bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Media Representation of Public Opinion: British Television News Coverage of the 2001 General Election
Authors: Brookes Rod , Lewis Justin , Wahl-Jorgensen Karin
Published: May 2004

This article examines the ideological assumptions and consequences of the media representation of public opinion through a study of television news coverage of the 2001 British general election. It discusses how a certain type of poll (the voting intention or ‘horse-race’ poll) is privileged, while other types of opinion surveys are ignored. But it also identifies less obvious means through which public opinion is invoked. First, casual and often unsubstantiated assertions about the attitude of the public are regularly made by anchors, reporters or politicians. Second, the views of individual members of the public are made to stand in for public opinion overall, either through vox pops or through the interaction of members of the public with politicians on the campaign trail. The article concludes that the consequence of the media representation of public opinion in the 2001 British general election campaign is to legitimize the hegemonic definition of politics as a sport played by political and media elites, thus reducing citizens to the limited and passive role of spectators.
The Other Hollywood: the Organizational and Geographic Bases of Television-Program Production
Authors: Scott Allen J.
Published: May 2004

The article opens with a brief statement on the historical relations between feature-film and television-program production in Hollywood. The basic corporate context within which television-program production and distribution are accomplished is described in detail. Special attention is paid here to issues of vertical integration and disintegration across the entire chain of activities in the television industry. The geography of television-program production in the United States is analyzed and the pre-eminence of Hollywood in this regard is underlined. The dynamics of locational agglomeration in Hollywood are scrutinized. A case study of a primetime television show is presented in which it is demonstrated how production of the show depends upon an extraordinarily detailed system of procurements from suppliers in and around Hollywood. The accelerating process of decentralization of certain kinds of television production activities from Hollywood is then subject to analysis. The article concludes on a speculative note in which it is predicted that in the future, and especially in the television-program producing segment of the entertainment industry, Hollywood is likely to face intensifying competition in global markets.
Stereotypes of Elderly Persons in Narrative Jokes
Authors: Bowd Alan D.
Published: May 2004

The chief objective of this study was to describe and review stereotypes of elderly persons found in adult narrative jokes, based on a conceptual framework drawing from psychoanalytic and cognitive theories of humor. Approximately 4,200 jokes were examined, of which 102 were judged to employ a single predominant stereotype of the elderly. A content analysis by the researcher established eight stereotypes: the impotent male, the unattractive female, the vain/virile male, the disinterested female, the innocence of second childhood, the insatiable female, the forgetful old person, and the infirm old person. The jokes were sorted using these categories by two independent judges. High levels of concordance were found for all stereotypes excepting the innocence of second childhood. Some implications for gerontological education of ageist stereotyping in narrative jokes are reviewed.
Worker Preferences, Spousal Coordination, and Participation in an Employer-Sponsored Pension Plan
Authors: Shuey Kim M.
Published: May 2004

Recent changes in the pension environment, such as the growth of defined contribution plans, place more responsibility on individuals for the accumulation of retirement resources and provide workers with an increasing array of pension-related choices and decisions. This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine two instances where workers face such decisions—participation in an offered defined contribution plan and participation in a supplemental pension plan. The author examines the relationship between two largely unexplored predictors of pension participation—psychological motivators of saving and the influence of spouse’s behavior. Individual preferences for planning and risk and measures of spouse’s pension behavior are included in probit models predicting individual pension participation. Results reveal gender differences in the association between preferences and behavior and differences in the primary versus supplemental decision. They also suggest that spouses coordinate pension decisions and behave similarly within structural constraints.
Philosophical foundations and research relevance: issues for information research
Authors: Wilson T. D.
Published: May 2004

This paper examines three ideas that affect the nature of research in information science: (1) the fact of the incoherent nature of information science, which results from the concept of ‘information’ being dealt with at different integrative levels; (2) the lack of an over-arching philosophical framework that might guide the development of methods; and (3) the problem of grounding research in the reality of everyday professional practice. It is suggested that, at one level, phenomenology offers an integrative philosophical perspective that might also help to resolve the research/practice spl
Knowledge Management: The Distinctive Roles of Knowledge Assets in Facilitating Knowledge Creation
Authors: Chou Shih-Wei , He Mong-Young
Published: May 2004

