The willingness of volunteers to report changes on topographic maps

Various possibilities for collecting volunteer-provided geographical information in geodesy make it possible to engage volunteers for different purposes. In this paper, a study of the willingness of volunteers to report changes on topographic maps based on an online survey is presented. The survey was answered by 653 Slovenian respondents who use various online or classic topographic maps in their free time or at work and are willing to report their knowledge of changes in space or errors in maps to the map-updating institution. The survey's main finding is that 56% of respondents would use any online application to report changes on maps, 38% of respondents would prefer to report changes via email, and only 4% of respondents would prefer to report changes by phone. We also analysed the potential use of different functionalities of a web application for collecting changes and found that the most important functionalities for volunteers are those that give the most in-depth feedback (i.e., that a contribution has been submitted, that it is being verified, that it has been considered, that it has been deleted). The willingness of potential volunteers to use the various proposed functionalities also frequently depends on their current involvement with social networking sites or in volunteer associations and on their age group.

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Google Docs in Higher Education

Cases on Online Learning Communities and Beyond ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-1936-4.ch008 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 150-166

Author(s):

Jorge Reyna

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Full Time ◽

Learning Tools ◽

School Of Education ◽

Online Application ◽

Google Docs ◽

Set Up ◽

Collaborative Learning Tools ◽

Potential Use

It has been determined that students at the School of Education, University of Western Sydney (UWS) are widely spread throughout the Greater Western Sydney (GWS) region and that many have competing schedules due to being enrolled full-time in a course and having a full-time job (Martinez-Fernandez, Rerceretnam, & Sharp, 2006). This makes group assignments a time-consuming task, and in many cases, group work and collaboration does not occur in an optimal way. Recent research has discussed the case for wikis as collaborative learning tools in education, and some has explicitly focused on the use of wikis in completing group projects (Bold, 2006; Parker & Chao, 2007). However, the use of Google Docs in a tertiary educational setting remains largely unexplored in the literature; even though the collaborative features of wikis and Google Docs are relatively comparable. In this regard, the authors identified a potential use of Google Docs to improve group assignments, allowing the students to interact and collaborate online, thus enhancing their learning experience. They set up three different scenarios including nine lecturers (unit convenors and tutors) in order to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of including Google Docs within units taught at the School of Education. Preliminary data (collected over four consecutive semesters and featuring online survey responses of 963 students) showed a potential use of Google Docs to facilitate group assignments, to share information between students and academics, and to gather information via online surveys. The authors believe this powerful online application can be an excellent resource to overcome students’ isolation and engage them in online knowledge construction.

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The Interplay of Online Network Homogeneity, Populist Attitudes, and Conspiratorial Beliefs: Empirical Evidence From a Survey on German Facebook Users

International Journal of Public Opinion Research ◽

10.1093/ijpor/edaa036 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Manuel Cargnino

Keyword(s):

Social Networking ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Online Survey ◽

Process Information ◽

Negatively Associated

Abstract Social networking sites are suspected to impede the communication between members of different political camps and thereby increase network homogeneity. This homogeneity can be a result of humans’ tendency to process information in confirmatory ways—a characteristic which is also ascribed to populist citizens and those who hold conspiratorial beliefs. It is hypothesized that populist views and conspiratorial beliefs are associated with higher exposure to like-minded information within Facebook. An online survey with German Facebook users (N = 469) revealed that populist attitudes are positively associated with conspiratorial beliefs but negatively associated with homogeneity. Conspiratorial beliefs are unrelated to homogeneity. Findings are discussed in the light of extant research.

