The Promise of the Transparency Culture

In 2013, with the introduction of the Transparency Law in Spain, a number of Spanish newsrooms started working with data journalism methods. In Sweden, which has one of the oldest Freedom of Information acts in the world, newsrooms invested in the skill development of data journalism at approximately the same time. Because previous research suggests that access to public data has been one of the key driving forces for the development of data journalism worldwide, it is important to understand how legislation is actually shaping the practice of data journalism. Based on a survey of 66 key informants in Spain and Sweden and ten in-depth interviews with data journalists from five media companies in each country, we conducted a comparative study, building on the frameworks of media systems to explore data journalism practices in these two countries. The differences found indicate that the national and EU legislation in both nations shape journalistic strategies for accessing data, turning journalists at times into activists fighting for the right to access public data. Beyond the law, data journalists advocate for a transparency culture among the civil servants, in order to secure public accountability.     

Do faster swimmers spend longer underwater than slower swimmers at World Championships?

The main objectives of the present research were (1) to examine the relationships between the distances travelled underwater during the start and turn segments with swimming race performance at the elite level and (2) to determine if the individualised-distance start and turn parameters affect the overall race performance. The race parameters of the 100 and 200?m events during 2013 World Championships were measured by an innovative image-processing system (InThePool^® 2.0). Overall, 100?m race times were largely related to faster start velocities in men's breaststroke and freestyle events. Conversely, overall, 200?m race times were largely related to longer starting distances in the women's butterfly events, to longer turn distances in men's and women's backstroke and women's butterfly events and to shorter turn distances in women's freestyle events. Changes on the start or turn velocities could represent moderate time improvements in most of the 100?m events, whereas modifications on the start or turn distances (especially in the last turn) could provide elite swimmers with time improvements of practical importance on the 200?m events. The evaluation of races by individualised-distance parameters should be provided to elite swimmers in order to decide the most appropriate race segment configuration for each event.     

The Influence of Media Type on the Perceived Influence of Media Contents and on the Support to Restrict Controversial Messages

The aim of this study was to explore the intersection between Medium Theory (MT) and Third-Person Effect (TPE) and evaluate how the research on MT can further our knowledge of the TPE. The study has proven that the perceptual hypothesis of the TPE is confirmed in different media contents and across media types (TV and the Internet) and that media type has an impact on the magnitude of the TPE. In addition, media type can also be a requisite for TPE to occur. On the other hand, the study shows that media type can have an influence on people’s support to restrict controversial content, in particular, pornography.     

Vertical jumping biomechanical evaluation through the use of an inertial sensor-based technology

Progress in micro-electromechanical systems has turned inertial sensor units (IUs) into a suitable tool for vertical jumping evaluation. In total, 9 men and 8 women were recruited for this study. Three types of vertical jumping tests were evaluated in order to determine if the data provided by an IU placed at the lumbar spine could reliably assess jumping biomechanics and to examine the validity of the IU compared with force plate platform recordings. Robust correlation levels of the IU-based jumping biomechanical evaluation with respect to the force plate across the entire analysed jumping battery were found. In this sense, significant and extremely large correlations were found when raw data of both IU and force plate-derived normalised force–time curves were compared. Furthermore, significant and mainly moderate correlation levels were also found between both instruments when isolated resultant forces’ peak values of predefined jumping phases of each manoeuvre were analysed. However, Bland and Altman graphical representation demonstrated a systematic error in the distribution of the data points within the mean ±1.96 SD intervals. Using IUs, several biomechanical variables such as the resultant force–time curve patterns of the three different vertical jumps analysed were reliably measured.     

The educational e-portfolio: preliminary evidence of its relationship with student’s self-efficacy and engagement

Education and Information Technologies - The educational use of portfolios has been increasing in the last few years, especially as technology has also developed electronic versions of portfolios....     

Measuring the effectiveness of online problem solving for improving academic performance in a probability course

Education and Information Technologies - Research on impact in student achievement of online homework systems compared to traditional methods is ambivalent. Methodological issues in the study...     

Mothers' use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study

Mothers read stories to their children (N=41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book reading correlated with their children's later understanding of mental states. Some pragmatic aspects of maternal input correlated with children's later outcomes. Two different factors in mothers' cognitive discourse were identified, suggesting a zone of proximal development in children's understanding of mental states.