Examining the Effectiveness of Cognitive Interviews in Enhancing Multicultural Validity in Measurement Instruments

  • Faculty: Hsien-Yuan (Mark) Hsu, Associate Professor of Education
  • Student: Gianna Tamilio, Math and Psychology

The primary aim of the research project is to enhance the multicultural validity of measurement instruments, ensuring that the instruments can measure intended constructs uniformly across student groups with diverse cultural backgrounds. Over the past year, the research team has conducted cognitive interviews to identify any wording issues in two instruments - the Faculty Encouragement Scale and the Sense of Belonging Scale. Based on the results of the cognitive interviews, the team has revised the two scales. In the current year, the research team plans to conduct an experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive interviews in enhancing the multicultural validity of measurement instruments. The study will recruit a diverse sample of students from UML and possibly other universities. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two online survey conditions - the original survey or the revised survey. Advanced statistical modeling (factor mixture modeling) will then be applied to examine the function of instrument items. It is expected that the revised scales will be less sensitive to student backgrounds, including race/ethnicity, age, and SES.

Psychophysiological Reactions to Violent Decisions Using Different Research Tools

  • Faculty: Joseph Gonzales, Associate Professor of Psychology
  • Student: Julie Le, Psychology

The psychological study of violence (e.g., aggression, assault, and sexual assault) is difficult and (generally) unethical to observe in lab and naturalistic settings. Consequently, the social sciences have become dependent on self-report measures, which are prone to multiple sources of bias. In response, the present study investigates the validity of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure (CYOA) tool to study violent behavior by measuring physical reactions—e.g., heart rate. Specifically, this project will compare physical responses of participants during two different violence-eliciting methods: the CYOA method (which allows participants to make a violent decision) vs. the Vignette method (in which participants are randomly told they made a violent or nonviolent decision). The goals of this study are to determine: (1) Do CYOA participants (vs. Vignette participants) have stronger physical reactions—e.g., change in heart rate—during the study; (2) Do physical changes—e.g., change in heart rate—predict whether participants make violent decisions; and (3) What are the best statistical approaches to model these data?

Systemic Issues in the Criminal Justice System

  • Faculty: Yahayra Michel, Assistant Teaching Professor of Criminology
  • Student: Craig Verret, Criminal Justice

Social conflict is everywhere and the systems we have in place to address them are not always equipped to do so. Knowledge is the first step in making decisions that turn this set of circumstances around. This project seeks to improve the accessibility of information related to systemic issues in the criminal justice system in an age of mass incarceration, mandatory sentencing, and distrust of the police. The goal of this project is to complete the preliminary work for creating an open-access textbook that addresses systemic issues in policing, courts, and corrections. The student will engage with the literature and help summarize the empirical evidence on issues related to police use of force, plea bargaining, juveniles in the adult system, the rise of private prisons, and more. Racial disparities along the criminal justice process are a major component of this project. This work will extend the ideas, arguments, and evidence presented by Michelle Alexander in the New Jim Crow. Alexander claims we are “not yet saved”, “not yet entered the promised land” and “not yet free from our racial history”. Our goal is to present updated empirical evidence to determine the extent to which these statements are true today.

Comparing Violent Behavior, Arrestee Characteristics, and Policing and Prosecution Decisions at the George Floyd Protests and U.S. Capitol Incursion

  • Faculty: Emily Greene-Colozzi, Assistant Professor of Criminology
  • Student: Jenna Noonan, Political Science and Sociology

In 2020, the nation was rocked by civil unrest and political protest after the police-involved murder of George Floyd. A year later, political protest and violence broke out once more, this time in our nation’s capital when rioters illegally entered the Capitol building to protest the 2020 presidential election. Preliminary research suggests important differences between the individuals who attended these events, including distinctive racial, age, and gender characteristics. The study will use open-source data collection to examine the characteristics of individuals arrested for violence at these two political events, as well as examine the police and prosecutorial responses. Open sources will be used to code variables in a conceptual codebook aimed at understanding differences in violent behavior, police tactics, and prosecution, with implications for understanding policing, equality and social justice, and political extremism. We will focus on individuals who were arrested and charged with violent offenses against persons (e.g., assault), and gather open-source information contextualizing what happened during the offense, as well as code a series of arrest and charging variables to identify any differences in policing and prosecution responses.

Determining Factors and Predictors of Burnout and Intent to Turnover in Human Services

  • Faculty: Anita Li, Assistant Professor of Psychology
  • Student: Celia Wong, Psychology and French

Burnout can be the result of extended job-related stress, resulting in cynicism, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion. Within healthcare and special education, burnout may be caused by the presence of student challenging behavior, lack of administrative support, and demands of the position. Additionally, demographic factors such as age of employees, relationship status, and level of education can contribute to likelihood of burnout. It has already been reported that behavior analysts experience high rates of job burnout and work-related stress. The long-term effects of burnout affect both the individual and the organization, resulting in poor work quality, long-term stress, absenteeism, job turnover, and ultimately service disruption to clients in need. Due to the importance of the role of behavioral health technicians and paraprofessionals in service provision, it is critical that burnout predictors and factors are identified to allow service agencies to intervene and create systems to reduce likelihood of burnout. This project aims to survey behavioral professionals and examine factors related to job role, demographics, and agency characteristics to determine relations affecting burnout and intent to turnover. The hope is that this project can inform interventions to improve employee’s quality of work and work/life balance.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Textile Disposal Ban: At the intersection of Fast Fashion and Sustainability