A comprehensive and feasible model that delineates the interrelationships between knowledge assets and knowledge creation processes has not been explored in the literature. This study aims to fill this void. Unlike previous research, this study investigates the interrelations among four categories of knowledge assets and four knowledge creation processes — socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) [9]. In our framework, we argue that different types of knowledge assets may have differing influences on knowledge creation. In order to test the feasibility of this framework, we conducted an empirical research exercise. This study employed a survey instrument to collect data from a wide variety of organizations in manufacturing, trade, transportation and service industries, computer industries, finance, and academic institutions. A total of 204 usable responses were analysed. We identified four interrelationships from this study. (1) Compared to other knowledge assets, conceptual knowledge assets have a greater effect on externalization of knowledge creation process; (2) compared to other knowledge assets, routine knowledge assets have a greater effect on socialization of knowledge creation process; (3) compared to other knowledge assets, experiential knowledge assets do not have a greater effect on internalization of the knowledge creation process; and (4) compared to other knowledge assets, systemic knowledge assets do not have a greater effect on the combination of knowledge creation process. The implications of the study are discussed, and further research directions are proposed.
Judging Justice
Authors: Gaon Stella
Published: May 2004

This paper demonstrates that when the concept of ethicalpolitical responsibility is taken in its modern sense as a decision or outcome based on the protocols of reason, responsibility is neither simply possible nor simply impossible. Paradoxically, it appeals to a demand that it cannot fulfil; responsibility is thus (im)possible. Moreover, insofar as a deconstructive demonstration of this aporia is itself a response to reason’s own demand, deconstruction cannot be characterized as simply responsible or irresponsible. Rather, deconstruction inscribes itself as the interior limit of the order of ethics, of responsibility, as such. Deconstruction is thus characterized best as an (ir)responsible interrogation of the very principle of reason to which political philosophers such as Habermas appeal when they invoke responsibility. To this extent deconstruction enacts the strange responsibility of interrogating critically precisely what is deemed ‘just’.
The Ties to Bind
Authors: Kurasawa Fuyuki
Published: May 2004

The paper seeks to address the lag between, on the one hand, existing ethical and socio-political frameworks and, on the other hand, developments in the realm of techno-science. I argue that the growing power of science and technology has been fed by, and has itself fed, the confrontation of instrumentalism and autonomy defining the modern condition. Conversely, the project of self-management of techno-science by citizens needs to proceed by binding ethical and democratic dimensions of the problem, as well as the public and subjective elements of autonomous existence. Techno-science can only be ‘ethicalized’ if it is enframed in vibrant public spaces, at the same time as its democratization depends upon subjects’ sense of conscience and social responsibility.
Abused Women and Risk for Pelvic Inflammatory Disease1
Authors: Champion Jane Dimmitt , Piper Jeanna , Holden Alan , Korte Jeffrey , Shain Rochelle N.
Published: May 2004

Mexican and African American women with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) underwent targeted physical exams and questioning regarding sexual or physical abuse, current genitourinarysymptomatology, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) risk behaviors to determine the relationship of sexual or physical abuse to the pathology of genitourinary symptoms affecting diagnoses of STDs and risk for PID. Bivariate comparisons found abused women reported more PID risk behaviors including earlier coitus, more sex partners, higher STD recurrence, and delayed health-seeking behavior. Multivariate comparisons found abused women were more likely to report pathologic genitourinary symptomatology than nonabused women. Clinicians made more presumptive diagnosesof PID for abused than for nonabused women upon physical examination. These findings indicate abused women are at high risk for PID. Its considerable impact on genitourinary symptomatology and risk for PID make assessment for abuse essential in clinical management of women with STDs and diagnosis of PID.
Traveling Orthodoxies? Sexuality and Political Correctness in New Zealand
Authors: Brickell Chris
Published: May 2004

In the English-speaking world during the 1990s, the mass media contained much discussion of political correctness. Cultural politics in general, and questions of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality in particular, have since been bound up in debates around political correctness. However, we might understand the term political correctness not as a description of a phenomenon but as a signifier that has traveled—from nation to nation and context to context—in search of a signified. Here, Said’s discussion of traveling theory informs an investigation of the ways in whichpolitical correctness appeared in the New Zealand mass media during the 1990s and was applied to debates over sexuality in particular. I suggest that the particularities of this process reflected a dovetailing of (1) the differential cultural positions afforded to homosexuality and heterosexuality and (2) the discursive logics informing uses of the termpolitical correctness.
“Nothing Like a Brisk Walk and a Spot of Demon Slaughter to Make a Girl’s Night”: The Construction of the Female Hero in the Buffy Video Game
Authors: Labre Magdala Peixoto , Duke Lisa
Published: May 2004

