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.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Same-Sex Marriage: A Community Structure Approach

Using the community structure approach to compare coverage of same-sex marriage in leading U.S. newspapers in 35 major cities nationwide, all articles of 250+ words were sampled from a 5-year span of January 1, 2007, to June 23, 2011, for a total of 577 articles. Articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction,” and then combined into a “Media Vector” score for each newspaper, ranging from .4523 to ?.1067. Initial Pearson correlations revealed three clusters had significant relationships: stakeholder (stakeholder proportions correlating with favorable coverage of stakeholder concerns), buffer (privilege correlating with favorable coverage of human rights issues), and vulnerability (vulnerable populations correlating with coverage favoring their perspectives). The stakeholder cluster includes: (percentage 25–44: r = .506, p = .001; gay market index: r = .432, p = .005; percentage 65+: r = ?.397, p = .009; percentage voting Democratic: r = .335, p = .025; percentage voting Republican: r = ?.330, p = .026). The buffer hypothesis was also confirmed (percentage college educated: r = .465, p = .002; percentage family income of $100,000+: r = .383, p = .012; and percentage professional/technical occupations: r = .300, p = .040). One vulnerability indicator, percentage below the poverty line, was also confirmed (r = ?.297, p = .041). A varimax rotated factor analysis and regression yielded 2 factors accounting for more than 29% of the variance: privilege/gay marketing/political identity, 24%, and Evangelicals, 5%.     

Cross-National Coverage of HIV/AIDS: A Community Structure Approach

Community structure analysis compared cross-national coverage of responsibility to fight HIV/AIDS in newspapers in 18 countries, selecting articles of 250+ words from May 7, 2003, to September 13, 2013. The resulting 291 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction” (“government,” “society,” including nongovernmental organizations [NGOs]/foreign aid or “balanced/neutral” coverage), and combined for composite scores in each newspaper's “Media Vector” (range = .4974 to ?.1465). Newspaper support for governmental versus societal involvement was 9 to 9 (50/50). Pearson correlations revealed significant relationships in privilege and vulnerability categories: public knowledge of HIV/AIDS preventative measures and general health of the population. Regression of national characteristics against Media Vectors yielded percentage of women who know condom use prevents HIV (63.7% of variance), percentage of men who know condom use prevents HIV, and percentage of population undernourished, collectively totaling 84.8% of variance, all correlated with support for government intervention. A second regression analysis excluding self-report variables found that “% population undernourished” and “% females in the workforce” (combined 52.8% of variance) were linked to coverage supporting government responsibility. “AIDS incidence” (13.6% of variance) was linked to support for “societal” intervention. Most of the variance was linked to coverage supporting government responsibility for HIV/AIDS.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Immigration Reform: A Community Structure Approach

A community structure analysis compared community characteristics and nationwide coverage of immigration reform in newspapers in 21 major U.S. cities, sampling all 250+ word articles April 23, 2010 to November 12, 2013. The resulting 262 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction” (“favorable,” “unfavorable,” or “balanced/neutral” coverage), then combined into each newspaper's composite “Media Vector” (range = .632 to ?.4800). Nineteen of 21 newspapers showed favorable coverage of immigration reform. Pearson correlations yielded 4 significant results, the most powerful of which supported immigration reform. The “vulnerability” hypothesis (media “mirror” the interests of marginal/disadvantaged groups) was essentially confirmed. Higher percentages below the poverty line (r = .607, p = .003) and higher crime rates (r = .490, p = .017) correlated with more favorable coverage of immigration reform. By contrast, higher percentages of women in the workforce (r = ?.543, p = .008) and higher proportions of hate crimes (r = ?.403, p = .048) were linked with less favorable coverage. Regression analysis yielded the percentage living below the poverty line accounting for 37.2% of the variance, and proportion of hate crimes yielded an additional 19.1% of the variance. The Midwest had by far the most favorable coverage of immigration reform, more than any other region.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Detainee Rights at Guantanamo Bay: A Community Structure Approach

A community structure analysis compared community characteristics and coverage of detainee rights and Guantanamo Bay in leading newspapers in 28 major cities nationwide, sampling all relevant 250+ word articles from September 12, 2001, to September 11, 2012. The resulting 359 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction,” then combined into a “Media Vector” score for each newspaper (range = .6034 to ?.2500). About four out of five (82%) newspapers supported detainee rights. Stakeholder and buffer clusters were important. Pearson correlations revealed that stakeholders (the proportions and concerns of which are expected to be reflected in media coverage) were significant, with percentage of Mainline Protestant (r = .550, p = .001) linked to favorable media coverage of detainee rights and percentage of age 65 and older (r = ?.321, p = .048) linked to unfavorable coverage. The buffer hypothesis (associating higher proportions of privileged groups with coverage receptive to human rights claims) was also confirmed, with percentage of college educated correlating with favorable coverage (r = .409, p = .015). Regression analysis yielded two significant variables—percentage Mainline Protestant, 33%, and percentage professional/technical occupational status (another “buffer” measure), 27%, totaling 59.9%, both linked to favorable coverage. Unexpectedly, the Midwest displayed more media support for detainee rights than any other region of the United States.     

