Bloggers as Citizen Journalists: The 2012 Pink Slime Incident

People can instantly access the Internet, and free publishing software available to users provides opportunities to create and share content that can affect not only the U.S. food system but also consumer perceptions about ground beef. In the dynamic environment of the Internet it is increasingly important to understand the information about the U.S. food system and, more specifically, ground beef. The purpose of this study was to examine the 2012 pink slime incident using qualitative analysis to understand what bloggers said about the food issue. Pink slime is a nickname for the beef byproduct labeled lean finely textured beef (LFTB) by the beef industry in the early 1990s. LFTB is beef that has been separated from fat and added to ground beef to make lean affordable beef blends. News reports questioning the safety and quality of LFTB began in March 2012. A qualitative content analysis was performed on 44 blogs that mentioned the pink slime incident between March 1, 2012 and April 30, 2012. Google blogs, a feature of Google,was used to collect the sample by searching for blogs that referenced pink slime orLFTB. A data-gathering guide and a reflexive journal were used to record data and to chronicle the research process. Results showed bloggers positively and negatively framed the beef product, and the primary issues of concern were welfare, consequence, expertise, and conspiracy

Circuits of journalism: mediating Irishness in the digital disapora press.

This thesis addresses the process representing Ireland and Irishness in the digital diaspora press. It examines the production of diaspora journalism in the hybrid media environment through the lens of the circuit of cultural production, establishing journalistic and cultural influences on the process of representing Irishness. Diaspora journalism has important implications for recreating ethnic identity among the deterritorialised Irish audience, but little is understood about what aspects of Irish culture diaspora news media represent or to what extent these representations can be regarded as homogeneous across different hostlands. This research establishes that there are regional differences in both what stories about Ireland are reproduced in the diaspora press and how Irishness is represented. It identifies a range of material, organisational and cultural factors from journalism that shape what diaspora newsrooms can produce as well as how news is presented and distributed. Additionally it identifies how historically situated hybrid identities of the Irish diaspora communities influence the editorial agenda and shape the various representations of Irishness. The focus of analysis is on Irish digital diasporic news organisations, comparing how news titles in Ireland and in the diasporic press in the USA, UK and Australia mediated Irish identity over six months in 2016. It interviews diaspora editors to understand the contexts on which diaspora journalism is produced and the thinking behind news selection and presentation. It compares the volume of news flows of the most pervasive categories and topics in different regions, highlighting similarities and difference in the regional editorial agendas. And a framing analysis of cases reveals differences in how Irish current affairs are framed in each region and how Irishness identified is represented. This paper highlights the importance of diaspora news media’s role in shaping ethnic identities as they respond and represent homeland current affairs. It reveals tensions among different Irish diasporic news media and the homeland, in particular, over how the transnational ethnic group should be conceptualised and represented as well as challenges to traditionalist views of the homeland and re-imaginings difficult or traumatic aspects of homeland history

Evaluating Sixth Graders\u27 Self-Efficacy in Response to the Use of Educational Technology

Sixth grade is a pivotal time in school, as students culminate their elementary school years and anticipate junior high school. At this age, students become more involved in trends, especially technological trends. When students can utilize the same type of technology inside and outside of school, their self-efficacy may increase. Hypothetically, even within an academic setting, a sixth grader\u27s self-efficacy will subconsciously elevate with these familiar tools. This mixed methods study evaluated the link between the use of educational technology in the sixth grade classroom and students\u27 self-efficacy. To facilitate data collection for this study, after parental consent was obtained, students completed an online questionnaire via Survey Monkey on their classroom laptops. At a predetermined date, time, and location, teachers of the participating students met with the researcher in focus groups. Before the meeting date and time, the focus group agenda was emailed to the teachers for their perusal. The results of the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS, specifically examining links between questions pertaining to technology use and questions resulting in high self-efficacy. The results of the focus groups were analyzed for themes within the teachers\u27 comments and served as essential narrative in the results and conclusion sections of the dissertation. The results of the questionnaire and focus groups produced several implications regarding educational policy and future research. Significant, positive correlations emerged among variables within the established self-efficacy domain and the use of laptops and Smart/Interwrite boards in the classroom, iPods, iPads, and smart phones outside of class, and using educational technology in writing and math during class. No significant differences emerged between boys\u27 and girls\u27 self-efficacy, as corroborated by the teachers\u27 focus group responses. Variables within the self-concept domain emerged as predictors when multiple regression analyses were run with self-efficacy dependent variables. Conclusions that were drawn from this study include the need for educational technology during math instruction, iPads for instruction during class, and further study regarding gender differences in response to technology

Education handbook

2003 handbook for the faculty of Educatio

A Latent Profile Analysis of Health-related Quality of Life Domains in Cancer Survivors