Buffy the Vampire Slayer , a television cult series about a California “valley girl” who slays vampires and other demons, has attracted substantial scholarly attention. Less is known about a video game based on the series, released in summer 2002. This article analyzes the construction of Buffy as a hero who fights in the video game, contrasting it with her somewhat different portrayal in the television show. Unlike the television series, the video game provides a onedimensional construction of female heroism, based on the Warrior archetype and omitting the Caregiver/Martyr archetype often present in descriptions of heroes, including the television version of Buffy. The series’ collectivist style of problem solving and focus on relationships also is absent from the game, which, like other fighting games, exaggerates the sexual characteristics of its female characters.
“Monotonous Tale”: Legitimacy, Public Relations, and the Shooting of a Public Enemy
Authors: Cecil Matthew
Published: May 2004

On April 6, 1939, FBI agents shot and killed America’s “Public Enemy Number One” as he exited a St. Louis hamburger shop. Agents on the scene claimed the man, Ben Dickson, refused to surrender and threatened agents with two guns he carried. FBI documents and witness accounts, however, show that Dickson was shot in the back as he tried to run away from agents. Confronted by critics in the news media who questioned the legitimacy of the shooting, FBI officials in Washington worked with agents on the scene to concoct a version of events more amenable to the heroic media portrayals they preferred. Using FBI files released under the Freedom of Information Act and media accounts, this study explores the bureau’s behind-the-scenes work to legitimize the shooting and its use of the revised version of events as a public relations device demonstrating the bureau’s responsibility and utility.
Seeing Diversity in Difference
Authors: Starr-Glass David , Schwartzbaum Avraham
Published: May 2004

The authors were involved in establishing a college-level educational institute to serve charaidi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) women in Jerusalem. To meet the needs of this community, cultural and social norms had to be incorporated into the curriculum and administration of the college. While preserving the distinctive cultural difference of this community, a more widely accepted level of academic excellence was introduced, as was the notion of diversity. The article examines the cultural requirements of the host community and explores difference and diversity as social constructs. It looks at alternative approaches to diversity and at the difficulties associated with diversity training. The organizational structure of the college (where curriculum, administration and degreegranting are performed by different agencies) allows articulation between externally accredited academic excellence and internal subject matter sensitivity. The article concludes with some tentative observations and an agenda for future research.
The Changing Popular Culture of Indian Food: Preliminary Notes
Authors: Nandy Ashis
Published: May 2004

Culinary changes and modes of public dining are undergoing rapid changes in India and have begun to reflect some of the new strands in the culture of Indian politics. A national cuisine may not have emerged but some pan-Indian trends are visible. Even a rudimentary fast food culture is crystallising out of familiar regional preparations. Simultaneously, new concepts of what kind of food can be served on formal occasions and of cuisines that can or cannot provide effective restaurant fare are changing the relationships between different regional cuisines.
Destabilizing Social Communication Theory
Authors: Grant Colin B.
Published: May 2004

An interaction paradigm continues to predominate in social communication models to this day and yet often tends to be heavily intuitive, epistemologically conservative and acritical. This article seeks to examine some of the implications for our intuitive understanding of interaction when greater instability is introduced into social communication theory where communication is conceptualized as a complex uncertainty. The theoretical architecture of this undertaking is in itself interdisciplinary, comprising concepts from the fields of social theory, logic, information theory and constructivism. In these interdisciplinary considerations, interaction is conceptualized as a fictional construction and thus disabused of the strong transcendental claims which accompany concepts of dialogism, consensus or intersubjectivity. Whereas uncertainty is customarily seen as the opposite of rational inclusive communication and a risk to be somehow avoided, this article explores a different theoretical modelling of the relationship between uncertainty and social communication. Here, communication is conceived as an extremely precarious undertaking. This very precariousness is a fact of everyday life where communication is social construction in progress and norms are constantly regenerated, negotiated and challenged.
Post-Lacanian Affective Economy, Being-in-the-word, and the Critique of the Present
Authors: Venn Couze
Published: May 2004

The theorization of the relays and relationships between the psychic and the social, as well as between the cognitive and the expressive, is still obstructed by the resilience of the egocentric and logocentric subject invented by the discourse of modernity. This article examines the possibilities opened up by the work of Lichtenberg Ettinger for breaking free of phallogocentrism in its various forms as one condition for subverting the normative truths of power/knowledge. It focuses on the sonic dimension of being-in-the-world as one approach that indicates new avenues for research.
Collective Feelings
Authors: Ahmed Sara
Published: May 2004

