Text Mining 101: What You Should Know

ABSTRACT

Scholars increasingly use text and data mining (TDM) methods to discover trends and relationships within complex digital data sets. In order to support this development in scholarly communication, librarians and publishers need to be knowledgeable about TDM methods, build partnerships with TDM researchers, and address challenges related to licensing and access to large document sets. The presenters of this NASIG session shared their experiences of supporting TDM as a library subject liaison, acquisitions librarian, and publisher representatives. Audience members discussed issues involving TDM of data from multiple publishers, local hosting of data sets and TDM activity by undergraduate students.     

Blue-collar work, career, and success: occupational narratives of Sisu

This study examined underground iron ore miners' occupational narratives to uncover how their stories socialize miners into blue-collar careers and reinforce their work identities. Through the root theme of sisu (Finnish for inner determination), underground miners create a status hierarchy that is used to construct a sense of pride around their work and to establish milestones of success for themselves and others in their workgroup. Furthermore, they communicatively construct exemplars that guide their performance and decisions during the unfolding of their work experiences. Their discourses provide alternatives to white-collar conceptualizations and practices of careers and success.     

Living–Learning Programs and First-Generation College Students’ Academic and Social Transition to College

This study examines the role of living–learning (L/L) programs in facilitating first-generation students’ perceived academic and social transition to college. Using a sample of 1,335 first-generation students from 33 4-year institutions who participated in the National Study of Living–Learning Programs during Spring 2004, the results of the study show that first-generation students in L/L programs reported a more successful academic and social transition to college than their first-generation counterparts living in a traditional residence hall setting. In addition, interactions with faculty members and using residence hall resources facilitated an easier academic transition for first-generation students in L/L programs, and supportive residence hall climates were related to an easier social transition. A preliminary interpretation of this study’s results is that structured activities, such as faculty interaction and residence hall programming, are more influential for this population than informal peer groups. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.     

Extending Curriculum‐based Assessment to Early Writing

Early writing interventions can help students develop the writing skills they need to experience positive educational and postsecondary outcomes, but effective intervention requires instructionally relevant assessment data. Shapiro's curriculum‐based assessment (CBA) model integrates related yet distinct CBA approaches into a model that informs intervention. Extending this model to early writing poses challenges only recently addressed by research. On the basis of a review of relevant early writing research, this article outlines an instructionally relevant assessment model for early writing. Within the proposed model, the instructional hierarchy is suggested to directly connect early writing assessment with intervention. A discussion of potential limitations as well as future directions for research is included.     

The Relationship Between Exposure to Sexual Music Videos and Young Adults' Sexual Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between exposure to sexual music videos and young people's sexual attitudes (i.e., premarital sexual permissiveness and endorsement of the sexual double standard). Items gauging exposure to 75 music videos ranging in sexual explicitness were used to measure sexual video viewing among a sample of 266 undergraduate students. As expected, exposure to more sexually explicit music videos was associated with more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and stronger endorsement of the sexual double standard, regardless of gender, overall television viewing, and previous sexual experience. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.