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A low-cost web-based smart street lighting geographical information system for smaller towns and villages

Open Computer Science ◽

10.1515/comp-2020-0205 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 450-458

Author(s):

Filip Pružinec ◽

Peter Mego ◽

Renata Đuračiová

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Geographical Information System ◽

Web Application ◽

Low Cost ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Light Control ◽

Street Lighting ◽

Lighting Control ◽

Manual Adjustment ◽

Control Service

AbstractThe use of LED lights in smart street lighting to save energy is efficient and very common in many developed cities. However, such a system results in higher initial costs, which may discourage smaller towns and villages from its purchasing. This paper therefore deals with the design and development of a smart street lighting control system for smaller cities and villages. Such a system is required to be economical from the perspective of development and production. Considering other requirements such as platform independence, high availability and broad support, we proposed to build a system as a web application using a custom light control service component. The result is a web application that consists of a user interface served by a web server and an application server used to communicate with light control service. In addition, the system is designed as a geographical information system to be easy to use for managing street lights in groups or individually, while displaying them on the map. The system allows automatic sensor-based light intensity modulation by default with the possibility of manual adjustment or override of the illumination. It also includes a device error notification system with a tool to navigate faulty devices. The presented system is a low-cost solution for intelligent street lighting control designed for smaller cities or villages. They can apply the designed architecture of the system and the specific technologies suitable because of their low-cost implementation.

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Are telephone consultations here to stay in rheumatology?

Rheumatology Advances in Practice ◽

10.1093/rap/rkaa071 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sabrina R Raizada ◽

Natasha Cleaton ◽

James Bateman ◽

Diarmuid M Mulherin ◽

Nick Barkham

Keyword(s):

Older Patients ◽

Online Survey ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Age Group ◽

Telephone Consultation ◽

Survey Tool ◽

Face To Face ◽

Vulnerable Patients ◽

Number Of Patients

Abstract Objectives During the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face rheumatology follow-up appointments were mostly replaced with telephone or virtual consultations in order to protect vulnerable patients. We aimed to investigate the perspectives of rheumatology patients on the use of telephone consultations compared with the traditional face-to-face consultation. Methods We carried out a retrospective survey of all rheumatology follow-up patients at the Royal Wolverhampton Trust who had received a telephone consultation from a rheumatology consultant during a 4-week period via an online survey tool. Results Surveys were distributed to 1213 patients, of whom 336 (27.7%) responded, and 306 (91.1%) patients completed all components of the survey. Overall, an equal number of patients would prefer telephone clinics or face-to-face consultations for their next routine appointment. When divided by age group, the majority who preferred the telephone clinics were <50 years old [χ2 (d.f. = 3) = 10.075, P = 0.018]. Prevalence of a smartphone was higher among younger patients (<50 years old: 46 of 47, 97.9%) than among older patients (≥50 years old: 209 of 259, 80.7%) [χ2 (d.f. = 3) = 20.919, P < 0.001]. More patients reported that they would prefer a telephone call for urgent advice (168, 54.9%). Conclusion Most patients interviewed were happy with their routine face-to-face appointment being switched to a telephone consultation. Of those interviewed, patients >50 years old were less likely than their younger counterparts to want telephone consultations in place of face-to-face appointments. Most patients in our study would prefer a telephone consultation for urgent advice. We must ensure that older patients and those in vulnerable groups who value in-person contact are not excluded. Telephone clinics in some form are here to stay in rheumatology for the foreseeable future.

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How Downward and Upward Comparisons on Facebook Influence Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissists’ Self-Esteem—A Priming Study

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs11030039 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 39

Author(s):

Phillip Ozimek ◽

Hans-Werner Bierhoff ◽

Elke Rohmann

Keyword(s):

Social Networking Sites ◽

Online Survey ◽

Social Comparisons ◽

Past Research ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Self Report ◽

Control Group ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Vulnerable Narcissism ◽

And Control

Past research showed that social networking sites represent perfect platforms to satisfy narcissistic needs. The present study aimed to investigate how grandiose (GN) and vulnerable narcissism (VN) as well as social comparisons are associated with Facebook activity, which was measured with a self-report on three activity dimensions: Acting, Impressing, and Watching. In addition, the state self-esteem (SSE) was measured with respect to performance, social behavior, and appearance. One hundred and ten participants completed an online survey containing measures of SSE and Facebook activity and a priming procedure with three experimental conditions embedded in a social media context (upward comparison, downward comparison, and control group). Results indicated, as expected, that high VN was negatively associated with SSE on each subscale and the overall score. In addition, it was found that VN, but not GN, displayed positive associations with frequency of Facebook activities. Finally, it was proposed and confirmed that VN in interaction with the priming of downward comparisons negatively affected SSE. The conclusion drawn is that VN represents a key variable for the prediction of self-esteem as well as for the frequency of Facebook activity.

