Organizational and Intercultural Communication: An Annotated Bibliography

Professional technical communication often takes place within a larger organizational structure, a structure defined and constrained by both external (national or disciplinary) and internal (organizational) cultures. Thus, theories that help technical communicators analyze and understand organizations can be of especial importance. This bibliography overviews theories of organization from the viewpoint of culture, using five themes of organizational research as a framework. Based on this framework, each section introduces specific theories of international, intercultural, or organizational communication, building upon them through a series of related articles, and showing how they can be applied in the field of technical communication.     

Price response in persistence decisions: An analysis of the high school and beyond senior cohort

It is well established in the research literature that student financial aid has a positive influence on year-to-year persistence. However, there has been no prior research on price responsiveness in persistence decisions. This article examines the influence of the amounts of student financial aid received and tuition charged on year-to-year persistence by college students in the high school class of 1980. The principal finding is that the persistence decisions of college students in the early 1980s were more responsive to increases in student aid than to tuition increases. This finding suggests that persistence rates can be improved if institutions increase need-based aid for currently enrolled students when tuition is increased each year, or if government student aid increases over the levels provided in the 1980s.Presented at the Seventh Annual NASSGP/NCHELP Research Conference, Washington, D.C., May 16, 1990.     

Exploration of direct and indirect associations of system-level policy-amenable variables with reading literacy performance

As expectations of the economic impact of educational attainment are soaring (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2009 Hanushek E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2009). Do better schools lead to more growth? Cognitive skills, economic outcomes, and causation (NBER Working Paper, No. 14633). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and conjectures about successful national educational reforms (Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber, 2010 Mourshed, M., Chijioke, C., & Barber, M. (2010). How the world's most improved school systems keep getting better. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/social_sector/latest_thinking/worlds_most_improved_schools[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) are welcomed by educational policy-makers in many countries, a careful assessment of the empirical evidence for these kinds of claims is needed. In this article, we present a methodology that was applied to an international data set. A multi-level model of education was used to present a hypothetical scenario, indicated as the “implementation scenario”. The scenario was tested on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 data set by means of multi-level structural equation modelling. Although we find some evidence for direct effects and some support for straightforward implementation, the overall impact of malleable conditions at the system and school level appears disappointingly small. A theoretical strand of literature that would account for “limited malleability” is referred to in discussing these results.     

Schoolyard corner society: relating membership to reactive and proactive aggressiveness

This study investigated whether secondary schools in Norway had deviant subcultures, which could be labelled ‘schoolyard corner society’, and how gender and age were related to membership. We also studied levels of reactive and proactive aggressiveness in students, and the relationship between these types of aggressiveness and participation in schoolyard corner societies. Self-reported data were collected from a large, nationally representative sample of Norwegian eighth, ninth and tenth graders (n?=?3342, 1147 boys and 1256 girls). Findings showed that participation in schoolyard corner societies was significantly associated with age, indicating an increasing tendency over time. Reactive aggressiveness as well as power-related and affiliation-related proactive aggressiveness predicted participation to a substantial degree. We also found an interaction between age and affiliation-related proactive aggressiveness in their effects on participation in schoolyard corner societies, which indicates a slight decrease in the effect of proactive aggression over time.     

Flexibility of Suckler Cattle Farms in the Face of Uncertainty within the Beef Industry: A Proposed Definition and an Illustration

Abstract

The aim of this study, carried out in association with beef cattle producers, was to explore the capacity of farms to adapt, from a techno-conomic point of view, to both structural changes in consumer demand for beef products and market disruptions (sudden drop in beef consumption due partly to media coverage of bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE] and foot-and-mouth disease in the winter 2000/2001). The aim is to help farmers and advisors to find solutions to fit farmers’ management choices with their strategic objectives. The flexibility concept was adopted in order to examine how farms reacted to the winter 2000/2001 crisis, and was based on several technical, economic and sociological surveys. A series of variables was proposed and several hypotheses were formulated regarding their impact on farm flexibility. Four types of farm strategy were identified using different combinations of the degree of importance of these variables, with technical, economic and marketing flexibilities specific to each type. The results revealed the different combinations of flexibility-types possible (technical, economic, marketing) and explain why cattle farmers reacted as they did. Analysis of farm flexibility also revealed situations where these technical, economic and marketing flexibilities were either complementary or incompatible. For traditional livestock farmers, high flexibility (technical and economic) allowed them to minimize the impact of the crisis on their systems. In other cases, low flexibility either resulted in inertia, or led farmers to react by seeking solutions outside the cattle farming system. Development groups should take into account these parameters when interacting with farmers. We propose a framework to qualify the use of information resources by farmers, relative to their flexibility.     

