Effects of crowd size on referee decisions: analysis of the FA Cup

Data were collected on the number of first yellow cards awarded during 857 games, over six seasons (1996 - 2002), played in the Football Association (FA) Cup. Overall, a significantly higher number of yellow cards were awarded against the away team, while a non-linear relationship between crowd size and yellow cards was observed. In general, the probability of a yellow card being awarded against the home team decreased as crowd size increased, but was attenuated for the largest crowd sizes. Crowd size may be related to the probability of the home team receiving a yellow card in two potential ways. Crowd noise may be a decision-making heuristic whereby the likelihood that an incident is a foul is increased when accompanied by crowd noise. Alternatively, referees may seek to appease the crowd and are more likely to do so as crowd size increases. The present findings have implications for the training of match officials and for coaches and players as they prepare to play away from home.     

Fast bowling arm actions and the illegal delivery law in men's high performance cricket matches

This study investigated the bowling arm kinematics of 21 elite fast bowlers (mean +/- SD; age = 27.8 +/- 3.9 years) while performing in test, tour and one day international matches. Thirty-one of the 34 deliveries analysed exhibited straightening at the elbow joint (straightening min = 3 degrees, max = 22 degrees, mean +/- SD = 9 +/- 5 degrees), which by strict definition in the 2000 laws of cricket made them illegal. Five deliveries from three bowlers exhibited hyperextension of the bowling elbow (19 +/- 5 degrees). When assessed against an arbitrary threshold of 15 degrees for elbow straightening, ball speeds for deliveries above this threshold (39.5 +/- 2.0 m/s) were significantly faster (effect size = 1.4; p = 0.006) than deliveries below it (37.1 +/- 1.4 m/s). When grouped by delivery length, the bouncers and short deliveries recorded more elbow straightening (12 +/- 6.6 degrees) than the good length deliveries (9 +/- 4.4 degrees) and the full deliveries (8 +/- 5.7 degrees), although these were not statistically significant differences. The results of this study support the implementation of a tolerance threshold for assessing the legality of fast bowling actions. Further research is recommended into in-match kinematic modelling, laboratory based assessments of illegal bowling actions, perceptual aspects of bowling actions and remedial methods to reduce elbow straightening in bowling actions.     

Munchausen by Proxy in an international context

OBJECTIVE: The professional literature on Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) abuse consists of more than 400 articles, chapters, and books. Most have come from a handful of English-speaking industrialized countries. Our aims were to establish the extent to which published work about MBP has emerged from outside these countries, and to determine the characteristics of any reported cases. METHOD: Numerous health care computer databases were queried, and the results supplemented by materials accumulated less formally. RESULTS: We identified 59 articles from 24 countries describing at least 122 cases in 9 different languages. Among cases in which the information was available, the mother was the sole perpetrator in 86%, the victim was aged between 3 years and 13 years in 52%, and the victim was male in 54%. The presentations of MBP appear to be similar across the world with the exception of induced apnea, which emerged as notably uncommon in this review. An extensive table presents the characteristics of each case. CONCLUSIONS: MBP clearly is not a phenomenon unique to Western or highly medicalized societies. This form of abuse is being increasingly recognized and reported throughout the world. The literature from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand often presupposes access to resources, such as subspecialists and social service agencies, that may be seriously constrained in other countries. The contributions of professionals elsewhere will be vital in ensuring that the efforts in English-speaking industrialized settings to develop standards of care encompass an international perspective.     

About Face: The Rebirth of the Portrait Gallery in the Twenty‐first Century

Abstract Given the Victorian origins of the idea of a national portrait gallery, how relevant are such institutions today? The rebirth of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. has involved a reinvestigation of notions of greatness, national identity, and the ongoing vitality of portraiture as an artistic form. Who should be deemed crucial to the telling of our national history? The evolution of thinking in our own day about the nature of national identity has undergone a dramatic shift. We have made decisions that might curl a Victorian's toes.     

Validité des instruments de décision pour l'évaluation des enseignants?

