NYCSEA

Abstract: Abstract: Women have traditionally been underrepresented in jobs that require physical strength, speed or stamina. There is good reason.  A firefighter, for example, must prove he is able to carry 100 pounds down a ladder, in the event it is necessary to rescue someone from a burning building.  Some women have claimed that this unfairly discriminates against them because they lack the physical strength to pass the mandated tests. As a result, some fire departments have provided exemptions to women who apply for these positions, reducing the speed or strength that is required for their male counterparts.  Does gender equality supersede policies even when they involve human health and safety. ​Statistically, women earn about 80 cents of every dollar that men earn. This has prompted many to claim that the gender pay gap is a result of discrimination against women.  Could it be that other factors are in play? Women tend to gravitate more often to lower-paying jobs such as sales clerks and receptionists.  Is this somehow the result of systemic sexism?  Jobs that are considered dirty, physically demanding, or dangerous are much more often filled by men than women. Do employers pay higher wages for these jobs due to market demand (since no one will take the job if it doesn’t pay well) or are they being paid more simply because they are men? Shouldn’t the real question be, not what they make, but why men and women make the salaries that they do?

Keywords: Health insurance, Human well-being, High-deductible health plan (HDHP)

References:

Appold, Karen. “High-Deductible Health Plans: a Brief History.” Managed Healthcare Executive, 22 Sept. 2015, www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/mhe-articles/high-deductible-health-plansbrief-history.

Bovbjerg, Randall R., and Jack Hadley. “Why Health Insurance Is Important.” Urban Institute, 2 Feb. 2017, www.urban.org/research/publication/why-health-insurance-important.

Folger, Jean. “Health Savings Accounts: Advantages and Disadvantages.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 29 Jan. 2020, www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/090814/pros-and-cons-healthsavings-account-hsa.asp.

Fontinelle, Amy. “How High-Deductible Health Plans Work.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 29 Jan. 2020, www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/012716/how-highdeductible-health-planswork.asp.

Gersema, Emily. “High-Deductible Health Plans Raise Risk of Financial Ruin for Vulnerable Americans, Study Finds.” USC News, University of Southern California, 5 Apr. 2018, news.usc.edu/140182/high-deductible-health-plans-raise-risk-of-financial-ruin-for-vulnerableamericans-study-finds/.

Kamal, Rabah. “How Health Spending Patterns Vary by Demographics in the U.S.” Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, 18 Aug. 2016, www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-health-spendingpatterns-vary-by-demographics-in-the-u-s/.

Cohen, Robin A, and Emily P Zammiti. “Products - Data Briefs - Number 317 - August 2018.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Aug. 2018, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db317.htm.

Reddy, Sheila R, et al. “Impact of a High-Deductible Health Plan on Outpatient Visits and Associated Diagnostic Tests.” Medical Care, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2014,

Abstract: Effective health insurance policies are of the utmost importance as they shape the lives of and provide safety to billions of people worldwide. Under the broader umbrella of general health insurance, the high-deductible health plan (HDHP) is a relatively recent idea. The HDHP essentially consists of a high deductible combined with a lower premium. This study strives to find the impact of the HDHP on overall human well-being and health while assessing its effects and identifying potential benefits and drawbacks. 

The potential benefits of this plan were doubted at first; however, studies have revealed that its popularity has skyrocketed in comparison to its predecessors. HDHP users may experience a series of behavioral consequences of varying effects due to the human psyche. Grouping findings from a personal survey with historical data from other sources, analysis across various demographics demonstrate that HDHP users lead better lives. The representations in the report, implemented with the TI-SmartView TI-84 Plus emulator, illustrate that high-deductible health plans correlate with a generally positive impact on its users. 

The survey, which considered wording and response biases, confirms that the above trends are valid irrespective of nominal categorical variables such as gender, ethnicity, and age. This study attests to the fact that the HDHP, when adopted with the understanding of the behavioral aspect, can help to improve the health of society as a whole. Finally, it also suggests techniques to make sure that those who select this plan follow certain behaviors that drive positive outcomes.

Keywords: Health insurance, Human well-being, High-deductible health plan (HDHP)

References:

Appold, Karen. “High-Deductible Health Plans: a Brief History.” Managed Healthcare Executive, 22 Sept. 2015, www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/mhe-articles/high-deductible-health-plansbrief-history.

Bovbjerg, Randall R., and Jack Hadley. “Why Health Insurance Is Important.” Urban Institute, 2 Feb. 2017, www.urban.org/research/publication/why-health-insurance-important.

Folger, Jean. “Health Savings Accounts: Advantages and Disadvantages.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 29 Jan. 2020, www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/090814/pros-and-cons-healthsavings-account-hsa.asp.

Fontinelle, Amy. “How High-Deductible Health Plans Work.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 29 Jan. 2020, www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/012716/how-highdeductible-health-planswork.asp.

Gersema, Emily. “High-Deductible Health Plans Raise Risk of Financial Ruin for Vulnerable Americans, Study Finds.” USC News, University of Southern California, 5 Apr. 2018, news.usc.edu/140182/high-deductible-health-plans-raise-risk-of-financial-ruin-for-vulnerableamericans-study-finds/.

