Student musicians' self- and task-theories of musical performance : the influence of primary genre affiliation

165 undergraduate music students studying in Scotland completed a 30-statement Q-sort to describe their self and task-theories of musical performance. Statements reflected the importance of effort, confidence, technical ability, significant others and luck/ chance in determining a successful performance. The Q-sorts were reduced to six underlying sorting patterns, or viewpoints. The relationship between sorting patterns and participants' primary genre affiliation was explored in order to identify whether self and task-theories were a function of genre affiliation. Some intuitive hypotheses of what performers of particular musical genres might think were supported by the data. However, results suggested that there was considerable diversity in self and task-theory of performance within each of the genre affiliation groups, which supports previous research. Other background factors, such as gender, years of playing, chronological age and type of institution, were not significant predictors of self or task-theory of musical performance

Causality

Making correct causal claims is important for research and practice. This article explains what causality is, and how it can be established via experimental design. Because experiments are infeasible in many applied settings, researchers often use "observational" methods to estimate causal models. In these situations, it is likely that model estimates are compromised by endogeneity. The article discusses the conditions that engender endogeneity and methods that can eliminate it

Stop smoking practitioner consensus on barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation in pregnancy and how to address these: A modified Delphi survey.

Introduction Pregnant women can experience barriers and facilitators towards achieving smoking cessation. We sought consensus from smoking cessation practitioners on how influential pre-identified barriers and facilitators can be on pregnant women's smoking behaviour, and how difficult these might be to manage. Suggestions for techniques that could help overcome the barriers or enhance the facilitators were elicited and consensus sought on the appropriateness for their use in practice. Methods Forty-four practitioners who provided cessation support to pregnant women completed a three-round modified Delphi survey. Round one sought consensus on the ‘influence’ and ‘difficulty’ of the barriers and facilitators, and gathered respondents' suggestions on ways to address these. Rounds two and three sought further consensus on the barriers and facilitators and on ‘appropriateness’ of the respondent-suggested techniques. The techniques were coded for behaviour change techniques (BCTs) content using existing taxonomies. Results Barriers and facilitators considered to be the most important mainly related to the influence of significant others and the women's motivation & self-efficacy. Having a supportive partner was considered the most influential, whereas lack of support from partner was the only barrier that reached consensus as being difficult to manage. Barriers relating to social norms were also considered influential, however these received poor coverage of respondent-suggested techniques. Those considered the easiest to address mainly related to aspects of cessation support, including misconceptions surrounding the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Barriers and facilitators relating to the women's motivation & self-efficacy, such as the want to protect the baby, were also considered as being particularly easy to address. Fifty of the 54 respondent-suggested techniques reached consensus as being appropriate. Those considered the most appropriate ranged from providing support early, giving correct information on NRT, highlighting risks and benefits and reinforcing motivating beliefs. Thirty-three BCTs were identified from the respondent-suggested techniques. ‘Social support (unspecified)’, ‘Tailor interactions appropriately’ and ‘Problem solving’ were the most frequently coded BCTs. Conclusions Involving partners in quit attempts was advocated. Existing support could be potentially improved by establishing appropriate ways to address barriers relating to pregnant smokers' ‘social norms’. In general, providing consistent and motivating support seemed favourable

Citizen-led assessment of achieve literacy and numeracy and performance factors analysis in Yucatán, Mexico

Introducción: No se cuenta con suficiente información respecto del nivel de competencias básicas de lectura y aritmética en el estado de Yucatán, a pesar del desarrollo de las evaluaciones de logro educativo en México. Tampoco existen análisis sobre factores individuales, familiares y sociales asociados a la adquisición de estas competencias en esa entidad. Método: se entrevistaron 1397 sujetos entre 5 y 16 años en una muestra representativa de hogares en Yucatán (N=1009). Se aplicó el instrumento Medición Independiente de Aprendizajes y una encuesta sobre variables asociadas con tres apartados: 1) datos socioeconómicos y capital cultural educativo; 2) discapacidad y síntomas de salud mental; 3) datos generales y escolares de niños, niñas, adolescentes y preguntas sobre motivación. Resultados: existe alta cobertura escolar, pero se encuentra un porcentaje importante de sujetos con problemas de comprensión inferencial, dificultades en la resolución de problemas matemáticos básicos y uso de operaciones como la resta y la división. Condiciones de discapacidad, motivación escolar, la lengua materna, el capital cultural escolar y acceso a bibliotecas públicas se asocian con estos resultados. Discusión y conclusiones: es necesario implementar políticas específicas para fortalecer las competencias básicas de lectura y aritmética en Yucatán, así como fomentar la medición de estas competencias usando evaluaciones alternativas y ciudadanas como las presentadas aquíIntroduction: We do not have specific information about the level of literacy and numeracy in the state of Yucatan, despite the development of educational evaluation in Mexico and analysis of individual, family and social factors that influence these results in these State were not found. Method: 1397 subjects between 5 and 16 years were interviewed in a representative sample of households in Yucatan (N=1009). We applied the “Independent Learning Measurement” (MIA); a questionnaire related with demographic and socio-economic data and educational cultural capital; and a disability and mental health symptoms survey, a motivation's questions and a survey related with school behavior. Results: High school coverage exists. There is a significant percentage of subjects with inferential comprehension problems, in solving problems and use basic mathematical operations such as subtraction and division. Similarly, there are individual, family, and social influences, such as motivation and different languages influences. Cultural-School capital and access to public libraries associated significantly with results identified. Discussion and conclusions: it is necessary to implement specific policies to strengthen basic skills of literacy and numeracy in Yucatan, and promote measurement of these competencies using alternative assessments such as Citizen-Led Assessments presented her

