Reality TV, Genre Theory, and Shaping the Real

The following series of lesson plans highlight reality TV’s reliance upon the structures and conventions of popular narrative entertainment. Although much reality TV conveys information through documentary modes (interviews, handheld camerawork, on-location shooting), such programs also make ”reality” conform to familiar narrative and genre codes. This unit emphasizes how and why reality TV reproduces Hollywood tropes by introducing reality TV’s industrial, production, and post-production techniques. It encourage students to recognize that the pleasure contemporary audiences glean from reality TV comes, in part, from the application of genre film’s storytelling techniques and dominant ideologies to scenarios involving unscripted non-actors. What follows therefore probes one of reality TV’s central paradoxes: that the it is valued for its authenticity, and yet the “realness” that it offers is only seductive because it gives us the comforts, joys, and closure that real life cannot. The unit includes screenings of The Bachelorette, What Would You Do and The Real World, and readings by both reality TV and film genre scholars. The unit culminates in a group project and presentation in which students are assigned a reality TV episode and required to reconceptualize it as a genre film.&nbsp

Litter Size, Birth Weight and Weaning Weight in Dorset, Finnish Landrace or Booroola Merino Sired Lambs

Animal Scienc

The biology and control of the European corn borer in Missouri

Includes bibliographical references (page 26).Includes bibliographical references (page 26)

Damage to the residual stand due to skyline yarding

The use of partial cutting in the western conifers has become popular in the last decade. This has resulted in an increase in the amount of damage to the residual stand due to skyline logging. The purpose of this study is to provide models to predict the percent of a stand which can be expected to incur damage during skyline yarding. Data was collected over a four year period on eight National Forests in Region 1, USDA Forest Service. Seventy-one corridors were partial cut and yarded uphill. Regression analysis was used to develop models based on the following classifications: silvicultural prescription, number of logs per thousand board feet, and type of yarding system. The analysis of the data identified some of the variables which have an impact on the amount of damage. Those which had the most impact on the amoune of damage are: landing size, tail tree height, number of cut trees per acre, number of leave trees per acre, and chordslope. The paper provides an initial estimate of the amount of damage to the residual stand due to skyline logging. Further research is necessary to fully identify the manner in which variables affect damage and determine which other conditions influence damage to the residual stand

Measuring the processes of change for increasing blood donation in black adults

Background: Blacks have significantly lower blood donation rates than whites. Many views, experiences, and behaviors associated with blood donation are unique to black culture. Evidence suggests that culturally tailored health promotion programs help with increasing black blood donation. To be effective, tailored interventions should be based on valid and reliable measures. The Transtheoretical Model\u27s (TTM) Processes of Change (POC) construct provides an assessment of participants\u27 covert and overt activities and experiences in blood donation. This study describes development and validation of POC for increasing blood donation tailored to blacks. Student Design and Methods: Cross‐sectional measure development with online survey dissemination was used in 566 blacks in the Northeastern United States. Factor analytic structural modeling procedures were used to examine validity of the POC measure. Blood donation POC were examined in participants representing a range of blood donation history and intentions (nondonors, sometimes donors, regular donors) based on an established algorithm. Results: Confirmatory analyses replicated the theoretically expected structure of POC scales which is a 10‐factor, fully correlated best‐fit model. Expected POC patterns by Stages of Change based on theoretical and empirical predictions were confirmed. The range of effect sizes for 10 POC were η2 = 0.04 to 0.25, indicating that TTM POC are strong strategies in blood donation decision making for blacks and can be applied to interventions to increase blood donation for a minority population. Conclusion: POC measure was internally and externally valid in a sample of blacks. Interventions can utilize the POC measure to guide stage‐matched interventions to encourage use of relevant experiential and behavioral strategies to increase blood donation

Psychometric assessment of the Temptations to Try Alcohol Scale

Effective interventions require an understanding of the behaviors and cognitions that facilitate positive change as well as the development of psychometrically sound measures. This paper reports on the psychometric properties of the Temptations to Try Alcohol Scale (TTAS), including factorial invariance across different subgroups. Data were collected from 3565 6th grade RI middle school students. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the appropriate factorial invariance model for the 9-item TTAS. The measure consists of three correlated subscales: Social Pressure, Social Anxiety, and Opportunity. Three levels of invariance, ranging from the least to the most restrictive, were examined: Configural Invariance, which constrains only the factor structure and zero loadings; Pattern Identity Invariance, which requires factor loadings to be equal across the groups; and Strong Factorial Invariance, which requires factor loadings and error variances to be constrained. Separate analyses evaluated the invariance across two levels of gender (males vs. females), race (white vs. black) ethnicity (Hispanic vs. Non-Hispanic) and school size (small, meaning \u3c 200 6th graders, or large). The highest level of invariance, Strong Factorial Invariance, provided a good fit to the model for gender (CFI: .95), race (CFI: .94), ethnicity (CFI: .94), and school size (CFI: .97). Coefficient Alpha was .90 for Social Pressure, .81 for Social Anxiety, and .82 for Opportunity. These results provide strong empirical support for the psychometric structure and construct validity of the TTAS in middle school students

Prevention of alcohol use in middle school students: Psychometric assessment of the decisional balance inventory

A measurement model should be equivalent across the different subgroups of a target population. The Decisional Balance Inventory for the Prevention of Alcohol Use is a 2-factor correlated model with 3 items for Pros of alcohol use and 3 items for Cons. The measure is part of a tailored intervention for middle school students. This study evaluated the important psychometric assumptions of factorial invariance and scale reliability with a large sample of sixth grade students (N = 3565) from 20 schools. A measure is factorially invariant when the model is the same across subgroups. Three levels of invariance were assessed, from least restrictive to most restrictive: 1) Configural Invariance (unconstrained nonzero factor loadings); 2) Pattern Identity Invariance (equal factor loadings); and 3) Strong Factorial Invariance (equal factor loadings and measurement errors). Structural equation modeling was used to assess invariance over two levels of gender (male and female), race (white and black), ethnicity (Hispanic and non-Hispanic), and school size (large, indicating \u3e 200 students per grade, or small). The strongest level of invariance, Strong Factorial Invariance, was a good fit for the model across all of the subgroups: gender (CFI: 0.94), race (CFI: 0.96), ethnicity (CFI: 0.93), and school size (CFI: 0.97). Coefficient alpha was 0.61 for the Pros and 0.67 for Cons. Together, invariance and reliability provide strong empirical support for the validity of the measure