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#SocialMedia: Exploring the Relationship of Social Networking Sites on Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Eating Disorders

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/2056305117704407 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 205630511770440 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Sara Santarossa ◽

Sarah J. Woodruff

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Online Survey ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Social Networking Site ◽

Dependent Relationship ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

The aim of this study was to investigate whether problematic social networking site (SNS) use (i.e., degree of dependent relationship with SNSs), total SNS time/day, total SNS friends, and specific SNS activities were related to body image (BI), self-esteem (SE), and eating disorder (ED) symptoms/concerns. A sample of young adults ( N = 147) completed an online survey which measured SNS usage, problematic SNS use, BI, SE, and ED symptom/concerns. The findings revealed that females and males spent 4.1 ± 3.9 and 2.9 ± 2.8 hr on SNS, respectively, with the majority of time spent lurking (i.e., looking at another users’ profile but not actually communicating with them). Furthermore, problematic SNS use was found to be related to BI, SE, and ED symptoms/concerns. Moreover, SNS activities, such as lurking and posting comments on others’ profiles, were found to be related to BI, whereas SNS total time was found to be related to ED symptoms/concerns. Overall, this study demonstrates the possible correlational influence of SNSs on BI, SE, and ED symptoms/concerns.

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Sources of flavoured e-cigarettes among California youth and young adults: associations with local flavoured tobacco sales restrictions

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056455 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-056455

Author(s):

Shivani Mathur Gaiha ◽

Lisa Henriksen ◽

Bonnie Halpern-Felsher ◽

Todd Rogers ◽

Ashley L Feld ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Adult ◽

Online Survey ◽

Multilevel Models ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

Age Group ◽

The Past ◽

Tobacco Sales ◽

Youth And Young Adults ◽

Local Law ◽

Online Sources

PurposeThis study compares access to flavoured JUUL and other e-cigarettes from retail, online and social sources among underage and young adult e-cigarette users who live in California jurisdictions that restrict sales of flavoured tobacco with the rest of the state.MethodsAn online survey used social media advertisements to recruit participants (n=3075, ages 15–29) who lived in one of nine jurisdictions that restrict sales (n=1539) or in the rest of state, and oversampled flavoured tobacco users. Focusing on past-month e-cigarette users (n=908), multilevel models tested whether access to flavoured JUUL and other e-cigarettes from retail, online and social sources differed by local law (yes/no) and age group (15–20 or older), controlling for other individual characteristics.ResultsThe percent of underage users who obtained flavoured JUUL and other e-cigarettes in the past month was 33.6% and 31.2% from retail, 11.6% and 12.7% online, and 76.0% and 70.9% from social sources, respectively. Compared with underage and young adult users in the rest of California, those in localities that restrict the sales of flavoured tobacco were less likely to obtain flavoured JUUL from retail sources (Adjusted OR=0.54, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.80), but more likely to obtain it from social sources (Adjusted OR=1.55, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.35). The same pattern was observed for other brands of flavoured e-cigarettes.ConclusionAlthough local laws may reduce access to flavoured e-cigarettes from retail sources, more comprehensive state or federal restrictions are recommended to close the loopholes for online sources. Dedicated efforts to curtail access from social sources are needed.

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Connecting and being connected: investigating friending practices across multiple social networking sites

Information Technology and People ◽

10.1108/itp-07-2020-0486 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Chien Wen Yuan ◽

Yu-Hao Lee

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Online Survey ◽

Social Ties ◽

Relationship Maintenance ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Content Type ◽

Bonding Social Capital ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk

PurposeSocial networking sites (SNSs) offer people the possibility of maintaining larger networks of social ties, which also entails more complex relationship maintenance across multiple platforms. Whom to “friend” and via which platform can involve complex deliberations. This study investigates the relationships between users' perceived friending affordances of five popular SNSs (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn) and their friending behaviors concerning strong ties, weak ties (existing and latent ties) and parasocial ties.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey using Qualtrics was provided to participants (N = 626) through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The survey asked their SNS use and their friending behaviors with different ties on each of the sites.FindingsUsers' friending decisions are dependent on an interplay of socio-technical affordances of each SNS and specific needs for the ties. The authors found that the affordances of bridging social capital and enjoyment are aligned with friending weak and parasocial ties, respectively. The affordances of bonding social capital were not valued to friend strong ties.Originality/valueThe study extends the affordance and social capital literature by assessing users' perceived, contextualized SNS affordances in relation to actual communication behaviors in friending different social ties. This approach provides contextualized insights to friending decisions and practices on SNSs.