PurposeThe aim of this research was to examine heterogeneity of Health-related Quality of Life (HrQOL) in Cancer Survivors (both undergoing and completed treatment) using latent profile analysis and to determine whether these groups differed by demographic and health characteristics.MethodsParticipants(n=229) recruited through an oncology day ward and outpatient department in a local hospital, completed height, weight and handgrip measures as well as the validated patient generated subjective global assessment and EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaires. A latent profile analysis was performed to identify subgroups based on HrQOL domain scores. Multinominal Logistic Regression was conducted to determine the relationship between these subgroups and demographic and health characteristics. ResultsThree latent subtypes were identified: (1)high quality of life(n=122, 52.8%); (2)compromised quality of life(n=79, 34.2%) and (3)low quality of life(n=30, 12.99%). All subtypes scored lower for functioning scales (with the exception of the higher quality of life group for physical, role and emotional functioning) and higher for symptom scales then the reference norm population. There were large clinically meaningful differences between the high quality of life group and the low quality of life group for all HrQOL scales. Those in the low quality of life group were slightly younger than those in the high quality of life group(OR = 0.956, p &lt; .05, CI = 0.917– 0.998). Workers were &gt;7 times more likely to be in low quality of life than the high quality of life group. Compared to the high quality of life group, the odds of belonging to the compromised quality of life group decreased significantly by having higher handgrip strength (OR = .955, p &lt; .05, CI = .924 - .988). The odds of belonging to the low quality of life group increased significantly for those with higher number of nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) (OR = 1.375, p &lt; .05, CI = 1.004 – 1.883).ConclusionsThis is the first study to examine heterogeneity of HrQOL using latent profile analysis in Irish Cancer Survivors. In clinical practice understanding how aspects of HrQOL group together may allow clinicians to better understand and treat cancer survivors, informing more individualised nutrition care.<br/

A Latent Class Analysis of Nutrition Impact Symptoms in Cancer Survivors

Purpose: Those with a cancer diagnosis report experiencing a wide range of nutrition impact symptoms with prevalence varying by study, group and cancer type. We aimed to identify groups of cancer survivors with specific patterns of nutrition impact symptoms.Methods: 229 individuals attending oncology day ward and outpatient clinics completed a series of questionnaires and physical measurements. A latent class analysis was performed to identify subgroups based on 13 nutrition impact symptoms taken from the Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form. The identified classes were subsequently compared using analysis of variance and chi-square tests, by sociodemographic, clinical and nutritional variables as well as by Global health status (GHS) and five functioning scales determined using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Results: Three latent subtypes were identified: (1) Fatigue (n=58, 28%); (2) Low Symptom Burden (n=146, 64%) and (3) High Symptom Burden (n=25, 11%). Those in the High Symptom Burden group were more likely to be female, currently receiving any form of treatment and have consumed less food than usual in the last month compared to those in the Low Symptom Burden group. Those in the Fatigue group were more likely were more likely to have reported consuming less food in the previous month and less likely to have reported their food intake to be unchanged than those in the Low Symptom Burden group. Those who received their diagnosis two years+ ago were most likely to be classed in the Fatigue group. The EORTC-QLQ-C30 functioning and GHS scores were all significantly different between the three nutrition impact symptoms classes (p&lt;0.001)Conclusion: This is the first study to examine heterogeneity of nutrition impact symptoms in Irish Cancer Survivors. The findings of this work will inform and allow for more individualised nutrition care.<br/

Aesthetics of Listening: Creating Spaces of Learning

In this study with 9th-12th grade students in an urban Massachusetts school, I consider the question \u27How can theater education develop a sense of voice and identity in adolescents?\u27 Students in a drama class engaged in a variety of performance techniques including: interview theater, improvisation, and pantomime while considering the concept of voice/identity development. They then created an interview based script focused on an issue of their choice: the rules of the school and how they were enforced.... Data collection included video-taped class sessions, interviews with the drama classroom teacher, student peer interviews, and a final focus group session six weeks following the conclusion of the project

Humans, Fires, and Forests: Social science applied to fire management: workshop summary, Tucson, Arizona, January 28-31, 2003.

This summary of the January 26-28, 2003 workshop held in Tucson, Arizona, presents the record of the meeting. It includes the full text of the invited theme papers, the managerial and policy talks, annotated outlines of the breakout sessions and the closing, wrap-up presentation. It also includes a reflective after-the-workshop summary and synthesis paper. This record, however, is only one product of the meeting. In addition to the networking that occurred, researchers attending the workshop also committed to several on-going activities designed both to foster communications among scholars as well as to maximize the utility of social science research applied to fire management. Examples of such activities include: preparation of a social science expertise directory, development of a research framework to demonstrate how various work nodes are relating to one another and where there are still significant gaps, and planning for sessions at the July 2003 Natural Hazards workshop in Boulder, Colorado, and the 2004 ISSRM conference in Keystone, Colorado