perceived by the public. People living with HIV prefer not to disclose to avoid the negative consequences of disclosure, especially because of fear of being discriminated against and losing their social status, which plays a major role in social status in Tanzania. Trust and adequate counseling from health care workers helps prompt disclosure.

scholarly journals ANALYSING FACTORS FOR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Heri Puspito Diyah Setiyorini ◽  
Rini Andari ◽  
Juju Masunah
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Community Collaboration ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Place Satisfaction

This study aims to understand the perceptions of local communities to participate in tourism development. The method used in the research is a quantitative approach. Questionnaires were distributed to local communities in major destinations in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. There were 200 data set analyzed by factor analysis. The result showed that from 28 indicators of community participation, eight groups of factors formed. The groups are 1) place attachments; 2) perception of negative consequences; 3) Community Involvement; 4) Infrastructure Development; 5) Place Satisfaction; 6) Economic Benefit; 7) Government Support; 8) Community Collaboration. This result also shows that place attachment, perception of negative consequences, place satisfaction, and community collaboration have higher factor loading compares to other groups. The finding implies that in gaining community participation, these factors could be considered as the essence of communication message in raising public awareness and participation for tourism development.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Content Analysis of Cardiovascular Diseases Related Health Information Targeted at the Hui Minority on Chinese WeChat Official Accounts

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Lei Yang ◽  
Yuping Mao ◽  
Jeroen Jansz
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Diseases ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Minority People

In this study, we focus on the information available in WeChat official accounts about cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are a leading cause of death in China. We are particularly interested in information targeting the Chinese Hui minority people, who have a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). Our exploratory research therefore investigates whether and how the articles on WeChat official accounts are targeted at the Hui people. We used a qualitative approach to analyze 108 articles. Two related themes emerged: descriptions of how to live a healthy life; and explanations of CVDs and CVRFs. Traditional Chinese medicine likewise surfaced from the analysis as a specific and unique theme in the Chinese social and cultural context. Despite the high prevalence of CVRFs among the Hui, none of the articles included information tailored to them.

Framing the news on the Syrian War: A comparative study of antiwar.com and cnn.com editorials

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-505
Author(s):  
Rayeheh Alitavoli
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Iraq War ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Framing Theory ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Us

This study identifies the dominant frames presented in opinion articles published from 20 August to 17 September 2013 on the alternative website – antiwar.com – and the mainstream website – cnn.com; this timeframe includes articles published a week before and a week after the US administration’s decision to attack and withdraw from Syria. The article employs qualitative content analysis and Entman’s framing theory to code the data and extract the themes and dominant frames present in a total of 87 opinion articles. The study concludes that cnn.com provided frames that presented Bashar al-Assad as a ‘brutal villain’ who uses chemical weapons on his own people, while providing frames that stress Barack Obama’s incompetency in carrying out a strategic plan and highlight the negative consequences of a strike. However, antiwar.com articles are more resonant and consistent than cnn.com articles, and provide frames that encourage readers to protest against engaging in another war, reminding them of the failures of similar past wars such as the Iraq War and its negative consequences, as well as stressing the major players that benefited from a military intervention.

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