Exploring Hospitals\u27 Use of Facebook: Thematic Analysis

Background: Although health care organizations such as hospitals and clinics have widely embraced social media as a means to educate the community on health topics and increase patient loyalty and satisfaction, little is known about the content these organizations actually share when using social media channels. Objective: This study aimed to explore the types of content US hospitals post on their Facebook pages and how hospitals’ Facebook activities differ with regard to content types. Methods: We collected and thematically analyzed more than 1700 Facebook posts made over a 3-month period by 17 US hospitals. During the first phase, the 2 researchers coded a set of 159 posts and created an initial thematic web of content. During the second phase, the researchers coded the remaining posts and then revised, refined, and validated the initial web of content accordingly. Coding consensus was achieved on 1184 of the 1548 analyzable sampled posts (76.49%). Results: We identified a list of 13 unique health social media post themes and classified those themes into 3 thematic groups that included announcing, sharing, and recognizing activities. The most frequently used theme was sharing health information, which appeared in 35.81% (424/1184) of the posts analyzed. Such posts sought to provide health tips and advice to community members. Recognizing special days and recognizing employees were the second and third most frequently used themes, respectively, with 14.95% (177/1184) and 11.82% (140/1184) of the posts containing those themes. The frequency of these themes was surprising as the content was geared more toward stakeholders internal to the organization, although most previous literature has focused on social media as a tool to connect with external stakeholders. In addition, we found many of the posts involved more than one theme, and selected sets of themes co-occurred frequently. For example, 25.4% (45/177) of the posts recognizing special days also included content to share health information, and approximately 38% (32/85) of the posts announcing research activities also included content to share health information. Finally, we found similarities and differences between the sampled hospitals in terms of the types of content they posted more frequently on their Facebook pages. Conclusions: Hospitals use Facebook as an inexpensive way to educate people on health and wellness topics and to communicate different types of information and news to the public audience. Hospitals and clinics that are expanding their social media activities or are starting to embark on social media strategies can use the results of this study to better formulate their activities on Facebook

A Conceptual Replication of the Unified Model of Information Security Policy Compliance

Conceptual replications offer robust tests of theory by subjecting the relational notions of a scientific model to evaluation using alternate instruments, treatments, and subject pools. This study performs a conceptual replication of Moody, Siponen, and Pahnila’s 2018 empirical analysis that integrated elements of eleven theoretical models to produce the unified model of information security policy compliance (UMISPC). This replication employed a substantially more parsimonious instrument, using modestly revised treatment scenarios targeted toward a U.S. audience of 218 IT professionals as opposed to the Finnish graduate students used in the original study. Our results indicate that UMISPC is robust across variations in instruments and subject pools. The replicated model explained approximately two thirds of the variance in information systems security policy compliance intentions across both studies. In contrast, competing models such as the theory of planned behavior and extended protection motivation theory exhibited large changes in explanatory power when the instrument and subject pool were modified. This suggests that UMIPSC may be a superior theoretical model for consistently evaluating security policy compliance behavioral intentions among varied populations. Our results also indicate that the theoretical model is capable of detecting and integrating a wide range of behavioral antecedents that may have differing levels of influence among various populations

Malware Avoidance Motivations and Behaviors: A Technology Threat Avoidance Replication

The current study presents a conceptual replication of Liang and Xue’s (2010) test of their proposed Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT). Whereas the original study investigated individuals’ spyware related threat perceptions, avoidance motivations, and behaviors; we applied the original study’s research questions, hypotheses, and model to the more general context of malware. Results from a sample of 486 computer users revealed that safeguard effectiveness, safeguard cost, and self-efficacy are relatively robust predictors of avoidance motivation across varied settings. Perceived severity is a strong predictor of perceived threat, however the impact of this overall threat perception (along with its perceived susceptibility antecedent) may be less stable in predicting avoidance motivation under changing contextual/environmental circumstances. The results suggest that TTAT is a valid foundational framework for examining user behavior related to malicious software. Future research should investigate additional predictors of avoidance motivation such as risk propensity, distrust, and impulse control to improve the power of the model. Additionally, the current TTAT instrument offers several opportunities for enhanced measurement accuracy through item modifications, scale anchor revisions, and improvements in parsimony

IT Career Counseling: Are Occupational Congruence and the Job Characteristics Model Effective at Predicting IT Job Satisfaction?

