Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item WAR OF THE WORDS: STRATEGIC NARRATIVES IN NEWS COVERAGE OF COVID-19 TRAVEL POLICIES IN U.S. AND CHINESE MEDIA(2024) Wong, Ho Chun; Oates, Sarah S; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation investigates how a global shock such as the COVID-19 pandemic creates challenges and opportunities for the projection of strategic narratives. Sitting on the intersection of the literature between journalism studies, political communication, and international relations, the strategic narratives framework provides a comprehensive approach to evaluate the stories told by political actors that are aimed at influencing perceptions. The author proposed a narrative-centric perspective to enrich the theoretical framework. While the conventional policy-centric perspective evaluates strategic narratives as a means to legitimize political behaviors, the narrative-centric perspective considers strategic narratives as tools for shaping the identities and characterization of political actors. A global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity to frame pandemic responses in service of strategic goals. While political actors could legitimize policies in the name of health amid the lack of scientific authority in the infodemic where problematic information overwhelmed the global information environment, the situation also enabled political actors to frame policies such as travel restrictions for enhancing or renegotiating actor identities and worldviews. This dissertation analyzes the projection of COVID-19 strategic narratives and how they responded to foreign strategic narratives in the U.S. and Chinese English-language national news. A large sample of online news (N = 263,014) was sampled from the GDELT Coronavirus news dataset (The GDELT Project, 2020). This dissertation employed mixed methods of human-in-the-loop machine learning, conventional content analysis, and Granger causality tests to identify and examine strategic narratives, as well as evaluate the interactions between strategic narratives. Findings suggest that Chinese strategic narratives were responsive to offensive strategic narratives from the U.S. and depicted the U.S. as an immoral actor who intentionally smeared China. The U.S. reinforced the identity-level strategic narrative that China lacks transparency through issue-level strategic narratives about travel policies and virus origin. Two patterns of strategic narratives projection were found. Chinese strategic narratives maintained coherent storylines in the three years and between news outlets. They projected a clear Chinese story to the international audience but found it difficult to address the rapid changes in pandemic situations and policies. Meanwhile, strategic narratives from the U.S. were less coherent and were contested domestically between news outlets. Although it might have weakened a unified U.S. story, the flexibility allowed strategic narratives to transform and adapt to evolving pandemic realities. U.S. strategic narratives were able to frame stories about travel restrictions and virus origin as a manifestation of the lack of transparency from China. This dissertation demonstrated the feasibility of studying the dynamics of strategic narratives through a large dataset. The mixed method approach offered a thick analysis of strategic narratives and illustrated their interactions, thus consolidating the theoretical and methodological foundation for future research on strategic narratives contests.Item POLICY IMPACTS FOR DEVELOPMENT: EXAMPLES FROM A MARRIAGE LAW AND A LAND REFORM(2024) Chen, Ying; Battistin, Erich; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This abstract outlines the chapters that form my doctoral dissertation. The first two chapters analyze the impacts of the 1974 Age-of-Marriage law in Indonesia, which aimed to curb child marriage.In the first chapter, I study the effectiveness of age-of-marriage laws. I discuss how age-of-marriage restrictions delay marriages and also affect the marriage market equilibrium, including not only when people marry but also who they marry. I build a theoretical model and illustrate graphically what happens when a law abruptly shifts the supply of marriageable brides and grooms. My model predicts that the age-of-marriage laws are expected to postpone first marriages universally. However, the extent of their impact on the marriage market varies depending on the strength of age-related preferences. In cases where individuals strongly favor a specific age gap between spouses, no marriage market effects are anticipated. Conversely, under weaker age-related preferences, the law alters matching in the marriage market and can affect bride prices, age gaps, or marriage rates. I then test some of those predictions with regression discontinuity estimates using birth cohort as the running variable. Using a large nationally-representative dataset, I estimate impacts of the Indonesian Law on age of marriage and probability of underage marriage for both women and men. In addition, I examine marriage-market effects by estimating impacts on the age gap between spouses as well as spouse education. My estimations based