Marshall University Music Department Presents a Junior Recital, Brooke Fisher, mezzo-soprano

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1685/thumbnail.jp

A randomized trial in a massive online open course shows people don't know what a statistically significant relationship looks like, but they can learn

Scatterplots are the most common way for statisticians, scientists, and the public to visually detect relationships between measured variables. At the same time, and despite widely publicized controversy, P-values remain the most commonly used measure to statistically justify relationships identified between variables. Here we measure the ability to detect statistically significant relationships from scatterplots in a randomized trial of 2,039 students in a statistics massive open online course (MOOC). Each subject was shown a random set of scatterplots and asked to visually determine if the underlying relationships were statistically significant at the P < 0.05 level. Subjects correctly classified only 47.4% (95% CI: 45.1%-49.7%) of statistically significant relationships, and 74.6% (95% CI: 72.5%-76.6%) of non-significant relationships. Adding visual aids such as a best fit line or scatterplot smooth increased the probability a relationship was called significant, regardless of whether the relationship was actually significant. Classification of statistically significant relationships improved on repeat attempts of the survey, although classification of non-significant relationships did not. Our results suggest: (1) that evidence-based data analysis can be used to identify weaknesses in theoretical procedures in the hands of average users, (2) data analysts can be trained to improve detection of statistically significant results with practice, but (3) data analysts have incorrect intuition about what statistically significant relationships look like, particularly for small effects. We have built a web tool for people to compare scatterplots with their corresponding p-values which is available here: http://glimmer.rstudio.com/afisher/EDA/.Comment: 7 pages, including 2 figures and 1 tabl

The E-mail is Down! Using a 1940s method to analyze a 21st century problem

Presented to the Communications Technology and Policy Division AEJMC 2002 Annual Convention Miami Beach, Florida Aug. 7-10, 2000.Includes bibliographical references.When the electronic mail system at a university crashed, researchers turned to a methodology developed more than 50 years earlier to examine its impact. Using a modified version of Bernard Berelson “missing the newspaper” survey questionnaire, student researchers collected qualitative comments from 85 faculty and staff members. Like the original, the study found extensive anxiety over the loss of the information source, plus a high degree of habituation and dependence on the new medium

Playing politics in the development and provision of disaster information for Hispanics

This study examines how states and counties communicate disaster information to Hispanics. Through 13 interviews with state emergency management communicators and a national survey of 435 county emergency management directors, the study benchmarks how many channels states and counties employ to communicate Spanish-language disaster information. The study addresses who state emergency management communicators and county emergency management directors believe should be responsible for developing and providing Spanish-language disaster information. Also, the study explores county emergency management directors' perceptions of how capable various nongovernmental and governmental groups are of producing Spanish-language disaster information. Finally, the study explores whether principal-agent theory helps explain the variety of channels states and counties employ to communicate Spanish-language disaster information. The interviews revealed that most of the state emergency management communicators do not provide Spanish-language disaster information. Communicators that do provide Spanish-language disaster information do so mostly through working with groups (e.g., Catholic Church, American Red Cross, and local government officials) to develop this information. The interviews also revealed that communicators think counties primarily are responsible for developing and providing Spanish-language disaster information. iv The survey found that most of the counties communicate Spanish-language disaster information through at least one channel, but counties communicate English-language disaster information through three times more channels. Also, contrary to what state communicators believe, county emergency management directors believe the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) and states primarily are responsible for developing and providing Spanish-language disaster information. County directors also believe FEMA and the states are most capable of developing Spanish-language disaster information. These findings provide evidence that goal conflict (one of the key constructs of principal-agent theory) exists between the states and counties. Also, the survey found that one of the most important factors that affects the variety of channels county emergency management directors employ to communicate Spanish-language disaster information is how often the directors work with groups such as FEMA, state emergency management agencies, and nongovernmental groups. Like state communicators, county directors work with a diverse set of groups. Thus, no single group emerges as a leader in producing and providing Spanish-language disaster information. Also, there is no clear channel through which states and counties communicate about how best to produce and provide Spanish-language disaster information, providing evidence of information asymmetry (the other key construct of principal-agent theory)