Factors influencing dietary fat intake among black emerging adults

Objective: To determine what factors influenced dietary fat intake (DFI) among black emerging adults. Participants: Sample included 251 black emerging adults, ages 18–25 years, living in the US. Methods: This was a nonexperimental cross-sectional study based on self-report data. Results: The sample had high DFI. Factors related to DFI were gender (r_pb = ?.22, p < .001), perceived barriers for healthy eating (r = .32, p < .001), and perceived self-efficacy (r = ?.33, p < .001). These variables were also significant predictors for DFI. Gender was significantly related to DFI (b = ?5.894, p = .000). Religious commitment moderated the effect of stress on DFI. Conclusions: Gender, perceived barriers for healthy eating, and perceived self-efficacy were significant predictors for DFI. Religious commitment influenced the relationship of perceived stress and DFI. These findings may lead to interventions designed to reduce DFI and cardiovascular risks among black emerging adults.     

Negro folklore of male pregnancy∗

Contraceptive decision making is likely to become more complex when male oral contraceptives are marketed and as sex‐role preferences become more egalitarian. A mailed survey of 47 married couples selected from a newspaper “Birth Listing” column in Columbus, Ohio was used to contrast spouses' views, to assess levels of actual and perceived consensus among partners, and to identify predictors of greater stated likelihood of male pill usage. Modest support was found for the hypothesis that more egalitarian sex‐role preferences are positively related to a greater belief in contraception as a shared responsibility, wives: r = .35, p < .01, husbands: r = .21, p < .10. No support was found, however, for the hypothesis that beliefs in shared contraceptive responsibility would lead to greater acceptance of a male pill. Wives were also more accurate, r = .57, p < .001, than husbands, r = .21, p < .08, in perceiving then‐spouse's attitudes toward male pill adoption. Results suggest that researchers need to focus on the process by which contraceptive usage is negotiated and renegotiated among married couples.     

Association between femininity and women voters political trust in Pakistan

Political trust has been researched extensively since long in the sociology of politics. However, feminine attributes are rarely tested against political trust, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan. The present research explores the association of feminine attributes possessed by rural women with different attributes of political trust in politicians. A total of 414 registered women voters were recruited through a multistage sampling technique from selected tehsils of Punjab Province, Pakistan. The data were collected through an interview schedule, processed through SPSS (21.0), and presented in a tabular format. Pearson R correlation was applied to find out the association between hypothesized variables. The findings suggest that emotionality is significantly correlated with performance, ability, and the conduct of politicians (r = .302, r = .267, r = ?.216, p < .01). Feminine purity is significantly correlated with performance and the ability of politicians (r = .309, r = .202, p < .01). Feminine stereotypical image is significantly correlated with performance and the ability of politicians (r = .174, r = .196, p < .01). Traditional gender relations in the society need to be looked at carefully to realize the true potential of women in terms of their political participation.     

Suburban road-closures and the ruinous landscapes of privilege in Johannesburg

In this article we trace the emergence of road-closures – i.e. the barricading by local residents of public roads ostensibly in response to crime – in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg in the decade after apartheid. We argue that road-closures manifest an attempt at material “fixing” an urban order of privilege, even as privilege and inequality is increasingly “deterritorialised” in the city of the global South. While conventionally theorised as part of a broader global trend towards the privatisation and securitisation of urban space, we demonstrate that road-closures contain qualitatively different expectations of the urban order to e.g. private gated communities. Whereas gated communities are premised on and driven by a political economy of self-exclusion from urban life, road-closures simultaneously resist and prefigure this “deterritorialised” reordering of privilege in the post-apartheid city. Based on archival research in local community newspapers over a 10-year period between and 2004 (the high-water mark of the so-called road-closure “debates”), we trace shifting discourses about road closures and the city: from anxieties about crime and loss of privilege, to fantasies of abandonment, to the assertion (and rupture) of a mythical suburban utopia. Drawing on a literature on ruins as the material effects of a past order manifest in the urban order of the present, we assert that despite anxieties about the loss of privilege, these enclosed neighbourhoods remain spaces of extreme privilege, now implicated into an emergent geography in which old and new spaces of privilege overlap to reinforce spatial inequalities in post-apartheid Johannesburg.     