on large survey datasets support the notion that the marriage law delayed marriages and prevented under-age marriages, and also altered matching patterns, at least in the short run. Because the estimation in an RD design is complicated by the misreporting of birth dates, I deploy a range of robustness checks to bolster my findings. Though some of the robustness checks raise important caveats, my overall findings still suggest the law effectively delays marriage and alters matching in the marriage market. The second chapter further explores the effects of delaying marriage on life outcomes. I continue to rely on Indonesia’s Age-of-Marriage law and the same nationally representative dataset. I leverage a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to explore whether the law further brought about other commonly expected desirable outcomes of delayed marriage, such as higher education attainment, employment participation, health, wealth, and more. My results show that the law had a strong impact on girls education. It led to significant increases in all completion rates for girls, from primary school to bachelor degrees. This is consistent with some existing studies finding that delayed marriage can prevent girls from dropping out of school. I do not find similar impacts for men, for whom the marriageable age is 19. My results further do not suggest strong impacts on employment, but I significant positive effects on access to banking and communications, as well as health insurance. Echoing results from Chapter 1, I find strong impacts on spouse outcomes, suggesting that women who delayed their wedding married more educated and more successful men. The third chapter examines the land rental market effects of increased tenure security in the context of China’s land titling reform. Between 2009 and 2018, the Chinese government introduced a nationwide reform to register land titles for rural individual households in over 600,000 villages. To estimate the causal effect of the land reform, I leverage differences across villages induced by a pilot project of the reform conducted between 2009 and 2013. Estimates suggest that registering land titles for individual households led to a substantial increase in their participation in farmland rental markets, and allowed a shift towards non-kin tenants with a higher willingness to pay.Item WHEN GLOBAL CONSPIRACY THEORIES BECOME LOCAL PROPAGANDA: THE INFLUENCE OF CHINA AND U.S. RIGHT-WING COVID-19 NARRATIVES ON TAIWAN(2023) Li, Wei-Ping; Oates, Sarah; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examined how foreign conspiracy theories propagated by authoritarian countries traverse national borders and are transformed into “news” in domestic media systems. It also assessed the impact of these conspiracy theories incorporated into the transnational information campaign as propaganda tools. Using the controversial COVID-19 virus-origin theory as a case study, this dissertation examined how the COVID-19 virus-origin conspiracy theories were constructed as propaganda by Chinese state media and how these conspiracy theories influenced the media in Taiwan, which has historically been the main target of China's information influence activities. After analyzing COVID-19 virus-origin narratives that contained conspiracy theories propagated by Chinese state media, the study found that the Chinese state media constructed its narratives about the origin of the COVID-19 virus by repeating consistent themes, recurrent terms, and assigning distinctive personalities to key protagonists in news events. The Chinese state media portrayed China as a team player in the international community and collaborated with the international community by sharing data openly. However, the United States and other Western nations attempted to contain the rise of China by attacking it with conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus. The Chinese narratives were mostly rejected by mainstream Taiwanese media. Although Taiwanese media mentioned some conspiracy theories promoted by Chinese state media, Taiwanese media were aware of Chinese propaganda and disinformation. They also viewed the disputes between China and the United States regarding the origin of the virus as a struggle for power between the two nations. Even though Taiwanese media and Chinese state media used identical terms to describe the same news events about the origin of the COVID-19 virus and highlighted the same protagonists, Taiwanese media presented narratives that were in stark contrast to Chinese media. The research concluded that Chinese state media had limited influence on Taiwanese media in the case of COVID-19 virus-origin narratives. Nonetheless, this study also uncovered a concerning trend: a number of Taiwanese media articles amplified conspiracy theories disseminated by right-wing American media outlets, such as the War Room, Newsmax, or overseas Chinese media organizations notorious for spreading disinformation. The improper use of foreign media as news sources is one of the vulnerabilities of Taiwanese media in the battle against foreign propaganda and conspiracy theories. This dissertation increased the understanding of the influence of conspiracy theories propagated by authoritarian regimes and identified elements crucial to their success or failure as propaganda tools. Moreover, it sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of media systems in democratic nations when battling against foreign propaganda. The findings of this study are useful not only to Taiwan but also to democratic and open societies worldwide.Item SHAPE OF CARE: PATTERNS OF FAMILY CAREGIVING ACTIVITIES AMONG OLDER ADULTS FROM MIDLIFE TO LATER AGES IN CHINA AND THE U.S.