This article examines ‘collective feelings’ by considering how ‘others’ create impressions on the surfaces of bodies. Rather than considering ‘collective feeling’ as ‘fellow feeling’ or in terms of feeling ‘for’ the collective, the article suggests that how we respond to others in intercorporeal encounters creates the impression of a collective body. In other words, how we feel about others is what aligns us with a collective, which paradoxically ‘takes shape’ only as an effect of such alignments. The article considers different examples of racism in which a particular other is held in place by being aligned with other others. The ‘moment of contact’ is shaped by past histories of contact, which allows the proximity of a racial other to be perceived as threatening, at the same time as it re-shapes the bodies in the contact zone of the encounter. Feelings rehearse associations that are already in place, in the way in which they ‘read’ the proximity of others, at the same time as they establish the ‘truth’ of the reading. The article extends its analysis by showing that bodily proximity is not required to create the impressions of others, and offers an analysis of ‘collective feelings’ within virtual communities of global nomads. Proximity does not require physical co-presence: the collective can ‘surface’ through giving up on local attachments (where the screen becomes a substitute for the skin). The article concludes that collective feelings are not feelings that the collective ‘has’, as if the collective was a subject. Rather the collective is an effect of the impressions left by others on the surfaces of skins.
Social Networks in the School Context: Effects of Culture and Gender
Authors: Scharf Miri , Hertz-Lazarowitz Rachel
Published: May 2004

Similarities and differences in children’s interpersonal relationships were assessed through examination of the effects of culture and gender as reflected in the quality of children’s relationships in their social network at school. Two cultural contexts representing collectivistic and individualistic orientations were studied. Questionnaires were completed by 1449 fourth- and fifth-grade students (604 Arab and 845 Jewish students) regarding their best friend, their class peers, their homeroom teacher, and their class climate. As expected, findings demonstrated better quality of peer relationships among Arab students (from a relatively collectivistic culture) and among boys, whereas Jewish students (from a relatively individualistic culture) and girls showed better quality of best-friend relationships than their counterparts. The results also highlighted a similarity in children’s relationships for both cultures and both genders, reflected in the highest intimacy of best-friend relationships.
Family and Friends as Healthcare Advocates: Dilemmas of Confidentiality and Privacy
Authors: Petronio Sandra , Sargent Jack , Andea Laura , Reganis Peggy , Cichocki David
Published: May 2004

The presence of ‘informal’ healthcare advocates during physician visits represents a unique privacy challenge. When these family members or friends participate in a patient’s visit with the physician, they are often confronted with numerous privacy dilemmas. Framed within the theory of Communication Privacy Management, this study examined the role of friends and family members as informal healthcare advocates in the course of physician visits. A semi-structured survey instrument was used to collect data from 123 volunteer participants at a large midwestern university. Four qualitative themes emerged from the data that illustrate the way in which family members and friends dialectically manage issues of privacy regulation. In the first theme, participants described how they coped with violating a privacy boundary or protected the health of the patient. A second theme was discovered in which the advocates described their role as altruistic supporters. In the third theme, results showed that information seeking was directed away from the patient and more toward the advocate. The patient became superfluous to the dialogue. Finally, the fourth theme describes how patients positioned responsibility on the advocate to assist them in the decision-making about their health issues.
Uncertain Family Trajectories: Interactional Consequences of Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis
Authors: Beach Wayne A. , Good Jeffrey S.
Published: May 2004

Analysis of a corpus of family phone calls reveals how family members routinely address uncertain issues when attempting to understand cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. A large collection of moments are overviewed and organized into three prominent social activities: biomedical reportings about anonymous medical staff; references to doctors in anticipation of explanations; and assessing the care provided by doctors and medical staff. Specific attention is drawn to how reportings include lay depictions about lack of knowledge, ambiguities associated with the passage of time, and emergent troubles with pain and medication. These instances make clear how family cancer journeys are interactionally organized events, comprised of distinct communication practices for raising and resolving illness dilemmas.
Parasocial Break-Up from Favorite Television Characters: The Role of Attachment Styles and Relationship Intensity
Authors: Cohen Jonathan
Published: May 2004

This study examined the responses of television viewers to the potential loss of their favorite television characters. A sample of 381 Israeli adults completed questionnaires, including questions about their relationships with their favorite characters, how they would react if those characters were taken off the air, and their attachment styles. Results showed that viewers expecting to lose their favorite characters anticipate negative reactions similar to those experienced after the dissolution of social relationships. These reactions were related both to the intensity of the parasocial relationship with the favorite character and to the viewers’ attachment style. Anxious–ambivalently attached respondents anticipated the most negative responses. The results are discussed in light of their contribution to attachment research and as evidence of the similarity between parasocial relationships and close social relationships.
Married Individuals, Cohabiters, and Cohabiters Who Marry: A Longitudinal Study of Relational and Individual Well-Being
Authors: Stafford Laura , Kline Susan L. , Rankin Caroline T.
Published: May 2004

