Kelly Bergstrand

Assessing the Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience to Hazards

This article contributes to the disaster literature by measuring and connecting two concepts that are highly related but whose relationship is rarely empirically evaluated: social vulnerability and community resilience. To do so, we measure community resilience and social vulnerability in counties across the United States and find a correlation between high levels of vulnerability and low levels of resilience, indicating that the most vulnerable counties also tend to be the least resilient. We also find regional differences in the distribution of community resilience and social vulnerability, with the West being particularly vulnerable while the Southeast is prone to low levels of resilience. By looking at both social vulnerability and community resilience, we are able to map communities’ social risks for harm from threats as well as their capacities for recovering and adapting in the aftermath of hazards. This provides a more complete portrait of the communities that might need the most assistance in emergency planning and response, as well as whether such interventions will need to be tailored toward reducing damage or finding the path to recovery.

The Chalkboard Versus the Avatar Comparing the Effectiveness of Online and In-class Courses

Increasingly, colleges and universities are relying on fully online classes to teach students. This article investigates how students evaluate online courses in comparison to more traditional face-to-face courses. Data come from undergraduate student evaluations of 118 sociology courses, and results of a series of hierarchical linear models indicate that students feel they have learned less in online courses, believe they are treated with more respect in in-class courses, and rate online courses less highly than in-class courses. Findings also suggest that the negative effects of teaching online are not universal for instructors, as the switch to online classes actually results in better evaluations for teachers who typically perform poorly in the classroom. These findings caution against the broad use of online sociology classes as a strategy for coping with increasing enrollments and shrinking budgets and suggest educators should select the course format that best complements their teaching strengths and skills.

Virtual Health: The Impact of Health-Related Websites on Patient-Doctor Interactions ☆ ☆Portions of this chapter were presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Abstract Purpose This study illustrates that differences across health-related websites, as well as different Internet usage patterns, have significant implications for how individuals view and interact with their health care providers. Methodology/approach We rely on a qualitative study of three health-related websites and an ordinary least squares regression analysis of survey data to explore how websites with different organizational motives frame health-related issues and how variations in Internet usage patterns affect patients’ perceptions of the patient-doctor interaction. Findings Results reveal differences across three health-related websites and show that both the number and the type of websites patients visit affect their perceptions of physicians’ responses. Specifically, visiting multiple websites decreased perceptions of how well doctors listened to or answered patients’ questions, whereas using nonprofit or government health-related websites increased evaluations of how well doctors listened to and answered questions. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that practitioners and scholars should look more closely at how patients use the Internet to understand how it affects doctor-patient interactions. Future research could expand the analysis of website framing or use methods such as in-depth interviewing to more fully understand on-the-ground processes and mechanisms. Originality/value of chapter This study highlights the importance of fleshing out nuances about what it means to be an Internet-informed patient given that varying patterns of Internet use may affect how patients perceive their physicians.

Transformative environmental threats: behavioral and attitudinal change five years after the deepwater horizon oil spill

ABSTRACT Does experiencing an environmental disaster have the transformative power to change people’s attitudes, behaviors and political actions? Do these effects persist in the longer term? And what elements of environmental disasters are most effective at spurring change? Using survey data collected in two affected coastal counties around the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we find that many residents reported mobilizing effects from the disaster: over two-thirds of respondents participated in political activities, about half engaged in environmentally friendly lifestyle changes and about half of the respondents reported more concern for the environment. We also investigate whether certain grievances are more or less powerful in their transformative consequences, and differentiate damages caused by perceived economic losses, social corrosion, physical health effects, ecological degradation and emotional reactions. Interestingly, the strongest predictor of political, behavioral or attitudinal changes was whether residents were affected emotionally by the oil spill, like feeling angry or distressed. Surprisingly, perceived economic losses had few effects, with the exception of becoming more opposed to offshore drilling. These results suggest that environmental threats can motivate political, lifestyle or attitudinal changes and that certain elements of the experience may have more mobilizing power than others.

It takes two: A dyadic model of recruitment to civic activity☆

Why are some people, but not others, asked to engage in civic activity? Rather than focus on the personal traits of either potential recruits or recruiters for this initial stage of recruitment, we develop and test a theoretical framework that emphasizes the importance of shared relationships and characteristics between those doing the recruiting and those being recruited. Specifically, the nature of interactions, overlapping community and associational space, status and value homophily, and strength and intimacy are assessed to explain differential recruitment among peoples closest ties. Furthermore, unlike previous studies, we do so across three different forms of civic activity-blood donation, volunteer work, and political activism-allowing us to identify larger patterns in civic solicitation. Results from multilevel analyses of dyads reorganized from ego-centric data of U.S. adults show that while certain personal traits of egos and alters remain significant, attributes of the dyad are equally, if not more, consequential for explaining variation in who gets asked to participate in civic activity. Importantly, while certain dyadic characteristics-such as romantic partnerships-promote recruitment to all three forms of civic activity, the effects of others-such as sex homophily-are unique to specific forms. Broadly speaking, our results indicate that some types of dyadic characteristics are more powerful than others and that there are important differences in how particular dimensions of social connections shape recruitment efforts across the specific activities of donating blood, volunteering time, and engaging in political activism.

Villains, Victims, and Heroes in Character Theory and Affect Control Theory

We examine three basic tropes—villain, victim, and hero—that emerge in images, claims, and narratives. We compare recent research on characters with the predictions of an established tradition, affect control theory (ACT). Combined, the theories describe core traits of the villain-victim-hero triad and predict audiences’ reactions. Character theory (CT) can help us understand the cultural roots of evaluation, potency, and activity profiles and the robustness of profile ratings. It also provides nuanced information regarding multiplicity in, and subtypes of, characters and how characters work together to define roles. Character types can be strategically deployed in political realms, potentially guiding strategies, goals, and group dynamics. ACT predictions hold up well, but CT suggests several paths for extension and elaboration. In many cases, cultural research and social psychology work on parallel tracks, with little cross-talk. They have much to learn from each other.

Cognitive Shocks: Scientific Discovery and Mobilization

Abstract Science, through the generation of new knowledge, has the ability to transform commonly held beliefs. Occasionally scientific discoveries produce “cognitive shocks”, which refer to new information that can restructure an individuals beliefs or understandings about the world in a way that affects attitudes toward, and support for, social change. Social movements can play a key role in deploying, framing, and in some cases, producing, cognitive shocks that affect public opinion and political advocacy. Three case studies of scientific cognitive shocks illuminate the interplay between social movements and science and the resulting effects on attitudes and activism: studies finding that smoking cigarettes and exposure to secondhand smoke have harmful health effects, studies suggesting that sexual orientation has a biological basis, and scientific evidence for cetacean intelligence. Cognitive shocks emphasize how compelling shifts in conceptual and logical perceptions can act as powerful motivators of activism and, by doing so, complement existing work done in social movement literature on the role of emotions in mobilization. It is likely that a combination of emotional and rational motivators sustain activism, and a more thorough understanding of how both of these processes affect mobilization can serve to better elucidate the mechanisms underlying opinions toward, and action taken for, social change.