Gender,electrodermal activity,and videogames: Adding a psychophysiological dimension to sociolinguistic methods

User experience research on the affective dimensions of videogame players’ interactions has looked to psychophysiological measures as proxies for emotional states. We add to the growing body of literature on this topic and offer our research as a novel application to the methodological toolbox of sociolinguistics. We present a case study of an interaction occurring in a mixed‐gender group (3m/1f) playing a video game that has a potentially sexualized component in gameplay, using a Nintendo Wii‐mote joystick as a mimetic penis in the game Mario Party 8. Through a detailed analysis of (1) gameplay interaction, including talk, laughter and gesture, (2) participants’ electrodermal activity (EDA), and (3) a post‐game debriefing, we track the varied engagements of the players in‐game and with each other, showing how the design of the game itself and the entanglement of hardware and software design with gendered gameplay serve to marginalize and exclude the female participant.     

Dining with the Devil: Identity Formations in Juarez,Mexico

This article analyzes popular narratives surrounding the theme of drug lords in the Mexican border city of Juarez and their multifaceted social, ideological, and material effects. This analysis takes into consideration the historical context of eruptions of violence that Juarez has endured in the last few years. Complex formations of the Mexican identity are now being reformulated in hierarchical, gendered, and racialized identities, which project the very strong and powerful social frictions currently emerging from complex socioeconomic factors resulting in mass poverty and migration. These elements are evinced in the narco-narratives within their violent contexts. However, violence in Juarez must not be interpreted as upsurges outside the control of the state, but rather as byproducts of conflict within it (see Das and Poole 2004). Thus, on the border, Juarez becomes a central site, not a periphery, in which economic and political forces materialize in the middle of complex social dynamics.     

Valuation of Air Quality in Chile: The Life Satisfaction Approach

Social Indicators Research - Chile is one of the worst countries in Latin America in terms of urban air pollution. This situation negatively affects the health and well-being of Chileans. This...     

Urban high-resolution fossil fuel CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions quantification and exploration of emission drivers for potential policy applications

Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO₂) emissions are the largest driver of anthropogenic climate change. Approximately three-quarters of the world’s fossil fuels carbon dioxide emissions are generated in urban areas. We used the Hestia high resolution approach to quantify FFCO₂ for Salt Lake County, Utah, USA and demonstrate the importance of high resolution quantification to urban emissions mitigation policymaking. We focus on the residential and onroad sectors across both urbanized and urbanizing parts of the valley. Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) regression models using sociodemographic data at the census block group level shows that population, per capita income, and building age exhibit positive relationships while household size shows a negative relationship with FFCO₂ emissions. Compact development shows little effect on FFCO₂ emissions in this domain. FFCO₂ emissions in high income block groups is twice as sensitive to income than low income block groups. Emissions are four times as sensitive to household size in low-income versus high-income block groups. These results suggest that policy options targeting personal responsibility or knowledge feedback loops may be the most effective strategies. Examples include utility bill performance comparison or publicly available energy maps identifying high-emitting areas. Within the onroad sector, high emissions density (FFCO₂/km) is associated with primary roads, while high emissions intensity (FFCO₂/VMT) is associated with secondary roads. Opportunities exist for alignment of public transportation extension with remaining high emission road segments, offering a prioritization of new onroad transportation policy in Salt Lake County.     

Estimation of a nonlinear discriminant function from a mixture of two GEV distributions

In this paper, the identifiability of finite mixture of generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions is proved. Next, a procedure for finding maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the parameters of a finite mixture of two generalized extreme value (MGEV) distributions is presented by using classified and unclassified observations. Then, a nonlinear discriminant function for a mixture of two GEV distributions is derived and the performance of the corresponding estimated discriminant function is investigated through a series of simulation experiments. Finally, the methodology is applied to real data.     

Working on Treatment Teams: Educating Social Work Students to Function as Addiction Specialists within Interdisciplinary Groups

Social workers specializing in the addictions field invariably work with multiple disciplines. Any intervention must be organized in consideration of various fields of practice such as mental health, criminal justice, child welfare, and health care. As part of their education, social workers become adept at understanding the influence of factors associated with physical, mental, and social functioning. Thus, they learn to appreciate the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. However, once students become practitioners, they are often left on their own to solidify their specific role as addiction specialists among several other professionals. Working as a member of an interdisciplinary team can be taught in the classroom. The authors apply Bronstein’s model for team collaboration to build a method for teaching interdisciplinary work specific to the role of the addiction specialist. Within the interdisciplinary team model, students take on the various team roles and decide the importance of these roles in a substance use case study. They are taught how to assess, diagnose, identify appropriate evidence-based methods, build client objectives and goals, solidify concrete action plans, and evaluate effectiveness. As these methods have yet to be researched in the classroom, the authors offer recommendations for evaluation and future research.     

Are Conditional Cash Transfer programs for women? Engendering the Philippine Pantawid

Evaluation studies reveal positive outcomes of Conditional Cash Transfer program. This program, however, warrants an analysis using the lens of gender. Based on interview data among selected Pantawid's national, regional, provincial, and municipal personnel, as well as secondary data, this article finds that the program has limited impact on gender justice for it restricts the agency of mothers as grantees. For a social development program to perform democratizing functions, it must challenge unequal, patriarchal relations.     

Explaining Urban Migration from Mexico City to the USA: Social Networks and Territorial Attachments

Using a representative survey on a municipality in Mexico City, the article explores the relevance of both social networks and place attachments for US migration. By comparing households with and without migrants, the logistic regression models show that social networks make emigration more selective with respect “education”, but less selective regarding “sex” and “marital status”. These results shed new light on the mechanism through which social networks operate in urban settings. Even if a municipality that is very homogeneous in terms of poverty and employment opportunities, variations on the socio‐demographic profile of the would‐be emigrants to the USA are found depending on the household′s social networks. As for territorial variables, the general impression is one of placelessness, apart from attachment to the municipality, but here again social networks act as an intervening variable.