Movies in Public Libraries: A Checklist Comparison with Internet Movie Database Recommendations

This research compares the fifty top-rated movies for 2000–2009 recommended by the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) with the holdings of ten medium-sized public libraries. The study shows that there was no relation between a movie's rank in the IMDb listing and the number of copies held. Relationships appeared between number of library holdings and country of production (U.S. productions favored), genre (family, sci-fi, animation, adventure favored), and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating (G, PG, PG-13 preferred). Library holdings seem to reflect preferences of IMDb raters aged 30 and older, not popular movie tastes.     

A Content Analysis Guide for Media Economics Scholars

The study of demand for media products requires an understanding of audience members' preferences, which are shaped by their taste for content. Despite the central role of content in understanding some aspects of media economics, media economics scholars sometimes apply content analysis in ways that are inconsistent with the generally accepted practices of the method. This article deals with some basic concepts underlying the method of content analysis to familiarize media economics scholars with the method. The adoption of accepted content analysis practices will yield better data and, in the long-run, help advance the understanding of media economics.     

Teacher education in practice: reconciling practices and theories in the United States context

This paper reports findings from an 18-month qualitative study that followed the experiences of nine teacher residents, their site professors, site coordinators, clinical teachers and principals in three professional learning schools. The study examined the tensions that emerged as teacher preparation theory intersected with the context-bound realities of daily life in schools and the political constraints that diminish possibilities for inclusive education. The paper addresses implications for teacher preparation programmes by reporting how teacher residents negotiated their understanding of and commitment for inclusive education through three themes: (a) critical reflection as an emergent practice, (b) whose learning, and (c) the trouble with behaviour. Interpreting these themes has implications for programmatic designs in teacher preparation.     

Informal scientific communication in the agricultural sciences2

This analysis of informal scientific communication emphasizes the communication which occurs among public sector agricultural researchers. While the formal channels and the informal channels constitute the two mutually dependent elements of this communication, the importance of the informal channels is often ignored. The informal communication network is examined utilizing a survey of randomly sampled U.S. agricultural scientists listed in the Current Research Information System (N = 1431). Particular individuals in the informal communication network are viewed as important sources of influence for a variety of research decisions such as choice of problem, methods, key concepts and theoretical orientation. However, informal scientific communication appears to occur infrequently, and to be primarily limited to one's own discipline. Scientists report communication with scientists outside their department, clients and extension staff is limited to less than once a month. In addition, the nature and frequency of the informal scientific communication is highly related to the criteria utilized in establishing research agendas and the publication products. However, the use of and reliance on particular channels of communication may affect scientists and their research in different and sometimes contradictory ways. Consequently, it is important to view the informal scientific communication and the processes and products of science as inextricably bound together in a mutually interdependent social system.     

全民公决的若干问题

一些投票人在面对若干二元问题时,如果他们对这些二元问题结果的偏好是不可分割的,那么即使在众多可能的结果中存在着一个孔多塞(Condorcet)胜者,多数决原则可能最终并不会选择这个孔多塞胜者;相反,社会选择的结果可能是孔多塞失败者,或者是被其他某些结果帕雷托占优。我们还评估了一系列针对全民公决中投票人偏好不可分割这一问题的解决方案,包括对一个问题集合进行投票、贯序投票、以及投票交易等。贯序投票和投票交易可以防止最终选择孔多塞失败者和被其他所有可能的结果帕雷托占优出现。相对全民公决而言,立法机构更容易推动贯序投票和投票交易,因此全民公决虽然增加了民主决策中参与者的数量,但却降低了民主参与的质量。     

The Communicative Construction of Involuntary Membership

This study expands conceptions of organizational membership by examining individuals whose relationships with their organizations are traditionally characterized as involuntary in nature. Data from inmates and prison employees in four U.S. and Norwegian correctional institutions was examined using structuration theory as an emergent interpretive lens, and five primary ways in which involuntary membership is constructed in communication are identified: physical environment, mobility, relationships, engagement, and body. These facets are presented as the foundation of a continuum-based theoretical perspective on (in)voluntary membership and are discussed for their applicability to future research and theorizing across organizational communication studies.     

Commercial science, scientists’ values, and university biotechnology research agendas

Policies designed to promote the commercialization of university science have provoked concern that basic and publicly accessible research may be neglected. Commercialization policies have altered traditional institutional incentives and constraints, which raises new questions regarding the influence of scientists’ values on university research agendas. Our research builds on previous quantitative studies measuring changes in research outcomes and qualitative studies probing differentiation among scientists’ value orientations. We developed a nation-wide survey of 912 plant and animal biotechnology scientists at 60 research universities. Our analysis reveals that scientists’ value orientations on what we classify as “market” and “expert” science affect the amount of industry funding they receive, the proprietary nature of their discoveries, and the percentage of basic science research conducted in their laboratories. We also find that the percentage of industry funding is significantly associated with more applied research. Our findings provide insights for science and society theory and suggest that strong incentives for public-science research along with adequate public-research funds to preserve the university's vital role in conducting basic and non-proprietary research are needed to complement private-sector research investments at universities.     

Cost and competition in the adoption of satellite news gathering technology

This study finds that many local stations subscribe to satellite news networks to obtain material for news broadcasts but that the high cost of satellite news gathering vehicles stops most from obtaining such vehicles. The study also finds that intensity of competition in the local market is a primary reason for acquiring such equipment.     

Context and Sources in Broadcast Television Coverage of the 2004 Democratic Primary

This study examined context variables (reporter speculation, multiple viewpoints, and story emphasis) and source variables (anonymous sources and source transparency) in broadcast television coverage of the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. Primary coverage was compared with coverage of other major stories. Primary coverage was no more focused on conflict than were other major stories. Primary coverage was, however, more focused on winners and losers, and primary reporting was more likely to include reporter speculation. Primary stories were just as likely to include anonymous sources as were other major stories, but primary stories also were more likely than other major stories to fully identify sources.