ICPSR Undergraduate Research Paper Competition Winners

2009 Award Winners

1st Place Winner - MDRC

Student/Author: Nathaniel Becker
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Yale University
Paper Title: The Transmission of Political Ideologies through Social Networks: an Empirical Approach (PDF 342K)

Abstract: This paper investigates the formation and transmission of political ideology through social networks. Elaborating on information-updating models within computer science and network theory, I formalize a model for the transmission and distribution of political beliefs through social networks. I then turn to a dataset provided by the Minority Data Resource Center (MDRC) which chronicles the political opinions of individuals from several minority groups within the Houston area to evaluate the extent to which the political ideologies "converge" amongst individuals within the same social network. Using ethnic minority presence as an instrument for social network connectedness, I find some circumstantial evidence that the tightness and closure of minority networks may impact the correlation between individuals' views. Interestingly, the most compelling evidence comes with issues of low political salience to the survey respondents. However, the ability to generalize from this study is limited because the measured impact of social networks is relatively small and the conclusions are not uniformly robust.

1st Place Winner - ICPSR

Student/Author: Austin Lee Wright
Undergraduate School Affiliation: University of Texas - Austin
Paper Title: Why Do Terrorists Claim Credit? Attack-Level and Country-Level Analyses of Factors Influencing Terrorist Credit-taking Behavior (PDF 336K)

Abstract: Terrorism is commonly considered a coercive political strategy employed to manipulate a broader audience, enraptured by the horror of the terrorist's dramatic acts of violence. However, if generating publicity and disrupting public life is the raison d'etre of modern terrorism, why do so many contemporary attacks remain unclaimed by their perpetrators? Over the past forty years, the proportion of attacks where credit is taken has fallen dramatically. By 2004, roughly 14.5% of all attacks were claimed. This paper is the first attempt to explore credit-taking behavior using cross-national data. I test theoretical claims using two datasets (of attack-level and country-level factors) and a series of statistical methods. I conclude that the factors influencing credit-taking are neither equally powerful across geographic space nor time and conclude that several major theories of terrorist decision-making fail to adequately explain terrorists' decision to claim ownership over their deeds.

2nd Place Winner - ICPSR

Student/Author: Jared Koerten
Undergraduate School Affiliation: University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Paper Title: Anti- Communism and Idealism: The Peace Corps and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Third World, 1960-1966 (PDF 230K)

Abstract: This paper seeks to uncover the political motivations behind the creation of the Peace Corps in the United States. While many historians attribute both anti-Communism and idealism as impetuses behind the founding of the Peace Corps, an important trend in the relative importance of these factors over time remains unexplored. This thesis uses primary source documents to show how the United States perceived the importance of the Peace Corps in containing Communism during the organization's formative years. After its establishment, however, a sense of idealism became synonymous with the Peace Corps. During this period, a romantic notion of the Peace Corps garnered support for the organization at home and abroad. Discussions of the organization's strategic importance in the Cold War disappeared. In examining actual program implementation, however, this rhetorical shift towards idealism appears to be only a facade, as programs were guided by U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War.

2008 Award Winners

1st Place Winner - MDRC

Student/Author:Sarah Ireland
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Yale University
Paper Title: Intergenerational Mobility By Race: Can The Black Middle Class Reproduce Itself (PDF 312K)

Abstract: What is the fate of the black middle class? The rise of the black middle class is a relatively recent phenomenon, and as such, it remains to be seen whether it successfully passing its prosperity to the next generation. Building upon various models used by Featherman & Hauser (1978), Hout (1985), and Mazumder (2005), this paper uses intergenerational elasticities and mobility tables to examine the transmission of class status from one generation to the next. Data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) is used to compare the differences in mobility between middle class blacks and whites over the period from 1968-2003. The results indicate that African-Americans in the middle class show higher levels of class persistence than middle class whites and that the black middle class is actually growing over time, while the number of whites in the middle class is shrinking.

1st Place Winner - ICPSR

Student/Author:Poh Lin Tan
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Princeton University
Paper Title: Examining the Economic Basis of Ethical Vegetarianism (PDF 196K)

Abstract:People who choose to be vegetarian for ethical reasons often believe that their choice has a small but positive impact on the welfare of animals. This paper examines the main economic arguments that are widely used in support of this belief as well as competing theories that claim that ethical vegetarianism in fact leads to more animal suffering. Using national chicken and pork production data from the United States Department of Agriculture and household-level expenditure data, I provide some estimates of the elasticity of quantity of each meat type produced to changes in consumer expenditure on it. The data suggest that elasticity of supply is positive and smaller than unity, and that values are larger when the changes in expenditure are negative. On the other hand, there is little evidence to support the rival hypothesis that ethical vegetarianism results in greater animal suffering.

