萍乡傩面具的表现程式

萍乡地处吴头楚尾,巫傩文化源远流长,素有“五里一将军,十里一傩神”之说,至今存有三百余各个时期的傩面具。据有关专家考证,大部分傩面具可以上溯到明清乃至唐宋。傩神面具是民间艺术家创造的结晶,是神和敬仰者理想化的人物形象。萍乡傩面具造型工艺有简有繁,有细有粗,大都是凭借艺人们的想像力和造型功力刻制而成。其造型程式:劈圆木为二,在相应的部分刻出三穴,先脸后盔,熟练的艺人,几刀就能透出匠心。傩神分敬神和耍神。敬神细致工整,耍神粗犷简练,皆意态自然、似笑非笑,怪异而不狰狞。在对傩神面具长期的加工制作过程中,逐渐形成了独特…     

Ranking paired contestants

The ranking of paired contestants (players) after a series of contests is difficult when every player does not play every other player. In the 1975 JASA Mark Thompson presented a maximum likelihood solution based on the assumption that the probability of any one player defeating any other is a function only of the difference in their ranks. Here the linear approximation to that likelihood is shown to lead to a nonparametric measure of the efficacy of the ranking, called the net difference in ranks (NDR) , which is the sum of the differences in ranks of the paired players in the observed contests that agree with the ranking minus the sum of the differences in ranks in the observed contests that disagree with the ranking (upsets) . The subject is part of a large literature that has been consolidated by H.A. David in The Method of Paired Comparisons (1963, 1988). The method was introduced by the psychophysicist Fechner in 1860 and has been widely applied to sensory testing,     

Responsive Public Officials and Engaged Citizens: Myth or Reality? A Case Study of Water Rights Policy in Colorado

In the past decade nearly 20 Colorado communities have constructed kayak courses to provide recreational amenities and attract tourists. These projects were followed in some cases by applications for a new form of recreational water rights, which differs dramatically from traditional forms of water rights in Colorado. This paper investigates the role that citizens played in the legal and legislative battles that resulted in this policy change. Findings indicate that citizens demanded the construction of kayak courses across Colorado, to which local officials responded. Citizens generally were indifferent to water rights applications once kayak facilities were constructed, however. Government officials sought the water rights to protect their economic investment and their newfound tourist revenue.

“A Fear Like I've Never Felt”: Experiences of Parents Whose Adult Children Deployed to Combat Zones

Despite the increase of research with military families, less is known about the experiences of those parents who have adult children deployed overseas for military operations. This article presents parents’ experiences of having adult children deployed to combat zones. Qualitative data were gathered through an Internet-based survey during 2010. Analyses revealed important themes within the parents’ portrayals expressing strong reactions of fear, worry and concern for their children's safety and well being throughout their experiences. Parents also described frustrations communicating with their deployed children. Support from formal and informal sources was important to their coping, as was assistance from religious and military organizations. Finally, parents reported varied impacts of the adult children's deployment on the parents’ marriages. Implications for future military family research and family life education are provided.     

Family-of-origin and service-member resilience

ABSTRACT

Military research on family resilience has not examined the contribution of family-of-origin to resilience of service-members. In this study, researchers investigated the extent to which predeployed service-members’ perception of resilience was related to characteristics of family-of-origin. The sample consisted of 344 U.S. Army soldiers within 6 months of deployment to Afghanistan, contacted through their units and invited to participate. Soldiers completed a survey of perceived resilience, family-of-origin and immediate family variables, and social support. Data were also collected on age, income, ethnicity, number of deployments, and relationship status. Regression analyses were conducted to explain variation in service-member resilience scores. Sample demographics were compared with the active duty soldier population and correlations among the key family-of-origin and social support variables were reported. Family-of-origin satisfaction was moderately related to service-member resilience for the full sample (β = .176, p = .001) and married sample (β = .260, p = .000). It was weakly related in the unmarried sample (β = .147, p = .226). Family social support explained the most variation in resilience across all samples. Study limitations and guidelines and resources for social work practice, education, and research to strengthen family-of-origin and service-member resilience are provided.     

Developing sociological arguments through community studies

This paper argues that community studies remain an effective medium for the development of sociological arguments, despite well-known criticisms of the genre. Several features of community studies help to explain the continuing popularity of the approach among researchers and audiences, even though they are at odds with the discipline's supposed 'McDonaldization'. First, community studies have the capability of 'placing' sociological arguments. Secondly, community studies have the capacity to illustrate the meaning of macro-level trends for people's everyday lives. Thirdly, community studies facilitate holistic treatments of the social relations under investigation through their emphasis on context. Fourthly, the community studies format is prized for its accessibility, achieved through a narrative style which plays down conventional researcher/ reader hierarchies without losing analytical sharpness. Recent research monographs and other studies are drawn upon to illustrate these points. They show that while the community studies tradition has necessarily evolved conceptually and methodologically, it has continuing relevance to the sociological enterprise.     

Military Deployment of an Adult Child: Ambiguous Loss and Boundary Ambiguity Reflected in the Experiences of Parents of Service Members

ABSTRACT

This study explored the experiences of parents of service members, military family members who are often overlooked even though they are likely a vital source of support for their military adult-children. Reflections on deployment of military adult-children were gathered from 21 parents in semistructured group interviews. A framework of ambiguous loss, boundary ambiguity, and ambivalence was used to analyze comments reflecting pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment experiences. Pre-deployment anticipation of leave-taking was associated with boundary ambiguity and ambivalence for parents, tempered by safety concerns. During deployment ambiguity in parental role expectations and parameters complicated parents’ attempts to manage physical absence and maintain psychological presence. Post-deployment challenged parents with ambiguous psychological presence and disruption of family boundaries, complicated by changes associated with the effects of war.     

Minimum variance unbiased estimators of the ratio of means of two lognormal variates

The minimum variance unbiased estimators from independent samples of the ratio of the means of two lognormal distributions with equal and unequal shape parameters are derived using a method due to Finney (1941). The like estimator for two gamma distributions of known shape is given. A numerical example from a recent cloud-seeding experiment is also given.     

The Influence of Family Structure on Sexual Activity in a Randomized Effectiveness Trial for Minority Youth

This study examined the influence of family structure on the outcomes of a sex education program in Miami, Florida. Using an experimental design, data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up with a sample of teenagers from high schools with a large majority of minority youth, assigned into treatment (n = 549) and control (n = 424) groups. Results indicated family structure had no influence on predicting teen sexual activity at pretest or at 3- or 6-month follow-up. Additional research using experimental designs is needed to assess the influence of family structure on other areas of adolescent development.     

Biographical interviews and imagined futures essay writing: users of two methods in conversation

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a conversation between users of two research methods, biographical interviews and imagined futures essay writing. A dialogue form is used to discuss these methods and their potential to be combined. The value of comparing research methods is discussed, and then the two methods are described and points of connection and contrast are explored. Although one method emphasises looking back while the other looks forward, the two have much in common, including the exercise of imagination, and discussion of individual agency and structural constraint. Both involve the construction of narratives that help understanding of people’s lives as individual trajectories set in broader social and historical contexts. The two methods are quite different but complementary, and possibilities for their combination in one project are identified. The article ends by reflecting on the benefits and drawbacks of using dialogue to consider how research methods sit alongside each other.