WilliamHartPhD's Notes: March 2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018

ResearchMethods: Research Ethics: Tuskegee, Lacks, Milgram & Zimbardo (W12-P3) Sp18 [VID]

Research ethics are the moral principles and rules that guide a researcher’s actions.

Why talk about research ethics? What is the need?

To answer that question, let's look at some important research studies from the past.
When watching these clips ask yourself what ethical concerns are raised in doing this research.

1) Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

3 & 4) Milgram's Authority Study & The Stanford Prison Experiment
(Watch from 0:00 to about 6:30)

What are the ethical concerns with the research that Milgram and Zimbardo did? Would you feel comfortable doing this research? Would such research be allowed today?

O.K., now that you have some knowledge of these past experiments do you have an answer to the questions asked earlier? Why talk about research ethics? What is the need?

If you are curious, there are some recent films and documentaries about some of these above examples of research misconduct.

The Stanford Prison Experiment - a trailer on YouTube | on Netflix
Experimenter - about the Milgram experiments | a trailer on YouTube | on Netflix
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - a trailer on Youtube | on Google Play
The Deadly Deception - about the Tuskegee experiments | full doc on YouTube

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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

WebDesign: iFrames (or Inserting Other HTML) (W12-P5) [VID]

What are inline frames or iframes?

They are another a way of inserting or embedding "another HTML page within the current page. This is done using an inline frame, or iframe element. The iframe element accepts the URL of another HTML page within the src attribute value; this causes the content from the embedded HTML page to be displayed on the current page" (Howe).

You can use iframes to insert (or embed) YouTube videos* and Google maps into a web page.

How do you insert external html into a web page using iframes?

* Note that you don’t have to do this “by hand”. YouTube can simplify the process and generate the iframe code for you. This is how I insert videos into this blog. Check out this video for how to embed YouTube videos into your web page.

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WebDesign: Inserting Video (W12-P4) [VID]

Simply put the video element allows for the inclusion of video in a web page.

Attributes

src attribute: like the src attribute for images and audio
poster attribute: an attribute within a video element that "allows us to specify an image, in the form of a URL, to be shown before a video is played.
Other common attributes in element
"autoplay, controls, loop, and preload."

WebDesign: Inserting Audio (W12-P3) [VID]

To insert audio into a web page, you use the audio element (in HTML5).

The audio element, like the image element, which allows for the inclusion of audio in a web page.

src attribute (for audio): an attribute within the the audio element that indicates the location of the audio file to be played.
Other common attributes in audio element are autoplay, controls, loop, and preload.

What does this look like in some actual coding? How do you insert audio exactly?

If you are curious, for more info see the W3schools audio page. Especially see the green “Try It Yourself” buttons and try it yourself if you are interested.

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WebDesign: Inserting Images (W12-P2) [VID]

To insert images (graphics, photographs, etc.) into a web page, you use the <img> element.

A "<img>" element is an inline element used to display an image. It is "is a self-containing, or empty, element, which means that it doesn't wrap any other content and it exists as a single tag” (Howe).

There are also some key attributes to be used within the element.

src attribute: an attribute within the the element that indicates the location of the image file to be displayed.
alt attribute: an attribute within the element that describes the content of the image. It is the alternative text.
height and width attributes: attributes within the element that control the size of the image. May also appear within CSS.

Now, let's take a look at how this is done in the coding.

Let’s continue with special attention to resizing an image.

If you are curious, for more info see the W3schools image page. Especially see the green “Try It Yourself” buttons and try it yourself if you are interested.

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WebDesign: Multimedia and the Web (W12-P1) [VID]

What is multimedia?

Multimedia is “communication of information using multiple mediums such as text, animation, graphics, video, sound and interaction.”

Another example of multimedia is the web. Think of the sites you visit that contain a mixture of text, animations, graphics, videos, audio and interactive features. Multimedia!

Common Media Formats

When inserting multimedia into a website it is helpful know something about the common media formats.

Common image formats and characteristics

JPG (.jpg) is a very common format. Default format used on most cameras.
PNG (.png) is a format that allows for high quality photos, but has a larger file size.
GIF (.gif) is a low quality format and is not highly recommended, except when you really have to have that animated GIF.

