Validity of criteria-based content analysis (CBCA) at trial in free-narrative interviews

Objective

The reliability of child witness testimony in sexual abuse cases is often controversial, and few tools are available. Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) is a widely used instrument for evaluating psychological credibility in cases of suspected child sexual abuse. Only few studies have evaluated CBCA scores in children suspected of being sexually abused. We designed this study to investigate the reliability of CBCA in discriminating allegations of child sexual abuse during court hearings, by comparing CBCA results with the court's final, unappealable sentence. We then investigated whether CBCA scores correlated with age, and whether some criteria were better than others in distinguishing cases of confirmed and unconfirmed abuse.

Methods

From a pool of 487 child sexual abuse cases, confirmed and unconfirmed cases were selected using various criteria including child IQ ≥ 70, agreement between the final trial outcome and the opinion of 3 experts, presence of at least 1 independent validating informative component in cases of confirmed abuse, and absence of suggestive questions during the child's testimonies. This screening yielded a study sample of 60 confirmed and 49 unconfirmed cases. The 14 item version of CBCA was applied to child witness testimony by 2 expert raters.

Results

Of the 14 criteria tested, 12 achieved satisfactory inter-rater agreement (Maxwell's Random Error). Analyses of covariance, with case group (confirmed vs. unconfirmed) and gender as independent variables and age as a covariate, showed no main effect of gender. Analyses of the interaction showed that the simple effects of abuse were significant in both sex. Nine CBCA criteria were satisfied more often among confirmed than unconfirmed cases; seven criteria increased with age.

Conclusion

CBCA scores distinguish between confirmed and unconfirmed cases. The criteria that distinguish best between the 2 groups are Quantity of Details, Interactions, and Subjective Experience. CBCA scores correlate positively with age, and independently from abuse; all the criteria test except 2 (Unusual Details and Misunderstood Details) increase with age. The agreement rate could be increased by merging criteria Unusual and Superfluous details that achieve a low inter-rater agreement when investigated separately.

Practice implication

Given its ability to distinguish between confirmed and unconfirmed cases of suspected child abuse, the CBCA could be a useful tool for expert opinion. Because our strict selection criteria make it difficult to generalize our results, further studies should investigate whether the CBCA is equally useful in the cases we excluded from our study (for example mental retardation).     

Is syllable segmentation developmentally constrained by consonant sonority within syllable boundaries in silent reading? Evidence in French children

There is agreement that French typically reading children use syllable‐sized units to segment words. Although the statistical properties of the initial syllables or the clusters within syllable boundaries seem to be crucial for syllable segmentation, little is known about the role of consonant sonority in silent reading. In two experiments that used audio‐visual and visual pseudoword recognition tasks with 300 French typically developing children, we showed a progressive increase in the use of syllable segmentation from the first through fifth years of reading instruction. The children were influenced both by an optimal ‘sonorant coda–obstruent onset’ sonority profile and by the individual position‐dependent consonant sonority within syllable boundaries. Orthographic and phonological statistical properties did not clearly modulate the response patterns. We provide innovative data to help further understand the developmental course of the use of syllable segmentation as determined by sonority. We discuss our results in the light of linguistic principles.     

Learning from the Past,Looking to the Future: issues and agendas in education

This year, EJE has marked its 50^th anniversary with a special set of four linked issues, the organisation of which was inspired in part by the four pillars of learning first set out in the 1996 Delors Report, Learning: the treasure within. In this article, the authors highlight key themes that have emerged. Several of the contributing authors suggest that deepening tensions have driven education systems further away from the holistic, humanist vision of the Delors Report. At the same time, there are innovative policies and practices that address a broader range of aims of learning and have flourished despite challenges. Moving forward, the authors examine the challenges of citizenship, creativity and innovation in education. The article concludes with suggestions on important themes for the education agenda in the near future to which EJE may contribute further insights.     

