Diversity research in the United States Navy: An update

Researchers at the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center (NPRDC) have investigated issues related to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity for over two decades. Rosenfeld, M.D. Thomas, Edwards, P.J. Thomas, and E.D. Thomas (1991) provided a comprehensive review of NPRDC diversity research conducted between 1970 and 1990. This article examines NPRDC diversity research conducted during the past 5 years and identifies future research issues. The present review is divided into four major topic areas and a final section of conclusions and future directions. The first section describes the Navywide and unit-specific programs to assess equal opportunity climate and sexual harassment. The second section summarizes research pertaining to issues raised by women's changing roles and their increased participation in the Navy. In the third section, the findings of Navy discipline studies shed light on the issue of higher disciplinary rates among minority personnel. Research on Hispanics is reviewed in the fourth section. Finally, in the Discussion and Conclusions section, potential future research emphases are identified.     

Experimental Research Exploring the Efficacy of Using Spectral Analysis for Dating Persian Ceramics,with a Blue Glaze or Presenting Blue Motifs

This paper presents experimental research on the contribution made by spectral analysis to the identification and dating of Persian ceramics with a blue glaze or blue motifs. Since we know that the characteristic blue colour of these ceramics can vary according to their composition and traditions of manufacture that are specific to the different centuries in which they were created, it would be interesting to determine whether a non-destructive and non-invasive method of analysis would be possible to date the ceramic without altering the object itself. To do this, 72 ceramics from the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto, as well as 2 other dishes (a Qajar dish from the nineteenth century and a dish from the twentieth century) were photographed and readings of the blue colour present on the objects were processed using the ImageJ software. Colour values obtained were then plotted on a graph and sorted by century for analysis. This study shows that it is possible to date Persian ceramics using a photograph, a spectrometer, and calibrating software, to establish the century in which a Persian ceramic with blue glaze or blue motif was made.     

The nanotech versus the biotech revolution: Sources of productivity in incumbent firm research

Does the adaptation of incumbent firms to new methods of inventing follow similar patterns across industries and inventions? We investigate this question in the context of the revolutionary scientific advances enabling biotechnology and nanotechnology, both of which represent inventions of methods of inventing for incumbent firms. We hypothesize that an incumbent firm's ability to exploit these new methods of invention depends initially on access to tacit knowledge on how to employ the new methods. Over time, however, as firms learn and/or the knowledge becomes codified in routine procedures or commercially available equipment, inventive output is more highly dependent on traditional R&D investments. We empirically test these hypotheses on two longitudinal samples over the 21-year time period between 1980 and 2000: 80 incumbent pharmaceutical firms generating 15,607 biotechnology patents, and 249 firms across a diverse set of industries that were granted a total of 3236 nanotechnology patents. We find broad support for our conjectures.     

Educate to hate: the use of education in the creation of antagonistic national identities in India and Pakistan

In states that are diverse, issues of national identity formation and who belongs and how they belong can, and often do, change over time. This article analyses how education was used as a tool to artificially create antagonistic national identities based on religious and ethnic definitions of who was Indian or Pakistani. It focuses in particular on how in India the BJP led government (1998–2004) and in Pakistan the government under General Zia‐ul‐Haq (1977–1988) rewrote the curricula and changed textbook content in order to create the ‘other’ in order to suit their ideology and the politics of the day. Drawing on the original textbooks, extensive fieldwork interviews in both countries and a study of recent literature the paper argues that fundamentalization in general and the fundamentalization of textbooks in particular are state controlled mechanisms through which to control society. They can also have serious international consequences, as two antagonistic national identities oppose each other's definition of history and self.     

Collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations in Senegal: lessons learned

This study identifies lessons learned from a collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organisations in Senegal established in the context of an SRHR programme for young people. We assessed how helpline operators are equipped to address sexual health and rights issues with young people, what the relevant skills of operators are, and to what extent referral to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service providers took place. A documentary review, a vignette study and interviews with six key informants and all seven operators took place. The collaboration led to promising initiatives, such as the provision of SRH training, the exchange of staff, referral to SRH service providers. However, the counselling advice provided by operators was not always in line with the rights-based approach and responses were influenced by underlying norms concerning young people’s sexuality. Additionally, concerns about confidentiality were noted. The collaboration was an innovative attempt to respond to young people’s limited access to SRHR information and services but there is a need for more in-depth training of helpline operator’s skills and the development of a standardised rights-based counselling manual.     

A Distribution Free Interval Estimate for Coefficient Alpha

Scales are important tools for obtaining quantitative measures of theoretical constructs. Once a set of measures to be used in a scale is selected, reliability is commonly examined in order to assess their measurement quality. To date, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is the most commonly reported index of measurement quality for assessing scale reliability. In this paper, an asymptotic distribution of the natural estimator of coefficient alpha is derived. A new interval estimate and a statistical test on the significance of the sample estimate of the coefficient are also presented. The proposed approach is compared to four popular methods commonly used to compute confidence intervals (CI) for alpha using a Monte Carlo simulation study. An R function for implementing the proposed CI approach is also provided.     

Designing Retention Research for Assessment and Enhanced Competitive Advantage

Tertiary Education and Management - Based on a longitudinal study of entering freshmen at a selective, private college in northeastern USA, this article provides a model for designing retention...     

Why Faculty-Student Interaction Matters in the First Year Experience

Tertiary Education and Management - This paper presents a model for assessing the impact of interaction with faculty on student outcomes. Based on analyses of 1,500 freshman responses to Your First...