The IT industry struggles to attract qualified talent despite an exceptional outlook in terms of both job availability and compensation. Similarly, post-secondary academic institutions report difficultiesrecruitingstudents for IT majors. One potential reason for this is that current career counseling practices do not adequately convey relevant job characteristic data to prospective job applicants and academic majors. Accordingly, we report the results of a survey of72 IT professionals regarding their job interests and perceptions of important characteristics of their current job. We use the data to test the efficacy of Holland’s classic occupation congruence model, the basis of current career counseling practices.In addition, we assess an alternate congruence model based on professionals’job perceptions and the Job Characteristics Model of Work Motivation (JCM) to determine which is more effective at predicting desired job outcomes. Results show that a sub-set of JCM constructs including task variety, task identity, and task autonomy is superior to both congruence models in predicting positive job outcomes. This suggeststhat IT career counseling outcomes mightbe improved by emphasizingthe JCMcharacteristics

Re-examining the Information Systems Security Problem from a Systems Theory Perspective

This theoretical paper discusses a recent shift in cyber attackers’ interest away from traditional network and operating systems vulnerabilities and towards application level security flaws in end user systems. The authors argue that this shift signals a strong need to re-examine the way that security is addressed during the systems development process. Most of the systems development methodologies currently used do not contain formal processes for dealing with the interconnected complexity and risks associated with today’s computing environments. Using systems theory as a theoretical lens, the fundamental processes of current systems development methodologies are analyzed and weaknesses in their ability to deal with these environmental factors are discussed. The authors then present a proposed holistic framework for integrating security into existing systems development methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need for more scholarly research in this area and suggestions for future research directions are offered

Framing Information Security Budget Requests to Influence Investment Decisions

Researchers studying the economics of information security have traditionally focused on the use of rational choice decision models for evaluating investment alternatives. Security investment decisions involve risk, and several researchers have noted that risk-related decisions often violate the fundamental principles of rational choice decision models. This study tests the prevailing presumption in published research that information security investment decisions are made in an entirely rational manner. We empirically validated our hypothesis that information security investment decision makers in fact exhibit preference reversals when faced with competing budget alternatives involving risk. Specifically, we observed the framing effect under prospect theory, which suggests that individuals exhibit unique risk attitudes when evaluating gain-related and loss-related risk decisions. Accordingly, we argue that existing, widely accepted rational choice and economic models for information security investments need to be supplemented with risk perception measurement and account for individual level decision biases

Refining Technology Threat Avoidance Theory

Understanding individual threat avoidance motivation and behavior is a critical component in designing effective cyber security solutions for both users and organizations. Technology threat avoidance theory (TTAT) asserts that individuals’ perceptions regarding their susceptibility to and the resulting severity of technology threats influence their awareness of the threats, which, in turn, influences their motivation and behavior to avoid them. While TTAT provides cogently and logically explains individuals’ technology threat motivations and behaviors, empirical tests have produced equivocal results particularly in terms of the influence of susceptibility and severity on threat perceptions. Due to these inconsistencies in the threat calculus involving susceptibility, severity, and threat, we need more work to improve and understand individual threat motivations. Additionally, TTAT does not account for individual differences such as risk propensity, distrust propensity, and impulsivity that have been shown to affect cyber security behavior. To address these gaps, we present an empirical assessment of a refined TTAT model, which includes individual differences and models the influence of susceptibility on threat perceptions as partially mediated by severity. Results indicate that, while perceived susceptibility is a significant predictor of threat perceptions, severity perceptions partially mediates its effect. Our results also support the inclusion of risk propensity and distrust propensity in the TTAT model as personal characteristics that significantly affect overall threat perceptions

An Empirical Examination of an Agile Contingent Project/Method Fit Model

While research has demonstrated positive productivity and quality gains from using agile software development methods (SDMs), some experts argue that no single SDM suits every project context. We lack empirical evidence about the project contextual factors that influence when one should use these methods. Research suggests several factors to explain agile method appropriateness; however, generalizable empirical evidence supporting these suggestions is weak. To address this need, we used contingency theory and the information processing model to develop the agile contingent project/method fit model. Subsequently, we used the model to analyze the influence of project contextual factors and agile practices on software development professionals’ perceptions regarding agile SDM appropriateness. We tested the model using survey data collected from 122 systems development professionals who provided information regarding: 1) contextual factors surrounding a recent agile development project, 2) agile practices applied during the course of that project, and 3) perceptions regarding the relative fit (appropriateness) of the agile method used. Linear regression identified several significant relationships between project contextual factors, agile practices, and respondents’ relative fit perceptions

On R-duals and the duality principle in Gabor analysis

The concept of R-duals of a frame was introduced by Casazza, Kutyniok and Lammers in 2004, with the motivation to obtain a general version of the duality principle in Gabor analysis. For tight Gabor frames and Gabor Riesz bases the three authors were actually able to show that the duality principle is a special case of general results for R-duals. In this paper we introduce various alternative R-duals, with focus on what we call R-duals of type II and III. We show how they are related and provide characterizations of the R-duals of type II and III. In particular, we prove that for tight frames these classes coincide with the R-duals by Casazza et el., which is desirable in the sense that the motivating case of tight Gabor frames already is well covered by these R-duals. On the other hand, all the introduced types of R-duals generalize the duality principle for larger classes of Gabor frames than just the tight frames and the Riesz bases; in particular, the R-duals of type III cover the duality principle for all Gabor frames