The teenage religion and values survey in England and Wales : an overview

The Teenage Religion and Values Survey was conducted throughout the 1990s among young people between the ages of 13 and 15 years. A total of 33,982 young people took part in the survey. As the next phase of this research begins for the twenty-first century this paper looks back at the survey conducted in the 1990s and considers two aspects of the research. First, this paper considers the methodology behind designing such a survey. Second, this paper considers some of the insights generated by the survey under five headings: personality, spiritual health, religious affiliation, belonging without believing, and church leaving

Perspectives in Sociology -5/E.

Perspectives in Sociology provide generations of undergraduates with a clear, reassuring introduction to the complications of sociological theory. New features include : - A thoroughly revised text including particular attention to the linking and cross-referencing of chapters - A new chapter reviewing the rise of British sociology, with particular reference to the political context and the changing role of ‘class’ in sociological thinking - A new chapter describing the attempts of sociological theorists to explain current concerns, problems and issues in the areas of gender, (homo)sexuality and ethnicity in the context of the postcolonial world, and to show the similarities in these approaches. - A completely rewritten chapter on the ‘synthesisers’- Bourdieu, Habermas and Giddens- and their attempts to generate a consensus from the apparently conflicting theories predecessors : Marx, Weber and Durkhei

Assessing student attitude toward Christianity in Church in Wales primary schools: Does aided status make a difference?

As a consequence of the 1944 Education Act church schools were given the choice of opting for voluntary controlled status or for voluntary aided status. In voluntary aided status the Church had more control but carried greater costs. Within England and Wales this distinction is still maintained. This study measures the attitude toward Christianity of 4,581 year 4, 5 and 6 students (8- to 11-years of age) attending 87 Church in Wales primary schools, and compares the responses of 1,678 students attending controlled schools with the responses of 2,903 students attending aided schools. After controlling for sex, age and frequency of church attendance, voluntary aided status is associated with a more positive attitude toward Christianity. In other words, aided status does make a difference to the attitudinal dimension of students’ religiosity

How students perceive attending Church in Wales primary schools: A psychometric assessment of Section 50 inspection criteria

A sample of 4,581 year 4, year 5 and year 6 students (8-11 years of age) attending Church in Wales primary schools completed six short scales designed to operationalise the Section 50 inspection criteria concerning aspects of the distinctiveness of church school ethos and concerning school worship. The data demonstrated the internal consistency reliability of the six measures and showed more positive attitudes to be associated with being female, being younger, and attending church. Overall the students displayed positive attitudes toward school ethos, toward school experience, toward school teachers, toward relationships within school, and toward school and environment. Attitude toward school worship was less positive

Engaging the student voice in dialogue with Section 50 inspection criteria in Church in Wales primary schools: A study in psychometric assessment

The inspection criteria for schools with a religious character within the state-maintained system in England and Wales require the sponsoring body to report on aspects of the distinctiveness of the school ethos and on school worship. This paper argues that the inspection process could be enhanced by taking into account the student voice on these areas. The paper then reports on a pilot study conducted among 1,899 students between the ages of 9 and 11 years, attending year-five and year-six classes within Church in Wales primary schools. On the basis of this pilot study six short scales were constructed to assess student attitude toward: school ethos, school experience, school teachers, relationships in school, school environment, and school worship. The data reported satisfactory internal consistency reliability for each of the six scales. The scales are commended for further application

Sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans in England and Wales: assessing influence of the home

Responding to the problem facing the Church of England, as identified by the Church Growth Research Programme, regarding sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans, and also responding to the Renewal and Reform agenda to address this problem, the present study discusses the roles of three agencies in delivering effective Christian education and Christian formation: local churches, local schools, and the home. Building on a fruitful stream of research within Australia and the UK, the present study drew on two samples of young Anglicans: 2,019 9- to 11-year-old students attending church primary schools in Wales, and 2,323 13- to 15-year-old students attending church secondary schools mainly in England. The data demonstrated that young Anglicans who practised their Anglican identity by attending church did so primarily because their parents were Anglican churchgoers. Moreover, young Anglican churchgoers were most likely to keep going to church if their churchgoing parents (especially mother) talked with them about their faith. The implications from these findings, for an Anglican Church strategy for ministry among children and young people, is that alongside resourcing local churches and promoting deeply Christian schools, it may also be wise for the Church to invest in the education and formation of churchgoing Anglican parents