Design Decisions in Developing Learning Trajectories–Based Assessments in Mathematics: A Case Study

This article analyzes the design decisions of a team developing diagnostic assessments for a learning trajectory focused on rational number reasoning. The analysis focuses on the design rationale for key decisions about how to develop the cognitive assessments and related validity arguments within a fluid state and national policy context. The study draws on ethnographic methods adapted from science, technology, and society studies to document key rationales for decisions. For this team, concerns about the validity of both the assessments and the hypothetical trajectory, anticipated uses of the assessments, and the available distribution of resources and expertise to different project activities were all considerations for significant design decisions throughout the project. The study findings suggest that success in the design of trajectories-based assessments depends on teams’ attention to balancing core design activities with engagement in the external policy environment, balancing precision with utility for diagnosis in defining the levels of a trajectory, and balancing the goals of supporting and assessing student learning.     

When does a nation-level analysis make sense? ESD and educational governance in Brazil,South Africa,and the USA

International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective influence of the national government on education is quite limited, particularly in fringe and emerging areas of education such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). This essay explores how nation-level comparisons are and are not useful for international research on ESD and CCE. We consider several layers of decentralized governance, but ultimately come to the conclusion that ESD governance in our respective countries is polycentric rather than decentralized. We discuss the implications of this idea for cross-national policy research on ESD and CCE.     

Readiness and expectations questionnaire: a cross-cultural measurement instrument for first-year university students

The readiness and expectations questionnaire (REQ) assesses first-year students’ expectations and preparedness for their first year in university. This measurement instrument is useful for educational policy and curriculum development; it can also be used to predict the outcomes of the first year of college. This instrument was initially developed to compare students enrolled in programs in the Netherlands and New Zealand, with predominant populations of domestic students. However, the Bologna process and globalisation trends also have increased the availability of international degree programmes. This raised the question whether the REQ can be used to compare groups of international students. Therefore, this article aims to assess the cross-cultural measurement equivalence of the REQ in international bachelor degree programmes in economics and business in a Dutch university, taught in English. The results indicate that not all aspects of the instrument achieve measurement equivalence, but most of its scales, with some adaptations, can evaluate students’ expectations and preparedness and thus encourage a better match between student and institution.     

The Relationship Between Counseling Self-Efficacy and Communication Skills of Volunteer Rape Crisis Advocates

This research examines the relationships between communication competence, communication anxiety, and five subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. The sample consists of volunteers trained at two rape crisis centers (n = 63) over a one-year period. As hypothesized, communication anxiety was negatively related and communication competence positively related to the subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. Results suggest that training programs need to be aware of how personality characteristics may affect a volunteer's ability to become an efficacious counselor. Implications for how rape crisis centers can integrate these communication issues into their training programs and improve the self-efficacy of their advocates are discussed.     

From the Blackhand Side: Twitter as a Cultural Conversation

Increasing commercial industry concern about corporate underwriting of public television productions has focused attention again on the overall funding situation in public broadcasting. Here the author, a doctoral student at Temple University's School of Communications and Theater, provides a broad introduction to the background, problems, and prospects for foundation support of non‐commercial broadcasting in the U.S. In a forthcoming second part of this article, she will focus specifically on the commanding role of the Ford Foundation, biggest giver in the field.     

Current Issues and the Veterinary Medical Library

Special Libraries, Special Challenges is a column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, and so forth. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in given subject libraries, while drawing links to how such issues affect librarianship in general. Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact Melissa K. Aho at aho@umn.edu

André J. Nault has been the head of the Veterinary Medical Library at the University of Minnesota since 2005 and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. He has a background in wildlife research and veterinary practice management. His current research interests include veterinary informatics and open access. André holds a MLIS from the University of Rhode Island and can be reached at naulta@umn.edu

*****     

Soccer and media in Brazil

This essay analyzes the complex relations between soccer and media in Brazil. Both massmedia and sports arrived in Brazil at the same time, in the late nineteenth century, both associated with the values of modernity in urban centres. It discusses the media coverage of the World Cup and data regarding audiences in particular. The World Cup is considered to be a very important social fact in contemporary Brazilian culture, and since its beginning, the World Cup has been available in Brazil exclusively through the mass media. Since the first international radio transmissions in the late 1930s, Brazil’s matches reached outstanding audience numbers. In the last three World Cups, the share of the total audience for the matches was around 95%, something like 110 million viewers per match, on average. The essay discusses the media’s role in projecting Brazilian football.