Breaking the structural logjam: The impact of cable on local TV market concentration

The author considers the effect of cable on market concentration in local television markets using different types of market definitions for the analysis. He concludes that cable has introduced competition and that it has lowered concentration levels in local markets, thus altering the structure of television markets put in place by FCC television allocation plans and limits of local economies.     

Examining the Performance of the Modified ADF Goodness-of-fit Test Statistic in Structural Equation Models

The asymptotically distribution-free (ADF) test statistic depends on very mild distributional assumptions and is theoretically superior to many other so-called robust tests available in structural equation modeling. The ADF test, however, often leads to model overrejection even at modest sample sizes. To overcome its poor small-sample performance, a family of robust test statistics obtained by modifying the ADF statistics was recently proposed. This study investigates by simulation the performance of the new modified test statistics. The results revealed that although a few of the test statistics adequately controlled Type I error rates in each of the examined conditions, most performed quite poorly. This result underscores the importance of choosing a modified test statistic that performs well for specific examined conditions. A parametric bootstrap method is proposed for identifying such a best-performing modified test statistic. Through further simulation it is shown that the proposed bootstrap approach performs well.     

Muslim,Too: Navigating Multiple Identities at an American University

Although Muslims have a significant presence at American universities, they are largely ignored by campus policies and resources and may find it difficult to reconcile their university experience with their religious values and practices. Using bicultural acculturation as a theoretical lens along with interviews and document analysis, this exploratory study of ten Muslim students at one university suggests that students have acquired the tools to successfully navigate membership in both American and Muslim cultural groups, evaluating each setting before invoking a particular identity. However, the acculturation process does not require any change by the institution. While participants described a need to adopt situationally-appropriate behaviors, they did not expect accommodation from the university or their peers.     

Theater for the 21st Century and Beyond: The New Digital Stagecraft

The Virtual Theatricality Lab uses media innovations such as digital video, stereoscopic 3D projection, motion capture, and real time virtual reality navigation. These resources nurture the daring creative visions of theater artists who will embrace the multidimensional technological performance arena of the 21st century and beyond.     

Student Engagement at a Large Suburban Community College: Gender and Race Differences

Previous research shows that there are individual differences in academic achievement associated with gender and race. Research also suggests that student engagement is an important determinant of student outcomes/achievement. The present study explored student engagement at an extra-large community college. It specifically investigated possible individual differences in student engagement and explored how it maps on to student achievement. As predicted, the results indicate that there are gender and race differences in student engagement—females show greater engagement than males, and African-American students show greater engagement than students of other races. The results are discussed in the context of student achievement as indicated by students’ self-reported GPAs.     

Peer Coaching of At-Risk Students in a Remedial Mathematics Course

Remedial mathematics at the college level has evidenced strikingly low retention and passing rates. It has been shown that at least 25% of the variation in student performance is explained by students’ affective variables such as attitudes, study skills, and mathematics anxiety. This study endeavored to address affective variables by: (a) incorporating the teaching of study skills into an elementary algebra course; and (b) identifying at-risk students and assigning these students “coaches,” who functioned both as tutors and counselors, providing regular personalized assistance. The results showed that the attrition rate was significantly lower in the treatment groups, and the overall passing rate for coached students was significantly higher.     

Evaluation of Validity and Reliability for Hierarchical Scales Using Latent Variable Modeling

A latent variable modeling method is outlined, which accomplishes estimation of criterion validity and reliability for a multicomponent measuring instrument with hierarchical structure. The approach provides point and interval estimates for the scale criterion validity and reliability coefficients, and can also be used for testing composite or simple hypotheses about these coefficients. The proposed method is illustrated with a numerical example.     

Examining Measure Correlations With Incomplete Data Sets

A 2-stage procedure for estimation and testing of observed measure correlations in the presence of missing data is discussed. The approach uses maximum likelihood for estimation and the false discovery rate concept for correlation testing. The method can be used in initial exploration-oriented empirical studies with missing data, where it is of interest to estimate manifest variable interrelationship indexes and test hypotheses about their population values. The procedure is applicable also with violations of the underlying missing at random assumption, via inclusion of auxiliary variables. The outlined approach is illustrated with data from an aging research study.