Online speech and democratic culture: a comparison of freedom of online speech between South Korea and the United States

Civil libertarian doctrine which was dominant during the twentieth century argued that the main goal of freedom of speech was to ensure that the public would be well-informed and actively engage in public deliberation. A literal extension of this claim to the Internet age often justifies the regulation of online speech under the assumption that harmful communication undermines the public interest. This study challenges civil libertarianism and proposes a new thesis of freedom of online speech, which posits that online speech should be understood in terms of a democratic culture where every individual participates freely and without restraints in the process of meaning making that constitute her/him as an autonomous individual. Based on such a theoretical concept, this study identifies three important aspects of online speech freedom – unfettered speech, anonymous speech, and participatory speech – and then compares the status of online speech between South Korea and the United States. This research suggests that a society should understand the unique nature of online speech and then arrange the legal system to fit into it.     

Assessment of the quality and generalizability of the revised UCLA loneliness scale in Chinese and Korean community-dwelling elderly populations using item response theory (IRT)-Rasch modeling and hybrid IRT-logistic regression

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This study aims to test the dimensionality, reliability, and item quality of the revised UCLA loneliness scale as well as to investigate the differential item functioning (DIF) of the three dimensions of the revised UCLA loneliness scale in community-dwelling Chinese and Korean elderly individuals.

Method: Data from 493 elderly individuals (287 Chinese and 206 Korean) were used to examine the revised UCLA loneliness scale. The Research model based on item response theory (IRT) was used to test dimensionality, reliability, and item fit. The hybrid ordinal logistic regression-IRT test was used to evaluate DIF.

Results: Item separation reliability, person reliability, and Cronbach’s alpha met the benchmarks. The quality of the items in the three-dimension model met the benchmark. Eight items were detected as significant DIF items (at α < .01). The loneliness level of Chinese elderly individuals was significantly higher than that of Koreans in Dimensions 1 and 2, while Korean elderly participants showed significantly higher loneliness levels than Chinese participants in Dimension 3. Several collected demographic characteristics and loneliness levels were more highly correlated in Korean elderly individuals than in Chinese elderly individuals.

Conclusion: Analysis using the three dimensions is reasonable for the revised UCLA loneliness scale. Good item quality and the items of this measure suggest that the revised UCLA loneliness can be used to assess the preferred latent traits. Finally, the differences between the levels of loneliness in Chinese and Korean elderly individuals are associated with the factors of loneliness.     

Exercise and HRT for women well-being

How HRT ＆ Exercise provide the Effect of Women Well - being is discussed here with the Presentation about （1） Information o,1 Honmone ＆ HRT; （2） Introduction to Estrogen Replacemen; （3） Review of Relational Studies.     

Exploring the effects of training facilitators of dementia-family support programs

Dementia patients have various caregiving needs, which can be serious sources of stress for their families. The increasing numbers of dementia patients and their families mean that new interventions are required to help families provide these complex caregiving needs. Facilitators of dementia-family support programs struggle to provide various health and social services while facing diverse challenges when running these programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the self-efficacy, competence, and target complaints when operating a dementia-family support program among facilitators who had participated in a facilitator training program. The study had a one-group pretest and posttest design, and data from 32 facilitators at 28 community dementia centers were analyzed. We used a self-reported questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data before and after participating in the training program. The self-efficacy and competence of the facilitators increased after participating in the training program and operating their own dementia-family support program. Target complaints that represented challenges to operating a dementia-family support program were divided into five categories, and most of them decreased at the posttest. This study has demonstrated the advantages of providing a training program to facilitators, which resulted in improvements in self-efficacy, competence, and difficulties when they were operating a dementia-family support program.     

Construct and Predictive Validity of the CORE Phonics Survey: A Diagnostic Assessment for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

The factor structure of the CORE Phonics Survey was analyzed using a sample of 165 students in upper elementary school with specific learning disabilities. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the hypothesized constructs of the CORE Phonics Survey and predictive validity of the CORE Phonics Survey to predict students' success in word level reading and oral reading fluency one year later. The results of the analyses indicated the two-factor model representing two latent variables, alphabetic knowledge and decoding skills, provided the most appropriate fit to the given data, indicating that the hypothesized two factors of the CORE Phonics Survey demonstrate construct validity. The two constructs of CORE Phonics Survey significantly predicted students' fluency and decoding abilities as measured by norm-referenced assessments one year later. The practical implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Martial Arts and Ideology of Hwarang,the Ancient Korean Warrior

Abstract

From 37 BC to 676 AD, an era called the period of the Three States, ancient Korea was divided into Koguryo, Baekje and Shilla. Among these states, Shilla was the one that terminated the period and founded a single united nation. At the background of this unification, there were the prominent activities of Hwarang, an elite warrior group. The purpose of this study is to verify the characteristics of Hwarang’s martial arts and the ideological background that provided the foundation for the unification. Hwarang members usually ascended mountains or entered caves alone to hone their skills or were taught by senior Hwarang members and experts. Moreover, considering that the members of this group included monks, it is surmized that the monks supported the group as they practised their martial arts. National loyalty was regarded as the ultimate virtue. Due to the influence from Buddhism, Hwarang evolved into a loyal association where the members dedicated their lives to the nation. After many years, this ideology is currently receiving a great deal of attention and it is being used in a variety of educational fields. The ideological characteristics of Hwarang are part of Korea's cultural heritage and deserve academic attention.