The Impact of Demographics on Choice of Survey Modes: Demographic Distinctiveness between Web-Based and Telephone-based Survey Respondents

Web surveys potentially cost less to administer and are more convenient for participants than either telephone or paper-based surveys, but concern remains about the representativeness of the respondents to the population. This research investigates the effectiveness of using Web-based survey methods by comparing response rates and demographic characteristics of the telephone-based and web-based survey respondents. The paper first reviews survey research methodologies, including recent trends in web-based surveys that take advantage of the power of modern computing and telecommunications technology. The issue of respondent characteristics in web-based surveys is then explored by comparing respondent demographics of an ongoing telephone survey to those of a subsequent Web survey of the same population. Exploratory and confirmatory statistical analyses are used to triangulate the findings and test the hypotheses. The data suggests that demographics of the respondents of the two methods are similar across race and age, but differ significantly across income and education levels, implying a converging digital divide

AN EXAMINATION OF THE CULTURAL VALIDITY OF THE MEANING IN LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE USING AN AFRICAN AMERICAN SAMPLE

Meaning in life is one of the most heavily researched constructs of positive psychology in the psychological literature. Despite its popularity, the positive psychology literature has been devoid of research that has explored the measurement of the construct with individuals who identify as African American. The present study was conducted to reexamine the cultural equivalence of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), a popular existing measure, with a predominantly African American sample. A sample of 155 African American and 179 White American college students were recruited from a southern metropolitan university and rural Midwestern university. Participants responded to the MLQ and a demographic questionnaire. The factor structure and the nature of the items were examined using a principal axis exploratory factor analysis with an oblique rotation (delta = 0). The results of the study were partially consistent with the existing literature on the MLQ, providing evidence to support the two factor structure of the measure. However, the nature of the items loading on each scale was called into question because the subsamples of participants responded significantly differently on the items of the Presence subscale. Furthermore, the reliability and communality value on one item (i.e., “My life has no clear purpose”), which was significantly lower, provided additional rationale for differences in MIL for these groups. The results suggested that there might be a noteworthy difference in: (a) how African American participants and White American participants interpreted the items and (b) how their subjective experience may influence responding to the items. In sum, the research has important implications for understanding the nature of African American meaning in life and its connection to the present day African American experience in the United States context

Reclaiming Our Voices: An Autoethnographic Approach to African American Meaning in Life & Existence

Several researchers have called for further research devoted to exploring positive psychology constructs among African Americans. In the present study, I addressed the aforementioned calls for African American positive psychology and existentialism research by utilizing the autoethnographic approach to explore the processes and resources that four African Americans accessed to critically think about and make sense of their lived experiences. Given the current sociopolitical climate, I wanted to intentionally use my academic and class privilege to amplify the voices and strivings of four African Americans for survival and meaning in life. I utilized the autoethnographic approach to share my personal narrative of developing critical consciousness to explain the contextual factors influencing my worldview. For this dissertation study, I also conducted in-depth interviews with three other African Americans over a series of interview sessions to explore what made their lives meaningful. A thematic analysis of the participant data was conducted to analyze and identify emergent themes. The thematic analysis produced six emergent themes and 18 subthemes to contextual powerful influences shaping their perceptions of meaning in life, existence and critical consciousness development. I am hopeful that readers will gain four different perspectives on how, as African Americans, the participants define and understand their existence, facets of life that make their lives meaningful, and how they have come to make sense of their worlds

Sports Concussion Management: Part I

Concussion is a popular clinical topic that has been the subject of unprecedented recent media coverage. As concerns about the potential short- and long-term implications of repetitive head injury in sports such as football continue to mount, the proper clinical management of concussion seems to increase in importance. The days of ignoring the \u27\u27ding\u27\u27 on the sideline are definitely over. A series of updated clinical evaluation and management recommendations from international experts are highlighted in this review. The clinical presentation of an acute concussion, both the typical and more subtle variations, may be evaluated with new validated sideline evaluation tools (eg, Sports Concussion Assessment Tool 2). In addition, the role of computerized neuropsychological and balance testing in the acute and ongoing evaluation are discussed, along with how they contribute to the return-to-play decision. Same-day return to play is outdated, and the relative insensitivity of current neuroimaging modalities to demonstrate structural damage is highlighted. New therapeutic interventions such as amantadine and cognitive rest may improve recovery time. The appropriate management of concussion typically results in a normal functional and neurocognitive outcome. The recommendations in this article may guide clinicians, with varying degrees of prior experience managing concussion, to increase the likelihood of an excellent outcome

Drone defense system architecture for U.S. Navy strategic facilities

Systems Engineering Capstone Project ReportSmall, commercially available unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are an emergent threat to Navy continental U.S. (CONUS) military facilities. There are many counter unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) tools focused on neutralization, and many sensors in place. A system-of-systems, defense-in-depth approach to C-UAS requires a central system to connect these new and existing systems. The central system uses data fusion and threat evaluation and weapons assignment (TEWA) to properly address threats. This report follows a systems engineering process to develop a software architecture for that central system, beginning with a requirements analysis, a functional baseline, and the resulting module allocation. A series of simulations in ExtendSim derives the performance requirements by examining the overall C-UAS scenario with currently available technology. Through a sensitivity analysis, the simulation shows that effective engagement range (combination of initial target range, detection range and neutralization range) is the dominant factor driving response time. The architecture modeled in Innoslate provides a discrete event simulation for system performance expectations.http://archive.org/details/dronedefensesyst1094556172Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, but not B. salamandrivorans, detected on eastern hellbenders.

Recent worldwide declines and extinctions of amphibian populations have been attributed to chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Until recently, Bd was thought to be the only Batrachochytrium species that infects amphibians; however a newly described species, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bs), is linked to die-offs in European fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra). Little is known about the distribution, host range, or origin of Bs. In this study, we surveyed populations of an aquatic salamander that is declining in the United States, the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis), for the presence of Bs and Bd. Skin swabs were collected from a total of 91 individuals in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, and tested for both pathogens using duplex qPCR. Bs was not detected in any samples, suggesting it was not present in these hellbender populations (0% prevalence, 95% confidence intervals of 0.0-0.04). Bd was found on 22 hellbenders (24% prevalence, 95% confidence intervals of 0.16 ≤ 0.24 ≤ 0.34), representing all four states. All positive samples had low loads of Bd zoospores (12.7 ± 4.9 S.E.M. genome equivalents) compared to other Bd susceptible species. More research is needed to determine the impact of Batrachochytrium infection on hellbender fitness and population viability. In particular, understanding how hellbenders limit Bd infection intensity in an aquatic environment may yield important insights for amphibian conservation. This study is among the first to evaluate the distribution of Bs in the United States, and is consistent with another, which failed to detect Bs in the U.S. Knowledge about the distribution, host-range, and origin of Bs may help control the spread of this pathogen, especially to regions of high salamander diversity, such as the eastern United States