Moav, Omer, and Zvika Neeman. “Saving rates and poverty: the role of conspicuous consumption and human capital.” The Economic Journal, September 2012, 933-56. Accessed March 11, 2018.

For this research example, I chose to find an article from Google Scholar. The article I chose is called, Saving Rates and Poverty: The Role of Conspicuous Consumption and Human Capital. It is published in The Economic Journal by Omer Moav and Zvika Neeman. This article is about the conspicuous consumption behavior of low-income individuals. The authors suggest that some lower-income individuals care about economic status, and interpret this behavior as conspicuous consumption intended to provide a status symbol. According to the authors, they show that “If human capital is observable and correlated with income, then a signalling equilibrium in which poor individuals tend to spend a large fraction of their income on conspicuous consumption can emerge.” The article offers a different perspective on saving rates and income, and why those who have a higher income and professional title do not feel the need to purchase conspicuous goods as much as those who make significantly less and do not have a certified accomplishment that conveys social status.

The article’s topic is about conspicuous consumption and human capital, and it’s research question is, “What is the relationship between human capital and an individual’s choice to spend more of their income on conspicuous goods? As this research was published in an economic journal, the type of data that is needed to answer this question is economic. The authors created a model showing the relationship between income and conspicuous spending, and included proofs. To access the type of data they needed, the authors used public and private records to find their economic data. Since the data used is numerical, the method of data analysis is quantitative. I think this research seems legitimate and well thought out. I think since the research was published in an economic journal that it is valid and the authors can be trusted as reliable researchers in their field. However, I do not have a background or a proficiency in economics, therefore the model showing the relationship between income and conspicuous spending did not make much sense to me and I’m not sure how to understand the mathematics behind it. Nonetheless, I think this article was very interesting because it shed a new (mathematical) light on why some low-income people spend more on goods that do not help alleviate poverty, but rather display a symbol of status. It goes to show how important status is in our society, and how important it can be for those who do not have access to education, a high paying job, etc.

The article I found this week comes from the William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law. Written by Flyn L. Fresher, “Cross-Gender Supervision in Prison and the Constitutional Right of Prisoners to Remain Free from Rape”, examines cross-gender supervision in prisons as a lead cause of sexual assault, especially towards women, and the political actors that may hinder a prisoner from reporting their assault. This search took a more meta-analysis form in the sense that it pulled from previous research as well as public records and demographic data in order to explain the gender make up of prison staff and the reasons that allow for cross-gender supervision. The article explains that the problem with cross-gender supervision is that it exacerbates the problem by placing women in situations in which they cannot escape their attacker. Additionally, pat frisks and body cavity checks are more traumatizing for women, since a majority percentage of women prisoners have a history of sexual abuse. Furthermore, certain laws, like the Prison Litigation Reform Act, restrict prisoners from what they can and cannot litigate in court. This, in my opinion, not only takes away certain rights from prisoners, but discourages them from reporting events of assault and other conditions. The article concludes that there should be set laws that actually address the issue of sexual assault in prisons and make it concrete that it should not happen especially by male staff who are supposed to uphold the law. It is this absence of a law that specifically addresses sexual assault in prison that allows for male prison staff to continue their abuse and makes it difficult to hold them accountable.

Flyn L. Flesher. “CROSS-GENDER SUPERVISION IN PRISONS AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF PRISONERS TO REMAIN FREE FROM RAPE.” William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law 13 (April 1, 2007): 841–867.

This case study examines the repatriation of three Native American shields discovered in 1926 in Utah. The shields were eventually acquired by the Capitol Reef National Park. After the passing of NAGPRA, the question was raised if these shields would qualify as sacred or ceremonial objects. The national park began consultations with local tribes and it soon became apparent that there would be competing claims for the shields. The shields were eventually repatriated to the Navajo Nation because of proof of cultural affiliation through storytelling evidence. This case study examines how multiple claims for repatriation can cause an increase in tensions between local tribes. It also examines the relationship between law and archeology.
The researcher’s research question was, “How did the disconnection between legal and anthropological determinations of cultural affiliation effect the dispute over the Capitol Reef National Park shields?” The topic of the article was repatriation disputes of cultural objects post-NAGPRA. She used a case study research logic. She utilized reports of acts, behaviors, and events and collected them through public and private records. Threedy analyzed the data in a qualitative analysis.
This was an interesting case study, and I think the researcher provided thorough analyses of the data. She compared the shields case with the famous Kennewick Man case and explained how competing tribes differ than a tribe competing against scientists for ownership of an object or human remain. Threedy provided historical evidence of division between the Navajo and the Utes and how this case further intensified their relationship. She also gently critiqued some sections of NAGPRA.