Given that many cohabiting couples marry, our interest was in the changes that may accompany this shift in terms of relational and individual well-being. In addition, a comparison among three relationship groups was undertaken: those who entered directly into marriage, those who cohabitated and then married, and those who are long-term cohabiters. Also, comparisons across time were conducted. Our data were drawn from the 1987–1988 and 1992–1994 National Survey of Families and Households. A sub-sample of the data was utilized to create the three groups matched on multiple demographic variables. The shift to marriage was not accompanied by significant changes in any of the constructs of interest. Differences among the groups were consistent with previous research. The major findings indicated a significant effect for time, regardless of relationship group. Companionship, sexual interaction, relational satisfaction, and commitment decreased across time. The frequency of conflict and arguing heatedly increased, while remaining calm and keeping opinions to one’s self decreased.
Narratives of Workplace Friendship Deterioration
Authors: Sias Patricia M. , Heath Renee G. , Perry Tara , Silva Deborah , Fix Bryan
Published: May 2004

An exploratory examination of workplace friendship deterioration processes was conducted using employees’ narrative accounts of their experiences. Narratives revealed five primary causes of workplace friendship deterioration – personality, distracting life events, conflicting expectations, promotion, and betrayal. Narratives also indicated that individuals relied primarily on indirect communication tactics, including avoidance of nonwork topics in conversation, nonverbal cues, and avoidance of socializing away from the workplace to disengage from workplace friendships. Consequences of workplace friendship deterioration included emotional stress, reduced ability to perform tasks, turnover, and altered perceptions regarding the role of friendships in the workplace. Discussion and suggestions for future research are provided.
The Role of Relationship Loss and Self-Loss in Women’s and Men’s Dysphoria
Authors: Drew Sarah S. , Heesacker Martin , Frost Hanna M. , Oelke Lynn E.
Published: May 2004

This study investigated the relationship between dysphoria and two distinct kinds of relationship-related loss: relationship loss and loss of self in a relationship. Three models were evaluated. The first model predicts that only intimate relationship loss will be associated with increased dysphoria. The second model predicts that only loss of self will be associated with increased dysphoria. The third model predicts that an interaction between relationship loss and self-loss will be associated with greater dysphoria. Undergraduates ( N= 257) completed measures of relationship loss, self-loss, and two dysphoria measures. For both men and women, the study and an independent replication ( N= 172) clearly supported the self-loss model and not the alternatives.
What do Investors Look for in a Business Plan?
Authors: Mason Colin , Stark Matthew
Published: May 2004

Most potential funders wish to see a business plan as a first step in deciding whether or not to invest. However, much of the literature on how to write a business plan fails to emphasize that different types of funder look at business plans from different perspectives. Using a real time methodology this article highlights the different investment criteria of bankers, venture capital fund managers and business angels. Bankers stress the financial aspects of the proposal and give little emphasis to market, entrepreneur or other issues. As equity investors, venture capital fund managers and business angels have a very different approach, emphasizing both market and finance issues. Business angels give more emphasis than venture capital fund managers to the entrepreneur and ‘investor fit’ considerations. The implication for entrepreneurs is that they must customize their business plan according to whether they are seeking funding from a bank, venture capital fund or business angel.
Librarians or Knowledge Managers? What’s in a Name, or is there a Real Difference?
Authors: Pantry Sheila , Griffiths Peter
Published: May 2004

While there has been a trend in recent years for libraries to change their names to be called information or knowledge centres, and librarians have begun to be called by other names, such as knowledge managers, there is a tendency for these new titles and functions to be very poorly defined and the qualities needed to do the job are frequently not known or understood by potential employers. Producers and users of information services must take a wide variety of issues into consideration, including: the cost of information; whether it is priced or free; accessibility, whether the information is in the right place at the right time; the skills necessary to access information and use it efficiently; quality and timeliness; and the most cost-effective ways to produce and use information and the most intuitive ways of presenting it. Concludes that many skills are common to both librarians and knowledge managers. Both select, collect and disseminate information, link it to the users and train those users to use information efficiently and effectively. Both operate in the context of the organization or community that they serve. What may ultimately prove more important than any difference between them is the quality of their skills and the alliances they forge with other players such as the managers of the business’s technology and the most important users of the information service (‘superusers’). Viewed in these terms, it may be concluded that there is no difference between the skills of a librarian and that of a knowledge manager.
Adding Value
Authors: James Sylvia
Published: May 2004