A study exploring factors of decision to text while walking among college students based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study attempted to identify critical predictors of intention to both send and read texts while walking based on Theory of Planned Behavior in order to provide resources for practitioners and campaign designers to inform college students of the perils of texting while walking and dissuade them from such a risky behavior. Participants: Three hundred twenty-nine college students were recruited from a large public university in the Southwest in September 2014. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey design. Results: Subjective norm (sending: B = .17, p = .02; reading: B = .17, p = .04), personal norms (sending: B = ?.32, p = .001, reading: B = ?.35, p = .001), and self-efficacy (sending: B = ?.27, p = .001; reading: B = ?.24, p = .001) were significant predictors of intention to both send and read text messages while walking. Conclusions: For students who have greater intention of texting while walking, persuasive communication should utilize normative influence and self-efficacy to discourage texting while walking.     

Evaluating phase movement theory with the dramatis personae of time: 1923–1988

Parsons and Bales maintain that the temporal organization of a group's activities is characterized by a periodic swing between internal and external imperatives. The phase hypothesis holds that at the societal level phases characterized by an emphasis on solving external problems will be accompanied by economic prosperity. Temporal organization is also characterized by adaptive upgrading in response to environmental demands and a concomitant secular trend, or increasingly external focus. To test these hypotheses, 3,209 roles featured on the cover of Time magazine from 1923 to 1988 were classified as either internal (educators, mass media, entertainers, athletes, celebrities, private interest group leaders, religious leaders, and labor leaders) or external (politicians, public interest group leaders, military, administrators, scientists, and foreigners). A Phase Index was determined by the proportion of external roles. The level of business activity was established by the Cleveland Trust Company's “American Business Activity” index. While Henry Luce was editor‐in‐chief of Time (1923–1967), the phase and business cycles were correlated at +.58 (p <.01), and for the 60‐year period from 1923 to 1988 the correlation was +.468 (p = .001). Lagged values of the Phase Index produced steadily increasing correlations with business activity, from a seven‐year lag (r = ‐0.048) to a maximum correlation of +0.485 with a two‐year lag, suggesting that the Phase Index is a two‐year leading indicator of the business cycle. The trend hypothesis was evaluated by regression analysis. An increase in the proportion of external roles from 1923 to 1988 was found to be significant (Y = 63.5 + .151(X), p = .0052). Increasing numbers of “villain” roles suggest that high levels of external activity in the 1970s and 1980s may be creating internal problems. These strains may be a sign of transition from an external to an internal phase. These data are interpreted as supporting Parsons and Bales’ phase and trend hypotheses.     

The Relationship Among the Material Welfare,Maternity, and Marital Status of Women in the State of Georgia

Childbearing among unmarried women has been the subject of intense public health debate for decades, reflecting concerns about the impact on family structure and the economic security of born children. This report analyzes 2007 data from the OASIS, the website of the Division of Public Health of the Georgia Department of Community Health. Significant inverse correlations were recorded among the counties' median household income on one side and birth rate (r = –.239, p < .01), percentage of all births from unmarried mothers (r = –.679, p < .001), and percentage of all births from mothers with less than a 12th-grade education (r = –.488, p < .001). We believe that creating a network of maternity education and support programs across the state of Georgia that works under centralized supervision from a maternity committee could help alleviate the negative effect of median household income on nonmarital birth and decrease regional disparities related to nonmarital births.     

Development,Implementation, and Outcomes of Post-stroke Mood Assessment Pathways: Implications for Social Workers

Depression and anxiety are prevalent in the stroke population and can have a significant impact on the patient and their family’s long-term outcomes, however the screening for these conditions does not meet best practice recommendations. To address this deficit, this study developed “Post-Stroke Mood Assessment Pathways” and embedded them into practice by utilising the PARiHS framework (for the implementation of evidence-based practice), in conjunction with staff training. The study examined the rates of mood screening, clinical interviews, and completion of interventions for stroke patients through a retrospective chart audit (n?=?213) one year prior to, and one year post-implementation (n?=?238) of the pathways. The data show statistically significant increased documentation around mood screening and clinical interview 95% CI [4.86, 19.88], p?<?.0012 and specifically, an increase in the number of patients who had a clinical interview following the introduction of the pathways 95% CI [8.05, 19.69], p?<?.0001.     

