Structural and convergent validity of the homework performance questionnaire

Homework is a requirement for most school-age children, but research on the benefits and drawbacks of homework is limited by lack of psychometrically sound measurement of homework performance. This study examined the structural and convergent validity of scores from the newly developed Homework Performance Questionnaire – Teacher Scale (HPQ-T). Participants were 112 teachers of 224 students in six Illinois school districts. Common factor analysis with principal axis extraction and promax rotation was used for data analysis. Results revealed three salient factors: Parent support, student competence and homework completion. Subsequently, convergent validity of HPQ-T subscale scores with subscale scores from the Learning Behaviours Scale was examined. Findings suggest that the HPQ-T may potentially be a useful tool for improving research on homework and identifying strengths and weaknesses in student homework performance. However, modifications are recommended to optimise the utility of the scores.     

Development of text reading in Japanese: an eye movement study

This study examined age-group differences in eye movements among third-grade, fifth-grade, and adult Japanese readers. In Experiment 1, Japanese children, but not adults, showed a longer fixation time on logographic kanji words than on phonologically transparent hiragana words. Further, an age-group difference was found in the first fixation duration on hiragana words but not on kanji words, suggesting character-type-dependent reading development in Japanese children. Examination of the distributions of saccade landing positions revealed that, like adults, both third and fifth graders fixated more on kanji than on hiragana characters, which suggests that even young children utilize the same oculomotor control strategy (the kanji targeting strategy) as Japanese adults. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the proportion of kanji characters in a text affected adult reading performance. Japanese adults made more refixations and regressions in texts with a high proportion of hiragana characters. The results of both experiments suggest that differences between kanji and kana affect the reading efficiency of school-age children and that maturation of reading skills allows adults to optimize their strategy in reading kanji and kana mixed texts.     

Canada

EACH MOMENT AS IT FLIES, writings by Harry Bruce (Toronto: Methuen, 1984--- $18.95; 283 pp.)

CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1984--$29.95 176 pp.):

JOHN GRIERSON AND THE NFB (Toronto: ECW Press, 1984---$8.95, paper, 155 pp.)

JOHN GRIERSON AND THE NATIONAL FILL BOARD: THE POLITICS OF WARTIME PROPAGANDA by Gary Evans (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984---$24.95, 329 pp.)

NEWS ACCOUNTS OF ATTACKS ON WOMEN A COMPARISON OF THREE TORONTO NEWSPAPERS by Sophia E. Voumakis and Richard V Ericson (Toronto: University of Toront( Centre of Criminology, 1984---$5.00 paper, 98 pp.)

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE: A JOURNALIST'S LIFE...AND THEN SOME by Peter Worthington (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1984--- $24.95, 470 pp.)

PROCEEDINGS OF COMMUNICATION IN THE 80'S: MAJOR ISSUES edited by T. McPhail and S. Hamilton (Calgary: University of Calgary Communications Studies Program, 1985---$15.00, 162 pp.)

THE NEWSPAPERING MURRAYS by Georgina Keddell (Toronto: Goodread Biographies, 1984---$5.95, paper, 301 pp.)

BORDEN SPEARS: REPORTER, EDITOR, CRITIC compiled and edited by Dick MacDonald (Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1984--$12.95, paper, 220 pp.)

THE THOMSON EMPIRE by Susan Goldenberg (Toronto: Methuen, 1984--$24.95, 260 pp.)

BYLINE CANADA: THE 1984 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER AWARDS edited by Andrew MacFarlane (Toronto: Methuen, 1984-- $12.95, paper, 206 pp.)

CULTURE STATISTICS: NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS, 1981 (Ottawa: Education, Culture and Tourism Division, Statistics Canada, 1983---$6.35, paper, 52 pp.)

CHINA HANDS: THE GLOBE AND MAIL IN PEKING by Charles Taylor (Toronto: Mc- Clleland and Stewart, 1984---$16.95, 363 pp.)

LOVE'S SWEET RETURN: THE HARLEQUIN STORY by Margaret Ann Jensen (Toronto: The Women's Press, 1984---$9.95, paper, 188 pp.)

THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER: A WRITER'S GUIDE FOR THE NORTHWEST (Vancouver: International Self-Counsel Press, 1984---$10.95, paper, 122 pp.)

MANAGING DIVERSITY: FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL COLLABORATION AND THE COMMITTEE ON EXTENSION OF SERVICES TO NORTHERN AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES by Catherine A. Murray (Kingston, Ontario: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Qns, Queens University, 1983---$19.00, 173 pp.)

MOVEMENTS AND MESSAGES: MEDIA AND RADICAL POLITICS IN QUEBEC by Marc Raboy (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1984--- $18.95, 165 pp.)

CANADIAN POLITICS THROUGH PRESS REPORTS edited by Donald C. Wallace and Frederick J. Fletcher (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1984---$11.95, paper, 227 pp.)

MEDIA AND ELECTIONS IN CANADA by Walter Soderland, et al. (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1984---$9.95, paper, 163 pp.)

ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT IN CANADA by Rene Darmon and Michael Laroche (Toronto: Wiley Canada, 1984--$33.95, 577 pp.)