Stresses the importance of reporting and presenting the results of business research, noting that communicating the research results to the right audience can be as important as carrying out the research itself. Research undertaken by a business information department needs to characterize and distinguish itself through its accurate and effective communication and by its professional presentation in a form that demonstrates that it clearly answers a specific enquiry. Offers advice on how this ideal can be achieved and shows that there are three aspects to presenting good business information: a mastery of a whole range of business knowledge, especially companies and markets; a well thought out strategy of the formats in which to present results, which should be discussed and agreed with users and used consistently; and the development of writing skills such that all research ends up clearly written up. Concludes that there will be some occasions when this type of approach is over complicated but the maintenance of a consistent approach to research reporting will ensure that better decision making at all levels will result.
Responding to the Information Challenges
Authors: Dickinson Nigel
Published: May 2004

Presents comments on selected findings of the Business Information Resources Survey 2004 in light of the experiences of D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) and focusing on the survey’s conclusions regarding the challenges facing information professionals as they attempt to provide quality services for their users and the worrying trend for corporate libraries to reduce their spending on information in response to the toughening of the business climate. Considers why it is that budget holders in UK industry are still not convinced that spending money on quality information and knowledge management is a sound investment, capable of yielding increased revenues and reduced costs. The information professional is faced with the twin challenges of demonstrating the value of the company information service, and securing high quality information services with very limited resources. The challenge for the information provider includes: providing high quality, reliable data; making that data available through relevant,user friendly interfaces; delivering new value added services; helping to provide information about the return to be gained by investing in such services; and making such services available in a cost effective manner. D&B employs a strategy for developing a single information source for global company data that involves the use of multiple sources of global information. Describes some of the automatic and semiautomatic procedures used by D&B to construct their databases and ensure the timeliness and quality of the data.
News Information Services at the Energy and Resources Institute: A Case Study
Authors: Deepa N. , Ganguly Shantanu , Deb Subrata
Published: May 2004

Describes significant developments in the news information services at The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), in New Delhi, India. News information service is one of the most demand driven services in today’s information market. Every organization needs current information, which can be provided by news information services. The news information service at TERI is based on the institute’s mandate, which is focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development. It serves external and internal researchers, consultants and other users. The service was initially print-based, providing conventional press clippings, but with the emergence of new technologies it evolved into daily and weekly electronic services and now also offers web-based services. The information services have been tailored to meet the demands of the user community.
Ideas in Our Heads
Authors: Jakubowicz Karol
Published: May 2004

The successful introduction of public service broadcasting (PSB) is so extraordinarily difficult to achieve that it could be regarded as a true test of post-Communist transformation in general – specifically in terms of the consolidation of democracy. Of the three media policy orientations developed in post-Communist Europe, ‘idealistic’, ‘mimetic’ and ‘atavistic’, one – the ‘idealistic’ – was immediately rejected throughout. Instead, the media policies pursued have combined elements of the two other orientations, with more of a mimetic orientation in ‘competitive democracies’ and successively more elements of the ‘atavistic orientation’ (harking back to the Communist days) in ‘concentrated’, ‘war-torn’ and ‘non-competitive’ regimes. The route taken depends upon a number of macrostructural factors, including political, economic and sociocultural ones. Political and sociocultural elements are of particular importance as far as prospects for the emergence of PSB in post-Communist countries are concerned. The introduction of PSB has either so far failed, or has produced very uncertain results, as PSB organizations lack social embeddedness and the right democratic context in which to operate. The belief that one can transplant institutions as part of a process of ‘imitative transformation’, especially in such a sensitive area as the mass media, has proved overoptimistic. It has always been accepted that a long time is needed for PSB organizations to come into their own. If, however, current trends in Western Europe, where PSB is actively being reassessed, lead to undermining this media institution, it will not be given time to mature and become entrenched in post-Communist countries.
The Regime and the Airplane: High Technology and Nationalism in Indonesia
Authors: Amir Sulfikar
Published: May 2004

This article discusses high-technology development in Indonesia. Focusing on the Indonesian Aircraft Industry (IPTN), it critically examines how nationalism becomes an impetus for technological development and addresses the implications of nationalism in the pursuit of high technology. Situated in the NewOrder regime, influential elements of the regime’s economic and political systems that accommodate the idea of technological leapfrog are traced. It is argued that the failure of the leapfrog idea is because of overreliance on a technological determinist view and the practice of strong technocracy. Furthermore, it is posited that technological nationalism is a rhetorical strategy used by technological elites to legitimate the high-technology policy and to absorb ample economic and political resources that unexpectedly produce farreaching implications in society.
The Relation of Early Adolescents’ College Plans and Both Academic Ability and Task-Value Beliefs to Subsequent College Enrollment
Authors: Eccles Jacquelynne S. , Vida Mina N. , Barber Bonnie
Published: May 2004

