Visualizing a Non-Visual Medium through Social Media: The Semiotics of Radio Station Posts on Instagram

For decades, radio was primarily a hidden or unseen medium to listeners. In recent years, digital technologies have transformed radio to a medium that can both be seen and heard. In particular, visuals on social media have given audiences a real-time glimpse of broadcast operations and talent, while enhancing interaction with stations. This study examined how commercial stations across the United States portrayed themselves through posts on Instagram. Using a qualitative methodology and social semiotic theory, results of the study revealed two dominant themes of station posts—station promotion and community—that signified the essence of radio stations.     

A Bibliography of Littleton’s Tenures as an Archetype for the Study of Early English Legal Printing

For hundreds of years, bibliographies have been invaluable tools for researchers, collectors, and institutions, to provide contextual understanding as well as adding depth to collections. In this piece, the author uses his updated bibliography of the first 200 years of Littleton's Tenures to examine many aspects of early English legal printing. These include the development and evolution of the content of early legal materials, as well economic and other factors driving the market for printed law books. Preceding the bibliography is a list of fundamental bibliographic terms concerning early printing, contextually applied to Littleton's Tenures.     

Financial Resources, Parent Psychological Functioning, Parent Co-Caregiving, and Early Adolescent Competence in Rural Two-Parent African-American Families

We proposed a family process model that links family financial resources to academic competence and socioemotional adjustment during early adolescence. The sample included 90 9–12-year-old African-American youths and their married parents who lived in the rural South. The theoretical constructs in the model were measured via a multimethod, multi-informant design. Rural African-American community members participated in the development of the self-report instruments and observational research methods. The results largely supported the hypotheses. Lack of family financial resources led to greater depression and less optimism in mothers and fathers, which in turn were linked with co-care giving support and conflict. The associations among the co-caregiving processes and youth academic and socioemotional competence were mediated by the development of youth self-regulation. Disruptions in parental co-caregiving interfered with the development of self-regulation. This interference negatively influenced youths' academic competence and socioemotional adjustment.     

A Longitudinal Hierarchical Linear Model for Estimating School Effects and Their Stability

This paper presents a general longitudinal model for estimating school effects and their stability. Previous research on the stability of school performance over successive years has produced inconsistent findings. We argue that the findings have been inconsistent for at least two reasons: researchers have estimated different types of school effects, and they have not distinguished between instability due to true changes in school performance and instability due to measurement and sampling error. We describe two different types of school effects, each relevant to a different policy audience, and we present a longitudinal model that is capable of separating true changes in school effects from sampling and measurement error. The model also provides a means for estimating the effects of school policies and practices while controlling statistically for the effects of factors exogenous to the schooling system. This paper provides an example of the approach based on data describing two cohorts of students from one Education Authority in Scotland. It concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the model and implications for those collecting indicators of school performance for planning and evaluation purposes.