Common audio formats and characteristics

AAC (.aac) is the audio format default format for in iTunes. “Plays well on Apple computers, but not in web browsers.”
MP3 (.mp3) is an audio format that “is the most popular format for music players. Combines good compression (small files) with high quality. Supported by all browsers.”

Common video formats and characteristics

MPEG (.mpg, .mpeg) is a video format that was the “first popular video format on the web. Used to be supported by all browsers, but it is not supported in HTML5 (See MP4).”
AVI (.avi) is a video format that is “commonly used in video cameras and TV hardware. Plays well on Windows computers, but not in web browsers.”
MPEG-4 (.mp4) is a video format that is “commonly used in newer video cameras and TV hardware. Supported by all HTML5 browsers. Recommended by YouTube.”

If you are curious, for more info see, W3schools page “HTML Multimedia”. The media format quotes above are from this site.

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ResearchMethods: Research Ethics: The IRB (W12-P2) Sp18 [VID]

What is the role of university research review boards? How's this fit in with research ethics?

Human Subjects Review Board (or Institutional Review Boards):
“It is university policy that all projects involving risk to human subjects must be approved by the University Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects for Funded Research. Approval is based on established university, state and sponsoring agency guidelines for the protection of the rights and welfare of subjects at risk”

Why have IRBs?

What are some of the regulations regarding research and IRBs?

Federal Regulations,
State of Virginia Regulations

So, getting IRB approval would be a time-consuming task for researchers, yes?

Should researchers have more IRB discretion?

ResearchMethods: Research Ethics: Ethical Questions a Researcher Should Ask (W12-P1) Sp18

Below are some ethical questions a researcher should ask when doing research, especially with human subjects.

1) Do subjects have free choice?

Free choice

Informed consent
Briefing/Debriefing - clear up any deception

2) Are subjects shown respect?

Respect - e.g. sexism, racism

3) Are subjects compensated in some way for their time and effort?

Compensation

Manus manum lavat = “one hand washes the other”

4) Are the data collected kept safe and carefully analyzed?

When analyzing data--

Careful data handing
Careful data analysis

5) Are data made available to other researchers?

When reporting data--

Keep data and make data available, if asked.

6) What are the effects of your research on others after it is reported? Does good? Harm?

Using results

Consider the effects of research on those who use the results or are affected by them.

What would you do? A Test: Some Cases: What is Ethics in Research & Why is it Important? After following this link, scroll down to the case studies.

DigPhotog: Diversity & Digital Photography - Docs on Parks and Maier [VID] (W12-P3) Fa18

This week we look at documentaries about two famous photographers named Vivian Maier and Gordon Parks.

Finding Vivian Maier Official US Theatrical Trailer

Searching for Vivian Maier

Half Past Autumn: The Life and Work of Gordon Parks

DigPhotog: Diversity & Digital Photography - Practical Issues [VID] (W12-P2) Sp18

We shift now from the serious issues addressed in the previous blog post to practical issues of photographing people of different skin tones.

For some written advice read Photographing People of Color, if you are interested. But, here, let's watch a couple of videos with further instructions.

The above videos covered what to do if your subject has darker skin, but what if you have multiple people in your photograph with different skin tones? Follow and read the link.

To take things a step further, if you are interested, you would find it helpful to also understand the use of the gray card and "middle gray" in photography. If interested, you may also want to explore how spot metering works in to all this.

DigPhotog: Diversity & Digital Photography - Serious Issues [VID] (W12-P1) Sp18

The topics of race, gender and photography intersect in a variety of ways.

Photojournalism: A Man's World?

(Washington Post video Nov. 2013)

Note also that National Geographic has recently publicly acknowledged their racist past.

Also, did you notice anything about the women discussed above? Now that brings us to race. Something should be done to promote the presence of African American women in photography, especially photojournalism.

The camera can be used as a tool to promote racism and to terrorize a group of people as in the lynching photographs/postcards in the U.S. in the early part of the 1900s. The camera could also be used as a tool to catalog and control a group of people as with Polaroid's involvement in the creation of travel documents that black South Africans were required to carry as they traveled within their own country.

However, the camera can also be used as a tool to fight racism and teach tolerance as in the use of photography to fight for civil rights in the U.S., for example, by Gordon Parks. Parks wrote a book titled A Choice of Weapons in which he talks about the camera as a weapon.