  • Faculty: Aaron Smith Walter, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Jasmina Burek, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
  • Students: Katrina Smith, Psychology and Anthony Amatucci, Political Science

In 2022, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection added textiles to its list of materials which were banned from disposal in the state. This ban could have substantial impacts on individuals and institutions across the state, and identifying the impact removing textiles from the waste stream and messages to increase public awareness and compliance is important to maximize the benefits of the change. The goal of the project is to produce a case study for campus-based interventions and community-outreach strategies to support the growth of textile repurposing, and recycling including textiles made of natural fibers and synthetic (man-made) fibers. The scope of the project includes analysis, development, and implementation of public policies supportive of a contributing to a more sustainable resource stream for textiles entering the recycle or disposal stage of their life cycle on and around the UMass Lowell campus. This project will collect data on how the University is responding to the new textile waste ban, the awareness of the ban among students, faculty, and staff, use life-cycle analysis to understand the impact of current levels of disposal and or recycling on the environmental footprint and what actions students and the university can take to make positive changes.

Picturing Prevention: A Content Analysis of Picture Books about Child Sexual Abuse

  • Faculty: Ryan Shields, Assistant Professor of Criminology
  • Student: Lauren McNally, Sociology & Criminal Justice and Ivelisse Garcia, Psychology

Effective public health messaging is essential in order to address and prevent child sexual abuse. Since the 1980s, authors have used picture books as one medium to explore child sexual abuse. Picture books represent an opportunity for young readers to understand and process a complex topic like child sexual abuse in a way that is age-appropriate, engaging, and safe. But how effective is this messaging? What kinds of words are used? What pictures are included? What and who gets depicted? What stories, voices, or perspectives are missing? To date, research has not sufficiently examined children’s picture books as a method of public health messaging about child sexual abuse and, importantly, its prevention. The goal of this project is advance knowledge by evaluating children’s picture books as a potential source of public health messaging about child sexual abuse. Specifically, this project will a) assess the images and messages used in children’s picture books about child sexual abuse, and b) determine how well this content aligns with current public health messaging about child sexual abuse prevention. We will use qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify key themes in picture books, as well as major gaps that should be addressed in future books.

How Can Music Keep Children Safe From Injuries?

  • Faculty: Elissa Johnson-Green, Associate Professor of Music and Music Education , Jiabin Shen, Assistant Professor of Psychology
  • Student: Jai Aravala, Psychology

This qualitative research project focuses on accidental injury prevention in children and on effective ways to teach them how to care for themselves through body awareness and strategies to safely navigate various environments. In a previous study led by Jiabin Shen, Department of Psychology, children were shown educational videos in which peers told stories about how they used skills and strategies to keep themselves safe. Based on that research, we are interested in how the addition of a musical soundtrack to educational video-storytelling might enhance children’s learning and help them to retain knowledge and skills they need to avoid harm. We will be collaborating with UML’s NERVE Center for an added neuroscience component. Our main research questions: How might the combination of music and video-storytelling enhance children’s ability to internalize, synthesize, and engage with information about injury prevention? How might children’s interactions with the videos help raise their awareness and reduce incidences of accidental injury? What are the differences in knowledge retention among treatment/control groups? Our Emerging Scholars will work with us to compose and edit video soundtracks, implement pilot research and beta testing, and work with us to collect data on site at the NERVE center alongside Mo Modarres at UMass Chan Medical School, our resident expert in psychiatry and neuroscience.

Meaning-making and Community Practices in Online Polyamory/Ethical Non-monogamy (ENM) Spaces

  • Faculty: Cheryl Llewellyn, Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology
  • Students: Zofia Janusz, Sociology and Cassidy Rivera-Keefe, Sociology

Recent studies suggest that as many as 1 in 5 people have been in an open relationship in their lifetime, and about 1 in 3 are interested in non-monogamy. Despite increasing interest and practice among individuals, non-monogamous relationships continue to be stigmatized. In the absence of cultural and institutional recognition, people interested in ethical non-monogamous relationship structures turn to online spaces and communities to make sense out of their experiences, create group norms, and develop community standards. In this project, we will collect and code threads from polyamory and ENM-specific forums and analyze the role of race, class, gender, and sexuality in community practices and politics.

The Evolution and Devolution of Academic Freedom Around the World

  • Faculty: Jenifer Whitten-Woodring, Dean of the Honors College, Associate Professor of Political Science, A. J. Angulo, Professor of Education
  • Students: Cameron McLaughlin, Economics and Enzo Levati, Psychology

Academic Freedom—which we conceptualize as the freedom to learn and the freedom to study and engage in research as well as the freedom to teach and share findings from research—is under threat around the world. Threats today include government attempts to regulate the internet, attempts by religious groups against the teaching of the theory of evolution, and efforts everywhere to rewrite history to minimize inconvenient truths. For this study we are continuing to develop a novel dataset that measures the level of academic freedom for all available countries from 1948 to 2020.

Impact of STEM Podcasting and Role Models on High School Student Career Aspirations

  • Faculty: Yanfen Li, Assistant Teaching Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Student: Mustafa Mullah, History

The goal of this project is to understand how a new STEM career-based podcast Accidentally Brilliant can influence high school student career aspirations. This podcast aims to inspire high school and undergraduate students to pursue STEM careers by providing role models, giving accurate representation of STEM careers, and reducing stress by providing examples of overcoming challenges. Each podcast episode has an accompanying lesson plan for high school teachers to use in the classroom. The goal of this research is to study whether media such as podcasts can influence high school student career aspirations. We wish to study the influence of the podcast on student STEM identity and how it compares to other factors which affect student career outcomes.