Exploring the hidden impact of the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of urbanization

We examine the role of residential environments (urban/rural) in understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions in nationwide movement on several socio-economic attitudes. We conducted large-scale surveys in four European countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) before and after nationwide lockdowns were implemented. We investigate how the pandemic affected: (i) economic (economic insecurity), (ii) political (trust in domestic and international institutions), and (iii) social attitudes (loneliness), by controlling for the degree of urbanization, obtained from the geocodes of the survey respondents. Our results show that taking the degree of urbanization into account is not only relevant but is also essential. Compared to urban areas, in rural areas lockdowns led to a greater increase of economic insecurity and to a greater decrease in trust in domestic institutions. We also show that these results are particularly valid for women and households with children

一般的信頼感の測定―国際比較分析―

　Today, it has been observed that interpersonal levels of trust are declining among many industrialized nations thus calling for greater attention and concern. Trust is an important subject for many research fields, including sociology, economics, political science, psychology, philosophy, morality, and ethics. But, trust seems often to be considered as intrinsic rather than a topic for empirical or theoretical exploration. The present study examines the measurement validity of a three-item general trust scale（“Three-Item Rosenberg Scale”）used frequently in general attitudinal surveys. If trust is interpreted not only as an interpersonal phenomenon but also as a social and cultural phenomenon, then how does general trust differ among nations? Specifically, this paper seeks to determine if the three questions assessing levels of interpersonal trust are scalable among nations in general, by investigating their validity when used in nations in differing world regions with differing trust levels and differing cultural backgrounds. Data were collected based on nationwide attitudinal surveys of general trust conducted among eight nations: Russia, Japan, the United States, Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Taiwan, and Turkey, all selected based on their overall World Values Surveys trust indices. They form four groups: high trust: Finland; relatively high trust: Japan, the U.S., Germany, and Taiwan; middle trust: Russia and the Czech Republic; and low trust: Turkey. Crosstabulations and correspondence analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the Three-Item Likert trust scale can be used for all eight nations, regardless of differences in their languages, cultural backgrounds and trust levels, and that the first dimension（i.e., the X-axis）, based on correspondence analysis, creates a trust scale for the eight nations

Colorado 100k Lives Campaign

Summarizes a statewide effort to help Colorado hospitals strengthen their quality improvement systems. Includes an overview of the six interventions proven to ensure safe patient care, as well as lessons learned and success stories

Trust in Physicians, Continuity and Coordination of Care, and Quality of Death in Patients with Advanced Cancer

Background: Provider-centered factors contribute to unexplained variation in the quality of death (QOD). The relationship between healthcare providers (HCPs) and patients, bidirectional communication, and consistency of longitudinal care planning are important provider-centered factors.Objective: To explore whether the level of trust in HCPs, the quality of continuity of care, and the level of coordination of care among home HCPs are associated with the QOD for cancer patients dying at home.Design: This study was a part of a nationwide multicenter questionnaire survey of bereaved family members of cancer patients evaluating the quality of end-of-life care in Japan.Setting/Subjects: We investigated 702 family members of cancer patients who died at home.Measurements: The QOD was evaluated from nine core domains of the short version of the Good Death Inventory (GDI). We measured five factors on a Likert scale, including patient and family trust in HCPs, continuity of care by home hospice and hospital physicians, and coordination of care among home hospice staff.Results: A total of 538 responses (77%) were obtained and 486 responses were analyzed. Trust in HCPs was correlated with the GDI score (r = 0.300–0.387, p < 0.001). The quality of care coordination was associated with the GDI score (r = 0.242, p < 0.001).Conclusions: Trust of the patient and family in home hospice staff, as well as coordination of care among hospice staff, are associated with the QOD for cancer patients dying at home

Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategies in Hot Housing Markets

This paper inventories strategies for maintaining affordable housing toward perpetuity in hot markets in an increasing number of locales. Long-term affordable housing strategies answer the call to make affordable housing resources last longer as federal funding for affordable housing diminishes, rental affordability programs expire, and owners prematurely buy their way out of affordable mortgages. The need is especially acute in hot-market cities, like New York City, that have seen large development programs end without any adequate replacements. The strategies span rental and homeownership delivery mechanisms, subsidy and equity sharing, cooperatives and community governance, land regulation, extending existing termed programs, and amassing funds to sustain affordable housing, with a focus on producing long-term affordable units through inclusionary zoning. Interviews with national policymakers and experienced affordable and mixed-income housing developers bring new light to the success of these mechanisms.This study finds that neither relying on inclusionary zoning nor extending affordable housing programs should be considered a replacement for federal subsidies. Innovating new programs means setting numbers of units produced against longevity, affordability and occupants' capacity to generate equity. Recommendations are given first in terms of challenges, tensions, trade-offs and new questions that these strategies create, and then to specific actors in the policymaking arena. Nonprofits should focus on monitoring long-term affordability and accountability. Municipalities and local governments should better regulate sources and uses of housing trust funds, focus on helping fund first-time homebuyers, consider input from local developers, consider long-term inclusionary zoning regulation, and monitor productivity and long-term regulation. Policymakers and researchers should consider why potential homebuyers have selected riskier subprime mortgage products over more secure equitysharing products and might want to better advertise equity-sharing options. Finally, New York City should expand its voluntary inclusionary program to more neighborhoods and better track its production and longevity

