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Alejandro Medina
Alejandro Medina

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Prioritizing Self, Team, or Job: Trends in Sincerity in Cooperative Polls

Hi everyone! I want to get more used to sharing news about my life and what I have been working on as an undergraduate college student!

At the end of my first year (2022), I was given a fantastic opportunity where I was able to collaborate on academic research under one of the professors at my university. I was unsure of what to expect, and I was a little nervous. I remember thinking, "How could I possibly contribute to the world of academia?"

Thankfully, I persevered through the experience and was able to meaningfully contribute to this research. This was my very first publication, and I also had the honor of being the solo presenter at the 2022 International Conference on Cooperative Design, Visualization and Engineering.

This single experience was life changing. I met many professors who were well regarded in the academic setting, I had my eyes opened to the world of research, and most importantly, I found out this is something I have genuine interest in. Today, I have co-authored another published paper, and I am working on two more.

I hope this is an inspiring story for any fellow students who are unsure of what they want to do with their undergrad years. If there is something that even slightly interests you, go for it. Chances are, you will end up surprising yourself like I did. The same is true for everyone. It is never too late to discover things you are passionate about!

In case anyone is interested in giving it a read I will put some information about it below!

Title: Prioritizing Self, Team, or Job: Trends in Sincerity in Cooperative Polls

Abstract: As automated tools become commonplace for coordinating meeting times and other forms of decentralized cooperative decision-making, it is important to understand the behavior of people using those tools. Even when a tool or online platform is simply a form of approval voting, the specifics of the voting scenario need to be considered. Approval voting often assumes that voters are sincere, never voting yes to an option that is less desirable than one for which they have voted no. A small study suggested that the assumption of sincerity among users in cooperative polls should not be taken for granted. This work expands the study to a larger sample of college students at multiple institutions, showing that people responding to polls may aim to be sincere, but are influenced by various factors, including the nature of the meeting.

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