Third gatekeeping in Korea: the screening of first-edition newspapers by public relations practitioners

This study introduces the concept of “third gatekeeping,” a process where Korean public relations practitioners review the early editions of the country’s main daily newspapers and provide feedback to journalists about possible revisions to coverage of their organizations. Data came from 21 depth interviews with Korean public relations practitioners in the corporate and government sectors. Fifteen case studies published in Korea’s Media Today were also analyzed to add context to the practice. First-edition screening was found to have three distinct dimensions based on practitioners’ level of concern about a news item. An earlier version of this study was presented at the 2003 International Communication Association convention.     

Eating Disorder Risk and Body Dissatisfaction Based on Muscularity and Body Fat in Male University Students

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between risk of eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, and perceptual attractiveness in male university students. Participants: Research was conducted January–April 2012 and involved 339 male and 441 female students. Methods: Eating disorder risk was assessed with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and body dissatisfaction and perceptual attractiveness determined with the Bodybuilder Image Grid (BIG). Results: There was a positive correlation (r = .16, p < .01) between the EAT and fat dissatisfaction and a negative correlation (r = ?.14, p < .05) for muscle dissatisfaction, 28% of the males had an EAT score indicating that they were at risk for an eating disorder. Males chose a significantly more muscular and leaner body type than what females chose to be attractive. Conclusion: College-aged males may be at risk for eating disorders based on distortions in their perceived ideal body image, both for fat and muscle.     

Empirical Support for the Application of the Forgiveness Intervention Model to Postdivorce Coparenting

The Forgiveness Intervention Model (Bonach, 2007 Bonach, K. 2007. Forgiveness Intervention Model: Application to coparenting post-divorce. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 48(1/2): 105–123.  [Google Scholar]) is tested as a conceptual framework for former partners who are coparenting. Scores of the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of forgiveness from a sample of 135 separated or divorced parents were analyzed to contribute to the understanding of coparenting quality. Previous literature supported the contribution of certain predictor variables, including blame, offense severity judgments, and control variables including hostile divorce proceedings, satisfaction with child custody financial arrangements, perceived remorsefulness of the former partner, prior conflict, and the mediating role of forgiveness to coparenting quality. In this study separate regression analyses were run for each dimension of forgiveness to determine their role in the relationship between the study variables and coparenting quality. The cognitive dimension more often had the most significant contribution between the variables examined and coparenting quality. Furthermore, higher coparenting quality was significantly correlated with how positively an individual feels (r?=?.49, p?<?.001) and thinks about the former partner (r?=?.50, p?<?.001). The findings affirm the clinical importance of primary cognitive tasks necessary for an individual to move through the stages of forgiveness to “move on” and achieve desirable outcomes such as a quality coparenting relationship with a former partner.     

The effective tool for self-assessment of adherence to treatment in patients with benign prostatic obstruction and overactive bladder symptoms

Purpose: Study of validity of the Medication Adherence Self-Report Inventory (MASRI) for use in clinical practice to treat patients with benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) accompanied with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms.

Methods: During 12 weeks of the randomized study, 452 patients with BPO and OAB symptoms (mean age of 61.3 (12.7)) were studied for adherence to the treatment with Tamsulosin, Solifenacin and Trospium using the MASRI. External monitoring instruments included the Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ) and the visual remaining pill count. The state of the prostate gland and the lower urinary tract was monitored using questionnaires I-PSS, OAB Awareness Tool, uroflowmetry and voiding diaries.

Result: Correlation between the percentage of men non-adherent to treatment (MASRI) and the percentage of patients having a belief barrier on the screen of the BMQ was r?=?0.89, p?≤0.05, r?=?0.92, p?≤0.01, r?=?0.85, p?≤0.05, a number of missed doses on the Regimen Screen of the BMQ was r?=?0.79; p?≤0.05; r?=?0.81; p?≤0.05; r?=?0.75, p?≤0.05, a number of non-adherent patients according to the BMQ was r?=?0.83 (p?≤0.05), r?=?0.88 (p?≤0.05), r?=?0.79, p?≤0.05, the results of the pill count were r?=?0.65–0.76; p?≤0.05-0.01. These data confirm high validity of the MASRI.

Conclusion: The MASRI is a valid tool for rapid assessment of adherence to treatment of patients with BPO and OAB receiving Tamsulosin and antimuscarinic drugs and may be recommended for use in clinical practice.