Category: News

Jiaying Liu, PhD
OIBR Fellow
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Topic: How Social Media Exposure Affects People’s Knowledge About COVID-19

In collaboration with a colleague in China, Dr. Jiaying Liu (PI) conducted an online survey and collected a representative sample of Chinese netizens (total N = 1,300) from Feb.-Mar. 2020 in five large Chinese cities (Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Changchun). The survey was to understand how people’s social media exposure affects their knowledge about COVID-19, and their behavioral intentions to practice recommended social distancing practices (such as wearing masks, washing hands, etc.).

Dr. Liu observed that more than 90% of Chinese netizens’ major information source about COVID-19 was social media, especially from the superapp “WeChat”. Interestingly, she found that individuals who were more engaged in social media discussions (by sharing and commenting on the social media posts about COVID-19), their knowledge about COVID-19 was less likely to be accurate, and indicating the prevalence of COVID-19 related misinformation on the social media platforms in China. In addition, higher engagement in COVID-19 related social media discussions, was also found to be significantly associated with lower behavioral intentions to practice recommended social distancing procedures.

This study can help us better understand the nature of COVID-19 related information on social media, and its downstream effects on people’s intentions to practice social distancing. The findings of the study can shed light on how to conduct effective interventions, including proactive media campaigns to promote positive health outcomes and defensive measures to limit the reach of online misinformation about COVID-19.

Learn more about Dr. Jiaying Liu here.

Erin Dolan, PhD
OIBR Fellow
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Topic: Momentary Assessment of Research Learning Environments

Dr. Erin Dolan (PI) was awarded a $1.4M NSF Rapid grant to study the participation of undergraduate research experiences (UREs), including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). These experiences may influence a student’s persistence in science, that is, whether a student graduates from college with a science degree. Her team is especially interested in students’ professional growth and career interests in distance offerings compared to typical in-person offerings, as well as features of programs that enable them to develop a sense of community in their programs.

In the past, research has been widely implemented for many years without much knowledge of the specific characteristics of the experiences that are necessary to positively influence student persistence. This knowledge gap is critical to address because undergraduate research experiences vary widely in their designs and thus in their likely effectiveness. Furthermore, most studies of research experiences ask students to provide their perceptions at the end of the experience rather than during the experience. This delay can be problematic in several ways. For example, in end of experience assessments, students may overemphasize more recent events. In addition, end of experience assessment does not capture changes in students’ experiences over time.

Dr. Dolan’s research project will use a method called ecological momentary assessment to document students’ research experiences at multiple times per week, enabling the investigators to better understand student experiences as they occur. This information has the potential to provide new insights into how UREs and CUREs influence student persistence in science. The research will involve students in introductory and upper-level research experiences, including UREs and CUREs in genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, ecology, and other life science disciplines. The study will include approximately 1500 students at nine different universities, including those with high enrollments of students from groups underrepresented in science.

Guided by self-efficacy theory and social cognitive career theory, this EHR Core Research project will characterize key features of UREs and CUREs in the life sciences and how these features relate to students’ development as scientists. It will also address methodological shortcomings of previous studies of undergraduate student research experiences by adapting ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and topic modeling to identify recurring themes in students’ responses to EMAs.

In Phase 1 the researchers will test and refine the research methodologies. The team will use EMA to: 1) collect and analyze data from a diverse group of 750 students who are participating in UREs and CUREs at nine universities; 2) characterize aspects of the experiences that are hypothesized to affect student development (amount of time, nature of collaborations, levels of epistemic involvement); and 3) identify other aspects of research experiences that are salient to students. In addition, the investigators will use established scales to measure students’ science self-efficacy, sources of efficacy, scientific identity, outcome expectations, and intentions to continue in science before and after participating in UREs.

In Phase 2, the project team will collect and analyze data from a second cohort of 750 students, and use structural equation modeling to better understand how features of research experiences serve as sources of self-efficacy for students. In addition, the project team will identify the features of research experiences that relate to changes in students’ science self-efficacy, science identity, expectations about further education or a career in science, and intended and actual persistence in science. The team will also explore whether and how the results differ with respect to student sociodemographic variables.

The research results from this 3 year project is expected to provide insight into how different research environments influence STEM students’ career interests, including factors such as whether and how students are involved in shaping the research they do influences their interests and intentions to pursue research careers.  

For more information about this research, check out Dr. Dolan’s lab.

Denise Clark Lewis, PhD
OIBR Fellow
Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Topic: COVID-19 impact on Cambodian and Laotian families

Dr. Denise Lewis (PI) has had more than 20 years of research history with the Cambodian and Laotian communities on the Alabama coast. She relies heavily on community leaders to help her know how to reach the population safely and what they are facing. In March she held community-based Zoom meetings to discuss the overall response and needs in the two communities. There was a great deal of fear reported among older members of the Lao community, including going grocery shopping; this fear was not reported in the Cambodian group. Social distancing was not being followed by young adults in the early part of the pandemic and some young Southeast Asian adults reported attacks by young, white adults (blaming them for the Coronavirus and remarks about them bringing the virus to the US, etc.).