Undergraduate Performance of Advanced Level and Associate Degree Students: A Comparative Analysis

In the English-speaking Caribbean, the Advanced level qualification is the traditional and preferred route to accessing an education at the University of the West Indies (UWI). However, applicants with nontraditional qualifications—such as the associate degree qualification, teacher certificate, diploma, and mature student status (meaning one who is out of school for five years and over, is over the age of 25 years, has demonstrated academic potential, and has gained academically relevant knowledge and workplace experience)—are also considered for admission into the UWI degree programs. The objective of this study was to establish whether students with the traditional qualification, that is, two Advanced (A) level subjects, are better able to cope with the requirements of undergraduate study than those with an associate degree, which is one of the nontraditional qualifications. The study compared the performance of two groups of students in the University of the West Indies Faculty of Social Sciences three-year bachelor's degree program (University of the West Indies, 1996 University of the West Indies ( 1996 ). [UWI University of the West Indies: Faculty of Social Sciences Entrance List: 1996/97]. Unpublished raw data . [Google Scholar], 1997 University of the West Indies . ( 1997 ). [UWI University of the West Indies: Faculty of Social Sciences Entrance List: 1997/98] Unpublished raw data.  [Google Scholar], 1998 University of the West Indies . ( 1998 ). [UWI University of the West Indies: Faculty of Social Sciences Entrance List: 1998/99] Unpublished raw data.  [Google Scholar]). One group held the Barbados Community College (BCC) associate degree with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 and the other group consisted of persons entering with two Advanced level subjects from colleges/secondary schools in Barbados. The study compared the performances of 1999, 2000, and 2001 UWI graduates to ascertain whether entry qualifications were related to the type of degree attained. The findings suggested that there is no significant relationship between qualifications at the time of entry and performance.     

Biomechanical comparison of the double-push technique and the conventional skate skiing technique in cross-country sprint skiing

Abstract

The aims of the study were to: (1) adapt the “double-push” technique from inline skating to cross-country skiing; (2) compare this new skiing technique with the conventional skate skiing cross-country technique; and (3) test the hypothesis that the double-push technique improves skiing speed in a short sprint. 13 elite skiers performed maximum-speed sprints over 100 m using the double-push skate skiing technique and using the conventional “V2” skate skiing technique. Pole and plantar forces, knee angle, cycle characteristics, and electromyography of nine lower body muscles were analysed. We found that the double-push technique could be successfully transferred to cross-country skiing, and that this new technique is faster than the conventional skate skiing technique. The double-push technique was 2.9 ± 2.2% faster (P < 0.001), which corresponds to a time advantage of 0.41 ± 0.31 s over 100 m. The double-push technique had a longer cycle length and a lower cycle rate, and it was characterized by higher muscle activity, higher knee extension amplitudes and velocities, and higher peak foot forces, especially in the first phase of the push-off. Also, the foot was more loaded laterally in the double-push technique than in the conventional skate skiing technique.     

Reliability of a 5-m multiple shuttle test

The aim of the present study was to determine the reliability of a modified 5-m multiple shuttle test. The ‘matchrelated fitness’ of 23 female hockey players was assessed on four occasions within 4 weeks. The results of each test session and each shuttle were analysed using analysis of variance with repeated measures to determine the reliability of the test. The mean distance for each of the six shuttles decreased (121.2 ? 7.5, 114.5 ? 7.5, 112.2 ? 7.5, 109.9 ? 7.9, 108.4 ? 8.1 and 108.7 ? 8.3 m for shuttles 1-6, respectively; P < 0.001) similarly for each of the four sessions (P = 0.99). The total and peak distances covered during the tests were not significantly different (P = 0.99 and P = 0.12, respectively). The intra-class correlation coefficient (R) for these variables was 0.98 and 0.86, respectively. The delta distance and the fatigue index calculated post-test were significantly different (P = 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively) between the four sessions. The intra-class correlation coefficient for both these variables was 0.74. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were not significantly different between sessions (P = 0.42 and P = 0.095, respectively). The intra-class correlation coefficient for heart rate ranged from 0.65 to 0.97 and that for RPE from 0.85 to 0.91. We conclude that the 5-m multiple shuttle run test is a reliable measure of total and peak distances, heart rate and RPE response and is sufficiently reliabile to track changes in fitness over a season. The delta distance and fatigue index are not as reliable and should be interpreted with caution.     

A research review of e-assessment

The use of e-assessment in higher education is a relatively new educational practice that has been more frequently studied in recent years. This review aims to summarise some research on e-assessment, providing an overview based on articles from three well-established scientific journals. Focusing on research topics, settings for e-assessment and research methods used in the articles, the review reveals a research field with a broad spectrum of inquiries and approaches. Research of e-assessment practices is often conducted as small-scale studies in which the e-assessment task comprises closed questions such as multiple-choice questions. The article discusses the findings to guide future research and concludes that there is a need for more studies on e-assessment in online courses as well as for longitudinal studies.     

Investigation of Tacit Knowledge in Principal Leadership

This study investigated how tacit knowledge was used by expert and novice principals during problem-solving situations. Through the use of a phenomenological, qualitative approach, novice principals were compared with expert principals as both went about their daily tasks of school leadership. Results of the study contribute to the research on effective leadership and offer implications for leadership training models. Results suggest that experience may not be the most critical factor in expertise.