An experiment to test the feasibility and quality of a web-based questionnaire of teachers

The use of web-based surveys to gather information from teachers has become increasingly common primarily based on the premise that they can reduce costs. Yet, relatively, little is known about the quality or cost effectiveness of web-based versus mail surveys for teachers. To study the efficacy of web-based teacher surveys, the author randomly assigned a nationally representative sample of 877 elementary school teachers to a paper or web survey mode. The cost savings from the web administration were not enough to offset the loss of sample due to missing/inaccurate email addresses and the lower response rates that resulted from the web survey.     

Adolescent Career Development in Urban‐Residing Aboriginal Families in Canada

The purpose of this study was to understand how urban‐residing Aboriginal adolescent–parent dyads (n = 11) jointly constructed and acted on goals and strategies with their social supports (n = 17) to facilitate the adolescents' career development. A modified protocol following the qualitative action‐project method was used. A discrete joint project was identified for each family. These joint projects can be clustered into 3 joint career development projects: (a) navigating toward a safe future, (b) negotiating school continuance, and (c) intergenerational continuity through tradition of care. A 4th project emerging from the data was family survival. Family survival projects supplanted participants' efforts to engage in career development projects.     

语义化的英语语气系统网络（Ⅱ）

文章有两个目的,其一是为中国学者介绍经过语义化的英语语气系统网络,其二是说明以新的语气系统网络替代之前旧的语气系统网络的重要性。文章的前半部分,即一至四章,通过介绍本文的研究方向,回答关于语气系统的三个问题,回顾早期对语气系统的语义化描述,并阐释影响语气系统语义化进程的因素,从而说明第二个目的。第一个目的由较长的第五章实现,它和附录一起构成了文章的后半部分,着重呈现了一个全新的经过语义化的语气系统网络。      

语义化的英语语气系统网络(Ⅰ)

文章有两个目的,其一是为中国学者介绍经过语义化的英语语气系统网络,其二是说明以新的语气系统网络替代之前旧的语气系统网络的重要性。文章的前半部分,即一至四章,通过介绍本文的研究方向,回答关于语气系统的三个问题,回顾早期对语气系统的语义化描述,并阐释影响语气系统语义化进程的因素,从而说明第二个目的。第一个目的由较长的第五章实现,它和附录一起构成了文章的后半部分,着重呈现了一个全新的经过语义化的语气系统网络。      

A martingale residual diagnostic for longitudinal and recurrent event data

One method of assessing the fit of an event history model is to plot the empirical standard deviation of standardised martingale residuals. We develop an alternative procedure which is valid also in the presence of measurement error and applicable to both longitudinal and recurrent event data. Since the covariance between martingale residuals at times t ₀ and t > t ₀ is independent of t, a plot of these covariances should, for fixed t ₀, have no time trend. A test statistic is developed from the increments in the estimated covariances, and we investigate its properties under various types of model misspecification. Applications of the approach are presented using two Brazilian studies measuring daily prevalence and incidence of infant diarrhoea and a longitudinal study into treatment of schizophrenia.     

Mystery or Typical Teen? The Social Construction of Academic Engagement and Disability

A qualitative study of academic engagement of five high school students labelled mentally retarded describes strategies of student participation and non-participation, and teacher perceptions. These students were non-verbal or inarticulate, and functioned in an environment of competing formal and informal assessments of their participation and understanding in the academic environment. Teachers' informal assessments of student participation revealed how the students challenged the conventional categories employed by teachers. The examples show the power of educators' perceptions to reveal or obscure student engagement.     

Social-Cognitive Factors in Childhood Social Anxiety: A Preliminary Investigation

The present study addresses the social cognition of socially anxious children, with particular emphasis on their ability to understand others' mental states in interpersonal situations. The heterogeneous sample used in this preliminary investigation consisted of 63 primary school children in England and the USA. The English children were from a mainstream classroom of 8- to 9-year-olds, while the children from the USA ranged in age from 6 to 11 years and had been selected by school district officials for a variety of social interaction difficulties. All children completed measures of social anxiety, shy negative affect, and various social-cognitive abilities, and teacher ratings of social skills were additionally available for the USA subgroup. Results showed that feelings of social anxiety are not associated with any basic deficit in the understanding of recursive mental states which concern facts about the physical world. However, there was evidence that socially anxious children—particularly those with high levels of shy negative affect—do experience specific social-cognitive difficulties in understanding the links between emotions, intentions, and beliefs in social situations. Providing further support for this link, socially anxious children were rated by their teachers as poorer than non-anxious children only on social skills that require insight into others' mental states. Directions for further examination of this complex interplay between cognitive and emotional factors in the development of social anxiety are discussed.     

In Search of the Lemmus Lemmus: An Investigation into Convergent Competition

This paper explores the reasons for industries converging upon poor strategies. The phenomenon is likened to the periodic mass suicide of the lemmus lemmus (the Norwegian lemming). It gives historic examples of the phenomenon, and evidence of its occurring within a simulated business environment. A literature review shows how it can be explained using theories from economics, psychology and competitive analogies used in business. An inputs-process–outputs model provides a theoretical framework for Lemmus Lemmus strategies and is used to derive hypotheses.