The death of bin Laden: How Russian and U.S. media frame counterterrorism

This study explored how Russian and U.S. newspapers covered the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 through the lens of framing theory. Results reflect significant disparity in how media in different countries covered the same event, suggesting that terrorism events were framed as national concerns rather than global issues, thus potentially limiting governments and the media from building a shared understanding with international audiences. The findings also indicate that more robust media relations efforts are needed to counter simplistic media counterterrorism frames. Finally, the study identified new frames for counterterrorism including secrecy and humanizing terrorists. These new frames suggest the need to expand the framing literature to provide a better understanding of how the media cover counterterrorism, which may impact the U.S. government\u27s public diplomacy and counterterrorism efforts. © 2014 Elsevier Inc

The Impact of a District Supported Mentoring Initiative on Reading Achievement of African American Male Students

This action research seeks to examine the impact of a district supported mentoring program and its effect on the reading achievement of a group of African American male students. The participants received routine, sustained mentoring during a three-year period of time. All of the schools involved are Title I and within the same county. The action research involved the collection of various forms of achievement data such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) assessment, Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment, and the South Carolina College- and Career- Ready assessment, specifically in the area of reading. These assessments allowed the researcher to assess growth over a three-year period of the students participating in the mentoring program (cohort group) and those not participating in the program (comparison group). The mentoring began during the participants’ third grade year and concluded at the end of their fifth grade year. The goal of this study was to determine what impact a district supported mentoring program would have on African American male reading achievement. It was found that the cohort group of students showed more growth on both the MAP® Reading assessment and the Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment, then with the comparison group. However, less growth was shown overall on the SCREADY assessment with the v same cohort group. The ultimate goal was to compare the growth of those students participating in the program to those not participating at the same school sites

Male mastodon landscape use changed with maturation (late Pleistocene, North America)

Under harsh Pleistocene climates, migration and other forms of seasonally patterned landscape use were likely critical for reproductive success of mastodons (Mammut americanum) and other megafauna. However, little is known about how their geographic ranges and mobility fluctuated seasonally or changed with sexual maturity. We used a spatially explicit movement model that coupled strontium and oxygen isotopes from two serially sampled intervals (5+ adolescent years and 3+ adult years) in a male mastodon tusk to test for changes in landscape use associated with maturation and reproductive phenology. The mastodon’s early adolescent home range was geographically restricted, with no evidence of seasonal preferences. Following inferred separation from the matriarchal herd (starting age 12 y), the adolescent male’s mobility increased as landscape use expanded away from his natal home range (likely central Indiana). As an adult, the mastodon’s monthly movements increased further. Landscape use also became seasonally structured, with some areas, including northeast Indiana, used only during the inferred mastodon mating season (spring/summer). The mastodon died in this area (\u3e150 km from his core, nonsummer range) after sustaining a craniofacial injury consistent with a fatal blow from a competing male’s tusk during a battle over access to mates. Northeast Indiana was likely a preferred mating area for this individual and may have been regionally significant for late Pleistocene mastodons. Similarities between mammutids and elephantids in herd structure, tusk dimorphism, tusk function, and the geographic component of male maturation indicate that these traits were likely inherited from a common ancestor

Introduction: Is Development Research Communication Coming of Age?

In this article we reflect on three themes that highlight current trends in research communication for development and, in turn, shape this issue of the IDS Bulletin . We argue that shifts in the sociopolitical and theoretical context within which development research communication is being put into practice; the range and configurations of actors and roles being deployed; and technological advances or innovations available for research communication are affecting important and often contested changes. In introducing this collection of articles relevant to these themes, we conclude that further work is needed in mapping out this evolving landscape and better understanding the interlinkages, antecedents, and tensions between perspectives. Doing so, we argue, could contribute to a stronger praxis of development research communication

Association between the timing of childhood adversity and epigenetic patterns across childhood and adolescence:Findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) prospective cohort