The fear by the older members of the Lao community led to some food insecurity issues. In collaboration with community partners, Dr. Lewis worked to address the problem by engaging younger community members, who are part of the youth advisory committee (under her grant) and community partners in food bank pickups for the older members of the community. “Denise quickly responded to the local community’s needs, immediately having documents translated and disseminated and helped them to access food through a local food bank. While outreach is a part of the grant, I think this also shows the connection and immersion of the project within the local community and how the research is transcending what we might “normally” do,” said Dr. Desiree Seponski, assistant professor, Human Development and Family Science, project collaborator and OIBR Affiliate.

The research team launched a social and behavioral survey in three languages (English, Khmer, and Lao) using Facebook. The short survey was focused on identifying stressors and coping mechanisms and asked questions about knowledge of and preparations for dealing with the pandemic. They were successful in reaching Cambodian and Laotian families with just over 300 responses.

A look at preliminary data shows that they reached a younger population than they normally would reach, but did not reach many people over age 40. Preliminary analysis shows that respondents were aware of the pandemic by March 2020 and began preparing at that time (stocking homes with essentials, added social distancing, talking and planning with family members). Their primary source of information was through the internet with spread of information through word of mouth (that is, a few people follow various internet outlets then report it to family members). There was a very high fear of becoming infected, especially fear for older members of the communities. Fifty percent of Cambodian and ninety percent of Lao people who had been working prior to the pandemic are now unemployed. Sixty-five percent of respondents are worried about racism aimed at them because they are of Asian descent. 

As the pandemic has spread, more community members have begun taking additional precautions such as wearing masks. However, as restrictions have been lifted, several extended families have begun interacting across households. There has also been an increase in use of Facebook among members of the Lao community for disseminating information about the virus. These posts have included CDC documents that have been translated into Lao. CDC documents were also translated into Khmer but other information about the virus has not been as widely shared in the Cambodian community. 

Dr. Lewis is now considering how to expand the survey so they can reach additional marginalized groups in the area and how they can better reach the older population. Her hope is that they can do a face-to-face administered survey in the fall that includes social network analysis. Face-to-face meetings will allow them to reach a greater number of older participants.

She is also moving forward with emergency response research using Zoom as well as beginning to implement a larger scale community emergency response system. This research has little to do with the pandemic but is for a broader emergency response network within the community.

This research is important for understanding how marginalized groups learn about, prepare for, and recover from traumatic experiences, such as this pandemic, or other environmental challenges. Dr. Lewis’ research on COVID-19 provides valuable information for policymakers and emergency response organizations regarding gaps in knowledge transmission and can provide insights into the specific needs of these groups. Because her project is community-based, her research is also beneficial for creating real-time, on-time actions to respond to difficulties community members face (such as the food insecurity issue). 

To learn more about this ongoing research, you can visit their website.

Michelle vanDellen, PhD
OIBR Fellow
Associate Professor, Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program
Social Psychology
Topic: Psychological reactions to the pandemic

Understanding how people react to policies, governmental authorities, and situations can improve implementation of policies. Dr. Michelle vanDellen is leading the PsyCorona project and is tracking 50,000+ participants from 22 countries each week. The data collection began in March when the COVID-19 pandemic was just unfolding. This international project includes integration with data scientists to merge big data sets connecting geo-tracking, policy documentation, and actual viral spread, with the psychological constructs that have been assessed.

One preliminary finding is the observed difference in men and women’s mortality rate due to COVID-19 may not be entirely biological. All of the current research findings can be viewed at PsyCorona.org . At this time there are 31 manuscripts and policy reports that have already been approved to use the data even though the project is anticipated to last for quite awhile. Dr. vanDellen’s team wants to capture both acute and long-term effects of COVID-19 on psychological and social factors.

“Behavioral insights are valuable to inform the planning of appropriate pandemic response measures,” stated Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, World Health Organization Regional Director for Europe. The WHO just released a statement that behavioral science is critical.

The PsyCorona website has an interesting data visual application to learn more about the survey. If you would like to contribute to this research by completing the survey, go here.

Kristen Shockley, PhD
OIBR Fellow
Associate Professor, Psychology Dept.
Topic: Rapid Transition to Remote Work

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people into working remotely. Many organizations did not previously have any type of remote work policy nor did they have any insight on best practices for remote work. Dr. Kristen Shockley has received a NSF Rapid Response grant to look at organizational, individual, and managerial factors that predict people’s successful transition (as indicated by performance and well-being). The goal of her research is to provide evidence-based best practices so that remote work now, and in the future, can function as smoothly as possible for everyone. Learn more about her research here.