THE DYNAMICS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR by Winston Mahatoo (Toronto: Wiley Canada, 1985---$34.95)

FINDING CANADIAN FACTS FAST by Stephen Overbury (Toronto: Methuen, 1985 ---$19.95, 192 pp.)     

Motion pictures

THE FILMS OF MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI by Peter Brunette (New York: Cambridge University Press “Cambridge Film Classics,”; 1998—$49.95/paper price not given, ISBN 0–521–38085–5 hard, 0–521–38992–5 paper, 186 pp., selected bibliography, filmography, notes, photos, index)

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN: NEW ESSAYS ON THE WESTERN edited by Edward Buscombe and Roberta E. Pearson (London: British Film Institute, 1998—$60.00/22.50, ISBN 0–85170–660–6 hard, 0–85170–661–4 paper, 218 pp., chapter notes, photos, color advertising plates, index)

REPRESENTING THE WOMAN: CINEMA AND PSYCHOANALYSIS by Elizabeth Cowie (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997—$18.95 paper, ISBN 0–8166–2913–7 hard, 0–8166–2913–7 paper, 397 pp., chapter notes, photos, index)

TRACKING KING KONG: A HOLLYWOOD ICON IN WORLD CULTURE by Cynthia Erb (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press “Contemporary Film and Television Series,”; 1998—$24.95, paper, ISBN 0–8143–2686–2, 238 pp., bibliography, chapter notes, index)

IMAGES OF THE PASSION: THE SACRAMENTAL MODE IN FILM by Peter Fraser (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998—$65.00/22.95, ISBN 0–275–96464–7 hard, 0–275–96465–5 paper, 201 pp., bibliography, filmography, chapter notes, photos, index)

DOCUMENTING THE DOCUMENTARY: CLOSE READINGS OF DOCUMENTARY FILM AND VIDEO edited by Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1998—$27.50, paper, ISBN 0–8143–2639–0, 488 pp., film and video distributors’ address list, chapter notes, general bibliography, index)

HOLLYWOOD RENAISSANCE: THE CINEMA OF DEMOCRACY IN THE ERA OF FORD, CAPRA, AND KAZAN by Sam B. Girgus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998—$59.95/paper price not given, ISBN 0–521–62388‐X hard, 0–521–62552–1 paper, 258 pp., index, chapter notes, filmography, B&W photos)

IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN: CONTEMPORARY FEMALE FRIENDSHIP FILMS by Karen Hollinger (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998—$47.95/18.95, ISBN 0–8166–3177–8 hard, 0–8166–3178–6 paper, 275 pp., chapter notes, photos, index)

INDIGENOUS AESTHETICS: NATIVE ART MEDIA AND IDENTITY by Steven Leuthold (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998—$35.00/16.95, ISBN 0–292–74702–0 hard, 0–292–74703–9 paper, 238 pp., bibliography, filmography, photos, index)

PASSPORT TO HOLLYWOOD: HOLLYWOOD FILMS, EUROPEAN DIRECTORS by James Morrison (Albany: State University of New York Press “SUNY Series in Postmodern Culture,”; 1998—$65.00/21.95, ISBN 0–7914–3937–2 hard, 0–7914–3938–0 paper, 310 pp., bibliography, chapter notes, photos, index)

EDISON MOTION PICTURES, 1890–1900: AN ANNOTATED FILMOGRAPHY by Charles Musser (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998—$75.00, ISBN 1–56098–567–4, 720 pp., illustrations, bibliography, indexes for film titles, personal and corporate names, subjects, and locations)

THE FILMS OF JOHN FRANKENHEIMER: FORTY YEARS IN FILM: JOHN FRANKENHEIMER TALKS ABOUT HIS LIFE IN THE CINEMA TO GERALD PRATLEY by Gerald Pratley (Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 1998—$55.00, ISBN 1–900541–40–8, 294 pp., photos, film credits, index)

SAVAGE CINEMA: SAM PECKINPAH AND THE RISE OF ULTRAVIOLENT MOVIES by Stephen Prince (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998— $35.00/18.95, ISBN 0–292–76581–9 hard, 0–292–76582–7 paper, 282 pp., bibliography, chapter notes, photos, index)

FOR THE LOVE OF PLEASURE: WOMEN, MOVIES, AND CULTURE IN THE TURN‐OF‐THE‐CENTURY CHICAGO by Lauren Rabinovitz (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998—$49.00/19.00, ISBN 0–8135–2533–0 hard, 0–8135–2534–9 paper, 233 pp., film index, bibliography, chapter notes, photos, index)

REALITY TRANSFORMED: FILM AS MEANING AND TECHNIQUE by Irving Singer (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998—$25.00, ISBN 0–262–19403–1, 216 pp., notes, photos, index)

THE NEW HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF THE AMERICAN FILM INDUSTRY by Anthony Slide (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998—$55.00, ISBN 0–8108–3426‐X, 267 pp., resource libraries and institutions addresses, index)

FRAMING LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA: CONTEMPORARY CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES edited by Ann Marie Stock (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press “Hispanic Issues, Vol. 15,”; 1997—$47.95/18.95, ISBN 0–8166–2972–2 hard, 0–8166–2973–0 paper, 269 pp., chapter notes, photos, index)

