An empirical assessment of writing and research proficiency in HBCU social work students

ABSTRACT

Lack of proficiency in writing and research among social work students has increasingly concerned social work educators and practitioners. Given the significance of written communication with clients and emphasis on evidence-based practice in the field of social work, it is critical to assess students’ competence in both writing and research. However, deficit-based approaches to assessing writing and research competence have disadvantaged students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). This pilot study aims to assess writing and research proficiency of HBCU master’s of social work (MSW) students through empirical analysis of their capstone papers and surveys from educators to provide implications for developing a writing and research manual for social work programs at HBCUs. Ten capstone papers were randomly selected and qualitatively analyzed; nine faculty and one field supervisor completed the survey, and their respondents were analyzed using cross-case analysis. Analyses of the capstone papers identified two themes for writing and research domains, respectively: (1) weakness in developing statements and lack of knowledge of writing style and (2) plagiarism and lack of understanding of research structure. Moreover, analyses of the surveys revealed four themes regarding assessment of writing and research skills among students struggling with basic writing mechanics, indicating that HBCU MSW students may have potential and capacity for learning, as evidenced by their ideas and critical thinking skills. These findings suggest both teaching- and research-oriented programs could employ the proposed writing and research assessment manual, as well as a writing and research lab/center for improving writing and research skills among their students.     

The changing morphology of the gulf cities in the age of globalisation: the case of Bahrain

Cities in the Gulf region have been witnessing dramatic changes in their morphology and internal structures during the last three decades due to the successive shifts from endogenous to exogenous types of urban growth. In the past, the urban space was mainly shaped by the tribal structure and the economy of subsistence that is based on fishing, pearl trading and/or farming. After the discovery of oil, a first shift towards an exogenous form occurred. Due to the accumulation of wealth, the kingdom adopted a distributive and comprehensive welfare policy, and became a major and unique actor in shaping the city. At present, a second stage of “exogeneity” is occurring due to globalisation. The installation of large multi-national companies, the liberalisation of the economy and the integration with the world banking system are having a direct impact on the socio-economic, cultural and thus, urban morphology. Bahrain seems to reflect the three stages through the changing urban morphology of its two main cities; Muharraq and Manama. Analysed in the light of the endogenous–exogenous model, it opens a debate on the conditions for the survival of the old cities and defines a theoretical framework for the approach to management and planning to be adopted.     

Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to Predict Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties on Positive and Negative Affect Among Adolescents in Disadvantaged Communities

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to predict the positive and negative affects of emotional and behavioral difficulties among adolescent boys and girls aged between 14 and 21 years living in disadvantaged communities. A total of 316 adolescents—181 boys and 135 girls—living in the Seri Pantai and Pantai Ria Public Housing Projects in Kuala Lumpur were invited to complete the questionnaire. The results showed that conduct and peer problems were the most prevalent emotional and behavioral difficulties experienced by these adolescents. As expected, the emotional symptoms were more common among the girls than the boys. A further analysis showed that emotional symptoms, peer problems, and low prosocial behavior were predictors of the negative affect of emotional and behavioral difficulties while negative emotional symptoms and high hyperactivity were predictors of a positive affect. The findings suggested that three subscales of SDQ are required to produce a negative affect, and two subscales of SDQ for a positive affect.     

Monitoring the production of a supply chain with a revisited MRP approach

This paper examines the centralised monitoring of an upstream supply chain (USC) in the context of a mass customisation production system. We propose an adaptation of the material requirement planning framework to manage demand uncertainty at each stage of the USC. New analytical relations that exploit structural information on demand beyond the frozen horizon are developed for efficient decision-making and appropriate information sharing among the productive supply chain units. A numerical example to illustrate the implementation of the new analytical relations is provided, and a synthesis of benchmarks performed in the automotive industry is presented.     

Nonparametric regression for functional data: Automatic smoothing parameter selection

We study regression estimation when the explanatory variable is functional. Nonparametric estimates of the regression operator have been recently introduced. They depend on a smoothing factor which controls its behavior, and the aim of our work is to construct some data-driven criterion for choosing this smoothing parameter. The criterion can be formulated in terms of a functional version of cross-validation ideas. Under mild assumptions on the unknown regression operator, it is seen that this rule is asymptotically optimal. As by-products of this result, we state some asymptotic equivalences for several measures of accuracy for nonparametric estimate of the regression operator. We also present general inequalities for bounding moments of random sums involving functional variables. Finally, a short simulation study is carried out to illustrate the behavior of our method for finite samples.     

Women on boards and bank efficiency in ASEAN-5: the moderating role of the independent directors

Corporate governance codes around the world promote women’s presence in corporate board. The extant literature suggests women directors contribute to improve monitoring and advisory role of the board. This study aims to examine the role of independent women directors in improving banks’ efficiency. Using 102 commercial banks from ASEAN-5 countries for a period of 1999–2012, we run generalized method of moments models to test the relationship between the variables. Our results show that banks with independent women directors on board contribute significantly to the bank’s efficiency level. Contrary to the literature, we found that the appointment of women directors or independent directors alone does not significantly enhance banks’ efficiency. The result suggests that women directors are more effective on boards if they are also appointed as independent directors. This finding implies that a combination of corporate governance mechanism is more powerful than relying on a single element of corporate governance.     

Local Weighted Average Estimation of the Regression Operator for Functional Data

We are concerned with the problem of local weighted average estimation of the regression operator when the responses are real-valued random variables, the explanatory data are of functional fixed-design type, and the errors consist of an independent and identically distributed variables. In this article, our main contributions on the local linear functional estimation concern from one part, the situation when the data are of functional fixed-design kind, and from the other part, in deriving uniform asymptotic results on the behavior of this estimator with respect to the topological properties of the space data (normed or semi-metric).