Although it is likely that plans to attend a 4-year college are made much earlier than the last 2 years of high school, few researchers have assessed the pre–high school factors that influence high school performance and course-enrollment decisions, which, in turn, affect college attendance. The data presented in this article were collected as part of the longitudinal Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions. In this article, we used data from 681 adolescents in sixth grade and from their mothers to predict college attendance 2 years after high school graduation. Hierarchical logistic regression revealed the following as significant predictors of full-time college attendance: youth’s grade point averages, their plans for college, their resiliency, family income, mother’s education level, and mother’s educational valuing.
Honoring the Thornburgs
Authors: Petersen Anne C.
Published: May 2004

Hershel and Ellen Thornburg left a strong legacy to the field of adolescent research, especially through their pioneering work identifying early adolescence as worthy of special focus and through the links they made among research, practice, and policy. This article honors their legacy by pointing to areas of progress in research, needed progress in policy and practice, and future research priorities. Improved communication with policy makers and practitioners can lead to more effective research questions. Also needed is increased scientific rigor to provide answers to pressing societal questions.
Developing Self-Marketing Skills: Are Marketing Students Prepared for the Job Search?
Authors: McCorkle Denny E. , Alexander Joe F. , Reardon James , Kling Nathan D.
Published: May 2004

Sooner or later, most marketing and business students realize that today’s job market is competitive, challenging, and requires substantial effort in order to pursue successfully. This article presents the authors’ observations, job market statistics, relevant academic literature, and survey results concerning the marketing and business student job search process. The research findings guide several recommendations for developing student self-marketing and job search skills, with the perspective of teaching students to apply what they have learned in their marketing courses.
The Effects of Creating Psychological Ownership among Students in Group Projects
Authors: Wood Charles M.
Published: May 2004

This article proposes that marketing instructors may be able to enhance student learning and satisfaction in group projects by applying a key principle of effective group leadership: creating a sense of ownership in the minds of students. Student ownership in the educational process is proposed to be a key part of the success of group experiential exercises. This article (1) draws from the management and marketing literatures to advance the idea that student self-reports of learning from class projects can be increased by increasing student ownership; (2) compares student response to an experiential teaching tool across two conditions: control group—the instructor chooses and provides products to be sold—and high student ownership—the students choose and provide products to be sold; and (3) demonstrates that experiential education tools are more effective when they include an element of ownership.
The Relative Influence of Published Teaching Evaluations and Other Instructor Attributes on Course Choice
Authors: Wilhelm Wendy Bryce
Published: May 2004

One hundred and twenty-seven undergraduate business majors at a regional northwestern university completed a series of hypothetical choice tasks in which they were asked to choose between two courses that varied with respect to the instructor’s course evaluations, grading leniency, the course’s worth/usefulness, and the assigned workload. Data analysis revealed that while evaluations exert a significant influence on choice, course worth and grading leniency are the most important determinants of course choice. Share of preference simulations indicated that students are twice as likely to choose a course with an instructor who receives excellent, as opposed to average, course evaluations, all else being equal. However, students are willing to put up with poor course evaluations or a heavy workload if they believe that they will gain a great deal of useful knowledge. The article concludes with a call for more research on the decision process relating to course choice.
Self-Excited Walking of a Biped Mechanism with Feet
Authors: Ono Kyosuke , Furuichi Takasahi , Takahashi Ryutaro
Published: May 2004

In this paper we present a theoretical and experimental study of the self-excited walking of a biped mechanism with knees and feet on level ground. This biped mechanism possesses a single motor at the hip joint and active lock mechanisms at both knee joints. We first show that the self-excitation control enables the three-degrees-of-freedom planar biped model with feet to walk on level ground, and that a stable walking locomotion is possible over a wide range of feedback gain and a foot radius of up to 0.3 m. Subsequently, we describe the manufactured biped Robot 2 which is similar to the analytical model and we show that the biped robot can perform natural dynamic walking on a level floor. It is also shown that the simulated results agree well with the experimental results. We further describe the wireless-controlled biped Robot 3, which can walk on a level floor carrying batteries and electronic circuits inside the thighs.
Linearized Error Propagation in Odometry
Authors: Kelly Alonzo
Published: May 2004

