Comparing American soccer dialogues: social media commentary Surrounding the 2014 US men’s and 2015 US women’s World Cup teams

Abstract

Mega sporting events such as the World Cup have been found to stimulate categorization of in-groups and out-groups among fans. While self-categorization correlates with gender, the sport of soccer also facilitates nationalistic categorization. The World Cup features nation vs. nation competition while making gender a non-variable as the men and women compete in separate tournaments in separate years. This study examined 33,529 tweets illustrating social media match commentary involving US teams and opponents on Twitter during the 2014 and 2015 World Cups. Results revealed US teams were more likely to be described in regard to attributions of success and failure, while opposition teams were more likely to receive personal and physical attributions. Conversely, no differences were found between US Men’s and Women’s teams in regard to characterizations of success and failure, but revealed the Women’s team was more likely to receive personal and physical characterizations.     

Children’s screen and problematic media use in the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

This mixed methods study examined parent-reported child screen media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining 2019–2020 changes in parent perceptions of media, screen media use (SMU), and problematic media use (PMU) in children aged 2–13 years (N = 129; 64 boys, 64 girls, 1 nonbinary; 90.7% White, 4.6% Hispanic/Latino, 0.8% Black, 8.5% multiethnic; primarily middle-to-high income). Quantitative analyses showed a significant SMU and PMU increase (medium effect size). There was a steeper increase in PMU among school-age (older) children. Together, the qualitative and quantitative results suggest that the PMU and SMU increase were influenced by distal, proximal, and maintaining factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning, child behaviors, other children, parental mediation, and positive media reinforcement.     

Harms of Hedging in Scientific Discourse: Andrew Wakefield and the Origins of the Autism Vaccine Controversy

This study reveals the discursive origins of the Autism MMR vaccine controversy through a rhetorical examination of the 1998 Wakefield et al. article. I argue the very practices of scientific publishing, specifically the tradition of hedging, help to create a scientifically acceptable text but also leave discursive gaps. These gaps allow for alternate interpretations as scientific texts pass from technical to public contexts, enabling insufficiently supported claims the standing of scientific knowledge among citizens.     

Running patterns for male and female competitive and recreational runners based on accelerometer data

The purpose of this study was to classify runners in sex-specific groups as either competitive or recreational based on center of mass (CoM) accelerations. Forty-one runners participated in the study (25 male and 16 female), and were labeled as competitive or recreational based on age, sex, and race performance. Three-dimensional acceleration data were collected during a 5-minute treadmill run, and 24 features were extracted. Support vector machine classification models were used to examine the utility of the features in discriminating between competitive and recreational runners within each sex-specific subgroup. Competitive and recreational runners could be classified with 82.63 % and 80.4 % in the male and female models, respectively. Dominant features in both models were related to regularity and variability, with competitive runners exhibiting more consistent running gait patterns, but the specific features were slightly different in each sex-specific model. Therefore, it is important to separate runners into sex-specific competitive and recreational subgroups for future running biomechanical studies. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the ability to analyze running biomechanics in competitive and recreational runners using only CoM acceleration patterns. A runner, clinician, or coach may use this information to monitor how running patterns change as a result of training.     

From principle to practice: community consultation regarding access to Indigenous language material in archival records at the State Library of New South Wales

In the context of Indigenous languages, archival science in Australia continues to move from a theoretical framework of considering record subjects as third parties to a ‘participants model’. In a participants model framework record subjects are considered co-creators and custodians of the intellectual property of the record. However, the shift from theory to practice is still an under-described challenge currently facing archival professionals. This article reports on an experience of applying guidelines developed by First Languages Australia (FLA) and National and State Libraries of Australasia (NSLA) aimed at enhancing the rights of Indigenous Australians over records that contain Indigenous language material. A team of researchers from the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) Indigenous Services branch and Western Sydney University engaged with four Indigenous language groups to evaluate records containing Indigenous language material held at the SLNSW. On viewing the archival records of Indigenous language material members of community groups expressed a diversity of opinions and suggestions. This feedback was grouped by the authors into the following themes: painful remembrance of the provenance of the archival record, evaluations of the value of the documents, custodianship and use of the language material, and access to the SLNSW records. The authors found that participants in the study substantially shaped the process of implementing the protocols.     

User wayfinding strategies in public library facilities

An experiment in a public library demonstrates that Passini's conceptual framework of wayfinding can be applied to public library patron wayfinding behavior. Participants were asked to think aloud while completing prescribed wayfinding tasks. Findings indicate that library patrons use all five of Passini's strategies to varying degrees, supporting the need for further research testing this framework with library patrons. Participants were given varying level of details on Passini's strategies prior to completing the wayfinding tasks, and that intervention had no significant effect on the results.     

Empirical comparison of alternative instructional TV technologies

An experiment was conducted to compare training effectiveness and user acceptance of live instruction andsix different alternative Instructional TV (ITV) technologies: multi‐channel 2‐way video with 2‐way audio, single‐channel 2‐way video with 2‐way audio, 1‐way video with 2‐way audio, 1‐way video with 1‐way audio, 1‐way video with intermittent 2‐way audio, and audiographics. Findings were that, in comparison with live instruction, ITV in several different forms was effective both in terms of student performance and acceptance. The most successful ITV technologies were those allowing continuous 2‐way audio communication between classrooms with either 2‐way or 1‐way video. Student test performance was poorer with ITV systems that restricted remote students' ability to converse with or see the instructor and the performance decrement was evident in both local and remote classrooms.

The research described was performed under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Technology. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors, are not official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Navy department.     

Teacher and observer ratings of young African American children's social and emotional competence

Children's social and emotional competence abilities have been linked to successful social interactions and academic performance. This study examined the teacher and observer ratings of social and emotional competence for 89 young (3‐ to 5‐year‐old), African American children from economically stressed urban environments. There was a specific interest in understanding the convergence and divergence of the raters on these competence behaviors within the classroom. This study also examined the association among children's competence abilities and their overall functioning at school. There were significant associations between teacher and observer reports of children's competence. Children who were observed to be socially and emotionally competent were rated by their teachers as functioning well in school. However, there were differences among teacher and observer reports in terms of the specific behaviors that represented social and emotional competence. These findings provide support for the use of multi‐method, multi‐informant measures to assess competence among African American children. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Variations in pre-service teachers’ career exploration and commitment to teaching

The purpose of this study was to investigate various career paths pre-service teachers explore and the processes of establishing their commitment to becoming a teacher. A mixed-methods design was employed; 326 surveys measured the levels of pre-service teachers’ career exploration and commitment using occupational identity status (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion), along with resilience and perceived instrumentality. Thirty-two interviews were followed to further explore detailed variations of their career decision-making journey. MANOVA analysis indicated significant differences for resilience and perceived instrumentality based on the four occupational identity statuses. Subsequent qualitative analysis identified various patterns where pre-service teachers differed in their entry motivation, negotiation for their career decision making, and the strength of their commitment to teaching. The findings of this study illuminate iterative and non-linear development of pre-service teachers’ professional identity.