(2022) Duan, Haoshu; Chen, Feinian; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation consists of three papers that investigate the long-term family caregiving patterns among Chinese and American older adults. Family caregiving has long been an essential fabric of long-term care services. Due to the prolonged life expectancy and the declined family size, older adults today are more likely to care for multiple family members for longer years than the previous cohorts. However, studies on caregiving predominately focus on singular care experiences over a short period time. As older adults transition into and out of multiple care roles, the overall caregiving patterns are overlooked. Leveraging two rich longitudinal datasets (the China Health and Retirement Study and the Health and Retirement Study), this dissertation aims to fill this current research gap by developing long-term family caregiving typologies. The first paper develops a care typology for Chinese older adults, and thoroughly assesses how gender, hukou status, living arrangement, and significant life transitions are associated with the long-term caregiving patterns. In the second paper, using linear mixed-effects models, I continue exploring the positive and negative health consequences of each caregiving pattern among Chinese older adults. The third paper focuses on developing a long-term family caregiving pattern for American older adults. In addition to prolonged life expectancies and the decline in family size, the U.S. has experienced complex transitions in family structures over the past few decades, leading to more diverse family networks and international relations in later life. After establishing the long-term care typology, the third paper pays closer attention to the variations of family caregiving patterns across the War Babies cohort, Early Baby Boomer, and the Middle/Late Baby Boomer cohort. Moreover, I explore how gender, race, and socioeconomic status are linked with these patterns. In the context of global aging, this dissertation highlights the heterogeneity in the family caregiving experiences and identifies the most vulnerable demographic groups who shoulder the heaviest care burden over time. In the end, the findings from the dissertation provide guidance for the investment and design of long-term care services in rapidly aging contexts.Item Inclusion, Exclusion, Agency, and Advocacy: Experiences of Women with Disabilities in China(2021) Hu, Luanjiao; Lin, Jing; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research has repeatedly shown that women with disabilities are more disadvantaged than both disabled men and non-disabled women due to the impacts of sexism and disability discrimination in different societies. In this dissertation study, I aim to add to the global body of literature and empirical research in the field of disability and gender. Currently, there is relatively little research focusing on the lives of women with disabilities in China. By examining the life courses and experiences of six Chinese women with disabilities, I explore how societies impact people’s experiences and how the disabled women negotiate their identities and deal with the multiple oppressions situated in their respective social positions. Research questions that guide this dissertation include: What is the general situation for women with disabilities in China? What are the experiences for women with disabilities in different aspects of their life, e.g., education, relationships, employment, family life, and social activism? To answer these questions, a qualitative multi-case study approach was adopted. Data collection consisted of multiple individual interviews, in order to study challenges that women with disabilities face, as well as their aspirations in their life courses. An overlapping conceptual framework combining a feminist perspective, critical disability lens, symbolic interactionism, and life course perspective was used to conduct a close examination of the issues concerning disabled women. The study traces important developments within the historical context for women with disabilities in China. The findings of the study reveal deeply embedded biases and discriminations in the social, political, economic, and educational systems of China; these biases and resultant discrimination manifest in disabled women’s everyday life experiences. The study also documents key life events and factors that empower women with disabilities to exert agencies in their educational and career courses. Findings of this study will be useful for government, disabled persons’ organizations, related civil society organizations engaged in disability and gender work, and disabled