14 research outputs found
Pre-Survey Text Messages (SMS) Improve Participation Rate in an Australian Mobile Telephone Survey: An Experimental Study
Mobile telephone numbers are increasingly being included in household surveys samples. As approach letters cannot be sent because many do not have address details, alternatives approaches have been considered. This study assesses the effectiveness of sending a short message service (SMS) to a random sample of mobile telephone numbers to increase response rates. A simple random sample of 9000 Australian mobile telephone numbers: 4500 were randomly assigned to be sent a pre-notification SMS, and the remaining 4500 did not have a SMS sent. Adults aged 18 years and over, and currently in paid employment, were eligible to participate. American Association for Public Opinion Research formulas were used to calculated response cooperation and refusal rates. Response and cooperation rate were higher for the SMS groups (12.4% and 28.6% respectively) than the group with no SMS (7.7% and 16.0%). Refusal rates were lower for the SMS group (27.3%) than the group with no SMS (35.9%). When asked, 85.8% of the pre-notification group indicated they remembered receiving a SMS about the study. Sending a pre-notification SMS is effective in improving participation in population-based surveys. Response rates were increased by 60% and cooperation rates by 79%
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Science Study Break - Spider-Man
Spider expert (and Spidey fan) Dr. Ruth Buskirk kept the SRO crowd of spider enthusiasts enthralled. The program presented scenes from the movies Spider-Man I and Spider-Man II, as well as panels from the original Stan Lee-Steve Ditko comic. Audience members besieged Dr. Buskirk with questions about real spider habits, spider silk strength and production, and web-building versus the depictions in the films.About Science Study Break: Pop culture and the academy collide as Science Study Break features researchers from The University of Texas at Austin discussing the science reality in books, television and film. Past presentations have examined bioterrorism and its treatment in the Fox thriller “24,” artificial intelligence gone wild in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the comic realities of Spider-Man and epidemiological models for the proliferation of zombies.
Science Study Break takes place twice each semester.University of Texas LibrariesUT Librarie
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Designing a mindset intervention to help underrepresented students thrive in introductory college science courses
Demand for professionals with skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to grow in the United States. But many undergraduate STEM majors, especially underrepresented minority and first-generation college students, drop out or change majors before graduating. Students’ mindsets, or their assumptions, beliefs, or perspectives that shape how they interpret and respond to their academic environment, are potential barriers to success. Mindset interventions have shown promise for improving undergraduate students’ academic outcomes and promoting diversity in STEM. However, mindset interventions need to be customized to maximize their impact. PRC postdoctoral fellow Cameron Hecht and PRC faculty scholar David Yeager, along with UT Austin biology instructor collaborators, designed a protocol to develop customized peer-modeled mindset interventions for specific college courses, in which current students hear from former students about the changes in thinking that helped them to be successful. Using the protocol, the authors designed an intervention for introductory biology and found that it improved students’ experiences and outcomes in the course, particularly among students who have been historically underrepresented in the STEM fields. These findings highlight the positive impact of students hearing the right story at the right time from a trusted source.Population Research Cente