Four doctoral students were honored for the quality of their work using survey research methodology. The two winners of the 2016 Robert Ferber and Seymour Sudman Dissertation Awards received $2,000 awards and plaques commemorating their achievement. Two other students each received an honorable mention certificate and $200. Ferber and Sudman, in whose memory the awards were established, were eminent scholars at Illinois in the field of survey research.
Sandy Wong, a Ph.D. candidate in geography and geographic information science, is the winner of the Robert Ferber Dissertation Award. Her dissertation, “Dis/abling Mobilities: Urban-Rural Experiences of Visual Impairment, Employment, and Well-Being,” investigates the relations of power that affect employment outcomes, well-being and mobility of individuals who are visually impaired in California.
Ben Kern, a Ph.D. candidate in kinesiology and community health, is the winner of the Seymour Sudman Dissertation Award. His dissertation, “Barriers to and Facilitators of Physical Education Teacher Change,” will investigate the behaviors of physical education teachers regarding changes they have made, those they intend to make and factors that influence their ability to advance physical education instruction.
Pongsakorn Suppakittpaisarn, a Ph.D. candidate in landscape architecture, received the Robert Ferber Honorable Mention. His dissertation is entitled “Green Stormwater Infrastructure Design, Preference and Human Health.”
Amanda Cronkhite, a Ph.D. candidate in political science, received the Seymour Sudman Honorable Mention. Her dissertation is entitled “The Medium Matters: Political Communication and Behavior in Modern Latin America.”
Past winners of the dissertation awards can be viewed at: http://www.srl.uic.edu/ferbersudman/recipients.htm.