women in general.Item A Survey of the Evolution of the Violin Repertories by Composers from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau in the Twentieth Century(2021) Sin, Cheuk Hang; Mureșanu, Irina Roxana; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In comparison with the vast canon of repertoire written for solo violin in the western classical tradition, relatively few works by Chinese composers are regularly studied, programmed, or performed. The purpose of this dissertation is to highlight violin repertoire, both as a solo instrument and in chamber music setting, by twentieth century composers from the Greater China region. The violin was introduced to the general Chinese public in the nineteenth century, but it was not until the twentieth century that Chinese musicians began writing music for the violin, after learning western classical compositional techniques while studying abroad. Despite a century of political turmoil and rapid globalization, Chinese folk elements have remained a major component in violin works. Folk materials from a wide region were used by various composers: from the south in Canton to the north in Inner Mongolia, and from the east in Taiwan to the west in Tibet and Sinkiang.Though more than a century has passed since the first violin composition was written by a Chinese composer, this repertoire has yet to become standardized within the western musical canon. While traditional Chinese music is relatively well-documented and studied, there is limited research and few publications focusing on contemporary Chinese violin literature. This survey will spread awareness of previously under-represented works and highlight the historical context of music from this region. Chinese composers who have written the most representative music for the violin and have had great influence on their homeland and internationally are discussed in the dissertation.Item Essays on transportation and environment in China(2021) Shen, Chang; Alberini, Anna; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)My dissertation focuses on environmental issues associated with the transportation sector in China. The automobile industry in China has grown exponentially in the past 20 years. The rapid growth poses enormous challenges for the reduction of CO2 emissions and pollution. My dissertation utilizes a variety of data sources and explores what policies and market incentives can effectively promote greener transportation and reduce GHG emissions and pollution.In my first chapter, I investigate how Chinese consumers value fuel economy. Understanding this is central to determining what is the optimal policy for reducing vehicle emissions under current policy environments. I find that the new vehicle market displays full valuation, ranging from 85-105% under different specifications and assumptions. Consumer accessibility to reliable fuel economy information has a positive impact on the valuation ratio. The high valuation of fuel economy suggests that a gasoline tax or carbon tax could be an efficient tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for China. In my second chapter, which I co-authored with Professor Joshua Linn, I look at how rapidly rising income contributes to exploding vehicle demand in China, and how we can use this knowledge to better forecast future GHG emissions. We estimate an elasticity of new car sales to income of about 2.6. This estimate indicates that recent projections of vehicle sales in China have understated actual sales by 40 percent. In my third chapter, instead of looking at GHG emissions, I look at pollution from high-emission trucks. I evaluate how a ban on these trucks improves local NO2 levels in Beijing. The result suggests that the policy helped reduce NO2 by 1.26 μg/m3, or approximately 2.6% of the NO2 level. Additionally, it was found that stations located in areas with a high density of major roads, fewer natural surroundings, and more buildings saw a more significant policy effect than their counterparts.Item EXAMINATION OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND METEOROLOGY OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTANTS FROM THE NORTH CHINA PLAIN(2020) Benish, Sarah Elizabeth; Dickerson, Russell R; Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Increasingly severe air pollution over metropolitan regions in China has raised attention in light of its local and regional impacts on health and climate. Computer models can simulate complex interactions between photochemistry and meteorology to inform policy decisions in reducing ground-level pollution. However, models rely on an accurate portrayal of emissions that often possess large uncertainties over regions with evolving pollution characteristics. This work is comprised of a quantitative analysis of air pollutants in the North China Plain that strives to improve such uncertainties by identification of important sources and meteorological conditions for pollution through the combination of observations and models. Measurements used in this dissertation focus on in situ observations from the Spring 2016 Air chemistry Research in Asia (ARIAs) campaign, which sampled atmospheric composition across the heavily