Applying Bourdieu to socio-technical systems: The importance of affordances for social translucence in building 'capital' and status to eBay's success

This paper introduces the work of Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his concepts of ‘the field’ and ‘capital’ in relation to eBay. This paper considers eBay to be a socio-technical system with its own set of social norms, rules and competition over ‘capital’. eBay is used as a case study of the importance of using a Bourdieuean approach to create successful socio-technical systems.Using a two-year qualitative study of eBay users as empirical illustration, this paper argues that a large part of eBay’s success is in the social and cultural affordances for social translucence and navigation of eBay’s website - in supporting the Bourdieuean competition over capital and status. This exploration has implications for wider socio-technical systems design which this paper will discuss - in particular, the importance of creating socially translucent and navigable systems, informed by Bourdieu’s theoretical insights, which support competition for ‘capital’ and status

Participatory mass observation and citizen science.

The authors outline and reflect upon a new research agenda on participatory mass observation and citizen science as an introduction to the 3 project outlines in this special section of Transactions

Preparing Students for Success on Examinations: Readiness Assurance Tests in a Graduate-Level Statistics Course

Formative feedback is one way to foster students' readiness for statistics examinations. The use of Readiness Assurance Tests was examined as an educational intervention in which feedback was provided for both correct and incorrect responses in a graduate-level statistics course. Examination scores in the intervention group ( n = 56) were compared with those in a control group ( n = 42). Intervention group examination scores significantly improved from 75.92 ± 14.52 on the Readiness Assurance Test to 90.06 ± 7.06, p < .001, on the midterm, and final examination scores improved from 78.23 ± 17.29 to 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .002. Intervention group midterm scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (90.06 ± 7.06 versus 79.7 ± 11.6, p < .001); however, no differences were found between the groups on the final examination (85.35 ± 9.46 versus 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .91). Use of Readiness Assurance Tests was an effective modality to increase student self-efficacy, learning experience, and, relative to a control group, midterm examination performance in statistic

Caffeine, Calories, and Coordination: Jurisdictional Developments in Federal Alcohol Regulation

Even though alcoholic beverages fall under the definition of “food” in the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate such beverages’ ingredient and nutrition labeling as it does for other foods. Instead, jurisdiction over alcoholic beverage labeling falls to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a division of the Department of Treasury. The present system of divided jurisdiction is the product of a series of historically contingent events and inter-agency conflicts, and it has caused confusion and friction in this regulatory area for four decades and counting. This paper explores some of the current issues in alcoholic beverage labeling jurisdiction. It begins by reviewing the history of such jurisdiction, how TTB came to have exclusive control over alcoholic beverage labeling, and the failed attempts to reform the system. It then examines two recent events that have called for cooperation between FDA and TTB: the public outcry over the health hazards of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, and the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act’s requirement for calorie labeling on restaurant menus. In the former case, the two agencies were able to work together to take concerted action, yet in the latter case they found themselves at odds. This paper examines the differences between the two situations and analyzes some administrative strategies that might be able to encourage more successful cooperation and reduce the risks of regulatory arbitrage