Improving decision quality: A process for communicating data

Human performance (HP) practitioners rely on stakeholders to use quantitative data to make a multitude of performance improvement decisions. By improving stakeholders' capacity to process quantitative data, the quality of decisions made by those stakeholders can also be improved. This article describes a process for successfully communicating quantitative data to groups who make data‐driven decisions. It also provides practical suggestions for improving three factors critical to the process: information integrity, information layering, and information processing.     

Books

American Gothic: The Life of America's Most Famous Painting: Steven Biel American Gothic: The Biography of Grant Wood as American Masterpiece by Thomus Hoving     

TV NEWS AND U.S. PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT FOREIGN COUNTRIES: THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE AND ATTENTION

This article assesses the potential for US news coverage offoreign affairs to influence US public opinion about foreigncountries during the latter part of 1989 and early 1990, a timeof dramatic changes in central Europe. The study draws on twosources of data: content analysis of US network news and wireservice coverage of nine countries (West Germany, East Germany,the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, Great Britain, France, Japan,and Israel) over a six month period, and a nationally representativesurvey of 1,117 US adults which measured opinions about thesecountries, conducted in early 1990. The study shows that thereis an important relationship between the visibility of foreigncountries in TV news and US public opinion about these countries.TV is more important than newspapers for influencing publicopinion about foreign countries. And attention to foreign affairsnews, rather than simple exposure to news, best predicts generalliking of a country. Finally, attention to television news coveragehad a positive and significant influence on sympathy with Westand East Germany in 1990, even if one had German friends, relativesor ancestors, or had visited Europe.     

Cue-induced transfer of CS preexposure effects across contexts

These experiments confirmed previous reports that latent inhibition effects can be abolished if rats receive CS preexposures and CS-US pairings in different contexts. However, latent inhibition effects were restored if animals were given a cuing treatment in the conditioning context prior to the conditioning trials. This restoration of latent inhibition occurred only when the cuing treatment could have served to remind the animals of CS-alone presentations in the specific context used for conditioning. These findings are discussed in relation to various accounts of latent inhibition effects.     

The preparation of school psychologists for crisis intervention

School psychologists (N = 276, 81% return rate) were surveyed regarding the following aspects of crisis intervention: (a) university preparation, (b) continuing professional development, and (c) current involvement with school crisis plans and crisis teams. Of those receiving university training, 58% believed they were minimally prepared or not at all prepared to deal with school crises. Only 2% reported being well prepared or very well prepared. Data analyses indicated increased university training in recent years, particularly with practicum/internship experiences related to crisis intervention. Approximately 81% of school psychologists participated in local training for crisis intervention as part of continuing professional development. Although 91% of school psychologists worked in districts with crisis plans in place, only 53% participated on crisis teams. Suicide, violence, and school district crisis plans were recommended as high priority topics for future academic training. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Opportunity,community, and teen pregnancy in an Appalachian state

This study examines female adolescents' responses to opportunities, costs, and community in West Virginia. It is posited that adolescent women's responses to structurally determined contextual factors will be the most important determinant of the teen birth rate. It is posited that girls avoid becoming pregnant and work to stay in school as a wise investment in their future. The variation in males' participation in contributing to teen pregnancy is not considered due to data limitations. West Virginia is a state with low teen abortion rates and limited teen mobility out of state. Community is construed as having a positive sense of affiliation and value for adolescents. Community is measured by school size and a range of 7 measures of community social organization: percentage of urban population in the district, percentage Black, percentage neither Black nor White, level of educational attainment, percentage of college preparatory students, percentage of college students, and percentage of service employees. The 7 factors were reduced with principal component analysis to a measure of modernity. Findings indicate that the birth rate increased by 8% for every increase of 100 students in average school size. The modern variable, which indicates departures from traditional patterns of community organization, was positively, statistically significantly related to the teenage birth rate. The college degree variable was related to increased teen pregnancy as a departure from traditional norms and decreased teen pregnancy as a measure of opportunity. Findings contrast with traditional interpretations of teen pregnancy. Findings indicate that teen pregnancy reflects a lack of opportunity, a decline in traditional community patterns, and the replacement of traditional social relations by shifting labor market relations. Teen births are consequences of disadvantage and disruption as context-driven factors.     

Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written responses

The topic of feedback to students is an under‐researched area, and there has been little empirical research published which focuses on student perceptions. This study explores student perceptions of written feedback and examines whether feedback received demonstrated a student‐centred approach to learning. A multi‐method approach of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis was used to survey 44 students in the faculties of Business and Art & Design. Student responses show feedback is valued, but believed tutor comments could be more helpful. Survey results indicate that students may need advice on understanding and using feedback before they can engage with it. Content analysis of feedback samples and student responses uncovered four main themes of feedback considered unhelpful to improve learning: comments which were too general or vague, lacked guidance, focused on the negative, or were unrelated to assessment criteria. It is suggested that by focusing on messages conveyed by their writing, providing feedback set in the context of assessment criteria and learning outcomes, and by ensuring that it is timely, tutors could greatly improve the value of feedback.