Threedy, Debora, Claiming the Shields: Law, Anthropology, and the Role of Storytelling in a NAGPRA Repatriation Case Study (2009). Journal of Land, Resources & Environmental Law, Vol. 29, No. 1, p. 91, 2009. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1531700

Tomkinson, Sian, and Tauel Harper. 2015 “The Position of Women in Video Game Culture: Perez and Day’s Twitter Incident.” Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 29 (4): 617-634. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2015.1025362.

As video game culture becomes more mainstream and attracts a larger player base both male and female, the tensions between the genders increased, manifested by misogynistic acts against females. Video games are normatively framed as a hypermasculine space by the men who dominates it. These men call women to “degender” themselves to achieve equal opportunity, and those who don’t are labelled “fake” and harassed. This article is a historical research revolving one incident particularly where the female video game celebrity Felicia Day was attacked online by video games journalist Ryan Perez and other online posters. The authors’ research question asks whether this ‘Twitter Incident” and the events following it were acts of catharsis or a watershed that signals that females in gaming culture and industries could experience an evolution in gender relationships. The type of data the researchers gathered were reports of events that they gathered from various articles. These reports paint the story of how the gaming space were gendered, how games marketed to females failed, and how men reacted when females joined their space and played games marketed for male. They also did research on Felicia Day’s history as she became an iconic actress and content creator in the gaming industry, a representative of females in game culture, and all the events leading up to the “Twitter Incident.” The also did research in all the events that happened following the incidents, how Destructoid, the gaming journal and Ryan Perez’s employer, apologized to Day, how people came to her defense and call out the misogyny in the industry. The analysis was qualitative and the authors showed in their analysis that the incident was a watershed for gender relationships that promotes a crackdown on misogynistic tendencies and a change of attitude when Perez was condemned by the community, and it was also an act of catharsis, where the community feels their guilt about the misogyny were cleansed. This article paints a clear and detailed picture of the history of misogyny in video games culture and how the community have started to move forward with a more open attitude towards women who play games.

Research Example 3:

The title of this peer reviewed journal is called “Construction Management and Economics”. The article within this journal is called “Integral Sustainable Design”.

This article talks about how sustainability is a trendy area in many different jobs. It starts by discussing different ways of implementing sustainable design into jobs. An integral approach to sustainable design needs to be a mix of beauty (art+design), ethics of design and science of design. In order to do this, there needs to be perspectives on design. Four key perspectives named in this article are system perspectives, behavior perspectives, experience perspectives and cultures perspectives. These four “perspectives” are imperative for people to know, if they are thinking about using sustainable design in their lines of work.

The topic of this article is sustainable design. The question posed in this article is, “what do people using sustainable design in their line of work needs to know about sustainability?”. In order to answer this question, you would need expert knowledge.  In order to gather this data, you would collect surveys and do in depth interviews with engineers and experts in the field of sustainability. You would need to ask them what they believe is most important points in their field.

I think this research was very interesting. It is very modern and a new way to look at the future with sustainability. I like how it helped narrow down the most important aspects of sustainable design and gave suggestions on how to make if more affective.

I think my classmates would find it interesting that “sustainability” has become more popular, because it is seen specifically as a way to improve people’s relationship with nature. People feel as though pure nature no longer exists, and that people need to be reminded how to interact with it once again.

This is a secondary source because it uses data that already existed.