So, the above depends on how the photographer uses the camera, for good or for evil.

Bias in the Camera, itself

But, how about the camera itself? Could the camera itself be inherently racist? Racist by design?
How is that possible? What does that mean? What we are asking is: Is there bias in the design of the camera and related technologies, like film?

The following cases arose a few years back. One of the cases dealt with the facial detection feature of the CoolPix camera asking Asian people if they had blinked. The other case dealt with the webcam on an HP laptop not tracking the faces of African-Americans.

HP WebCam

For more details on these two cases, if you are interested, see the Time.com article Are Face-Detection Cameras Racist? or the PetaPixel post “Racist” Camera Phenomenon Explained — Almost.

Interested in More?

To finish up on the serious side of the topic of race in photography, see the following articles, if you are interested.

More on bias in photographic technology ('White is Right, White as Standard'):

If you are interested, some info. on white privilege and photography:

White Privilege and The Photography Industry
Rant: I’m Tired of ‘White Guy Photography’ Projects
If you are interested in more online reading on the topic, here is some recommended reading: Camera Obscura After All: The Racist Writing With Light by Jonathan Beller.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

WebDesign: Backgrounds and Gradients (W11-P2) [VID]

Given what we’ve already covered, to change the background of a web page or section of a web page, is pretty straight forward. For example see the CSS code below.

div {
background-color: #000000;
}

The above code would change the background to what color?

You could add a background image with the following CSS code.

div {
background-image: url(“fish.jpg”);
}

To do a gradient background a little more of a challenge, but is doable.

A gradient background, for example, can change colors as the background goes down the web page or section of a web page. For example:

(Source: Wikipedia)

But, how do you do that? What does the actual CSS code look like?

Let’s look at one the simpler gradients, the linear gradients.

If you are curious and you want to take your gradients to the next level, I’d recommend the Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator.

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WebDesign: Typography (W11-P1) [VID]

Typography is an important aspect of web design. It relates to the idea of graphic design that we covered earlier.

Typography is “the style, arrangement, or appearance of typeset matter” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) or put differently "the style or appearance of text” (GCFLearnFree).

Let's dig into typography a little more. What are the important aspects of typography?

Note how leading (rhymes with wedding) and tracking mentioned here in a general discussion about typography. How leading and tracking controlled in CSS? What does the textbook say on this?

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ResearchMethods: Validity, Reliability, Etc.: Internal and External Validity + Sampling (W11-P1) Sp18

Sampling

Sampling is the process of selecting subjects for a study. Generally, the subjects are the specific people studied in an experiment or surveyed. The sample is chosen out of a larger population.

Why sample? The population you are studying is too large to study, so you have to study just a part of that population (a sample).

What could be some problems with sampling (examples of poor sampling)? Bias sample?

To reduce the problems of poor sampling, you want to use random sampling when you can. In random sampling all members of a population have an equal chance of getting into sample.

------------

What are internal and external validity?

With this type validity we are looking at the validity of the overall study, not just the validity of the instruments being used to measure the variables.

You are asking the question: Is it a valid study? Not: Is it a valid instrument?

Internal validity: Are the conclusions to be trusted for the particular study? Or, are the results valid for the subjects in your sample. For a visual representation just look the orange circle at the top. The black dots inside the orange circle are the subjects in the sample.

External validity: To whom do the conclusions apply? Generalizability of findings. The results, can they be generalized to the larger populations For a visual representation see the orange circle within the pinkish-purple circle. The orange circle represents the sample and pinkish-purple circle represents the larger population.

Question: Could you have very poor internal validity, but good external validity?

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If something goes wrong in a study, who can you blame it on? That is, if the study is not getting valid results, who can you blame it on? And you can't blame it on the alcohol. :)

What are some threats to a study’s internal validity? Or, put another way, where can you put the blame?

Threats due to researcher (e.g., influence results).
Threats due to how research is conducted (e.g., inaccurate, inconsistent research, poorly designed survey)
Threats due to research subjects

Hawthorne effect
mortality - loosing people from a study (due to death, etc.)
maturation - internal change explains behavior. In studies done over a period of time the subjects may change.

Example: 4 year study of film viewing and levels of prejudice. Subjects= college students.
See any possible threats to internal validity?