BackgroundChildhood adversity is a potent determinant of health across development and is associated with altered DNA methylation signatures, which might be more common in children exposed during sensitive periods in development. However, it remains unclear whether adversity has persistent epigenetic associations across childhood and adolescence. We aimed to examine the relationship between time-varying adversity (defined through sensitive period, accumulation of risk, and recency life course hypotheses) and genome-wide DNA methylation, measured three times from birth to adolescence, using data from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study.MethodsWe first investigated the relationship between the timing of exposure to childhood adversity between birth and 11 years and blood DNA methylation at age 15 years in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) prospective cohort study. Our analytic sample included ALSPAC participants with DNA methylation data and complete childhood adversity data between birth and 11 years. We analysed seven types of adversity (caregiver physical or emotional abuse, sexual or physical abuse [by anyone], maternal psychopathology, one-adult households, family instability, financial hardship, and neighbourhood disadvantage) reported by mothers five to eight times between birth and 11 years. We used the structured life course modelling approach (SLCMA) to identify time-varying associations between childhood adversity and adolescent DNA methylation. Top loci were identified using an R2 threshold of 0·035 (ie, ≥3·5% of DNA methylation variance explained by adversity). We attempted to replicate these associations using data from the Raine Study and Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). We also assessed the persistence of adversity-DNA methylation associations we previously identified from age 7 blood DNA methylation into adolescence and the influence of adversity on DNA methylation trajectories from ages 0-15 years.FindingsOf 13 988 children in the ALSPAC cohort, 609-665 children (311-337 [50-51%] boys and 298-332 [49-50%] girls) had complete data available for at least one of the seven childhood adversities and DNA methylation at 15 years. Exposure to adversity was associated with differences in DNA methylation at 15 years for 41 loci (R2 ≥0·035). Sensitive periods were the most often selected life course hypothesis by the SLCMA. 20 (49%) of 41 loci were associated with adversities occurring between age 3 and 5 years. Exposure to one-adult households was associated with differences in DNA methylation at 20 [49%] of 41 loci, exposure to financial hardship was associated with changes at nine (22%) loci, and physical or sexual abuse was associated with changes at four (10%) loci. We replicated the direction of associations for 18 (90%) of 20 loci associated with exposure to one-adult household using adolescent blood DNA methylation from the Raine Study and 18 (64%) of 28 loci using saliva DNA methylation from the FFCWS. The directions of effects for 11 one-adult household loci were replicated in both cohorts. Differences in DNA methylation at 15 years were not present at 7 years and differences identified at 7 years were no longer apparent by 15 years. We also identified six distinct DNA methylation trajectories from these patterns of stability and persistence.InterpretationThese findings highlight the time-varying effect of childhood adversity on DNA methylation profiles across development, which might link exposure to adversity to potential adverse health outcomes in children and adolescents. If replicated, these epigenetic signatures could ultimately serve as biological indicators or early warning signs of initiated disease processes, helping identify people at greater risk for the adverse health consequences of childhood adversity

Recreational Fishing Impacts in an Offshore and Deep-Water Marine Park: Examining Patterns in Fished Species Using Hybrid Frequentist Model Selection and Bayesian Inference

No-take marine reserves are often located in remote locations far away from human activity, limiting perceived impact on extractive users but also reducing their use for investigating impacts of fishing. This study aimed to establish a benchmark in the distribution of fished species across the Ningaloo Marine Park – Commonwealth (NMP-Commonwealth), and adjacent comparable habitats within the Ningaloo Marine Park - State (NMP-State), in Western Australia to test if there was evidence of an effect of recreational fishing, as no commercial fishing is allowed within either marine park. We also examined whether the remote location of the newly established (2018) No-take Zone (NTZ), in NMP-Commonwealth, limits its use for studying the effects of fishing. Throughout the NMP-Commonwealth and NMP-State, where recreational fishing is permitted, we expected the abundance of recreationally fished fish species to increase with increasing distance to the nearest boat ramp, as a proxy of recreational fishing effort. Conversely, we did not expect the abundance of non-fished species and overall species richness to vary in response to the proxy for human activity. Distance to the nearest boat ramp was found to be a strong predictor of fished species abundance, indicating that the effect of recreational fishing can be detected across the NMP-Commonwealth. The effect of the NTZ on fished species abundance was weakly positive, but this difference across the NTZ is expected to increase over time. Habitat composition predictors were only found to influence species richness and non-fished species abundance. This study suggests a clear footprint of recreational fishing across the NMP-Commonwealth and as a result the new NTZ, despite its remote location, can act as a control in future studies of recreational fishing effects.publishedVersio