A review of the literature shows that the use of teacher evaluation in public education is widespread. This seems paradoxical when one considers the amount of criticism levied at them by a various groups. The present study was designed in order to deal with the problems of validity and reliability of teacher evaluation instruments planned for the purpose of teachers' promotion or for awarding merit pay. Based upon a review of the literature and school inspectors' judgements, a teacher evaluation instrument including 25 items has been constructed. The instrument has been tested by five school inspectors and 180 school principals. Following their judgements and the factor analysis run upon the data, a face validity and a content validity of the developed instrument emerged. However, conclusions concerning the reliability of the instrument have to be treated with caution. The use of an instrument of this type is justified only for making preliminary decisions as to the eligibility of teachers for further consideration for promotion or for merit pay. L'analyse de la littérature professionnelle montre l'utilisation croissante dans les établissements publics des instruments d'évaluation des enseignants. Ceci parait paradoxal si l'on tient compte des critiques importantes formulées à leur encontre par des groupes différents. La présente étude traite des problèmes de validitéet de fiabilitédes instruments d'évaluation des enseignants pour les décisions de promotion et de rémunération ''de mérite''. Se fondant sur la littérature professionnelle et sur les appréciations formulées par les inspecteurs scolaires, elle a élaboré un instrument représentatif d'évaluation des enseignants comportant 25 éléments. L'instrument a été testé auprès de 5 inspecteurs et de 180 directeurs d'école. Les résultats révèlent que cet instrument possède une validitéde contenu établie sur la littérature professionnelle, sur l'appréciation des inspecteurs scolaires et sur les résultats d'une analyse de facteurs fondée sur les réponses des directeurs d'école au questionnaire proposé. Toutefois, en ce qui concerne la fiabilité, les conclusions sont plus nuancées. L'utilisation d'instruments de ce type semble uniquement efficace pour la détermination préliminaire de ceux qui au sein des enseignants auraient droit ensuite à un examen plus précis de leurs mérites en vue de promotion ou de rémunérations. El análisis de la literatura profesional evidencia el uso creciente en los establecimientos públicos de instrumentos de evaluación de los profesores. Esto podría parecer paradójico si se tienen en cuenta las críticas importantes formuladas por diferentes grupos. El presente estudio trata de los problemas de validez y de fiabilidad de los instrumentsos de evaluación de los profesores para las decisiones de promoción y de remuneración ''del mérito''. Tomando como base la literatura profesional y las apreciaciones formuladas por los inspectores escolares, se ha elaborado un instrumento representativo de la evaluación de los profesores que comporta 25 elementos. El instrumento se sometióa prueba con 5 inspectores y 180 directores de escuela. Los resultados revelan que este instrumento representativo posee una validez de contenido establecida a partir de la literatura profesional, de la apreciación de los inspectores escolares y de los resultados de un análisis de factores que se fundamenta en las respuestas al cuestionario de directores de escuela. Sin embargo, en lo que se refiere a la fiabilidad de contenido, las conclusiones no son tan definidas. El uso de instrumentos de este tipo parece únicamente eficaz para la determinación preliminar de aquellos profesores que podrian tener derecho en una fase posterior, a pasar un examen más preciso de sus méritos para una promoción o remuneración. Sin embargo, dicho grupo de profesores una vez identificado, el instrumento no parece ser lo suficientemente fiable para la decisión de una promoción y convendría desarrollar enfoques complementarios. Ein Überblick über die Fachliteratur zeigt, dass sich die Verwendung Lehrerbewertungen immer mehr verbreitet, obwohl es paradoxalerweise von verschiedenen Gruppen stark kritisiert wird. Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich mit den Problemen der Gültgkeit und Zuverlässigkeit von den Lehrerbewertungsmitteln, in Bezug auf die Beförderungsentscheidungen und auf die Leistungsentlohnungen. Sie hat, gestützt auf die Fachliteratur und auf die Ansichten der Schulraten, einen Bewertungssystem der Lehrer in 25 Punkten entworfen. Dieses Bewertungssystem wurde von 25 Schulraten und von 180 Schuldirektoren geprüft. Ihre Ansichten, sowie die Faktorenanalyse der Daten, bestätigen die Gültigkeit dieses Instrumentes. Die Benutzung eines Instrumentes dieser Art sollte zu einer ersten Entscheidung führen, dessen Inhalt nur die Berechtigung der Lehrer zur Beförderung, zur Leistungsentlohnung und zur weitere Untersuchung beinflussen sollte.     

You Need More Organization Bro: Relationship Building in Secondary Writing and Revision

In this article, we describe the peer-response workshop we conducted in an ethnically and linguistically diverse secondary school classroom in an urban center in the southwest. We show how the three main parts of the workshop combine to help students cultivate writing relationships in which they see writing as social and co-constructed, rather than as a solitary act performed for the teacher.     

Infant Temperament: Stability by Age,Gender, Birth Order,Term Status,and Socioeconomic Status

Two complementary studies focused on stability of infant temperament across the 1st year and considered infant age, gender, birth order, term status, and socioeconomic status (SES) as moderators. Study 1 consisted of 73 mothers of firstborn term girls and boys queried at 2, 5, and 13 months of age. Study 2 consisted of 335 mothers of infants of different gender, birth order, term status, and SES queried at 6 and 12 months. Consistent positive and negative affectivity factors emerged at all time points across both studies. Infant temperament proved stable and robust across gender, birth order, term status, and SES. Stability coefficients for temperament factors and scales were medium to large for shorter (< 9 months) interassessment intervals and small to medium for longer (> 10 months) intervals.