What are some threats to a study’s external validity?

Research procedures don’t reflect everyday life

ecological validity

Different finding, same sample

replication is important

Poor sampling

Any problems with studies done at universities?
Generalizability problem?

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DigPhotog: Controlling Light: What is HDR photography and what is it good for? [VID] (W11-P3) Sp18

You've heard of HDR photos?

What is an HDR photo? What does HDR stand for? What type of photography is HDR good for?What apps (software) are needed?

How To: HDR photography for iPhone and Android (CNET TV)

What is bracketing and what does it have to do with HDR photos?
In short, bracketing is "taking the same photo more than once using different settings for different exposures"

Secrets of Amazing HDR Photography (revision3)
See the first 5 minutes or so. Save the remaining for later when we discuss photo editing.

Check out some fine HDR photos at BlametheMonkey.com. When looking at the photos on this site slide the vertical line back and forth to see the standard version of the photo vs. the HDR version.

Also see comparisons at Tim Clarke's site. What is the difference between a normal photo and a HDR photo? What preferences do you have? Do you like HDR photos? Pros and cons of HDR?

Quick HDR Landscape Tutorial
Play from 0:00 to 2:15. Save the remaining for later when we discuss photo editing.

What is spot metering and what does it have to do with HDR photography?
Spot metering is a setting on a camera in which "the photographer [takes] control over exactly which portion of the frame [or image in the view finder] the meter should use to determine proper exposure."

Pro HDR App Tutorial on iPhone 4 (with Example Images!)

Pro-HDR - an app that allows you to take HDR photos.
Note: Try the free version first, if you can find it.

Another HDR app that is currently available as a free version is HDR FX Photo Editor (Free) which is available on Android.

There is also a limited HDR feature on iPhones and iPads. Check this video, if interested.

DigPhotog: Controlling Light: White Balance (W11-P2) Sp18

Photo credit: Anthony Quintano (cc)

Ever taken a photo like the one to the right where the photo looks a little yellowish? This is a lighting problem. More specifically, this is a white balance problem.

Miokte defines white balance as "the camera setting used to correct any subtle color shifts in an image that sometimes occur in different kinds of light. The white balance setting can be set by either the camera or the photographer, depending on the camera model."

Whenever you take a photograph and you have your camera set on automatic, your camera looks out into the world and makes decisions about what settings to use for ISO, shutter speed and f-stop. We've discussed this previously. Along with ISO, shutter speed and f-stop, the camera also makes decisions about the white balance. And, sometimes it makes a good decision and sometimes it makes a bad decision (like in the photo to the right). When your camera can't seem to get it right, that is the time for you to step in and change the white balance yourself. But, how? Why?

Now with some basics out of the way, let's see specifically how to use white balance setting when taking a photo.

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DigPhotog: Exposure and Histograms (W11-P1) Sp18

In the field of statistics, a histogram is "a graphical representation of the distribution of data." The histogram below shows the distribution of black cherry trees according to height. Note that there are many trees between 70 and 80 inches tall and a few that are 60-65 inches tall and even fewer that are 85-90 inches tall.

Graphic credit: Mwtoews. Used under Creative Commons

In the field of photography, a histogram is defined in a similar way. It is a graphical representation of data. But, what data? A histogram for a photograph is "a graphical representation of the tonal distribution in a digital image. It plots the number of pixels for each tonal value." The tones in a photograph range from shadows (the darker areas or pixels) to midtones (grey areas or pixels) to highlights (the white or bright areas of the photograph). A photograph which is underexposed, for example, would have lots of shadow.

For visuals and further discussion see the videos below.

A key question: How could you use a histogram to determine if your photos have proper exposure?

A good app for showing the histogram on both iOS and Android is called PicsPlay. Get the free version first.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Folsom Prison Blues - Live Version" by Johnny Cash on the "The Legend" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Folsom Prison Blues - Live Version
By Johnny Cash
From the album The Legend

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on March 10, 2018 at 09:54AM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

Saturday, March 3, 2018

MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "The One On The Right Is On The Left" by Johnny Cash on the "The Legend" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: The One On The Right Is On The Left
By Johnny Cash
From the album The Legend

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on March 3, 2018 at 04:02PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

My musical interests on Tumblr

Pages

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Saturday, March 3, 2018