Human Subjects Research Guidelines for Undergraduate Researchers: An Analysis of Institutional Review Board (IRB) Websites at Top Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States.

Teaching students about the ethics of Human Subject Research (HSR) should be a fundamental component of students' education about research. In this article, we analyze the Institutional Review Board (IRB) websites of top-ranked Liberal Arts Colleges (LACs) to examine their framing of HSR carried out by undergraduate students. Our descriptive quantitative analysis from 50 top-ranked LACs in the United States indicates that a majority of IRB websites provide information about undergraduate research, and most include information about students' classroom-based research. Our qualitative content analysis of a subsample of ten colleges' IRB websites provides information on how they inform and educate about issues including informed consent and highlight different resources for students including their research advisor, and disciplinary standards. We conclude by discussing recommendations for IRBs in their accessibility to undergraduates.

What we think prayers do: Americans' expectations and valuation of intercessory prayer.

Praying for others in the wake of a disasters is a common interpersonal and public response to tragedy in the United States. But these gestures are controversial. In a survey experiment, we elicit how people value receiving a prayer from a Christian stranger in support of a recent hardship and examine factors that affect the value of the prayer. We find that people who positively value receiving the prayer do so primarily because they believe it provides emotional support and will be answered by God. Many also value the prayer because they believe it will improve their health and wealth, although empirical support of such effects is lacking. People who negatively value receiving the prayer do so primarily because they believe praying is a waste of time. The negative value is particularly large if people are offended by religion. Finally, the hardship experienced by the prayer recipient matters to the intensity by which recipients like or dislike the gesture, suggesting the benefit of prayers varies not only across people, but also across contexts.

For the children? A mixed methods analysis of World Bank structural adjustment loans, health projects, and infant mortality in Latin America.

BACKGROUND: The World Bank wields immense financial and normative power in health in the developing world. During the 1980s and 1990s, in the face of intense criticism of its structural adjustment policies, the World Bank purportedly turned its attention to "pro-growth and pro-poor" policies and new lending instruments. One focus has been an investment in maternal and infant health. My analysis uses a mixed methods approach to examine the relationship between traditional structural adjustment and health loans and projects and infant mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 to 2015. RESULTS: My answer to whether the World Bank's projects in Latin America worked "for the children" is: somewhat. The results are heartening in that quantitatively, health projects are associated with lower infant mortality rates, net of controls, whereas traditional structural adjustment loans do not appear to be negatively associated with infant mortality, though examined across a short time horizon. Qualitative data suggest that infants, children, and mothers are considered in World Bank loans and projects in the context of an economic logic: focusing on productivity, economic growth, and human capital, rather than human rights. CONCLUSION: Taken together, my results suggest that the World Bank appears to, at least partially, have amended its approach and its recent work in the region is associated with reductions in infant mortality. However, the World Bank's economistic approach risks compartmentalizing healthcare and reducing people to their economic potential. As such, there remains work to do, in Latin America and beyond, if health interventions are to be effective at sustainably and holistically protecting vulnerable groups.

The value of thoughts and prayers.

A standard response of both policy makers and private citizens to hardships-from natural disasters to mass shootings-is to offer "thoughts and prayers." Critics argue that such gestures are meaningless and may obstruct structural reforms intended to mitigate catastrophes. In this study, we elicit the value of receiving thoughts and prayers from strangers following adversity. We find that Christians value thoughts and prayers from religious strangers and priests, while atheists and agnostics are "prayer averse"-willing to pay to avoid receiving prayers. Furthermore, while indifferent to receiving thoughts from other secular people, they negatively value thoughts from Christians.

Science for good? The effects of education and national context on perceptions of science.

Pressing environmental, social, and economic problems require interventions informed by scientific expertise yet skepticism of organized science runs high among some groups. Numerous studies show how individual-level experiences and identities translate into attitudes about science, but less is known about the contextual factors that shape these beliefs. We employ regression models using data from the International Social Survey Program and the World Development Indicators to examine how national levels of scientific activity influence public perceptions of science. Our analysis of data from 76,858 individuals in 41 countries finds that education is associated with greater appreciation of science cross-nationally. This relationship is amplified in countries with high levels of scientific activity and attenuated in countries with less scientific activity. These results underscore the importance of national context for understanding perceptions of science, and suggest that improving science attitudes requires attention to both individual and country-level factors.