Public awareness of the scientific consensus on climate

Questions about climate change elicit some of the widest political divisions of any items on recent U.S. surveys. Severe polarization affects even basic questions about the reality of anthropogenic climate change (ACC), or whether most scientists agree that humans are changing the Earth’s climate. Statements about scientific consensus have been contentious among social scientists, with some arguing for consensus awareness as a “gateway cognition” that leads to greater public acceptance of ACC, but others characterizing consensus messaging (deliberate communication about the level of scientific agreement) as a counterproductive tactic that exacerbates polarization. A series of statewide surveys, with nationwide benchmarks, repeated questions about the reality of ACC and scientific consensus many times over 2010 to 2016. These data permit tests for change in beliefs and polarization. ACC and consensus beliefs have similar trends and individual background predictors. Both rose gradually by about 10 points over 2010 to 2016, showing no abrupt shifts that might correspond to events such as scientific reports, leadership statements, or weather. Growing awareness of the scientific consensus, whether from deliberate messaging or the cumulative impact of many studies and publicly engaged scientists, provides the most plausible explanation for this rise in both series. In state-level data, the gap between liberal and conservative views on the reality of ACC did not widen over this period, whereas the liberal–conservative gap regarding existence of a scientific consensus narrowed

Does refusal bias influence the measurement of Chinese political trust?

Measurements of Chinese political trust may be inaccurate due to ‘refusal bias’, resulting from unwillingness of people with certain attitudes to take part in surveys. Such bias is especially problematic because researchers usually have little or no information about refusers. Nevertheless, techniques have been developed which allow correction of refusal bias by extrapolating from reluctant or difficult respondents on the basis of various measures of response propensity. Using data from a nationwide survey conducted in China in the winter of 2012/13, this article shows that this type of correction procedure improves the accuracy of measurement of the Communist Party membership rate, and produces significantly lower estimates of trust in the central government/Party leadership, trust in local government and support for the current system of government. Refusal bias is likely to result from the social desirability of expressing political trust and support under authoritarian conditions

Trust me I am an advert! : how to create trusting brand identity through advertising

Since the importance of Relationship Marketing has been recognised, there has been considerable discussion in the Marketing literature on Trust generally. However, the creation of a trusting brand identity through advertising has received little attention. This paper is our first step towards examining this relationship. Focus group research was undertaken to identify the characteristics of print advertisements perceived as portraying a trusting image. Reasons for trusting a brand were also explored. The results show that advertisements that are simple, straightforward and clear are perceived as being more trusting. Consumers are also quite critical of current advertising efforts in building a trusting brand image

The amenity value of English nature: a hedonic price approach

Using a hedonic property value price approach, we estimate the amenity value associated with proximity to habitats, designated areas, domestic gardens and other natural amenities in England. There is a long tradition of studies looking at the effect of a wide range of environmental amenities and disamenities on property prices. But, to our knowledge, this is the first nationwide study of the value of proximity to a large number of natural amenities in England. We analysed 1 million housing transactions over 1996- 2008 and considered a large number of environmental characteristics. Results reveal that the effects of many of these environmental variables are highly statistically significant, and are quite large in economic magnitude. Gardens, green space and areas of water within the census ward all attract a considerable positive price premium. There is also a strong positive effect from freshwater and flood plain locations, broadleaved woodland, coniferous woodland and enclosed farmland. Increasing distance to natural amenities such as rivers, National parks and National Trust sites is unambiguously associated with a fall in house prices. Our preferred regression specifications control for unobserved labour market and other geographical factors using Travel to Work Area fixed effects, and the estimates are fairly insensitive to changes in specification and sample. This provides some reassurance that the hedonic price results provide a useful representation of the values attached to proximity to environmental amenities in England. Overall, we conclude that the house market in England reveals substantial amenity value attached to a number of habitats, designations, private gardens and local environmental amenities

Forest views: Northeast Oregon survey looks at community and environment

This brief reports on a survey conducted in fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways