Telling Stories That Explain: Comparing Media and Organizational Discourse on Adolescent Substance Use

What's missing from the public conversation on adolescent substance use? For one thing, it's lacking crucial information about what makes adolescence a sensitive period for brain development. That's the conclusion of "Telling Stories that Explain," a new study from the FrameWorks Institute. Researchers analyzed the communications content in media coverage and nonprofit materials, and found that the narratives the public encounters don't tell the whole story

What's Data Got To Do With It?

For fundraisers, the increasing availability of data enables us to understand our donors more than ever before. It also helps us build stronger, longer lasting relationships and ultimately increase our revenue, thus, allowing our organisations to better achieve their social or environmental missions.'What's Data Got To Do With It?' can help guide you through the process of using data strategically as part of your fundraising strategy. We outline four steps to using data to better understand your supporters, raise more money and further your charitable goals

Effects of narcissism, leisure boredom, and gratifications sought on user-generated content among net-generation users

This research identifies the gratifications sought by the net-generation when producing user-generated content (UGC) on the internet. Members of the Net-generation want to vent negative feelings, show affection to their frieds and relatives, be involved in others' lives, and fulfill their need to be recognized. These gratifications were all found to be significantly associated with the users' various levels of participation in UGC (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, blogs, online forums, etc.) What's more, narcissism was predictive of content generation in social networking sites, blogs, and personal webpage, while leisure boredom was significantly linked to expressing views in forums, updating personal website, and participating in consumer reviews. In particular, the results showed the Net-geners who encountered leisure boredom had a higher tendency to seek interaction with friends online. Implications of findings are discussed. --Narcissism,leisure boredom,user-generated content,uses and gratifications

The Bare Theory Has No Clothes

We criticize the bare theory of quantum mechanics -- a theory on which the Schrödinger equation is universally valid, and standard way of thinking about superpositions is correct

A Blended and Face-to-Face Comparison of Teacher Professional Development: What's the Impact?

abstract: The availability and subsequent expansion in the use of online learning environments has provided a new avenue for teacher professional development: blended learning. While blended learning environments may provide attractive benefits to teachers and school administration, the impact of blended teacher professional development has been largely unexamined in the existing research. This mixed-methods study investigated professional development outcomes for 64 teachers participating in district sponsored teaching professional development, 32 in a blended course and 32 in a face-to-face equivalent of the course. Outcomes of the professional development were measured using pre- and post- instructional belief surveys, participant satisfaction surveys, and interviews measuring retention of instructional beliefs and application of new instructional strategies. Additionally, participants who did not complete the course were interviewed to learn about their experience in the course and reasons for non-completion. The results of this study show similar changes in instructional beliefs for both the blended and face-to-face sections and significantly higher satisfaction with course content, materials, and instructor involvement among blended participants. However, blended participants were less likely to be transitioning to, or practicing new strategies as measured by interviews 12 weeks following course completion. A large number of blended participants showed evidence of their knowledge of new instructional strategies, but were reluctant to apply new strategies in their classrooms. Non-completers primarily cited lack of time for their withdrawal, but expressed an interest in future blended learning courses. The recommendations from this study should inform districts, schools, and teachers about blended learning for teacher professional development.Dissertation/ThesisEd.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 201

The data chase : what's out there on trade costs and nontariff barriers ?

Trade costs and nontariff barriers are at the forefront of discussions on competitiveness and expanding trade opportunities for developing countries. This paper provides a summary overview of data and indicators relevant to these issues and has been informed by work underway at the World Bank on trade facilitation over the past several years to catalogue data sets and indicators. Although there has been progress in expanding data sets and developing policy-relevant indicators on trade costs and barriers, much more is needed. In order to assess progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, evaluating the impact of development projects, and whether meeting Aid for Trade goals will be met, for example, a dedicated and expansive new effort to collect and assess data is needed. This paper attempts to highlight gaps in data on trade costs and provides insight into the type of new data that might be developed in the future.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Law,Free Trade,Trade Policy

TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce: consensus on how and when to measure the core dataset for atopic eczema treatment research registries.

