Designing Graphs to Communicate Risks: Understanding How the Choice of Graphical Format Influences Decision Making

Previous research suggests that the choice of graphical format for communicating risk information affects both understanding of the risk magnitude and the likelihood of acting to decrease risk. However, the mechanisms through which these effects work are poorly understood. To explore these mechanisms using a real‐world scenario, we examined the relative impact of two graphical displays for depicting the risk of exposure to unexploded ammunition during potential land redevelopment. One display depicted only the foreground information graphically (a bar graph of the number of people harmed), and a second depicted the foreground and background graphically (a stacked bar graph representing both the number harmed and at risk). We presented 296 participants with either the foreground‐only or the foreground and background graphical display and measured a broad set of outcome variables, examining (1) the graphical display effect on each of the outcome measures and (2) the pathways by which any display effects work to influence decision making. We found that the foreground‐only graphical display increased perceived likelihood and experienced fear, which produced greater worry, which in turn increased risk aversion. In addition, a positive evaluation of the communication materials increased support for policies related to land redevelopment, whether those policies were risk taking or risk mitigating. Finally, the foreground‐only graphical display decreased understanding of the risk magnitude, showing that approaches to accomplish one risk communication goal (promoting risk‐averse decisions) may do so at the expense of another goal (increasing understanding).     

Savings Account Ownership During the Great Recession

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, a substantial number of families were left financially at risk, especially those with lower income, less wealth, fewer years of education, and unstable employment. This study examined how families responded to the financial stresses of the Great Recession and found that families who were working age, had higher levels of education, and had become non-homeowners were more likely to maintain or open a basic savings account; whereas families who had lost a substantial amount of annual family income or wealth or were Black or Hispanic were more likely to have been without a savings account over the period. Insights from this study will help inform policymakers and others interested in encouraging family financial security and resiliency through basic savings accounts.     

Teenagers,Contraception, and Pregnancy*

A cooperative program is reported which makes available to the school a series of group discussions on boy-girl relations, sexual physiology, venereal disease, and contraception. Girls attending these sessions, if they so desire, may attend the University Hospital Teen Clinic for physical examination and contraceptive supplies. One hundred and seventy students attended groups, of whom 74 attended teen clinics, and 61 became contraceptors. A second city high school has been added to the program. Staff believes that as young women learn that pregnancy is their choice, they will move into responsible relationships with ability to handle adequately planned motherhood.     

Reciprocity in relationships: socio-economic and health influences on intergenerational exchanges between Third Age parents and their adult children in Great Britain

In this paper data from a nationally representative British longitudinal study are used to analyse exchanges of support between Third Age parents (aged 55-75) and their adult children. Results show that between two thirds and three quarters of parents in this age group were involved in some sort of exchange relationship with at least one of their children. Generally, more Third Age parents were providers than recipients of help, but there was a strong reciprocal element to intergenerational exchange with, for example, married parents who provided support to at least one child being twice as likely as those who did not to receive support from a child, after allowance for a range of relevant parental and child characteristics. Parental characteristics associated with higher probability of providing help included higher income, home ownership and being married or widowed rather than divorced. Higher income and home ownership were, however, negatively associated with odds of receiving help from a child, again after adjustment for other co-variates, suggesting socio-economic differences in the balance of support exchanges. Children seem responsive to parental needs in that receipt of help from a child was positively associated with older parental age and with parental disability. The paper shows that in Britain, as in the USA, the balance of intergenerational exchanges involving Third Age adults is downward rather than upward, in contravention of depictions of older adults as 'burdens' on younger generations. Current demographic and social changes are, it is argued, likely to increase support demands from adult children to Third Age parents in coming decades.     

Modeling Phytosanitary Risk of Unintended Commodity Use: The Example of U.S. Potato Exports to Mexico

Diversion of commodities from their intended use to an unintended use, e.g., when commodities intended for consumption are used as seed for planting, is an important issue in agricultural trade that has implications for the establishment of pests and pathogens in an importing country and for the appropriate strength of plant health measures. Consequently, understanding and accurately characterizing the risk of diversion from intended use is highly relevant to policymakers, trading partners, and in trade dispute arbitration. To our knowledge, no risk assessments have ever accounted for the likelihood of diversion from intended use. Here we present an approach to analyzing this risk using diversion of U.S. table stock potatoes to seed for planting by Mexican potato producers as a case study. We use probabilistic pathway models to characterize the movement of white, yellow, and russet potatoes from the United States into Mexico at current and double export volumes. We then model the likelihood of these potatoes being diverted for seed and the subsequent establishment of bacteria, nematode, and virus pests in Mexico. Our approach demonstrates how diversion from intended use can be quantified in one scenario and, in particular, how it can be analyzed to estimate the magnitude of diversion required to produce a high risk of pest establishment.     

Telling their story of homelessness: voices of Victoria’s Tent City

In a climate of reduced access to affordable and appropriate housing, tent cities have emerged as a unique solution to homelessness. Conducted with a semi-structured interview schedule, this qualitative study presents the findings of research conducted at Tent City, Victoria in 2016. Using snowball sampling, 12 residents of Tent City participated in research that revealed four themes for analysis: (1) push and pull motivations to join the encampment; (2) the role of services in resident’s lives; (3) residents’ experiences with the outside community; and (4) Tent City as a home community. Push factors included substance abuse, mental health problems, unemployment, family problems while pull factors included lack of affordable and appropriate housing, loss of housing, and personal issues. Residents’ experiences with services were generally negative with social/health services being considered inadequate, housing options overly restrictive and controlling. The outside community was considered hostile and uninformed as the workings of Tent City and the benefits it provided. Importantly, Tent City provided both a psychological and functional sense of community for residents. While the directions for future research are many, further examination of the broader sociopolitical context in which tent cities emerge could be examined. As well, the themes identified here could be explored further in terms of how existing services could be restructured to better respond to the needs of homeless persons.     

Benzene Inhalation by Parts Washers: New Estimates Based on Measures of Occupational Exposure to Solvent Coaromatics

Questions persist regarding assessment of workers’ exposures to products containing low levels of benzene, such as mineral spirit solvent (MSS). This study summarizes previously unpublished data for parts‐washing activities, and evaluates potential daily and lifetime cumulative benzene exposures incurred by workers who used historical and current formulations of a recycled mineral spirits solvent in manual parts washers. Measured benzene concentrations in historical samples from parts‐washing operations were frequently below analytical detection limits. To better assess benzene exposure among these workers, air‐to‐solvent concentration ratios measured for toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (TEX) were used to predict those for benzene based on a statistical model, conditional on physical‐chemical theory supported by new thermodynamic calculations of TEX and benzene activity coefficients in a modeled MSS‐type solvent. Using probabilistic methods, the distributions of benzene concentrations were then combined with distributions of other exposure parameters to estimate eight‐hour time‐weighted average (TWA) exposure concentration distributions and corresponding daily respiratory dose distributions for workers using these solvents in parts washers. The estimated 50th (95th) percentile of the daily respiratory dose and corresponding eight‐hour TWA air concentration for workers performing parts washing are 0.079 (0.77) mg and 0.0030 (0.028) parts per million by volume (ppm) for historical solvent, and 0.020 (0.20) mg and 0.00078 (0.0075) ppm for current solvent, respectively. Both 95th percentile eight‐hour TWA respiratory exposure estimates for solvent formulations are less than 10% of the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 1.0 ppm for benzene.