Do graphical cues effectively inform users? A socio-technical security study in accessing wifi networks.

in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2015), 9190

We study whether the padlock and the signal strength bars, two visual cues shown in network managers, convey their intended messages. Since users often choose insecure networks when they should not ... [more ▼]

We study whether the padlock and the signal strength bars, two visual cues shown in network managers, convey their intended messages. Since users often choose insecure networks when they should not, finding the answer is not obvious; in our study we clarify whether the problem lies in uninformative and ambiguous cues or in the user who, despite understanding the cues, chooses otherwise. This paper describes experiments and comments the results that bring evidence to our study. [less ▲]

Socio-Technical Study On the Effect of Trust and Context when Choosing WiFi Names

in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2013), 8203

We study trust and context as factors influencing how people choose wireless network names. Our approach imagines the mindset of a hypothetical attacker whose goal is to ensnare unsuspecting victims into ... [more ▼]

We study trust and context as factors influencing how people choose wireless network names. Our approach imagines the mindset of a hypothetical attacker whose goal is to ensnare unsuspecting victims into accessing dishonest WiFi access points. For this purpose, we conducted an online survey. We used two separate forms. The first form asked a random group of participants to rate a list of wireless names according to their preferences (some real and others purposely made-up) and afterwards with implied trust in mind. The second form was designed to assess the effect of context and it asked a different set of respondents to rate the same list of wireless names in relation to four different contexts. Our results provide some evidence confirming the idea that trust and context can be exploited by an attacker by purposely, or strategically, naming WiFi access points with reference to trust or within certain contexts. We suggest, in certain cases, possible defence strategies. [less ▲]

Improving Admission Decisions for a Teacher Training Program: The Case of a Multilingual and Multicultural Environment

Scientific Conference (2012, April 13)

Higher education institutions across the world use a combination of previous grades along with scores on verbal and quantitative aptitude tests in making admissions decisions for their various academic ... [more ▼]

Higher education institutions across the world use a combination of previous grades along with scores on verbal and quantitative aptitude tests in making admissions decisions for their various academic programs. Recent work suggests there are several additional factors that would likely add to the predictive validity of the admissions system, and be more fair to candidates (Harackiewicz et. al, 2002). These include measures of personality, creativity, situational judgment, critical thinking, and others (Kyllonen, 2005). Consequently, over the past several years, numerous programs in the U.S. and elsewhere have experimented with potential alternative or supplementary predictors (Peeters and Lievens, 2005; Kyllonen, 2008). The University of Luxembourg, in particular the Bachelor of Science in Education (BScE) program, will contribute to this debate by exploring and validating alternative/supplementary measures of social competency – in this case measures that gauge the potential for college success and capacity for effective teaching. Our study seeks to identify valid and reliable indicators of not only future academic success in the BScE program, but also of becoming an effective primary school teacher. Overall the goal of our project is: a) to consider what it means to be successful in school and as a teacher (and the measurement of these successful outcomes); b) to identify the most important constructs that will predict success in the BScE program; c) to examine alternative measures of these constructs with respect to psychometric properties, administrative and logistical concerns, and user acceptance, and d) to conduct a validity study examining the predictive validity of various candidate new measures in predicting successful outcomes. To accomplish this we use a sample of BScE program candidates that took a newly revised admissions exam in the summer of 2011, designed to measure both cognitive and noncognitive attributes. The composition of these candidates was made up of self-selected/self-motivated persons seeking admission to the BScE program, whose main objective is to train and prepare future primary school teachers. On average the BScE program receives yearly approximately 400 registration applications, of which about 300 complete the exam. The average age tends to be between 19 and 20 years; it is approximately 70% female; comes mostly from the classique (nearly 70%) and the technique (25%) academic tracks; and over 90% of the candidates are of Luxembourgish nationality. The noncognitive section of the exam measured basic socio-demographic characteristics and a host of social competencies ranging from personality, time management, team-work, individual adaptability, conscientiousness, teaching self-efficacy, and other attitudes and beliefs. Because some these measures are new in the multilingual context of Luxembourg, they had to be translated from English into French and German; thus requiring further investigation to establish their reliability and validity as predictors of future performance. With that in mind, this paper will report our findings investigating the psychometric and other statistical properties of our noncognitive measures. Moreover, we will report how these measures help profile successful students relative to two important validation criteria – their course grades and in-classroom teaching evaluations – measures of college success and effective teaching. [less ▲]

Toward a Revised Socioeconomic Index using the American Community Survey, 2000-2006

Poster (2011, April 13)

This report presents the application of a new set of socioeconomic indexes (SEIs) of occupations developed using the American Community Survey (ACS). In these analyses, the new SEIs are used to ... [more ▼]

This report presents the application of a new set of socioeconomic indexes (SEIs) of occupations developed using the American Community Survey (ACS). In these analyses, the new SEIs are used to characterize the socioeconomic standings of household heads and spouses associated with samples of children age 6-18 years. These children were extracted from two independent sources: the pooled 2000-2005 October Current Population Survey (CPS) and the 2005 ACS. We compared the new measures with the 1990-based measures from Hauser and Warren (1997) by performing correlation and regression analyses on the sample data to examine the relationships among three status-attainment variables -- education, occupation and income. Since the development of Duncan’s SEI (1961) for measuring the occupational attainment of individuals, subsequent measures have been updated not only to improve the validity of the measure but also to accommodate changes in the way occupation has been measured and classified. SEIs provide researchers with succinct and reliable measures for summarizing individuals’ or households’ positions in the socioeconomic hierarchy. With growing complexity and details in the new occupation classification system, many categories in the 2000 Census occupation codes, for example, cannot find their counterparts in the previous listings and thus the SEI is due for another update. The analyses presented in this report serve as a “test-drive” for the new SEIs. The results from our preliminary analyses indicate that despite the fact that the two pairs of occupational measures are not in the exact same metric, they behave very similarly in terms of their dependence on educational attainment, explanatory power on various earning and income measures and differentials across gender and race-ethnicity groups. [less ▲]

Understanding the Association Between the National School Lunch Program, SES, and Reading Among Grade 8 Students in NAEP

Scientific Conference (2010, April)

Digital inequality among U.S. Latinos: What do we know? What do we want to know?

in Williams, Kate (Ed.) Understanding and Implementing Local Community Use of Information Technology (2008, March 28)

Chapter discredits the idea that most Americans are online, pointing out that African Americans and Latinos are 1/3 as likely to have a computer at home, are less employed so less online at work, and ... [more ▼]

Chapter discredits the idea that most Americans are online, pointing out that African Americans and Latinos are 1/3 as likely to have a computer at home, are less employed so less online at work, and Latino immigrants may not be aware of community resources like public access computers at the library. The chapter also describes past and present ideas as to why this difference persists. [less ▲]

Analfabetismo Cibernético: Una Nueva Dimensión de la Desigualdad Social en Latinoamérica

Scientific Conference (2006, September)

Income and Digital Inequalities in the United States

Presentation (2006, June)

The Divide in the Digital Divide: Race and Ethnic Differences in Computer Ownership, 1984-2003.”

Scientific Conference (2005, August)

Cognition, Personality, and the Sociology of Response to Social Change: The Case of Internet Adoption

Scientific Conference (2005)