FYS 505 - Bates STEM Scholars: Getting Started with Research

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Recognizing human interactions with nature as a two way relationship
• "Healthy relationship" (i.e. reciprocity, gratitude, gift-giving) in contrast to or as complementary with a "scientific relationship"
• Nature/Earth as an unconditional source of resources
• Responsibilities of humans for nature/environment; conservation
• Humans as a source of lasting destruction in the natural world

Potential Resources

• The Humanity of Global Environmental Ethics by Paul Wapner and Richard A Matthew
• Oxford Bibliography: Environmental Ethics by Michael Paul Nelson and Leslie A. Ryan (2015)
• Oxford Bibliography: Ecological Ethics by Sara Tjossem (2016)
• Oxford Bibliography: Human-Landscape Interactions by Ashley Coles (2017)
• Oxford Bibliography: Anthropocentrism by Jonathan Padwe (2013)

The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Enduring history of racism in Science
• Enduring history of sexism in Science
• Effects of colonialism in Science

Potential Resources

• Book: Unfreezing the Arctic: science, colonialism, and the transformation of Inuit lands by Andrew Stuhl (2016)
• Book: Science, colonialism, and indigenous peoples: the cultural politics of law and knowledge by Laurelyn Whitt (2009)
• Book: Traditional healing, new science or new colonialism?: Essays in critique of medical anthropology by Philip Singer (1977)
• Article: Geologies of Erasure: Sinkholes, Science, and Settler Colonialism at the Dead Sea by Simone Popperl (2018)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Informed consent and Individual rights
• Differential treatment in healthcare based on race and/or gender
• Ethics of research with human subjects
• Patients' rights
• Transparency in healthcare

Potential Resources

• The Ethics in Medicine website (University of Washington School of Medicine)
  • Informed Consent
  • Public Health Ethics
  • Research Ethics
• ​Acadia Institute Observing Bioethics Interviews [Kennedy Institute of Ethics]

Note that this collection has a search tool that allows you to search within the transcripts.  This will be very useful.

• Eliminating healthcare disparities in America : beyond the IOM report edited by Richard Allen Williams

Penn Reading Project 2019-2020 : Weapons of Math Destruction

Penn State Libraries created an excellent guide to Cathy O'Neil's book "Weapons of Math Destruction" to support their 2019-2020 Reading Project.  There is a good chance you will find resources related to your "STEM Dilemma" there:

Penn Reading Project 2019-2020 : Weapons of Math Destruction

Big Data and Ethics

• “Big Data: A Report on Algorithmic Systems, Opportunity, and Civil Rights” by United States. Executive Office of the President
• "Measuring Algorithmic Fairness" by Deborah Hellman
• "People’s Councils for Ethical Machine Learning" by Dan McQuillan
• "Privacy, obfuscation, and propertization" by Tony Doyle
• "The Color of Algorithms: An Analysis and Proposed Research Agenda for Deterring Algorithmic Redlining" by James A Allen
• Digital footprints: an emerging dimension of digital inequality" by Marina Micheli, Christoph Lutz, and Moritz Büchi
• "The Trouble with Algorithmic Decisions: An Analytic Road Map to Examine Efficiency and Fairness in Automated and Opaque Decision Making" by Tal Zarsky

Chapters 1 and 2. "Bomb Parts: What is a Model" and "Shell Shocked: My Journey of Disillusionment"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Hedge Funds and Historical Models
• Risk models attached to mortgage-backed securities

Potential Resources

• "Extreme hoards: Race, reality television & real estate value during the 2008 financial crisis" by Michelle Chihara
• "Why hedge fund managers are happy to let the machines take over" by Robin Wigglesworth
• "How Hedge Funds Created the Financial Crisis" by Kimberly Amadeo
  • For Kimberly Amadeo's credentials see The Balance: Our Experts
• "Hedge Fund Risk Modeling" (2007) by Miguel Alvarez and Mike Levinson
• "Hedge fund aims algorithms at pharma patents to sink stocks" by Nick Paul Taylor
• "Dissecting the Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Collapse" by Investopedia Stock Analysis Staff Writer
• "Hedge Funds and Systemic Risk" by Dixon, Lloyd S., Noreen Clancy, Krishna B. Kumar, and Rand Corporation. 
• "Business ethics searches: A socioeconomic and demographic analysis of U.S. Google Trends in the context of the 2008 financial crisis" by Christophe Faugère and Olivier Gergaud

Chapter 3. Arms Race-Going to College

Examples of Issues Addressed

• U.S. News and World Report's College Ranking System
• Affects of Rankings on Colleges
  • Pressure to "Game the System"
• Affects of Rankings on Students
  • Pressure to be accepted to the "best" possible school
  • Pressure to buy into an expensive "college prep" culture and the inability of many to do so
• The "Flutie Effect"
• Opaque metrics (e.g. how are various criteria weighted? Is cost factored in? Post graduation success?  How long post graduation?)
• The use of proxies as a measure of quality

