PUBLISHED WORK

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension
Volume 5 Number 1, 2018

TWITTER CHATS AS A RESEARCH TOOL: A STUDY OF YOUNG ADULT FINANCIAL DECISIONS

Many researchers collect online survey data because it is cost-effective and less time-consuming than traditional research methods. This paper describes Twitter chats as a research tool vis-à-vis two other online research methods: providing links to electronic surveys to respondents and use of commercially available survey panels through vendors with readily available respondents. Similar to a face-to-face focus group, Twitter chats provide a synchronous environment for participants to answer a structured series of questions and to respond to both the chat facilitator and each other. This paper also reports representative responses from a Twitter chat that explored financial decisions of young adults. The chat was sponsored by a multi-state group of land-grant university researchers, in cooperation with WiseBread, a personal finance website targeted to millennials, to recruit respondents for a more extensive month-long online survey about the financial decisions of young adults. The Twitter chat responses suggest that student loans were the top concern of participants, and debt and housing rounded out the top three concerns. The internet, both websites and social media, was the most frequently cited source of financial information. The article concludes with a discussion of lessons learned from the Twitter chat experience and suggestions for professional practice.

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Barbara O'Neill, Yilan Xu, Carrie L. Johnson, D. Elizabeth Kiss

Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal
Volume 46 Issue 4, 2018

TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS ON CONDUCTING AND REVIEWING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The purpose of this article was to describe the characteristics of qualitative studies, explain the various types of qualitative studies, and indicate which data collection method fits which type of qualitative study. Also, the authors who are all Associate Editors of the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal have provided their ideas on conducting reviews of qualitative studies. This article is an extension of the panel that was presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in June 2018.

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Sharon A. DeVaney, Alice Spangler, Young-A Lee, Lucy Delgadillo

Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning
Volume 28 Issue 2, 2017

PREDICTORS OF CONSUMERS' HEALTH INSURANCE KNOWLEDGE

The objectives of this study were to assess consumer knowledge of their health insurance plan and overall financial knowledge and to identify factors associated with consumer health insurance knowledge. A sample of taxpayers who had tax returns completed at a university-based volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) program was surveyed. More than 70% of respondents perceived their health insurance plan knowledge and overall financial literacy to be fair/good on a scale where the top choices were very good, excellent, and exceptional. The results of the binary logistic regression showed that those who were more likely to have high health insurance knowledge were U.S. citizens, not single, and reviewed their health insurance coverage at least once a year. 

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Sarah Osmane, Cathy Faulcon Bowen

Journal of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
Volume 11, 2016

USING VIRTUAL FOCUS GROUPS IN EXTENSION RESEARCH

Electronic learning technology and web-based survey sampling were used to conduct two virtual focus groups designed to investigate how student loan borrowers make decisions regarding their financial aid. Participants were recruited nationally by Survey Sampling International and separately at six land-grant universities. Most respondents claimed to have used their financial aid for school-related purposes, while a minority admitted to alternate uses of excess student loan amounts (e.g. entertainment and travel expenses). Best practices for using this innovative virtual focus group approach and lessons learned from working with multiple universities are described. Implications for replication of this project and recommendations for Cooperative Extension professionals are also discussed.

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Carrie L. Johnson, David A. Evans, Sheri Lokken Worthy, Barbara O'Neill

Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal
Volume 45 Issue 2, 2016

PERCEIVED VALUE OF COLLEGE AS AN INVESTMENT IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL CAPITAL: VIEWS OF GENERATIONS X AND Y

This article examines the perception of college based on the investment in human or social capital. An online survey was used to collect data. After deleting the responses from older cohorts (Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation) and incomplete responses, the sample consisted of 1,000 adult participants who had student loans. Similarities and differences between generations X and Y student loan borrowers were investigated. Generation Y ranked social capital reasons for a college education higher than human capital reasons. In contrast, Generation X ranked human capital reasons for a college education higher than social capital reasons. Generation and perceived value of college were significantly associated with the satisfaction related to student loans.

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Carrie L. Johnson, Michael Gutter, Yilan Xu, Soo Hyun Cho, Sharon DeVaney