populated and industrialized Hebei Province in the North China Plain. High amounts of ozone (O3) precursors were found throughout and even above the planetary boundary layer, continuing to generate O3 at high rates to be potentially transported downwind. Evidence for the importance of anthropogenic VOCs on O3 production is presented. Concentrations of NOx and VOCs even in the rural areas of this highly industrialized province promote widespread O3 production and in order to improve air quality over Hebei, both NOx and VOCs should be regulated. The ARIAs airborne measurements also provide a critical opportunity to characterize chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) over a suspected CFC-11 source region in China, finding mixing ratios were well above 2016 global background levels. Based on correlations of CFCs with compounds used in their manufacture, I identify likely source regions of new CFCs production and release, in violation of the Montreal Protocol. Finally, I examine the influence of meteorology on surface and aloft measurements during ARIAs. A multiday persistent high pressure episode is presented as a case study to examine the influence of regional transport on air quality measured during ARIAs. This dissertation provides valuable information for understanding one of the most polluted regions in China. Coordinated field and modeling efforts can together provide scientific guidance to inform pollution control measures to meet air quality targets in China.Item LEVERAGING SOCIAL NETWORKS TO FIGHT HIV: THE BATTLE OF FEMALE SEX WORKERS(2020) Li, Yuruo; Liu, Hongjie; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation aims to assess the applicability of the social network method on HIV research among female sex workers (FSWs). Manuscript 1 reported the findings from a systematic literature review which examined the application of social network method in HIV studies focusing on FSWs. The majority of the identified studies were limited to local social networks or FSW establishments and did not use sophisticated statistical approaches to analyze sociocentric network data. The discrepancies in network definitions and data collections made it difficult in interpreting their findings and assessing validity. Most of the analytic plans for egocentric studies were limited to information at the individual level rather than that at the ego-alter ties. The project reported in manuscripts 2 and 3 used empirical data from a multi-center egocentric network study among mid-age FSWs in China to assess the extent to which social network components influence HIV testing behaviors (paper 2), and the associations between Chinese collectivist culture and FSWs’ social networks (paper 3). As reported in the manuscript 2, among 1,245 FSWs, 62.2% of them received an HIV test. HIV testing was positively associated with higher network transitivity (AOR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.18-2.64) and inversely associated with network trust (AOR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.56-0.97). Although social support was not associated with HIV testing, the increase in social cohesion may provide substantial support for HIV testing. As documented in manuscript 3, Chinese collectivism tendency was negatively associated with their perceived social support (95% CI: -0.33, -0.04), network effective size (95% CI: -0.30, -0.01), and network betweenness (95% CI: -0.33, -0.09). FSWs who had the highest level of collectivistic tendency and perceived a higher level of stigma are more likely to stay at a “bridging” position and connect with weak social ties rather than a strong cohesive group. This dissertation projects provide empirical evidence that social networks can be used to analyze the social environment of FSWs and its impact on HIV preventive behaviors among this HIV vulnerable population. The findings make additional contributions to the application of social network methods in social and behavioral research with a focus on FSWs.Item Relations Among Peer Victimization, Aggression, And School Climate in Elementary School Students(2019) Sullivan, Kathryn; Wang, CIxin; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Peer victimization in schools is a growing concern in China, where prevalence rates range from 22-26.1% (Han, Zhang, & Zhang, 2017; Cheng et al., 2010). Peer victimization is linked to many negative outcomes, including increased aggression (Arsenault et al., 2006; Averdijk et al., 2016). A positive school climate, which includes factors that support learning, physical and emotional safety, connection, support, and engagement, may serve as a protective factor against both peer victimization and its negative outcomes. This study examined the longitudinal relations between peer victimization, aggression, and school climate by examining self-report survey data collected from 800 3rd to 6th-grade students in China. Results indicated that a positive school climate was a significant moderator of the positive relationship between peer victimization and later aggression. These findings have important implications for the role of school climate as protective against later behavioral difficulties for victimized students.