Potential Resources

• "Why Do Universities Compete in the Ratings Game? An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of the U.S. News and World Report College Rankings" by Marc Meredith
• "Anchoring effects in world university rankings: exploring biases in reputation scores" by Nicholas A Bowman and Michael N Bowman
• "Ranking Games" by Margit Osterloh and Bruno S Frey
• "Salience in Quality Disclosure: Evidence from the U.S. News College Rankings" by Michael Luca and Jonathan Smith
• "U.S. News & World Report College Rankings: Modeling Institutional Effects on Organizational Reputation" by Michael N Bastedo and Nicholas A Bowman
• "Inter-ranking reputational effects: an analysis of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) reputational relationship" by Vicente Safón
• "Privileging the Privileged: The Effects of International University Rankings on a Chilean Fellowship Program for Graduate Studies Abroad" by Paulina Perez Mejias and Roxana Chiappa

Chapter 4. "Propaganda Machine: Online Advertising"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• For-profit higher education and payday loan companies - predatory (?) advertising to a specific audience
• Large scale advertising linked to social media platforms, the behaviors of very large groups of people, and machine learning
•  

Potential Resources

• "Payday Loan Marketing in Social Media Networks" by Jianqiang Hao and Hongying Dai
• "Just plain Wronga? A multimodal critical analysis of online payday loan discourse" by Gavin Brookes and Kevin Harvey
• "Google to ban payday loan advertisements" by Andrea Peterson and Jonnelle Marte
• "Online advertising and marketing developments" by Laura Hobson Brown and Dustin C  Alonzo
• "Understanding the Digital Advertising Ecosystem. Congressional Hearing, 2018-06-14, June 14, 2018" by U.S. Congress. House Committee on Energy and Commerce [Follow this link and then look at the available transcripts.]
• "Marketing, the For-Profit Way" by Goldie Blumenstyk
• "Colleges Use Facebook Ads to Target Applicants, Parents, and Lawmakers" by Michael Vasquez [Note: this is about "not-for-profit" colleges...]
• "Now you're competing": how historically-Black colleges and universities compete (and don't) on the Internet" by Zachary W Taylor [Note: this is about "not-for-profit" colleges...]

Chapter 5. "Civilian Casualties: Justice in the Age of Big Data"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Predictive Policing (i.e. Predpol) Software
  • Using historical crime type, crime location, and crime date and time to "forecast" future crime
• Observational feedback loop (i.e. the more focus you give a particular geographic area or demographic, the more crime you "discover", resulting more attention and more "discoveries")
• Unequal application of WMD's
• Community policing vs. WMD policing

Potential Resources

• "To predict and serve?" by Kristian Lum and William Isaac
• "Digital prediction technologies in the justice system: The implications of a ‘race-neutral’ agenda" by Pamela Ugwudike
• PredPol Website
• PredPol Predictive Policing Blog
• "Predictive Policing and the Politics of Patterns" by Mareile Kaufmann, Simon Egbert, and Matthias Leese
• "Predictive Sustainability Control: A review assessing the potential to transfer big data driven ‘predictive policing’ to corporate sustainability management" by Peter Seele
• "Algorithmic paranoia: the temporal governmentality of predictive policing" by Bonnie Sheehey
• "Predictive Policing for Reform? Indeterminacy and Intervention in Big Data Policing" by Shapiro, Aaron
• "Reform predictive policing" by Shapiro, Aaron
• "“The Computer Said So”: On the Ethics, Effectiveness, and Cultural Techniques of Predictive Policing" by Tero Karppi
• "Open Algorithms, Social Justice, and Predictive Policing" by Daniel Krashen [Note: this is an opinion piece from "Notices of the American Mathematical Society.  You might find the references cited in the bibliography particularly interesting.]
• "On the person-based predictive policing of AI" by Tzu-Wei Hung and Chun-Ping Yen
• "Can ‘predictive policing’ prevent crime before it happens?" by Mara Hvistendahl

Chapter 6. "Ineligible to Serve: Getting a Job"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Do hiring questionnaires result in hiring a proxy instead of a person?
• Gaming the employment/hiring system?  Who can benefit?  Who does not? Does this reinforce inequity?
• Importance of reviewing the results/consequences of a big data projects and checking for alignment with original intent (e.g. Xerox)