Young children's research: children aged 4-8 years finding solutions at home and at school

Children's research capacities have become increasingly recognised by adults, yet children remain excluded from the academy, with reports of their research participation generally located in adults' agenda. Such practice restricts children's freedom to make choices in matters affecting them, underestimates children’s capabilities and denies children particular rights. The present paper reports on one aspect of a small-scale critical ethnographic study adopting a constructivist grounded approach to conceptualise ways in which children's naturalistic behaviours may be perceived as research. The study builds on multi-disciplinary theoretical perspectives, embracing 'new' sociology, psychology, economics, philosophy and early childhood education and care (ECEC). Research questions include: 'What is the nature of ECEC research?' and 'Do children’s enquiries count as research?' Initially, data were collected from the academy: professional researchers (n=14) confirmed 'finding solutions' as a research behaviour and indicated children aged 4-8 years, their practitioners and primary carers as 'theoretical sampling'. Consequently, multi-modal case studies were constructed with children (n=138) and their practitioners (n=17) in three ‘good’ schools, with selected children and their primary carers also participating at home. This paper reports on data emerging from children aged 4-8 years at school (n=17) and at home (n=5). Outcomes indicate that participating children found diverse solutions to diverse problems, some of which they set themselves. Some solutions engaged children in high order thinking, whilst others did not; selecting resources and trialing activities engaged children in 'finding solutions'. Conversely, when children's time, provocations and activities were directed by adults, the quality of their solutions was limited, they focused on pleasing adults and their motivation to propose solutions decreased. In this study, professional researchers recognised 'finding solutions' as research behaviour and children aged 4-8 years naturalistically presented with capacities for finding solutions; however, the children's encounters with adults affected the solutions they found

Self-esteem in students of 3th to 8th grade: A review by school grade and gender

La autoestima es una de las áreas más significativas para el bienestar emocional, la adaptación social y la productividad. Se reportan resultados de un estudio cuyo objetivo fue evaluar la autoestima de estudiantes de enseñanza básica (3º a 8º), a través del instrumento estandarizado en Chile TAE-Alumno (Marchant, Haeussler y Torretti, 2002) y profundizar en las diferencias por nivel de escolaridad y género. Participaron 5161 niños chilenos de 3º a 8º básico, pertenecientes a 10 colegios particulares subvencionados de la Región Metropolitana. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los niveles de autoestima entre los nivel de escolaridad evaluados, observándose una baja a medida que aumenta la escolaridad. También se encontraron diferencias significativas por género, apareciendo en 6º básico y acentuándose en 7º y 8º básico a favor de los hombres. Se reconoce la necesidad de que las comunidades educativas estén atentas a las diferencias por nivel de escolaridad y por género haciendo intervenciones en los períodos que resultan más críticos en la construcción de la identidad. Se argumenta que los colegios, desde su influencia en la socialización de los estudiantes, están en una posición privilegiada para favorecer el desarrollo de una autoestima positivaSelf-esteem is one of the most significant areas for emotional well-being, social adaptation and productivity in life. The results of this study, whose goal was to evaluate the self-esteem of elementary and middle school students, with a standarized test of self-esteem TAE-Alumno (Marchant, Haeussler y Torretti, 2002) and to analize the sample stratified by school grade and gender, are reported. Participants were 5161 Chilean children of 3th to 8th grade, who belong to 10 schools in the Metropolitan Region. Significant differences of self-esteem in the different school grades evaluated were found. A drop in self-esteem as school grades increase, was recorded. Gender differences were also significative from 6th grade and became more significant in 7th and 8th grade, on behalf of boys. The study recognizes the need for schools to be aware of the differences by school grade and gender, in order to intervene in critical periods of the construction of personal identity. Schools are a source of influence on student’s socialization, so they are in a unique position to promote the development of positive self-estee

