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Research

Cashing in on the ER

You have probably heard the saying: “You know it is going to be a bad day at the office when the camera crew from 60 Minutes pulls into the parking lot ahead of you.” And the management of any organization might rightly worry that they could be the target of a “hatchet job” at the hands of one of the long-serving CBS correspondents.

But what about a case when the TV report is more like an accurate scalpel?

Where Are the Heroes?

Sometimes good people make bad choices. It’s a part of life because we are human.

Yet, over the past decade, characters doing just that have become the focus of many television dramas. Why are antiheroes as a character archetype so abundant and popular on the small screen?

When Democracy Gets Messy

Freedom. One word suggesting a more just, humane society. Freedom lets us pick our religion, friends, and political leaders without fear of retribution. Freedom allows us to move within and across national borders and to express ourselves freely. Freedom is largely considered the cornerstone for building a successful democratic nation-state.

Today, the question of “freedom” is ever more relevant and multifaceted when seeking to understand the pro-democracy movements in North Africa, a place where I have nurtured a longtime research interest.

It’s All in the User Experience

If you’re having problems with a piece of high-tech gear, the cliché is to enlist a child to help fix that troublesome computer or DVR. Funny thing, it’s true – to an extent. But it’s not experience with gadgetry that makes youngsters such worthy assistants. It’s their lack of preconceived ideas about how technology should operate.

Cynthia Kamishlian, a research associate at Bentley’s Design and Usability Center, is out to understand how the younger set behave around technology. And the knowledge may benefit more than children’s learning.

Put a Crimp in Holiday Crime

Identity theft is one of today’s most pervasive and insidious crimes. It can disrupt your life, put you in jail for a crime an identity thief commits in your name, or even mix up the thief’s medical information with your own and mess up your medical care.

The holiday season may be the most wonderful time of the year (as Andy Williams used to sing) but for identity thieves it is even better. The opportunities to steal your identity increase just when many of us are apt to let down our guard.

Selling Hospice Care

The Boston Globe's 11/19/12 feature on selling hospice care to the public focused on the most benign aspects of that process. While it is true that hospice care in America was built through the commendable efforts of committed volunteers and grossly underpaid health care professionals, the current industry has morphed into the fastest growing “product” purchased with Medicare dollars.