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Video-Based Communication and its Association with Loneliness, Mental Health and Quality of Life among Older People during the COVID-19 Outbreak

10.20944/preprints202104.0520.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tore Bonsaksen ◽

Hilde Thygesen ◽

Janni Leung ◽

Mary C. Ruffolo ◽

Mariyana Schoultz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Older People ◽

Online Survey ◽

Age Groups ◽

Psychological Outcomes ◽

Age Group ◽

Communication Tools ◽

Study Results

The aim of the study was to examine the use of video-based communication and its association with loneliness, mental health and quality of life in older adults (60-69 years versus 70+ years) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Norway, UK, USA and Australia during April/May 2020, and 836 participants in the relevant age groups were included in the analysis. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between use of video-based communication tools and loneliness, mental health and quality of life within age groups, while adjusting by sociodemographic variables. Video-based communication tools were found to be more often used among participants aged 60-69 years (60.1%), compared to participants aged 70 or above (51.8%, p < 0.05). Adjusting for all variables, use of video-based communication was associated with less loneliness (β = -0.12, p < 0.01) and higher quality of life (β = 0.14, p < 0.01) among participants aged 60-69 years, while no associations occurred for participants in the oldest age group. The use of video-based communication tools was therefore associated with favorable psychological outcomes among participants in their sixties, but not among participants in the oldest age group. The study results support the notion that age may influence the association between use of video-based communication tools and psychological outcomes amongst older people.

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Realizing a Global Survey of Emigrants through Facebook and Instagram

10.31219/osf.io/y36vr ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Steffen Pötzschke ◽

Bernd Weiß

Keyword(s):

Social Networking Sites ◽

Cost Efficiency ◽

Online Survey ◽

Target Population ◽

Global Scale ◽

German Population ◽

Asian Countries ◽

Sampling Frame ◽

German Citizenship ◽

Cross National

Research on international migrants has seen a sharp increase during the last decades, yet sampling them remains a major challenge, especially in a cross-national setting and on a global scale. While various sampling methods are established in the field, most of them cannot easily be implemented globally due to their dependence on specific administrative or infrastructure elements or simply their costs. Since Social Networking Sites (SNS) operate on a global scale, they provide a sampling frame that can be utilized for the targeted recruitment of migrants worldwide. Increasingly used for research purposes and among the largest and most popular SNSs are Facebook and Instagram. In our project GEOOS (German Emigrants Overseas Online Survey), we utilize paid advertisements on these networks to target German emigrants, particularly Germans living outside of Europe. Our research aims to ascertain whether such ads could be used to recruit a nonprobability (migrant) sample on a global scale. More specifically, we are interested in the success of this approach concerning three performance indicators: Cost efficiency, coverage, and sample size. Our advertisement campaign ran for 18 days and resulted in total costs of about 2,223 Euro. This investment led a total of 3,895 individuals to complete the survey; of those, 98 percent belonged to the target population, meaning they were (a) either born in Germany or held German citizenship and (b) did not live in Germany. GEOOS participants lived in a total of 148 countries and territories around the globe. Similar to findings reported in previous studies on this target population, the largest sub-groups resided in predominantly Anglo-phone countries; however, taken together, participants in these countries only constitute 38 percent of our overall sample, with nearly a quarter of GEOOS participants (n = 867) living in Middle and South America, 862 residing in Asian countries, and 476 in Africa. Furthermore, a considerable share of our sample is constituted by individuals who would either not have been included in a sampling frame based on German population registers or who would have been unlikely to be reached through this method due to incomplete or outdated information.

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