UNO Public Administration PhD Research Roundtable Series
Thursday, February 3, 2:00-3:00 pm
Title: Getting What You Give: Research Design, Data Quality, and Online Crowdsourcing Marketplaces.
Guest speaker: Dr. Tom Jamieson, UNO Emergency Management and Disaster Sciences
Over the past decade, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and similar online marketplaces have revolutionized human subjects research, providing good, low-cost data for researchers with limited research budgets. Much scholarship has debated the merits of these samples, with participant attention, ‘cheating’, and the use of VPNs complicating the interpretation of findings, leading to a recent article to argue MTurk is “emerging as a ‘market for lemons’ in which bad actors eventually crowd out the good” (Ahler el al. 2021). While the authors highlight valid concerns that researchers must take seriously, requesters often get the data we deserve. Online forums such as Turkopticon are rife with worker reports of under-or non-payment, so it is unsurprising workers exploit loopholes and take liberties in completing surveys. While high-quality samples are certainly preferable, many researchers have little option but to use these marketplaces to make lemonade. In order to make best use of online marketplaces, I argue that it is important for requesters to turn the focus on ourselves as well as on participants, and adopt research practices that minimize data quality concerns. Towards this end, I provide recommendations about research design and research ethics to make the best of online marketplaces.
Location: Zoom: https://unomaha.zoom.us/j/5654279639
Thursday, March 3, 2:00-3:00pm
Title: Community-Engaged Research at UNO
Guest speakers:
- Dr. Cristián Doña-Reveco, Office of Latino/Latin American Studies
- Dr. Jeanette Harder & Ms. Angela Batson, Support and Training for the Evaluation of Programs (STEPs)
- Dr. Josie Gatti Schafer, Center for Public Affairs Research
UNO has several centers, institutes or offices that do various kinds of engaged and applied research, important to assisting and understanding the local community. This session features a few of these entities, all of which offer potential research opportunities for collaboration with our PhD students. Representatives will give an overview of the types of research and other work they provide and discuss potential collaboration opportunities.
Location: Zoom: https://unomaha.zoom.us/j/5654279639
Thursday, April 14, 2:00-3:00pm
Title: Tax Incentive and Household Saving Strategy: A Regression Discontinuity Approach to Catch-Up Contributions
Guest speaker: Dr. Trang Hoang, UNO Public Administration
This study examines how the catch-up provision–a tax-deferral incentive–impacts total retirement saving and household saving strategies. Using the Survey of Consumer Finance from 2004 to 2016, this study finds the catchup provision does not have a positive impact on total retirement saving in most cases; however, this provision is found to positively impact contributions to defined contribution plans among middle-class households whose income ranges were between $50,000 and $100,000. The study also finds household saving and consumption habits, which include self-control factors, as well as employer-match programs, play an important role in increasing savings for retirement. The results have implications for future work on a broad spectrum of social policies and programs that promote financial security in retirement.
Location: CPACS 208 or Zoom: https://unomaha.zoom.us/j/5654279639
Thursday, May 5, 2:00-3:00 pm
Title: Developing Inclusive Leadership and Networks
Guest speaker: Dr. Herb Thompson, UNO Communication
It has been stated that inclusion is much more difficult to accomplish than diversity (Shore et al., 2018). The need for inclusive leadership practices in higher education continues to be more and more evident. This research provides some insight into how inclusive leadership is presently understood and how inclusive networks can be intentionally developed. The research will include studies on mentorship and leadership training programs and their efforts to enhance inclusive practices.
Location: CPACS 208 or Zoom: https://unomaha.zoom.us/j/5654279639