Kamal, Rabah. “How Health Spending Patterns Vary by Demographics in the U.S.” Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, 18 Aug. 2016, www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-health-spendingpatterns-vary-by-demographics-in-the-u-s/.

Cohen, Robin A, and Emily P Zammiti. “Products - Data Briefs - Number 317 - August 2018.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9 Aug. 2018, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db317.htm.

Reddy, Sheila R, et al. “Impact of a High-Deductible Health Plan on Outpatient Visits and Associated Diagnostic Tests.” Medical Care, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2014,

Abstract: In the modern age of politics, political candidates use Twitter to express their ideas and connect with voters. In 2018, Twitter was used by nearly every candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives throughout their political campaign. To analyze the language used on Twitter, we used Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to analyze a text file (for each candidate) of all tweets from July 1, 2018 to November 6, 2018 to produce a descriptive output of language use in the months preceding the midterm elections. Consistent with past studies, it was predicted that candidates would use words characterized by negative affect on Twitter in order to connect with voters on an emotional level and to gain votes. In-depth analysis relating linguistic variables to vote count provided insight into how politicians used language on Twitter to improve their popularity. As theorized, candidates who used more words consisting of negative emotion obtained a greater number of votes than that of their counterparts. These findings provided support for the hypothesis that words of negative affect are deemed more impactful than neutral or positive words in politics, and that such language is highly correlated, regardless of party affiliation, with vote count. These findings provide a greater understanding of linguistics in the modern age of politics and provide insight into how increasingly prevalent social media platforms are factoring into politics.

Keywords: Political candidates, natural language, vote count, midterm election

References:

[1] Burgess, Jean, and Cornelius Puschmann. Twitter and Society. Edited by Katrin Weller, Axel Bruns, and Merja Mahrt. New York: Peter Lang, 2014.

[2] Kahn, J. H., Tobin, R. M., Massey, A. E., & Anderson, J. A. (2007). Measuring Emotional Expression with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. The American Journal of Psychology,120(2), 263. doi:10.2307/20445398

[3] Larsson, A. O., & Moe, H. (2012). Studying Political Microblogging: Twitter Users in the 2010 Swedish Election Campaign. SAGE Journals,14(5), 729-747. doi:10.1177/1461444811422894

[4] Lau, R. R. (1982). Negativity in Political Perception. Political Behavior, 4(4), 353–377. doi: 10.1007/bf00986969

[5] Marres, N., & Weltevrede, E. (2013). Scraping The Social? Issues in real-time social research. Journal of Cultural Economy,6(3), 313-335. doi:10.1080/17530350.2013.772070

Abstract: This project applies a new theory in the field of intergroup conflict known as "Gateway group theory," which posits that to decrease conflict between two groups, a third group with specific characteristics that appeal to both sides needs to be identified, enabling them to act as a medium. This group is known as a "Gateway group." With the background of the bitter digital divide and echo chambers plaguing the United States’ current political discourse, this paper sought to find the Gateway group between polar Democrats and Republicans on Twitter. 

This project data mined and examined the shared “likes” of these two populations using originally developed code and definitional parameters. Then, the study analyzed the profiles of the authors of these liked Tweets to compile an aggregated Gateway group profile that can be used to find Gateway group individuals on Twitter who have the ability to decrease conflict between Democrats and Republicans. The study found that Gateway group members exist. They are a group of Moderate Democrats. Every post that was liked by both a Democrat and Republican was also tagged and analyzed for similarities in content. It was found that 55% of all posts referenced “Trump” and 92% of those votes had a negative sentiment. Additional similarities in content were found, for example a keen interest in elections and certain Democratic candidates. This project develops an effective methodology that can be applied to any conflict on Twitter to find the Gateway group for that conflict to decrease polarity between polar groups.

Keywords: Gateway group theory, Democrat and Republican, political discourse, Twitter

References:

Bessi, A. (2016). Personality traits and echo chambers on facebook. Computers in Human Behavior,65, 319-324. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.016
Demszky, D., Garg, N., Voigt, R., Zou, J., Shapiro, J., Gentzkow, M., & Jurafsky, D. (2019).

Gaertner, S. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (2012). The Common Ingroup Identity Model. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology,2, 439-457.  ttp://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446249222.n48

Gaertner, S. S., Dovidio, J. F., Anastasio, P. A., Bachman, B. A., & Rust, M. C. (1993). The Common Ingroup Identity Model: Recategorization and the Reduction of Intergroup Bias.

European Review of Social Psychology,4(1), 1-26. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779343000004. Goyal, S. (2005). Strong and Weak Links. Journal of the European Economic Association,
3(2/3), 608-616. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40005003.

Hornsey, M. J., & Hogg, M. A. (2000). Subgroup Relations: A Comparison of Mutual Intergroup Differentiation and Common Ingroup Identity Models of Prejudice Reduction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,26(2), 242-256. doi:10.1177/0146167200264010

Pettigrew, T. F., Tropp, L. R., Wagner, U., & Christ, O. (2011). Recent advances in intergroup contact theory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations,(35), 271-280.

Zollo, F., Novak, P. K., Vicario, M. D., Bessi, A., Mozetič, I., Scala, A., . . . Quattrociocchi, W. (2015). Emotional Dynamics in the Age of Misinformation. Plos One,10(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138740