Have U.S. import prices become less responsive to changes in the dollar?

The failure of the dollar's depreciation to narrow the U.S. trade deficit has driven recent research showing that the transmission of exchange rate changes to import prices has declined sharply in industrial countries. Estimates presented in this study, however, suggest that "pass-through" to U.S. import prices has fallen only modestly, if at all, in the last decade. The authors argue that methodological changes in the collection of import data and the inclusion of commodity prices in pass-through models may have contributed to earlier findings of low pass-through rates.Foreign exchange rates ; Imports - Prices

Refiguring Milton in Virginia Woolf\u27s A Room of One\u27s Own

Since 1979 feminist scholars have misread key images in Virginia Woolf\u27s \u27A Room of One\u27s Own\u27. They delineated the extended essay as a groundbreaking feminist polemic that advocates abolishing the literary patriarchy, expressing distain for John Milton as chief offender. Through rhetorical analysis and close readings of passages, there seems advocacy for change in patriarchial education and for opening of the literary canon to women

The effects of item and respondent characteristics on midpoint response option endorsement: A mixed-methods study

As the demand for accountability and transparency in higher education has increased, so too has the call for direct assessment of student learning outcomes. Accompanying this increase of knowledge-based, cognitive assessments administered in a higher education context is an increased emphasis on assessing various noncognitive aspects of student growth and development over the course of their college career. Noncognitive outcomes are most often evaluated via self-report instruments associated with Likert-type response scales, posing unique challenges for researchers and assessment practitioners hoping to draw valid conclusions based upon this data. One long-debated characteristic of such assessments is the midpoint response option. More specifically, prior research suggests that respondents may be more or less likely to endorse the midpoint response option under different measurement and respondent dispositional conditions thus introducing construct-irrelevant variance within respondent scores. The current study expanded upon previous work to examine the effects of various item and respondent characteristics on endorsement and conceptualization of the midpoint response option in a noncognitive assessment context. A mixed-methods approach was employed in order to fully address research questions associated with two studies – one quantitative and one qualitative in nature. Study 1 employed hierarchical generalized linear modeling to simultaneously examine the effects of respondent characteristics and experimentally manipulated item characteristics on the probability of midpoint response option endorsement. Respondent characteristics included self-reported effort expended on the assessments administered and respondent levels of verbal aptitude (SAT verbal scores). Respondents were randomly assigned different forms of the instrument which varied in item set location (scales administered earlier versus later in the instrument) and midpoint response option label (unlabeled, neutral, undecided, neither agree nor disagree). Experimental manipulation of these variables allowed for a stronger examination of these variables’ influence and how they might interact with respondent characteristics (i.e., effort, verbal aptitude) relative to previous studies investigating the issue. Study 2 employed a think-aloud protocol to further examine and understand respondent use and conceptualization of the midpoint response option upon manipulation of midpoint response option label (unlabeled, neutral, undecided, neither agree nor disagree). Four female and four male participants were randomly selected to participate in the think-aloud process using a subset of the items administered in Study 1. Findings from both studies suggest that the midpoint response option is prone to abuse in practice. Results of Study 1 indicate that respondent characteristics, the experimental manipulation of item characteristics, and their interactions have the potential to significantly affect probability of midpoint response option endorsement. Results of Study 2 reveal that justifications provided by respondents for midpoint response endorsement are mostly construct-irrelevant and differences in conceptualization of the midpoint response option across variations in label appear to be idiosyncratic. These findings have significant implications for the validity of inferences made based upon noncognitive assessment scores and the improvement of assessment practice

Interview with Rebecca Katzman

Becca Katzman talks about the Owl Creek Produce Auctionhttps://digital.kenyon.edu/ps_interviews/1047/thumbnail.jp

When distraction helps: Evidence that concurrent articulation and irrelevant speech can facilitate insight problem solving

