Jiaying Liu

Network Effects in the Academic Market: Mechanisms for Hiring and Placing PhDs in Communication (2007–2014)

We analyze hiring and placement dynamics across communication PhD programs using data collected in 2014. We assess changes compared to data collected in 2007, and identify factors that underlie the formation of recruitment ties. Our findings challenge prior conclusions that faculty-hiring patterns offer a proxy to the quality of doctoral education. Instead, we find evidence that the recruitment network results from interorganizational dynamics likely to emerge from faculty mobility; these dynamics, endogenous to the network, manifest in the form of reciprocity, transitivity, and cumulative advantage. Once we control for these characteristics, exogenous factors such as institutional prestige, faculty seniority, and reputational rankings modestly drive the creation of recruitment ties—appearing as secondary forces in the formation of faculty-hiring networks.

Measuring Exposure Opportunities: Using Exogenous Measures in Assessing Effects of Media Exposure on Smoking Outcomes

ABSTRACT Measurement of exposure has long been one of the most central and fundamental issues in communication research. While self-reported measures remain dominant in the field, alternative approaches such as exogenous or hybrid measures have received increasing scholarly attention and been employed in various contexts for the estimation of media exposure; however, systematic scrutiny of such measures is thin. This study aims to address the gap by systematically reviewing the studies which utilized exogenous or hybrid exposure measures for examining the effects of media exposure on tobacco-related outcomes. We then proceed to discuss the strengths and weaknesses, current developments in this class of measurement, drawing some implications for the appropriate utilization of exogenous and hybrid measures.