News by Subject Social & Behavior

Trump's 2016 victory in the Electoral College without leading in the popular vote has led to wide speculation of a repeat in 2020. Columbia University researchers have been wondering the same thing. They examined how Electoral College outcomes are conditioned by how states voted in previous elections. Their simulations suggest that in 2020 the Electoral College bias is likely to again favor the Republicans, but to a lesser degree than in 2016.

As much of Europe is engulfed by a second wave of Covid-19, and track and trace struggles to meet demand, modelling support tools are being increasingly used by policymakers to make key decisions. Most notably, models have been used to predict the Covid-19 R0 rate - the average rate of secondary infections from a single infection, which has formed the basis for many lockdown decisions across the UK.

Most people have seen or heard from a friend, neighbor or family member about a product or service they've used and how their experience was. It's called observational learning or word-of-mouth. These communications don't provide an unbiased assessment of true quality. Given this, businesses are faced with the difficult decision of determining when and how to spend their ad dollars.

Telemedicine has become more common given the current global pandemic. COVID-19 has limited doctor's office and hospital visits to ensure safety for everyone. But rather than diminish the quality of care, new research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research finds that increasing wider use of telemedicine in the emergency room (ER) can yield positive results for patients and providers alike.

Medical University of South Carolina researchers report in JMIR Medical Informatics that they have developed deep learning models to predict intentional self-harm based on information in clinical notes. This is critical to the advancement of research in mental health, as most relevant patient data is found in clinical notes rather than in tabulated form. Once optimized, these models could predict which patients are high-risk for suicide so that they could be referred for appropriate treatment.

Athletes increasingly relying on a coach over the course of a season may be a sign that they aren't progressing in their development, according to new research from Binghamton University.

An examination of racial differences in the disciplining of police officers in three of the largest U.S. cities consistently found that Black officers were more frequently disciplined for misconduct than White officers, despite an essentially equal number of allegations being leveled. This included allegations of severe misconduct.

A new economics experiment suggests the electoral system attracts candidates who are dishonest and highlights why greater transparency might foster more trust in politics.

CATONSVILLE, MD, October 7, 2020 - New research has shed light on how various political campaign activities influence voters. It found that a candidate's mass media advertising is more likely to influence independent voters, while the campaign's "ground game," targeting voters through grassroots outreach, is more effective at reaching a candidate's base.

Information security policies (ISP) that are not grounded in the realities of an employee's work responsibilities and priorities exposes organizations to higher risk for data breaches, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.