The related fields of mobile robotics and ground vehicle localization lack a linearized theory of odometry error propagation. By contrast, the equivalent Schuler dynamics which apply to inertial guidance have been known and exploited for decades. In this paper, the general solution of linearized propagation dynamics of both systematic and random errors for vehicle odometry is developed and validated. The associated integral transforms are applied to the task of eliciting the major dynamic behaviors of errors for several forms of odometry. Interesting behaviors include path independence, response to symmetric inputs, zeros, extrema, monotonicity and conservation. Applications to systems theory, systems design, and calibration are illustrated.
Type Synthesis of Three-Degree-of-Freedom Spherical Parallel Manipulators
Authors: Kong Xianwen , Gosselin Clément M.
Published: May 2004

A spherical parallel manipulator (also called an orientational parallel manipulator or rotational parallel manipulator) refers to a threedegreeof-freedom (3-DoF) parallel manipulator in which the moving platform undergoes a 3-DoF spherical motion or rotates about a fixed point. In this paper, we propose a new method for the type synthesis of non-overconstrained (isostatic) spherical parallel manipulators. In a non-overconstrained three-legged spherical parallel manipulator, each leg is composed of five revolute, prismatic and/or helical joints. Using the proposed approach, non-overconstrained three-legged spherical parallel manipulators can be obtained by the combination of a 3-RRR overconstrained spherical parallel manipulator and three four-bar Delassus linkages with at least one revolute joint. In a 3-RRR spherical parallel manipulator, each leg is composed of three revolute joints whose axes pass through the center of spherical motion. A four-bar Delassus linkage is a single-DoF four-bar linkage composed of four revolute, prismatic and/or helical joints. A number of new non-overconstrained spherical parallel manipulators are also identified, including one obtained by the combination of a 3-RRR spherical parallel manipulator and three Bennett linkages.
Between Fact and Fiction
Authors: Mellor Felicity
Published: May 2004

This paper looks at the ways in which popular science books, through their explicit insertion of science into the public domain, act to reinforce a distinct demarcation between scientists and their publics. It is argued that these books acquire a distributed media presence by acting as nodal points in an intertextual web. The intertextuality of popular science books causes images of science which are supportive of scientists’ interests to continue to circulate in public discourse despite the alternative images thrown up by public scientific controversies reported in the news. The paper looks at examples of popular physics books which, like many other popularizations of physics, draw explicitly on science fiction. Since these texts do not respond to any specific controversy within or around science, they provide examples of ‘routine’ boundary work. It is argued that by working at multiple boundaries, texts such as these are able to claim potentially contradictory attributes for science at the same time as sustaining its place at the top of a hierarchy of ways of knowing.
The Moral Economy of the Drug Company–Medical Scientist Collaboration in Interwar America
Authors: Rasmussen Nicolas
Published: May 2004

This paper explores the exchange relationships underlying collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and preclinical (laboratory-based) researchers, in universities and similar contexts, during the interwar period. It also examines the arguments advanced to justify such collaborations in particular contexts as a way of investigating the perceived costs and benefits, especially among the academic parties in these collaborations, and the way these collaborations were regarded in the US biomedical research community.
Visual Versus Narrative Case Material: The Impact on Criminal Psychological Profiling
Authors: Kocsis Richard N. , Heller Gillian Z. , Try Andrew
Published: May 2004

Although some literature has emerged to examine the validity and constituent skills required for psychological profiling, little research has scrutinized how the technique works. This study examined the effects of case material on profiling proficiency. This was accomplished by alternating the case material available to participants in a profiling exercise. Groups of participants were presented with either a full case package, only narrative or visual case material, narrative material with a written description of the visual material, or a control condition where no case material was provided. All participants then completed a profiling exercise designed to measure the accuracy of their predictions. The results found that profiling proficiency is influenced by the amount of case material available, with optimal proficiency likely achieved by the presence of all forms of material. A trend was also observed where participants supplied with only the narrative case materials surpassed those with visual materials.
Terrorism and Mental Illness: Is there a Relationship?
Authors: Weatherston David , Moran Jonathan
Published: May 2004

This article examines the connections between mental illness and terrorism. Most social scientists have discounted a causal relationship between mental illness and terrorism. This is not necessarily always the case within terrorism studies, the media, or political circles where the psychology of terrorism is often expressed in the language of mentalisms, and theories of pathologisation continue to exist. This article reaffirms the view that apart from certain pathological cases, there is no causal connection between an individual’s mental disorder and engagement in terrorist activity. The individual terrorist’s motivations can be explained by other factors, including behavioural psychology. However, there may be a connection between an individual engaging in terrorist activity and developing a mental disorder[s]. Certain stressors that occur because of terrorist activity may result in psychological disturbance in terrorist individuals. These factors may partially explain terrorist group instability and should be taken into account when detaining and interrogating terrorist suspects.