Discursive Equality and Everyday Talk Online: The Impact of “Superparticipants”

Empirical studies of online debate almost universally observe a “dominant” minority of posters. Informed by theories of deliberative democracy, these are typically framed negatively—yet research into their impact on debate is scant. To address this, a typology of what we call super-participation (super-posters, agenda-setters and facilitators) is developed and applied to the http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ forum. Focusing on the first of these, we found 2,052 superposters (0.4%) contributing 47% of 25m+ posts. While superposters were quantitatively dominant, qualitative content analysis of the discursive practices of 25 superposters (n=40,044) found that most did not attempt to stop other users from posting (curbing) or attack them (flaming). In fact, in contradiction to the received wisdom, super-posters discursively performed a range of positive roles

The changing roles of frontline bureaucrats in the digital welfare state: The case of a data dashboard in Rotterdam’s Work and Income department

The welfare state is currently undergoing a transition toward data-driven policies, management, and execution. This has important repercussions for frontline bureaucrats in such a “digital welfare state.” So far, impact of data-driven tools on frontline bureaucrats is primarily described in terms of curtailing or enlarging their discretionary space to make decisions. It is unclear, however, how daily work practices and role identities of frontline bureaucrats change in situ and which norms they develop to work with new data tools. In this article, we present an empirical study about the impact of a data dashboard in the Work and Income department of the municipality of Rotterdam. We answer the following research question: Which role identities, work practices, and norms of appropriate behavior of frontline bureaucrats in the social domain are reshaped by the introduction of a data dashboard? We use a multiple methods design consisting of semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations, and document analysis. Our results reveal two role identities among frontline bureaucrats: (a) the client coach, and (b) the caseload manager. We show that the implementation of the dashboard stimulates a shift from a client coach role identity toward a caseload manager role identity. This shift is contested as it leads to role identity conflicts among frontline bureaucrats with a client coach role. Furthermore, we establish that the accommodation of the institutional void in which the introduction of the dashboard takes place, is centered around three themes of contestation: (a) data quality, (b) quality of service provision, and (c) data representations

Determinants of attitudes towards professional mental health care, informal help and self-reliance in people with subclinical depression

Background: Although little is known about which people with subclinical depression should receive care to prevent the onset of depression, it is clear that remediating symptoms of depression is important. However, depending on the beliefs people hold about help, some people will seek professional help, while others seek informal help or solve problems on their own. Aims: This study examined associations between attitudes about help and socio-demographic variables, mastery, severity of depressive symptoms, accessibility to care, and health care utilization at baseline and 4-year follow-up. Methods: Data were derived from a large cohort study, the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). A total of 235 respondents with subclinical depression completed questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. Attitude was assessed using a short version of the Trust in mental health care' questionnaire. Results: Positive attitude towards professional care was associated with being male, younger age, higher mastery and easy accessibility to care. Positive attitude towards informal help was associated with higher mastery and unemployment. Older age, less accessibility to care and lower mastery were associated with positive attitude towards self-reliance. A change in care utilization was associated with positive attitudes towards professional care at follow-up. Conclusions: People differ in the way they cope with symptoms which may influence their preferred care. Higher levels of mastery were positively associated with professional and informal care, but negatively associated with self-reliance. Both age and mastery showed relatively large effect sizes

Does gender determine journalists' professional views? A reassessment based on cross-national evidence

Research into journalism and gender to date has found somewhat contradictory evidence as to the ways in which women and men practice journalism. While some scholars claim that women have inherently different concepts and practices of journalism and that this has led to a feminization of journalism, others have found little evidence to suggest that men and women differ significantly in terms of their role conceptions. While numerous studies have been conducted into this issue around the world, few have taken a truly comparative approach. This paper presents results from a large-scale comparative survey into gender differences in journalists’ professional views in 18 diverse countries around the world. Results suggest that women and men do not differ in any meaningful ways in their role conceptions on neither the individual level, in newsrooms dominated by women, nor in socio-cultural contexts where women have achieved a certain level of empowerment