Potential Resources

• "The scored society: Due process for automated predictions" by Danielle Keats Citron and Frank Citron
• "Recent trends in deep learning based personality detection" by Yash Mehta, Navonil Majumder, Alexander Gelbukh, and Erik Cambria
•  "An integrated e-recruitment system for automated personality mining and applicant ranking" by Evanthia Faliagka, Athanasios Tsakalidis, and Giannis Tzimas
• "Automating Talent Acquisition: Smart Recruitment, Predictive Hiring Algorithms, and the Data-driven Nature of Artificial Intelligence" by Allan Bongard
• "Towards Effective Workforce Management: Hiring Algorithms, Big Data-driven Accountability Systems, and Organizational Performance" by Aurel Pera
• "In Hiring, Algorithms Beat Instinct" by Nathan R. Kuncel, David M. Klieger, and Deniz S. Ones
• "The Future of Work: Protecting Workers' Civil Rights in the Digital Age" by U.S. Congress. Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services. House Committee on Education and Labor
• "Data-driven discrimination at work" by Pauline T Kim

Chapter 7. "Sweating  Bullets: On the Job"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Min/Maxing worker compensation/worker productivity using data and labor productivity software

Potential Resources

• "When Does the Devil Make Work? An Empirical Study of the Impact of Workload on Worker Productivity" by Tom Fangyun Tan and Serguei
• "Information, Technology, and Information Worker Productivity" by Sinan Aral, Erik Brynjolfsson and Marshall Van Alstyne
• "“You are free to set your own hours”: Governing worker productivity and health through flexibility and resilience" by Ellen MacEachen, Jessica Polzer, and Judy Clarke
• "Measuring knowledge worker productivity: A taxonomy" by Yuri W. Ramírez and David A. Nembhard
• "A Numbers Game: Quantification of Work, Auto-Gamification, and Worker Productivity" by Aruna Ranganathan and Alan Benson
• "The impact of knowledge management on knowledge worker productivity" by Aino Kianto, Muhammad Shujahat, Saddam Hussain, Faisal Nawaz, and Murad Ali
• "Nonhuman Species’ Reactions to Inequity and their Implications for Fairness" by Henry M Levin and Sarah F Brosnan

Chapter 8. "Collateral Damage: Landing Credit"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• e-scores / credit scores
• proxies vs. more directly relevant descriptors
• group generalizations vs. individual assessment

Potential Resources

• "The scored society: Due process for automated predictions" by Danielle Keats Citron and Frank Citron
• "Credit scoring in the era of big data" by Mikella Hurley and Julius Adebayo
• "Numbers game; Lending and data" by Staff Writer (The Economist)
• "Credit scores, lending, and psychosocial disability" by Christopher P Guzelian, Michael Ashley Stein, and Hagop S Akiskal
• "Digital Reputation in an era of runaway data" by Frank Pasquale [Note: This is a chapter from the book "The Black Box Society".  The rest of this book is also pretty interesting.]

Chapter 9. "No Safe Zone: Getting Insurance"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• potentially intrusive workplace "Wellness Programs" and insurance rates
• personal finances as a proxy for driving skills and driving history and car insurance rates

Potential Resources

• "4 Little-Known Truths About Credit Scores and Car Insurance Rates" by Tim Sprinkle
• "The Moral Limits of Predictive Practices: The Case of Credit-Based Insurance Scores" by Barbara Kiviat
• "The Off-Label Use of Consumer Credit Ratings" by Akos Rona-Tas
• "Predictive Data Tools Find Uses in Schools" by Sarah D Sparks
• "Do Credit‐Based Insurance Scores Proxy for Income in Predicting Auto Claim Risk?" by Darcy Steeg Morris, Daniel Schwarcz, and Joshua C Teitelbaum
• "House bill seeks to block insurers from using credit scores in auto underwriting" by Calvin Trice and David Hood
• "Insurance reform bid hits snag: Lack of votes" by Chad Livengood
• "Value Added Service - Wellness and Preventive - Role of Health Insurance: Health Insurance and Wellness Programs" by FICCI Studies and Surveys, 12/2016 [Note: this is just a short blurb defining several kinds of wellness programs- "Participatory", "Health contingent", "Activity only health contingent", and "Outcome based health contingent"]
• "Willingness to adopt wearable devices with behavioral and economic incentives by health insurance wellness programs: results of a US cross-sectional survey with multiple consumer health vignettes" by Diego Soliño-Fernandez, Alexander Ding, Esteban Bayro-Kaiser, and Eric L. Ding
• "Wellness Programs and Lifestyle Discrimination — The Legal Limits" by Michelle M Mello and Meredith B Rosenthal
• "A Look At How Royal CU's Wellness Program And Health Insurance Plan Are Working" by Frank J Diekmann
• "Private Health Insurance Sponsored Wellness Programs: Examining Participation in the Healthy Lifestyle Rewards Financial Incentives Program on Health Care Costs, Utilization, and Risk Behaviors" by Zoë Kimberly Harris [Note: this is a PhD dissertation.]

