Linearity,symmetry, and equidistance in semantic differential scales for measuring images of self and images of others

ABSTRACT

Violations of linearity, symmetry, and equidistance of scale points in semantic differential scales may be due to respondents failing to figure out antonyms, to a positivity bias, or to respondents curtailing their reading the options. Multiple correspondence analysis on data provided by a randomized between-subjects experiment (split-ballot), using a web survey of 537 German residents, shows that bipolar semantic differential scales allow for linear measurement and conceal no positivity bias, and that using not suitable adjective pairs in semantic differential scales destroys symmetry.     

”Technisierung und Subjektivierung. Zur Veränderung des Arbeitshandelns in der Wissensgesellschaft“ Workshop der Akademie für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Baden-Württemberg, 28./29.11.2002

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

“Get to Know the Unknown”: Understanding Religion and Advertising

The relationship between religion and advertising has mostly been theorized in terms of “religion in advertising” or “advertising as religion.” This article pursues two goals: First, it offers a substantial critique of previous studies of advertising and religion in order to take stock and discern future directions of research. Second, it presents the results of an empirical qualitative study of print advertisements which responds to some of the open questions of previous research. It shows that advertising partially fulfills religious functions, focusing on those to do with self-actualization and meaning making within an immanent horizon, and less so on community-related functions. Based on these results, I argue that in the study of religion and advertising, “religion” cannot be limited to specific religious traditions, but has to be understood more broadly. Also, the conventional distinction between “religion in advertising” and “advertising as religion” has to be overcome in order to understand the phenomenon.     

Exploring narratives of education: disabled young people’s experiences of educational institutions in Ghana

Disabled young people in many low and middle-income countries experience significant levels of educational exclusion due to disabling social and physical environments and are more likely to be illiterate than their non-disabled peers. Most social sciences and development literature, however, tends to homogenise the educational trajectories of disabled young people and focuses predominantly on the perspectives of educationalists, development experts and carers in assessing educational needs and institutions. Consequently, the experiences of young people across multiple categories of social difference, and their agency in shaping their own educational trajectories, remain largely unknown. This article contributes to filling this gap by exploring the educational narratives of young people with different impairments in mainstream, special and integrated schools in Ghana. The article shows how exploring individual narratives provides new insights into the educational needs of and ‘appropriate’ education for disabled young people in the Global South.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Posttraumatic Stress: A Community Structure Approach

This study utilized the community structure approach to analyze newspaper coverage of posttraumatic stress (PTS) in veterans in 26 U.S. cities. The study examined whether media placed responsibility for PTS treatment on government or society through a review of 353 articles from March 20, 2003, to March 20, 2013. Researchers coded articles for “prominence” and “direction” to produce a “Media Vector” for each paper, ranging from 0.8403 to ?0.3592. Results showed that 25 of 26 Media Vectors (96%) supported government responsibility. Pearson correlations yielded nine significant findings. Results disconfirmed buffer hypotheses linking privilege with support for government responsibility (privilege defined by percentage of college educated, percentage of family income $100,000 or more, and percentage of professional/technical occupational status; r = ?.486, ?.524, ?.553, respectively, significant at the .006 level). Stakeholder hypotheses were also disconfirmed; greater percentages of age 65 and older correlated with more emphasis on government responsibility (r = .340, p = .048), whereas greater percentages of age 25 to 44 correlated with less emphasis (r = ?.342, p = .047). The only confirmed hypothesis linked percentage of age 45 to 64 with less emphasis on government responsibility (r = ?.559, p = .002). A regional finding was noteworthy: Media in the Midwest supported government responsibility more than other regions. Regression analysis revealed three variables influencing coverage most significantly: Family Income $100K+ (26% of variance), Percentage of Hispanic (8%), and Professional/Technical Occupational status (5%). It must be noted that nearly all newspapers yielded positive Media Vectors. This indicates that coverage in major cities generally favors government responsibility for veterans' PTS treatment, and Pearson correlation results may represent differences in the degree of support and demographic characteristics influencing this support.     

Cross-National Coverage of Water Handling: A Community Structure Approach

A cross-national community structure survey examined the relationship between national characteristics and newspaper coverage of water handling. Sampling all relevant 250+ word articles from September 1, 2000 (the implementation of UN Millennium Development Goal target 7c) to September 1, 2010 in 21 newspapers worldwide in NewsBank and AllAfrica databases yielded 394 articles. Articles were coded for visual/editorial “prominence” and “direction” (framing of clean water access as primarily “government responsibility,” “societal responsibility,” or “balanced/neutral” coverage), then combined to produce composite “Media Vector” scores for each newspaper (+.5241 to ?.3886, a range of .9127). Thirteen of 21 Media Vectors (60%) reflected coverage favoring government responsibility for water handling. Pearson correlations revealed the potency of 4 variable cluster scales (all α = .70+) as major correlates of water handling coverage: “female empowerment,” “vulnerability,” “privilege,” and “press freedom,” with three clusters connected to “societal” responsibility. Regression analysis reinforced the strong role of female empowerment in coverage emphasizing societal responsibility. Overall, indicators of privilege and press freedom followed suit, also linked to coverage emphasizing “societal” responsibility for water handling, whereas indicators of vulnerability instead correlated with more media emphasis on government responsibility.     

Racial/Ethnic Patterns of Kindergarten School Enrollment in the United States

Enrollment into unequal schools at the start of formal education is an important mechanism for the reproduction of racial/ethnic educational inequalities. We examine whether there are racial/ethnic differences in school enrollment options at kindergarten, the start of schooling. We use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B) to model whether parents seek information about their child's school before enrolling, whether parents move to a location so that a child can attend a certain school, or whether parents enroll their child in a school other than the assigned public school. Results indicate that enrollment patterns differ greatly across race/ethnicity. Whereas Black families are the most likely to seek information on a school's performance, White families are the most likely to use the elite option of choosing their residential location to access a particular school. These differences persist when controlling for socioeconomic status and sociogeographic location. Kindergarten enrollment patterns preserve the advantages of White families, perpetuating racial/ethnic disparities through multiple institutions and contributing to intergenerational processes of social stratification. Research should continue to examine specific educational consequences of housing inequities and residential segregation.     

Domestic violence screening and service acceptance among adult victims in a dependency court setting

Many child welfare systems are unable to effectively identify and address co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment. In response, the Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence implemented a protocol to identify indicators of domestic violence in families involved with child protection proceedings. This article highlights data that demonstrate the ability of an outreach and screening process to identify adult victims of domestic violence in dependency court and to offer them appropriate intervention services.