MODES OF REPRESENTATION IN SPANISH CINEMA edited by Jenaro Talens and Santos Zunzunegui (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press “Hispanic Issues, Vol. 16,”; 1998—$54.95/21.95, ISBN 0–8166–2974–9 hard, 0–8166–2975–7 paper, 346 pp., chapter notes, index)

WORKING GIRLS: GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN POPULAR CINEMA by Yvonne Tasker (New York: Routledge, 1998—hardcover price not given/$19.99, ISBN 0–415–14004–8 hard, 0–415–14005–6 paper, 234 pp., bibliography, chapter notes, filmography, photos, index)

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NOVELS INTO FILM edited by John C. Tibbetts and James M. Welsh (New York: Facts on File, 1998—$48.00, ISBN 0–8160–3317‐X, 522 pp., filmographies, references, appendices including biographical sketches of authors, selected bibliography, index)

GUIDE TO AMERICAN CINEMA, 1930–1965 by Thomas R. Whissen (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press “Reference Guides to the World's Cinema,”; 1998—$79.50, ISBN 0–313–29487–9, 389 pp., appendixes, bibliography, index)

ALLEGORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT: AESTHETICS AND POLITICS IN MODERN BRAZILIAN CINEMA by Ismail Xavier (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997—$54.95/21.95, ISBN 0–8166–2676–6 hard, 0–8166–2677–4 paper, 285 pp., chapter notes, photos, index)     

Popular and critical studies

FACING DIFFERENCE: RACE, GENDER, AND MASS MEDIA edited by Shirley Biagi and Marilyn Kern‐Foxworth (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1997—$27.95, ISBN 0–8039–9094–4 soft, 285 pp., tables, charts, illustrations, notes, references, index)

THE CIVIL WAR IN POPULAR CULTURE: A REUSABLE PAST by Jim Cullen (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997—$13.95, paper, ISBN 1–56098–687–7, 254 pp., illustrations, notes, index)

AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE AT HOME & ABROAD edited by Lewis H. Carlson and Kevin B. Vichcales (Kalamazoo, MI: New Issues Press, 1996—$40.00/20.00, ISBN 0–932826–42–3 hard, 0–932826–43–1 soft, 388 pp., footnotes)

DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE: THE JFK ASSASSINATION IN ART AND FILM by Art Simon (Philadelphia: Temple University Press “Culture and the Moving Image,”; 1996—$49.95/18.95, ISBN 1–56639–378–7 hard, 1–56639–379–5 soft, 265 pp., illustrations, notes, index)

IN THE ZONE: THE TWILIGHT WORLD OF ROD SERLING by Peter Wolfe (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997— $39.95/19.95, ISBN 0–87972–729–2 hard, 0–87972–730–6 soft, 217 pp., works cited, index)     

A Review of: “John Hartley and Kelly Mcwilliam (Eds.). Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World.”

Media rating systems have been introduced in many countries to protect minors from being exposed to harmful media content. This study examines whether retailers comply with the guidelines of media ratings in the Netherlands. In a mystery shopping study, minors tried to buy or rent media products for which they were too young. An overall success rate of 86% shows that compliance on the shop floor is problematic. In a mystery call study, parents asked vendors for advice about media ratings. Only 33% of the parents were advised in accordance with the age classifications. A survey of vendors investigated the determinants of compliance. Personal acceptance, awareness of a legal basis, and perceived surveillance proved to be important determinants of self-reported compliance.     

Investigating variations in the provision of digital services in public libraries using network-based GIS models

Public libraries have been seen to have an important role in providing digital services to potentially excluded groups in order to help meet government targets regarding the delivery of digital services. Geographical information systems (GIS) have been used to investigate library service areas, to aid initial location decisions, and to model the implications of the opening and closure of library services. Recent studies have promoted the use of GIS-based techniques to investigate spatial variations in accessibility to public and private services in relation to socio-economic characteristics of population groups. One such technique, based on floating catchment area (FCA) approaches, has been primarily used to investigate potential inequalities in health services, access to employment and leisure opportunities, as well as planning public transport. In this study, FCA techniques are used to research variations in accessibility to public library facilities using bespoke application tools developed within a commercial GIS package. Drawing on a preliminary analysis of variations in accessibility to library services in a local authority area in south Wales, UK, a case study is presented whereby GIS-based models can be used to investigate spatial variations in digital services provision. As a result, provision gaps of such services can be identified. This study's findings help guide national government delivery programs to promote digital inclusion.     

Editing structure in the televised versions of the 1976 presidential debates

The Concept of Effects: Recognizing our Personal Judgments

Andrew Crisell. Understanding radio. New York: Methuen, 1986. 236 pp. $29.95 (cloth), $10.95 (paper)

Michael C. Keith. Radio programming: Consultancy and formatics. Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1987. 196 pp. $21.95 (paper)

Teun A. van Dijk. News as discourse. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1988. 200 pp. $24.95 (cloth)

Philip Collins. Radios: The golden age. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1987, 119 pp. $25.00 (cloth), $14.95 (paper)