Citation: Soibelman, L. (2013). Integral Sustainable Design. Construction Management and Economics, 31(2), 202–203. doi:10.1080/01446193.2012.735368

This article in the peer-reviewed journal, Socialism and Democracy was written to encourage solidarity with the anti-apartheid movement in Palestine. It was written by Haidar Eid, a professor at Gaza’s al-Aqsa University. The article is cited as:

Eid, Haidar. 2014. “Solidarity with Anti-Apartheid Resistance in Post-Oslo Palestine.” Socialism and Democracy 28 (1): 113-22. doi: 10.1080/08854300.2013.869870.

Eid argues that the most urgent questions about the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank deal with international solidarity and how other countries can support Palestinians. He also addresses colonial Zionism and its relationship with apartheid South Africa. The topic of this article is international solidarity with Palestine. Eid’s research question is: What should be the nature of international solidarity, and how can it support Palestinian struggles? The types of data used are cultural knowledge and deeply held opinions and attitudes. He uses ethnography and content analysis to collect data. The method of data analysis is qualitative. I think this article is extremely well-written, and it speaks volumes about calls for action. Eid’s writing is definitely biased, but it is clear that he is knowledgeable about the anti-apartheid struggle as someone living in the Gaza Strip. I think some people may be interested in the similarity between the segregation seen in Israeli-occupied territories and the era of segregation in America. There are direct correlations between the two, and it’s interesting that people on the other side of the world are still being treated as non-human.

The research article I selected for research example #3 is an article I found in the current periodical section of the library. The article is from the Journal of Environmental Health volume 74, number 4, November 2011. The title of the article is “New Questions and Insights Into Nitrate/Nitrite and Human Health Effects: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Private Well Users’ Immunological and Wellness Status.” The authors of this study examined 150 private wells users’ drinking water in the state of Iowa. The drinking water contained nitrate/nitrogen in an amount below the ten parts per million maximum contaminate level. The authors then analyzed the health history data and blood samples including hemoglobin fractions and immunological parameters of the users. The authors found that there was a positive relationship between higher nitrate exposure and body mass index lower recreational activity perceived poorer health and perceptions of susceptibility to illness. These conclusions appear to be consistent with the well documented health effects of nitrate/nitrite ingestion. When nitrate or nitrite is used as a preservative in food, nitrosamines are formed are linked to certain variety of cancers. As a result, environmental and public health agencies around the world encouraged to the removal of nitrate/nitrite salts from food and have set limits on the amount of nitrate/nitrite levels found in drinking water. The authors designed a study to test the health effects of well water nitrate exposure on a population of 150 participants between the ages of one and sixty. The authors found that the participants reported being less healthy, less active, and more susceptible to illness in those participants who drank higher nitrate levels. The authors recommend that further research is needed in a larger population group to study the effects of nitrates and other water contaminants including metals and pesticides.

Catherine Zeman, Lisa Beltz, Mark Linda, Jean Maddux, Diane Depken, Jeff Orr, Patricia Theran. 2011 “New Questions and Insights Into Nitrate/Nitrite and Human Health Effects: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Private Well Users’ Immunological and Wellness Status.” Journal of Environmental Health. Vol 74(6):8-16

Did you know the ocean absorbs 25% of CO₂ emissions? That means the emissions are absorbed by coral reefs. This absorption causes the ocean pH to change and become a hostile environment for coral and algae, also known as ocean acidification. As a result, coral reefs calcify at a slower rate and will not be able to survive. One of the leading causes of this acidification is human CO₂ emissions. This article is about conservation management of coral reefs regarding ocean acidification: (1) set up a C chemistry baseline for the ocean, (2) set up ecological baselines, (3) determine species and habitat sensitivity to ocean acidification, (4) projecting changes in seawater carbonate chemistry, and (5) find potential synergistic effects of multiple stressors (Mcleod, et al., 2012). There hasn’t been much research on how to manage the ever-increasing CO₂ emissions so most of this is theoretical and is based on the conservation trends regarding coral bleaching. This an interesting article regarding my research question on how location affects coral reef survival because I never thought to look at CO₂ emissions. From these articles I have been browsing, it seems that human activity and natural disasters are what greatly impact the survival of coral reefs in different locations. Also, that possibly changing the habits of humans around the coast can positively affect coral reefs and make them more resilient.

