1,758 research outputs found
This Murder Done : Misogyny, Femicide, and Modernity in 19th-Century Appalachian Murder Ballads
This thesis contextualizes Appalachian murder ballads of the 19th- and early 20th-centuries through a close reading of the lyric texts. Using a research frame that draws from the musicological and feminist concepts of Diana Russell, Susan McClary, Norm Cohen, and Christopher Small, I reveal 19th-century Appalachia as a patriarchal, modern, and highly codified society despite its popularized image as a culturally isolated and “backward” place. I use the ballads to demonstrate how music serves the greater cultural purpose of preserving and perpetuating social ideologies. Specifically, the murder ballads reveal layers of meaning regarding hegemonic masculinities prevalent in 19th-century and turn-of-the-20th-century Appalachian culture.
This work also explores the biases and agendas of the early folksong projects in the United States. Examining the arguments of early scholars, I consider the American tradition in juxtaposition to the earlier British forms of music. Rejecting earlier scholarship that argues for the relatedness of British and American balladry, I find that ballads associated with, and circulating in, the United States instead reflect a new cultural idiom grounded in the beliefs of those who sought a conservative Christian aesthetic and way of life in the southern Appalachian mountains.
The murder ballads witness that Appalachia, specifically in the 19th-century period of industrial change, was defined by essential tensions between cultural traditions of the past and emerging notions of American modernism. This tension is met in the songs with responses of violence against women whose life situations—marked by sexual freedom—are the very depiction of a new cultural modernism that threatens the hegemony of the past
Improving screening for externalizing behavior problems in very young children : applications of item response theory to evaluate instruments in pediatric primary care.
Externalizing behavior problems in very young children are associated with an array of negative and costly long-term outcomes. Pediatric primary care is a promising venue for implementing screening practices to improve early identification of this social and public health problem. In this setting, screening requires a brief, easily scored instrument which can detect sub-clinical to clinical levels of the latent construct within the context of early childhood development. Further, items used should perform consistently with children of all sociodemographic backgrounds. This study applied item response theory analyses to investigate the precision, utility, and differential item functioning (DIF) of items measuring externalizing behavior problems in two caregiverreport questionnaires: the PSC-17 (Gardner et al., 1999) and the BPI (Peterson & Zill, 1986; Zill, 1990). Caregivers (N = 900) of children ages 3 to 5 responded to both instruments and a sociodemographic questionnaire in the waiting rooms of four pediatric primary care clinics. Sociodemographic characteristics of the children were diverse: 47% were female, 50% were of minority race, and 43% were of low socioeconomic status (SES). Eighteen items comprising the instruments\u27 combined externalizing subscales were evaluated for (a) levels of externalizing behavior problems best measured, and (b) DIF exhibited by child sex, race, and SES. Samejima\u27s (1969) graded response model was fit to the data, and two methods of DIF-detection were employed. Estimation of item parameters allowed consideration of the levels of externalizing behavior problems at which each item was most informative. Five items were found to measure only low to average levels of externalizing problems in the target population, while the remaining 13 were informative at sub-clinical to clinical levels. Significant DIF was detected in 8 of 18 items by child sex, race, or SES. A set of 4 items was identified which (a) provided the most information at sub-clinical to clinical levels of externalizing behavior problems, and (b) exhibited the least amount of DIF by child sex, race, and SES. These items may constitute a promising tool for screening purposes with preschool-aged children in the primary care setting, potentially improving early identification of very young children with externalizing behavior problems
Utility of a goodness-of-fit index for the graded response model with small sample sizes : a Monte Carlo investigation.
Item response theory (IRT) is expanding to diverse research settings, without accompanying access to easily implemented model fit methods. One simple model fit approach involves x2/df ratios. However, its utility is not known across several conditions salient to recent applied IRT research. A Monte Carlo simulation was implemented to investigate the effects of several factors (sample size, adjustment condition, type of misfit, and proportion of misfitting items) on x2/df ratios in the context of the Graded Response Model. Results suggested that: (a) adjusted x2/df ratios were appropriate for the largest sample size condition (N=10000), but were extremely inflated for small (N=400) and medium (N=1500) conditions; (b) x2/df ratios were differentially affected across sample sizes by type and amount of misfit; and (c) sensitivity of the x2/df\u3e 3 cut point for identifying misfit in single items was notably low across all study conditions. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed
The effect of insect herbivory on the growth and fitness of introduced Verbascum thapsus L.