We report an experiment investigating the “special-process” theory of insight problem solving, which claims that insight arises from non-conscious, non-reportable processes that enable problem re-structuring. We predicted that reducing opportunities for speech-based processing during insight problem solving should permit special processes to function more effectively and gain conscious awareness, thereby facilitating insight. We distracted speech-based processing by using either articulatory suppression or irrelevant speech, with findings for these conditions supporting the predicted insight facilitation effect relative to silent working or thinking aloud. The latter condition was included to investigate the currently contested effect of “verbal overshadowing” on insight, whereby thinking aloud is claimed to hinder the operation of special, non-reportable processes. Whilst verbal overshadowing was not evident in final solution rates, there was nevertheless support for verbal overshadowing up to and beyond the mid-point of the available problem solving time. Overall our data support a special-process theory of insight, whilst also pointing to the role of moderator variables (e.g., available time for solution) in determining the presence or absence of effects predicted by the special-process account

Letter from Mrs. Fred Marsh

A handwritten letter from Mrs. Fred [Rebecca] Marsh to Charlotte Michaud.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/michaud-1922-1938/1030/thumbnail.jp

Research into the efficacy of the New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme and the integration of archaeologists' knowledge into planning processes - with reference to the Kaikoura District and the typological debate

This research project has examined three aspects of archaeological resource management in New Zealand. The New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme is the national database for archaeological site information, and is often utilised by planning officers in the creation of district plans. Using a selection of sites from the Kaikoura District, an archaeological field survey and assessment was conducted in June 2005. The resulting data was used to facilitate an analysis of the accuracy of the data contained within the site record files. The Kaikoura District was chosen for analysis due to the convenience of a wide range of sites within a contained area, and due to a request on part of the local iwi, District Council officers for assistance in the upgrading of their provisions for the protection of archaeological sites. An analysis was done on the Kaikoura District Plan, currently still in the proposal stage. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are enjoying more prominence in archaeology as the technology becomes easier to use. To aid in the analysis of the Site Recording Scheme, each site was mapped with GPS and the information imported into a GIS program. This information was also incorporated into a discussion on the issue of typology, and the question of 'what is a site?'. These issues are relevant to both the Site Recording Scheme and the use of archaeologists' knowledge in planning processes. The findings of this research showed that the Kaikoura District Plan is strong on paper, but the fact that the archaeological information has been badly incorporated into the provisions means that protection will be lacking. Two problems arise with the Site Recording Scheme, the first is that many of the sites have only been recorded once, and this often in the 1960s when the scheme was first begun. The second problem relates to that of typology; because of the nature of archaeological sites, many require more than one type to fully describe what the site is. This poses problems for the integration of archaeologists' knowledge into the planning process, as planning officers and other stakeholders require more definite identification. Having two or more site types, combined with grid references that only indicate the presence of an archaeological site may lead to confusion which will make the protection of these features more difficult. It was suggested that in the future, a set procedure should be put in place to ensure continuity in the way in which grid references are created. Clearly, the Kaikoura District Plan would benefit most from a clearer understanding of the archaeological knowledge it employs, as well as an appreciation of the values of these archaeological sites. The question of typology will continue to be a problem, it will be most important for archaeologists and planners alike to make it clear what sort of typology they are following, and to outline their reasons for its use

Physical Disability and Physical Activity Involvement Portrayal in the Media

Disability media studies articulates the formation of a new field of study, based in the rich traditions of media, cultural, and disability. Television, film, current periodicals, and other mass media are a part of our everyday lives. Attitudes regarding a variety of issues can be affected by these media, not the least of which are attitudes toward disability. Media is a significant part of contemporary society and culture and is subsequently crucial to our understanding of disability. The representation of disability in the media in the last ten years is pretty much the same as it has always been: clichéd, stereotyped, and archetypal. Media representation of and for the disabled has been recharged in recent years with the expansion of new media worldwide. Interactive digital communications [such as the Internet, new varieties of voice and text telephones, social media, and digital broadcasting] have created a need to explore the constructs of media and the media relationship with disability. To explore this topic, we asked the same questions posed by scholars, how exactly does the media interact with disability and vice versa? Does the media adequately reflect the lives of people with disabilities