BackgroundComparative, real-life and long-term evidence on the effectiveness and safety of phototherapy and systemic therapy in moderate-to-severe atopic eczema (AE) is limited. Such data must come from well-designed prospective patient registries. Standardization of data collection is needed for direct comparisons and data pooling.ObjectivesTo reach a consensus on how and when to measure the previously defined domain items of the TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce core dataset for research registries for paediatric and adult patients with AE.MethodsProposals for the measurement instruments were based on recommendations of the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative, the existing AE database of TREATgermany, systematic reviews of the literature and expert opinions. The proposals were discussed at three face-to-face consensus meetings, one teleconference and via e-mail. The frequency of follow-up visits was determined by an expert survey.ResultsA total of 16 experts from seven countries participated in the 'how to measure' consensus process and 12 external experts were consulted. A consensus was reached for all domain items on how they should be measured by assigning measurement instruments. A minimum follow-up frequency of initially 4 weeks after commencing treatment, then every 3 months while on treatment and every 6 months while off treatment was defined.ConclusionsThis core dataset for national AE research registries will aid in the comparability and pooling of data across centres and country borders, and enables international collaboration to assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of phototherapy and systemic therapy used in patients with AE. What's already known about this topic? Comparable, real-life and long-term data on the effectiveness and safety of phototherapy and systemic therapy in patients with atopic eczema (AE) are needed. There is a high diversity of outcomes and instruments used in AE research, which require harmonization to enhance comparability and allow data pooling. What does this study add? Our taskforce has reached international consensus on how and when to measure core domain items for national AE research registries. This core dataset is now available for use by researchers worldwide and will aid in the collection of unified data. What are the clinical implications of this work? The data collected through this core dataset will help to gain better insights into the long-term effectiveness and safety of phototherapy and systemic therapy in AE and will provide important information for clinical practice. Standardization of such data collection at the national level will also allow direct data comparisons and pooling across country borders (e.g. in the analysis of treatment-related adverse events that require large patient numbers)

Effectiveness of Corporate Social Media Activities to Increase Relational Outcomes

This study applies social media analytics to investigate the impact of different corporate social media activities on user word of mouth and attitudinal loyalty. We conduct a multilevel analysis of approximately 5 million tweets regarding the main Twitter accounts of 28 large global companies. We empirically identify different social media activities in terms of social media management strategies (using social media management tools or the web-frontend client), account types (broadcasting or receiving information), and communicative approaches (conversational or disseminative). We find positive effects of social media management tools, broadcasting accounts, and conversational communication on public perception

The impact of young people’s participation in events: Developing a model of social event impact

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the social impact that two events, the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Clipsal 500, have on young residents (16-19 years old) of Adelaide. The purpose of this paper is to examine how young people participate in these events and how this affects their sense of involvement in the event and contributes to their identity development. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed methods approach was adopted in which focus groups and questionnaires were conducted with secondary school students. As an exploratory study, focus groups (n=24) were conducted in the first stage of the research. The results of the focus groups were used to develop a questionnaire that resulted in 226 useable responses. The final stage of the research explored one event in further depth in order to determine the influence of different participation levels. Findings: This study found that young people demonstrated more involvement in the Adelaide Fringe Festival and their identities were more influenced by this event. Further investigation of the Adelaide Fringe Festival also indicated that level of participation affects the social outcomes gained, with those participating to a greater degree achieving higher involvement and increased identity awareness. This is demonstrated through a model which aims to illustrate how an event impact an individual based on their role during the event. Originality/value: This paper applies two leisure concepts in order to analyse the impact of events. Activity involvement is a concept which examines the importance of the activity in the participant's life. Also of importance to young people is how activities contribute to their identities, especially because they are in a transitional period of their lives