Chapter 10. "The Targeted Citizen: Civic Life"

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Potential influence of social media on political elections

Potential Resources

• "The search engine manipulation effect (SEME) and its possible impact on the outcomes of elections" by Robert Epstein and Ronald E. Robertson [Note: This paper has been cited more than 100 times.  Some of these citing papers might also be good resources.]
• "Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks" by Adam D. I. Kramer, Jamie E. Guillory, and Jeffrey T. Hancock [Note: This paper has been cited more than 1000 times!!!  Some of these citing papers might also be good resources.]
• Correction for Kramer et al., Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks [Note: This links to the published correction to "Experimental evidence of massive..."]
• "Editorial expression of concern: Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks" by Inder M Verma [This is a very interesting (and short!) note from one of the editors of PNAS (where " Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional..." was published) about the lack of informed consent for "participants" in this study.  Something to read and think about when posting to your Facebook account...]
• "Bots increase exposure to negative and inflammatory content in online social systems" by Massimo Stella, Emilio Ferrara, and Manlio De Domenico
• "Spreading of components of mood in adolescent social networks" by Robert W Eyre, Thomas House, Edward M Hill, and Frances E Griffiths

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Sea level rise
• Disproportionate effects of sea level rise on different communities
• Denial about or ignorance pertaining to sea level rise and consequences of sea level rise
• Costs of sea level rise (economic, societal, cultural, ecological, etc)
• Solutions/Accommodations: (who gets a say? Who benefits? Who does not benefit?)
• US vs Other countries/nations, US with Other countries/nations

Potential Resources

• EPA Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X)
  • ARC-X Adaptation Planning Page
  • ARC-X Case Studies
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (5AR) (2014)
  • AR5 - Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability : Non-Journal Literature Library

For example: Sea-Level Rise Adaptation and Risk Mitigation Measures for the City of Cape Town Resort

• Intergovernmental Pane on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (6AR) (2021)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) Technical Reports
  • Perform a search scoped to the NOAA publications.  For example, try a site search within NOAA for sea level change info: site:https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications "sea level"
  • GLOBAL AND REGIONAL SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS FOR THE UNITED STATES
  • Hurricane MATTHEW
• Adaptation to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of Coastal Communities in New Brunswick, Canada by Sebastian Weissenberger, Omer Chouinard
• Climate of the southeast United States: variability, change, impacts, and vulnerability
  by Keith T Ingram
• Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Coastal Communities by Walter Leal Filho
• Threatened island nations: legal implications of rising seas and a changing climate by Michael Gerrard and  Gregory E Wannier
• Civic engagement in the wake of Katrina by Amy Koritz and George J Sanchez
• Social vulnerability to floods: Review of case studies and implications for measurement by Samuel Rufat, Eric Tate, Christopher G Burton, and Abu Sayeed Maroof.
• Nigg, Joanne M., John Barnshaw, and Manuel R. Torres. "Hurricane Katrina and the Flooding of New Orleans: Emergent Issues in Sheltering and Temporary Housing." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 604, no. 1, 2006, pp. 113-128.
• Hallegatte, Stephane, et al. "Future Flood Losses in Major Coastal Cities." Nature Climate Change, vol. 3, no. 9, 2013, pp. 802-806.
• Rufat, Samuel, et al. "Social Vulnerability to Floods: Review of Case Studies and Implications for Measurement." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 14, 2015, pp. 470-486.
• Hirsch, Arnold R. "(almost) A Closer Walk with Thee: Historical Reflections on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina." Journal of Urban History, vol. 35, no. 5, 2009, pp. 614-626.
• Bond Graham, Darwin. "The New Orleans that Race Built: Racism, Disaster, and Urban Spatial Relationships." Souls, vol. 9, no. 1, 2007, pp. 4-18.

Some of the extensive and searchable newspaper collections available at Bates:

Below are links to examples of several of the extensive and searchable newspaper collections available at Bates.

Find even more from the "Online Collections" button on the library home page:

• Select "Online Collections", "Browse by Type", and then "News and Newspapers".

Historical Newspaper Collections:

Historical through Present Newspaper Collections:

Individual Newspapers:

Try Searching in An Article Index:

An article index is like Google Search if it only searched journal articles.  Below you will find several article indexes that should help you find your primary scientific research article.

Try Searching in a Single Journal:

If Bates has access to a specific journal, you can search within it very easily!

1. From the Ladd Library home page, select the "CBBcat" button.
2. Select the "Journal Title" search button.
3. Enter the title of the journal you want to search within and click the magnifying glass.
4. Use the resulting search box to search within the specified journal.