Assessing the impact of the Student Voice Project on shaping the ethos of Anglican primary schools: A study focusing on the Diocese of Llandaff

The inspection criteria for schools with a religious character within the state-maintained system in England and Wales require the sponsoring body to arrange assessment on aspects of the distinctiveness of the school ethos and on school worship. The Student Voice Project was designed to include year-five and year-six students in this process. Within the Diocese of Llandaff, the Diocesan Director of Education utilised the customised reports prepared at the end of the first year of the survey for schools participating in the project with the senior leadership teams in order to enhance school improvement and effectiveness. The present study compares the responses of the 1,192 students participating in year one of the survey with the responses of the 1,111 students from the same 23 schools participating in year two. These data show a significant overall increase in scores recorded on the five six-item scales designed to measure student attitude toward five areas of ethos. No significant difference was recorded on the five-item scale designed to measure student attitude toward school worship. These findings suggest that the Student Voice Project, effectively implemented by the Diocesan Director of Education, had significant impact on the participating schools

Automated analysis of atrial late gadolinium enhancement imaging that correlates with endocardial voltage and clinical outcomes: A 2-center study

This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation PG/10/37/28347, RG/10/11/28457, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre funding, and the ElectroCardioMaths Programme of the Imperial BHF Centre of Research Excellence

Spatio-temporal genetic tagging of a cosmopolitan planktivorous shark provides insight to gene flow, temporal variation and site-specific re-encounters

Migratory movements in response to seasonal resources often influence population structure and dynamics. Yet in mobile marine predators, population genetic consequences of such repetitious behaviour remain inaccessible without comprehensive sampling strategies. Temporal genetic sampling of seasonally recurring aggregations of planktivorous basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus, in the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) affords an opportunity to resolve individual re-encounters at key sites with population connectivity and patterns of relatedness. Genetic tagging (19 microsatellites) revealed 18% of re-sampled individuals in the NEA demonstrated inter/multi-annual site-specific re-encounters. High genetic connectivity and migration between aggregation sites indicate the Irish Sea as an important movement corridor, with a contemporary effective population estimate (Ne) of 382 (CI = 241–830). We contrast the prevailing view of high gene flow across oceanic regions with evidence of population structure within the NEA, with early-season sharks off southwest Ireland possibly representing genetically distinct migrants. Finally, we found basking sharks surfacing together in the NEA are on average more related than expected by chance, suggesting a genetic consequence of, or a potential mechanism maintaining, site-specific re-encounters. Long-term temporal genetic monitoring is paramount in determining future viability of cosmopolitan marine species, identifying genetic units for conservation management, and for understanding aggregation structure and dynamics

Application of ripple mapping to visualize slow conduction channels within the infarct-related left ventricular scar

Background - Ripple mapping (RM) displays each electrogram at its 3-dimensional coordinate as a bar changing in length according to its voltage-time relationship with a fiduciary reference. We applied RM to left ventricular ischemic scar for evidence of slow-conducting channels that may act as ventricular tachycardia (VT) substrate. Methods and Results - CARTO-3(Biosense Webster Inc, Diamond Bar, CA) maps in patient undergoing VT ablation were analyzed on an offline MatLab RM system. Scar was assessed for sequential movement of ripple bars, during sinus rhythm or pacing, which were distinct from surrounding tissue and termed RM conduction channels (RMCC). Conduction velocity was measured within RMCCs and compared with the healthy myocardium (>1.5 mV). In 21 maps, 77 RMCCs were identified. Conduction velocity in RMCCs was slower when compared with normal left ventricular myocardium (median, 54 [interquartile range, 40-86] versus 150 [interquartile range, 120-160] cm/s; P<0.001). All 7 sites meeting conventional criteria for diastolic pathways coincided with an RMCC. Seven patients had ablation colocating to all identified RMCCs with no VT recurrence during follow-up (median, 480 [interquartile range, 438-841] days). Fourteen patients had \ue2\u89\ua51 RMCC with no ablation lesions. Five had recurrence during follow-up (median, 466 [interquartile range, 395-694] days). One of the 2 patients with no RMCC locations ablated had VT recurrence at 605 days post procedure. RMCCs were sensitive (100%; negative predictive value, 100%) for VT recurrence but the specificity (43%; positive predictive value, 35.7%) may be limited by blind alleys channels. Conclusions - RM identifies slow conduction channels within ischemic scar and needs further prospective investigation to understand the role of RMCCs in determining the VT substrate