A majority of the plant species that are introduced into new ranges either do not become established, or become naturalized yet do not attain high densities and are thus considered ecologically and economically unproblematic. The factors that limit these relatively “benign” species are not well studied. The biotic resistance hypothesis predicts that herbivores, pathogens and competition reduce growth and reproduction of individual plants and so suppress population growth of non-native species. We explored the effect of insect herbivory and surrounding vegetation on growth and fitness of the non-native biennial plant Verbascum thapsus (common mullein) in Colorado, USA. Mullein is widespread in its introduced North American range, yet is infrequently considered a management concern because populations are often ephemeral and restricted to disturbed sites. To evaluate the impact of insect herbivores on mullein performance, we reduced herbivory using an insecticide treatment and compared sprayed plants to those exposed to ambient levels of herbivory. Reducing herbivory increased survival from rosette to reproduction by 7%, from 70–77%. Of plants that survived, reducing herbivory increased plant area in the first year and plant height, the length of the reproductive spike, and seed set during the second year. Reducing herbivory also had a marked effect on plant fitness, increasing seed set by 50%, from about 48,000 seeds per plant under ambient herbivory to about 98,000 per plant under reduced herbivory. Our findings also highlight that the relationship between herbivory and performance is complex. Among plants exposed to ambient herbivory, we observed a positive relationship between damage and performance, suggesting that, as predicted by the plant vigor hypothesis, insect herbivores choose the largest plants for feeding when their choice is not restricted by insecticide treatment. In contrast to the strong effects of experimentally reduced herbivory, we found that cover of other plants surrounding our focal plants explained relatively little variation in performance outcomes. Overall, we found that herbivore-induced impacts on individual plant performance and seed set are substantial, and thus may help prevent this naturalized species from becoming dominant in undisturbed recipient communities
Proposing a Framework for Blended and Flexible Course Design
This paper proposes a Framework for Blended and Flexible Curriculum Delivery. Following a brief introduction about how this project came together, a literature review is undertaken where various terms related with learning and teaching through technology are explained and distinguished. The proposed Blended Learning Framework is explained, discussed, analyzed and mapped to educational practices and their underpinning learning theories. The paper is then summarized and concluded
Development and validation of new figural scales for female body dissatisfaction assessment on two dimensions: thin-ideal and muscularity-ideal
Background: Body dissatisfaction influences women’s mental and physical health. To date, most research has focused on body dissatisfaction in relation to the ‘thin-ideal’. Thus, the association between body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptomatology and muscularity-ideal in women is less clear. Lack of understanding is underpinned by the lack of reliable and valid muscularity-related assessments for women. To address this need, we developed, tested and re-tested two new body dissatisfaction scales: The Female Body Scale (FBS; adiposity dimension) and Female Fit Body Scale (FFITBS; muscularity dimension).Methods: One hundred and fifty-two women in the United Kingdom rated which body figure best represented their current and ideal body, completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0), and their body composition was measured. During re-test, the EDE-Q 6.0 and Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) were completed.Results: Both the FBS and the FFITBS were found to be valid and reliable, and distinct types of body dissatisfaction were identified. Higher EDE-Q scores corresponded with greater body dissatisfaction scores on both the FBS and FFITBS. Thin-ideal (FBS) and larger/muscularity-ideal (FFITBS) body dissatisfaction predicted higher scores on the DMS. The muscularity scale (FFITBS) uniquely revealed that 28% of participants indicated body dissatisfaction toward the larger-muscularity-ideal.Conclusions: Results reveal distinct dimensions of body dissatisfaction. These new, validated scales may be utilized to quickly identify eating disorder risk in women as a preventative assessment for clinicians and inform female-focused body-image and eating disorder research
Uncovering Critical Resources and Factors Influencing the Use of Threat Intelligence Sharing Platforms
Senior Recital: Christina Ruth Grace Vehar, mezzo-soprano
This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Ms. Vehar studies voice with Eileen Moremen.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1919/thumbnail.jp
The Paradox of Institutional Leadership: A Critical Analysis of Myriad Predicaments Plaguing The School Leadership In Kenya
School leaders are expected to provide vision for their schools with inspiration and support for students and faculty. However, they are also responsible for student and faculty discipline management, instructional management, financial management, and much more. As leaders and managers, school leaders must continually blend the technical and symbolic aspects of their role, embracing each intricacy with confidence, enthusiasm, and skill. This call for specialized leadership training in all areas of school management like finance, procurement, human resource, discipline and others. Stability in terms of remuneration and duration of service play a critical role in effective leadership. Equally important to the balancing act of school leadership, is the understanding of the complexity and influence of the internal and external variables to the school outcomes as measures of leadership performance. In pursuit of school leadership excellence, improved institutional performance and quality achievement, the ministry of education in Kenya stays challenged to polish and refine the current school leadership infrastructure in pre-new office training programs, teacher transfer systems, incentive versus outcome leader service and leadership service domains. Key words: Institutional Leadership, Pre-New Office Training, Teachers Service Commission, Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, Kenya Certificate of Primary Educatio
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