Keep Calm and Learn Multilevel Linear Modeling: A Three-Step Procedure Using SPSS, Stata, R, and Mplus

This piece is meant to help you understand and master two-level linear modeling in an accessible, swift, and fun way (while being based on rigorous and up-to-date research). It is divided into four parts: PART 1 presents the three key principles of two-level linear modeling. PART 2 presents a three-step procedure for conducting two-level linear modeling using SPSS, Stata, R, or Mplus (from centering variables to interpreting the cross-level interactions). PART 3 presents the results from a series of simulations comparing the performances of SPSS, Stata, R, and Mplus. PART 4 gives a Q&A addressing multilevel modeling issues pertaining to statistical power, effect sizes, complex design, and nonlinear two-level regression. The empirical example used in this tutorial is based on genuine data pertaining to ʼ90s and post-ʼ00s boy band member hotness and Instagram popularity. In reading this paper, you will have the opportunity to win a signed picture of Justin Timberlake

Integrating surveys and social media to better understand the dynamics of public opinion

Our study investigates the impact of social media on survey outcomes, particularly focusing on how the general public’s perception of issue importance is influenced by Twitter. To accomplish this, we propose two case studies in Swiss politics focusing on social media’s effect on opinion change during elections and the similarities in arguments on social media and in survey data during direct democracy votes. This study relies on a two-year longitudinal data collection of tweets (from January 2019 to December 2020) sent by more than 50.000 identified Swiss seed users and their most active followers. We find that the content of tweets surrounding popular votes reflects similar arguments as those expressed by a representative survey sample. Cases without congruence can be explained by the groups of users dominating social media discussions about the votes but also by the complexity and variety of arguments surrounding the votes. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that the salience of policy issues on social media has no systematic effect on public opinion change regarding the perceived importance of similar issues, as social media’s impact strongly depends on the content and on the tweet’s author. These results provide valuable insights for researchers, helping them understand the circumstances in which social media data are most likely to be available and present a useful complement to surveys for understanding the dynamics of public opinion

Aqueous-Based Synthesis of Photocatalytic Copper Sulfide Using Sulfur Waste as Sulfurizing Agent

Most of the copper sulfide synthetic approaches developed until now are still facing issues in their procedure, such as long synthesis duration, high energetic consumption, and high implementation costs. This publication reports a facile and sustainable approach for synthesizing copper sulfides on a large scale. In particular, an industrial by-product of sulfur waste was used as a sulfurizing agent for copper sulfide synthesis in a water medium. The reaction was performed in the hydrothermal environment by following a novel proposed mechanism of copper sulfide formation. The investigation of morphological and optical properties revealed that the target products obtained by using waste possess the resembling properties as the ones synthesized from the most conventional sulfurizing agent. Since the determined band gap of synthesis products varied from 1.72 to 1.81 eV, the photocatalytic properties, triggered under visible light irradiation, were also investigated by degrading the methylene blue as a model pollutant. Importantly, the degradation efficiency of the copper sulfide synthesized from sulfur waste was equivalent to a sample obtained from a reference sulfurizing agent since the value for both samples was 96% in 180 min. This very simple synthetic approach opens up a new way for large-scale sustainable production of visible-light-driven photocatalysts for water purification from organic pollutants

From uprising to secession: a plea for a localized and processual approach to the avatars of the yellow vest movement

For about fifteen years now, so-called leaderless movements, often stemming from appeals via social networks and having recourse to lasting or episodic occupations of public spaces have flourished. This has had the effect of calling into question the usual toolkit used by social movement scholars to study them. More precisely, it is a question of which levels, dimensions and units of analysis are relevant, especially when it comes to describe movements’ social base and worldviews. In this paper, based on a localized and a long-term collective undertaking, begun from the very beginning of the Yellow Vests movement in November 2018, we discuss those shortcomings and suggest avenues for analysis. We rely on three sets of data in a concomitant manner: life history calendars, social media data (mainly Facebook) and field research (participant observation and biographical interviews). By considering time and place as key variables, we offer an innovative way to describe how the YVs movement has been constructed in a constant flux of change