Mcleod, E., Anthony, K. RN., Andersson, A., Beeden, R., Golbuu, Y., Kleypas, J., Kroeker, K., Manzello, D., Salm, R. V., Schuttenburg, H., and Smith, J. E. (2013) Preparing to manage coral reefs for acidification: lessons from coral bleaching. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11(1): 20-27

As I am doing more research on coral reefs and how the location of the reefs affects their survival, I am learning that humans are the most pressing problem to their survival. Humans are directly, or indirectly causing death of coral reefs around the world. One of the ways humans are killing reefs is by overfishing. Overfishing changes the food web of that particular reef. As a result, the structure of the reef changes as well. The structure changes because fish, especially parrotfish, have specific duties that keep the reef healthy and resilient. Parrotfish and other fish eat the macroalgal that are trying to grow on the coral, munch on dead and live coral which will make it easier for new coral to grow and flourish, and transport sediments and nutrients to different parts of the reef and elsewhere. These duties are important for coral to have quick recovery time when facing a disaster. This journal article is about how strongly does human population and their fishing of parrotfish affects coral reefs. These researchers did a natural experiment using detach observation and reports of acts and behaviours to see the impact humans have on 18 coral reefs from the Indian Ocean to Tahiti. Human population differs from zero and reefs protected from fishing to overpopulated cities that overfish. Surprisingly, they found no correlation between the overfishing of parrotfish and human population. Also, that there is a strong relationship between human population and the population structure of reef fish because humans want the big parrotfish so then the smaller parrotfish populate the reefs. Which means coral reefs are sensitive to human activity regarding bioerosion and coral predation but not sensitive with eating dead and live coral, and transporting sediments. Overall, human activity indirectly affects coral reefs.

Bellwood, D. R., Hoey, A. S., and Hughes, T. P. (2012) Human activity selectively impacts the ecosystem roles of parrotfish on coral reefs. Proceedings: Biological Sciences 279(1733): 1621-1629.

Campbell, Howard. 2014 “Narco-Propaganda in the Mexican ‘Drug War.’” Latin American Perspective 41 (195): 60-77. doi: 10.1177/0094582X12443519.

Violence and organized crimes produced by narcotic selling cartels have ravaged Mexico for 20 years. The drug business in Mexico boomed after filling in for the power vacuum left behind after the U.S. shut down the Colombian organizations. In 2006, President Felipe Calderon’s aggressive new policy to shutdown the largest Mexican cartels exacerbated the tension, causing 50,000 deaths and thousands still missing. Howard Campbell conducted an anthropological study on the current cartels and how they are embedded in Mexican culture to find a better solution in the future. His research question asked how the various forms of narco-propaganda in Mexico form their own kind of criminal and quasi-political and how we should treat them.

In collecting the propaganda and its effects, Campbell had to collect reports of acts and behaviors. The reports of these events come in the form of journalism articles and books on Mexican drug cartels. He coded the propaganda into 4-types: public spectacles of violence, written narco messages, videos and internet posts, music and lyrics, and control/censorship of the media. He analyzed each of the examples of propaganda qualitatively, explaining how they are more political statements than just criminal acts. They carried out acts of violence to terrify people, force passive coercion and ensure a certain desired reaction from the government. Their violence is “excessive but stylized” and not meaningless criminal acts. They made banners, posters, and manifestos, glorifying their organizations while criticizing and defacing rivals and the government. They used these written messages to declare that everything evil is done by a certain other rival cartel while they would never commit heinous act, or they justified their violence because they believed those whom they killed deserved it. They also used propaganda like music to recruit and enforce loyalty like any state actor. They also paid off the media to tell their version of the story and killed a large amount of journalists who tried to expose them in the past.

Howard Campbell concluded that by analyzing Narco-propaganda with an anthropology study, he saw that the cartel used it as a strategy to capture territory, control police force, and the Mexican people. He believed that the political statements they are making with the propaganda is extremely dangerous “unorthodox politics.” In order to deal with them, he suggested controlling the information they put out, rather than a kinetic war like President Felipe Calderon attempted in 2006 which backfired.