Political ad portraits: a visual analysis of viewer reaction to online political spoof advertisements

• The democratization of the Internet and the growing popularity of amateur video production have given rise to historic levels of voter engagement. In recent times, the populace has turned to YouTube and other similar websites to publicly voice their opinions through the posting of, and response to, amateur political videos. Political communication and campaign managers frequently struggle to consolidate, analyse, and respond to the vast array of commentary posted on the Internet in reply to these videos. The ability to quickly consolidate and interpret viewer responses to political videos provides campaign and communications' managers the opportunity to quickly make policy, positioning, or image changes. This is especially valuable considering that viewer responses provide a potentially unbiased picture of actual voter sentiment. Using the visualization software, Leximancer, we show how conversations around online political spoof videos can be mapped, interpreted, and used as a basis for strategic brand decision‐making. We discuss the implications of our findings, outline the technique's limitations, and trace avenues for further research.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ancillary consequences of employee theft

The majority of research on employee theft considered the characteristics and predictors of workplace misconduct. When consequences were considered, research centered on the economic losses arising out of workplace offending. This article addresses the ancillary consequences of employee theft. Interviews were conducted with 457 business owners, managers, supervisors, and other employees to assess their experiences with employee theft. By fully understanding the costs, businesses can be prepared to carry out strategies that would offset many of the negative consequences resulting from workplace misconduct.     

The need for reliable systems: gendered work in Oxfam's Uganda programme

This paper considers the results of a gender review of Oxfam/Great Britain's work in Uganda that sought to determine what gender approaches had been adopted (theoretically and actually) and how they could be improved. After a desk review in the UK, a team conducted a field visit to Uganda where an initial conventional approach that "targeted" women had given way to efforts to conduct an in-depth gender analysis of programs. The team noted that the post of Gender and Development Program Officer in Uganda had been eliminated so that the entire staff would be responsible for addressing gender concerns. The review revealed that the staff exhibited a poor understanding of key concepts, was unwilling to challenge traditional roles and attitudes, deployed ad hoc initiatives, and failed to interact with appropriate local organizations. This situation occurred because of a lack of systematic procedures for planning and evaluation. Also, the fact that there was no extra compensation for staff living in harsh and insecure conditions discouraged female staff from seeking or maintaining positions in the field. Oxfam needs to develop a clear and binding strategy that will spell out the type of social change the Uganda program is seeking, integrate gender concerns, and implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. There is also a need to adopt a more political approach to gender concerns by taking advantage of opportunities and confronting attendant risks.     

The influence of perceptions of social disorder and victimization on business owners' decisions to use guardianship strategies

Using social disorganization, broken windows, and routine activities theories as guides, this study considered how perceptions of crime in the neighborhood influenced business owners' decisions on the use of various crime prevention (guardianship) strategies. The analysis revealed that perceptions of a crime problem were influenced by the presence of disorder. Drug offenses and vandalism were particularly tied to disorder with drug offenses more often related to guardianship strategies than other offenses. In addition, several strategies were used as prevention measures counter-intuitively for crimes not affected by these strategies, suggesting the need for increased awareness and training for business owners on effective guardianship strategies.     

Is good-time appropriate for offenders on electronic monitoring?: attitudes of electronic monitoring directors

Since the development of electronic-monitoring programs in the early 80s, questions have surfaced concerning the similarities between institutionalization policies and electronic-monitoring policies. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, recent debate has centered on whether offenders on electronic monitoring should be awarded good-time credits. This article addresses the use of good-time for electronically monitored offenders by content analyzing comments of thirty electronic-monitoring program supervisors surveyed by the Virginia State Crime Commission in 1997. The data suggest that good-time policies can be useful for electronic-monitoring programs in some situations.     

Challenges responding to sexual violence: Differences between college campuses and communities

To increase understanding about the response to sexual assault, five focus group interviews were conducted with community-based sexual assault workers as well as officials affiliated with colleges and universities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Attention was given to the differences in collaboration challenges confronted by those serving college students and those serving the general population. Results suggested that while the needs of the two types of workers are similar, the types of collaboration challenges confronted varied according to the cultural and spatial dynamics of each setting. College campus sexual assault workers confronted one set of obstacles, while community-based workers confronted a different set. Ways to address these challenges are considered. Implications focus on the development of protocol, increased funding, and collaborative training.     

A further study to investigate the detection and enhancement of latent fingerprints using visible absorption and luminescence chemical imaging

This study investigated the application of chemical imaging to the detection of latent fingerprints using the Condor macroscopic chemical imaging system (ChemImage Corp., Pittsburgh, USA). Methods were developed and optimised for the visualisation of untreated latent fingerprints and fingerprints processed with DFO, ninhydrin, cyanoacrylate, and cyanoacrylate plus rhodamine 6G stain. The results obtained with chemical imaging were compared to the detection achieved using conventional imaging techniques. The Condor significantly improved the detection of many prints, especially those that might be considered poor quality or borderline prints. Prints on newspaper treated with ninhydrin and DFO, and prints on white and yellow paper treated with ninhydrin, benefited the most from chemical imaging detection. In many cases, fingerprints undetectable using conventional imaging techniques could be visualised with chemical imaging. Ridge detail from untreated prints on yellow paper was also detected using the Condor. When prints of high quality were examined, both detection techniques produced quality results. The results of this project demonstrate that chemical imaging offers advantages over conventional visualisation techniques when examining latent fingerprints, especially those that would be considered difficult, such as weak prints or prints on surfaces that produce highly luminescent backgrounds. Standard testing procedures for the detection and enhancement of fingerprints by chemical imaging are presented and discussed.