The Importance of Ethics and Ethical Leadership in the Accounting Profession

The emergence of the twenty-first century was plagued with extensive, evasive and disheartening leadership failures. Despite the accounting profession’s standards of professional ethics, it was also tainted with ethical leadership indiscretions during this era. In response to these ethical leadership failings, renewed interest in developing accounting professionals with strong ethical principles and ethical leadership behaviors has emerged. In many firms training and development of ethical behavior is now at the forefront of the firm’s communications and professional development efforts. The question remains however, can the profession instill in its members the importance of ethical conduct? Can ethical leaders be developed that model and monitor ethical behavior? In response to the call for leaders who are ethical and moral, this research examined a model that examines ethical leadership and its impact on leader effectiveness for leaders within the accounting industry. The analysis shows that ethical and transformational leadership make incremental independent contributions in explaining leader effectiveness. The study comments on how the findings that ethically and morally focused leaders may impact the accounting profession and restore an industry tarnished with accusations of unethical behavior to one that regains its original prominence based on consistent, moral, ethical, and effective leaders

It Takes Time to Be Cool:On the Relationship between Hyperthermia and Body Cooling in a Migrating Seaduck

The large amount of energy expended during flapping flight is associated with heat generated through the increased work of the flight muscles. This increased muscle work rate can manifest itself in core body temperature (Tb) increase of 1–2°C in birds during flight. Therefore, episodic body cooling may be mandatory in migratory birds. To elucidate the thermoregulatory strategy of a short-distance migrant, common eiders (Somateria mollissima), we implanted data loggers in the body cavity of wild birds for 1 year, and report information on Tb during their entire migration for 19 individuals. We show that the mean body temperature during flight (TbMean) in the eiders was associated with rises in Tb ranging from 0.2 to 1.5°C, largely depending on flight duration. To understand how eiders are dealing with hyperthermia during migration, we first compare, at a daily scale, how Tb differs during migration using a before-after approach. Only a slight difference was found (0.05°C) between the after (40.30°C), the before (40.41°C) and the migration (40.36°C) periods, indicating that hyperthermia during flight had minimal impact at this time scale. Analyses at the scale of a flight cycle (flight plus stops on the water), however, clearly shows that eiders were closely regulating Tb during migration, as the relationship between the storage of heat during flight was highly correlated (slope = 1) with the level of heat dumping during stops, at both inter-individual and intra-individual levels. Because Tb at the start of a flight (TbStart) was significantly and positively related to Tb at the end of a flight (TbEnd), and the maximal attained Tb during a flight (TbMax), we conclude that in absence of sufficient body cooling during stopovers, eiders are likely to become increasingly hyperthermic during migration. Finally, we quantified the time spent cooling down during migration to be 36% of their daily (24 h) time budget, and conclude that behavioral body cooling in relation to hyperthermia represents an important time cost

Qualitative theory testing as mixed-method research

While the concept of mixed-methods research is more usually associated with combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper outlines a study that mixed methods by undertaking qualitative theory testing and derivation when examining the relationship between health promotion theory and hospital nursing practice. Thus, it is concerned with relating the metatheoretical aspects of the debate and not with the pragmatic aspects of the research and concomitant methods. A deductive–inductive–deductive design, based on the theory–research–theory strategy of Meleis (1985), tested, revised and developed for nursing established health promotion theory using theory-testing criteria. To complement the methodological mix, the study also used the theory (i.e. a health-promotion taxonomy) as a framework to contextualise the findings rather than generate theory in the way associated with interpretative inquiry. While inconsistent with the traditional view linking theory testing with quantitative, objective epistemology, the process enabled a theoretically robust health-promotion taxonomy to be synthesised and advanced for use in nursing in relation to a paradigm of social thought

Theory in highly cited studies of sexual minority parent families: variations and implications

This paper includes a systematic review and citation analysis of the literature regarding sexual minority parent families, particularly attending to what theories have been used, and how. We consider the importance of theoretical frameworks for future research and implications for policy, practice, and law related to sexual minority parent families. Our review targets 30 highly cited studies located through Google Scholar (as an interdisciplinary search engine) and published within a specific time frame (2005-2010). We highlight the dominant theoretical models employed across disciplines studying sexual minority parent families. While the majority of studies reviewed referred to theoretical models or perspectives, explicit theoretical grounding was frequently lacking. Instead, the empirical work reviewed appeared to have a predominantly applied focus in addressing public debates on sexual minority parent families. We provide recommendations for how theory might be more fully integrated into the social science literature on sexual minority parents and their children