Measuring attitude toward theistic faith : assessing the Astley-Francis Scale among Christian, Muslim and secular youth in England

Empirical research within the social scientific study of religion in general and within the psychology of religion in particular remains very conscious of the complex nature of its subject matter. Empirical research in this field needs to take cognisance of the many forms in which religion is expressed (say, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism) and the many facets within the forms (say, beliefs, behaviours and affiliation). Working in the 1970s, Francis (1978a; 1978b) advanced the view that the attitudinal dimension of religion offered a particularly fruitful basis for coordinating empirical enquiry into the correlates, antecedents and consequences of religiosity across the life span

Retaining young Catholics in the church: assessing the importance of parental example

Drawing on data from a survey conducted among 9,810 young people in England, Scotland, and Wales, this study examines parental and peer influence on church attendance among 2146 13- to 15-year-old students who identified themselves as Catholics. The data suggested that young Catholics who practise their Catholic identity by attending church do so largely because their parents are Catholic churchgoers. Moreover, young Catholic churchgoers are most likely to keep going if both mother and father are Catholic churchgoers. Among this age group of young Catholics both peer support and attending a church school are also significant, but account for little additional variance after taking parental church-going into account. The implication from these findings for a Catholic Church strategy for ministry among children and young people within England, Scotland and Wales is that it may be wise to invest in the education and formation of Catholic parents

Curve Shortening and the Rendezvous Problem for Mobile Autonomous Robots

If a smooth, closed, and embedded curve is deformed along its normal vector field at a rate proportional to its curvature, it shrinks to a circular point. This curve evolution is called Euclidean curve shortening and the result is known as the Gage-Hamilton-Grayson Theorem. Motivated by the rendezvous problem for mobile autonomous robots, we address the problem of creating a polygon shortening flow. A linear scheme is proposed that exhibits several analogues to Euclidean curve shortening: The polygon shrinks to an elliptical point, convex polygons remain convex, and the perimeter of the polygon is monotonically decreasing.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figure

Contacting the spirits of the dead: paranormal belief and the teenage worldview

A number of previous studies have examined both the overall level of belief expressed by young people in the paranormal and the major demographic predictors of such belief. Building on this research tradition, the present study examines how one specific paranormal belief concerning contact with the spirits of the dead integrates with the wider teenage worldview. Data provided by 33,982 pupils age 13 to 15 years throughout England and Wales demonstrated that almost one in three young people (31%) believed that it is possible to contact the spirits of the dead. Compared with young people who did not share this belief, the young people who believed in the possibility of contacting the spirits of the dead displayed lower psychological wellbeing, higher anxiety, greater isolation, greater alienation, less positive social attitudes, and less socially conforming lifestyles. Overall, paranormal beliefs seem to be associated with a less healthy worldview, in both personal and social terms

Some Aspects of the Biology of a Predaceous Anthomyiid Fly, \u3ci\u3eCoenosia Tigrina\u3c/i\u3e

The results of a two-year study in Michigan on the incidence of Coenosia tigrina adults under different onion production practices is presented. In Michigan, C. tigrina has three generations and is more abundant in organic agroecosystems than chemically-intensive onion production systems