Perception of Misbehavior: Understanding the Process of Labeling and the Role of Cultural Capital in the Disciplinary Process

Educators face multiple forms of misbehavior in the classroom on a regular basis. This ethnographic research project addresses the difficulties encountered by teachers in a high school setting, giving consideration to the decision-making process in determining whether to admonish students for misbehavior and whether to issue a referral to an administrator, which holds the possibility of more severe punishment. This research demonstrates the continuing importance of Labeling and Social Reproduction Theories in understanding the process of classroom management, emphasizing the importance of the teachers’ and administrators’ perception of whether the student demonstrates the acquisition and possession of cultural capital.     

The contributions of vocabulary and letter writing automaticity to word reading and spelling for kindergartners

In the present study we examined the relation between alphabet knowledge fluency (letter names and sounds) and letter writing automaticity, and unique relations of letter writing automaticity and semantic knowledge (i.e., vocabulary) to word reading and spelling over and above code-related skills such as phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge. These questions were addressed using data from 242 English-speaking kindergartners and employing structural equation modeling. Results showed letter writing automaticity was moderately related to and a separate construct from alphabet knowledge fluency, and marginally (p = .06) related to spelling after accounting for phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge fluency, and vocabulary. Furthermore, vocabulary was positively and uniquely related to word reading and spelling after accounting for phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge fluency, and letter writing automaticity.     

Cultural and gender influences on age identification

Age identification plays a significant role in young adults’ mass, interpersonal, intergenerational, and intercultural communication. This research examines cultural and gender influences on young people's age identity by measuring the social age identity of male and female young adult members of five cultures varying in individualism/collectivism (Laos, Thailand, Spain, Australia, and the U.S.A.). We found cultural influences on age identity to be both unexpected in nature and modest in effect. American and Laotian respondents had similar and nominally higher levels of age identity than Australian, Thai, and Spanish respondents, with all having a markedly different age identities than those of Japanese respondents as reported by other researchers. No direct effect for gender on age identity emerged, though American females were more age identified than all other respondents. Across cultures, the social identity scale was found to be a reasonably adequate measure of age identity.     

Why We Watch: Factors Affecting Exposure to Tragic Television News

This study explored the reasons people expose themselves to news depicting tragic events. A total of 376 undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires about their responses to news coverage of the events of September 11. The study examined the extent to which individual differences in empathy gave rise to news viewing motives (surveillance, reassurance, curiosity), and how these variables, as well as negative emotional responses (anger, sadness, fear), were related to news interest and exposure. Both empathy and emotional responses were associated in predictable ways with interest in news coverage and selective exposure to specific types of news stories (e.g., casualty news, positive news). The results demonstrate that considering affective motivations can enrich our understanding of how and why people use news media. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Socialization to Work in Late Adolescence: The Role of Television and Family

This survey of college freshmen examines the role of television and family in anticipatory socialization to work. Findings indicate that both sources play a role in the development of work-related values and aspirations, but contribute in different ways. Wishful identification was higher for characters perceived to have higher paying jobs and stronger extrinsic (but not intrinsic) work values. Although causal direction cannot be shown, results suggest that respondents internalized the intrinsic and extrinsic work values they perceived in their parents' jobs, but derived mainly extrinsic work values and desire for easy work from observing their favorite characters at work.     

Business and Economic Database Access in Libraries Serving Midsized Accredited Business Schools

This study extends earlier ones focusing on the database offerings of large academic business libraries. It focuses on libraries that serve “midsized” Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited schools of business in the United States that have undergraduate and MBA programs, but do not have PhD programs and tend to not offer separate business libraries. Using a survey, this study aims at collecting and sharing data that offer benchmarks for libraries to compare their offerings and to support the justification of the addition of desired databases.     

A Review of “Temptations in the Office: Ethical Choices and Legal Obligations”

A citation analysis study was conducted on faculty publications from Business School at Institution. Citations were analyzed by format of materials, library availability, journal concentration by department and the citation age of the journal articles. This study was undertaken in an effort to guide local collection development knowledge, compare how departments in the business school used different resources, and illustrate trends in business faculty citations as compared to similar studies. The study was also conducted in order to enable business librarians to be able to understand, anticipate, and respond to faculty research needs in the business school.     

“We Do It,but They Don't”: Multiple Categorizations and Work Team Communication

The present study adopted an intergroup approach to information sharing and ratings of work team communication in a public hospital (N?=?142) undergoing large-scale restructuring. Consistent with predictions, ratings of communication followed a double ingroup serving bias: while team members reported sending about the same levels of information to double ingroup members (same work team/same occupational group) as they did to partial ingroup members (same work team/different occupational group), they reported receiving less information from partial ingroup members than from double ingroup members and rated the communication that they received from partial ingroup members as less effective. We discuss the implication of these results for the management of information sharing and organizational communication.     

Reading expressively and understanding thoroughly: An examination of prosody in adults with low literacy skills

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between prosody, which is the expressive quality of reading out loud, and reading comprehension in adults with low literacy skills compared to skilled readers. All participants read a passage orally, and we extracted prosodic measures from the recordings. We examined pitch changes and how long readers paused at various points while reading. Finally, for the adults with low literacy skills, we collected information on decoding, word recognition, and reading comprehension. We found several interesting results. First, adults with low literacy skills paused longer than skilled readers and paused at a substantially greater number of punctuation marks. Second, while adults with low literacy skills do mark the end of declarative sentences with a pitch declination similar to skilled readers, their readings of questions lack a change in pitch. Third, decoding and word recognition skills were related to pauses while reading; readers with lower skills made longer and more frequent and inappropriate pauses. Finally, pausing measures explained a significant amount of variance in reading comprehension among the adults with low literacy skills.