2nd Place Winner - ICPSR

Student/Author:Corina D Mommaerts
Undergraduate School Affiliation: University of Michigan
Paper Title: The Effect of Property Taxes on Elderly Residential Geography: A County-Level Analysis (PDF 164K)

Abstract:This study seeks to better understand the effects of local property taxes and public education expenditures on where the elderly live at the county level in the United States. I use population data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 Decennial Censuses, and finance data from the Census of Governments from 1977 through 2002, as well as average property tax rates from the National Association of Home Builders. Using ordinary least squares and panel regressions, I examine various specifications of this econometric model. The empirical results suggest that there is a negative relationship between property taxes and elderly residential locations overall. The relationship between education expenditure and elderly residential location is somewhat blurred, suggesting that the widely held view that seniors oppose education spending may not hold true. Taken as a whole, these findings imply that elders focus more on property taxes rather than the allocation of these taxes.

3rd Place Winner - ICPSR

Student/Author:Caroline M. Savello
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Yale University
Paper Title: Manipulating the "Truth": The Unintended Consequences of Truth-in-Sentencing Laws in California, 1992-1996 (PDF 528K)

Abstract:Determinate sentencing policies have changed the face of the criminal justice system over the past 30 years, but the most recent trend-Truth-in-Sentencing-aims not to readjust sentencing conditions, but rather to ensure that convicts serve most of their assigned prison sentences. However, this study finds that TIS has unexpectedly influenced sentencing behavior. After the adoption of Truth-in-Sentencing laws in California in 1994, violent offenders saw fewer convicted counts, less severe convictions, and decreased assigned prison sentences. Moreover, robbery and aggravated assault offenders are spending less time in prison after the implementation of Truth-in-Sentencing, suggesting that the law has not achieved its aims and may have even worsened the situation in California.

2007 Award Winners

1st Place Winner

Student/Author: Scott M. Noveck
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Princeton University
Paper Title: Testing the Theory of Rational Crime with United States Data, 1994-2002 (PDF 1MB)

Abstract: Do criminals in the United States respond rationally to changes in incentives, or is crime inherently an irrational phenomenon? Building upon models used by Ehrlich (1973), Levitt (2002), and others, this paper uses a model of rational crime to examine the elasticities of seven index crimes with respect to changes in law enforcement expenditures and economic incentives using state-level United States data from the years 1994 through 2002. Our empirical results are consistent with the economic model of criminal behavior first proposed by Becker (1968), in which higher levels of law enforcement reduce crime through a deterrence effect, and other recent studies suggesting that aggregate crime rates have a significant rational component.

2nd Place Winner

Student/Author: Jonathan Robert Young
Undergraduate School Affiliation: Union College
Paper Title: Vaccinating the Next Generation: Are Children with Foreign-Born Mothers Less Likely to Receive Recommended Immunizations? (PDF 524K)

Abstract: Immunizations improve the health of the population and reduce health care costs by preventing the onset of infectious diseases. Unfortunately, many children in the U.S. are undervaccinated. Using cross-sectional data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, this paper investigates whether foreign-born mothers are less likely to vaccinate their children. The number of children born to immigrants has increased substantially in recent years, and they form a significant portion of the population. Because they are typically unfamiliar with the U.S. health care system, immigrants are less likely than non-immigrants to seek medical care. This paper finds that foreign-born mothers are less likely than native mothers to take their children to health care professionals for the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination and the diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccination. Thus, to improve childhood vaccination rates, physicians should target foreign-born mothers and educate them about the importance of these immunizations.

3rd Place Winner

Student/Author: Kristian Voss
Undergraduate School Affiliation: State University New York at New Paltz
Paper Title: Support for the Far Right: The Desire for Cultural Preservation in an Increasingly Globalized and Multicultural Europe (PDF 512K)

Abstract: In this study I set out to explain support for far right parties in countries of Western Europe that have been democratic since the end of World War II. Using individual level analysis of survey data from the European Social Survey 2004/2005 and country level analysis of aggregate and survey data from the Eurobarometer 59.2, I am able to offer an explanation of support for the far right. The results show that cross-national differences in support for far right parties are particularly the result of public opinion on cultural preservation as a reaction against increased immigration of foreign peoples.