Subjective well-being in cultural advocacy: a politics of research between the market and the academy

This paper responds to a trend of contracting out subjective well-being econometrics to demonstrate social return on investment (SROI) for evidence-based policy-making. We discuss an evolving ecology of ‘external’ research taking place ‘between’ the academy and commercial consultancy. We then contextualise this as waves of research methodologies and consultancy for the cultural sector. The new model of ‘external between’ consultancy research for policy is not only placed between the University and the market, but also facilitates discourse between policy sectors, government, the media and the academy. Specifically, it enables seductive but selective arguments for advocacy that claim authority through academic affiliation, yet are not evaluated for robustness. To critically engage with an emergent form of what Stone calls ‘causal stories’, we replicate a publicly funded externally commissioned SROI model that argues for the value of cultural activities to well-being. We find that the author’s operationalisation of participation and well-being are crucial, yet their representation of the relationship problematic, and their estimates questionable. This case study ‘re-performs’ econometric modelling national-level survey data for the cultural sector to reveal practices that create norms of expertise for policy-making that are not rigorous. We conclude that fluid claims to authority allow experimental econometric models and measures to perform across the cultural economy as if ratified. This new model of advocacy research requires closer academic consideration given the changing research funding structures and recent attention to expertise and the contracting out of public services.     

Psychometric Properties of a Parental Questionnaire for Assessing Correlates of Toddlers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

This study examined the psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed with the guidance of the socialization model of child behaviour to understand modifiable correlates of toddlers’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Findings are based on 118 parents (33.7 ± 4.9 years; 86% female) of toddlers (19.3 ± 2.7 months; 48% female) from Edmonton, Canada in The Parents’ Role in Establishing healthy Physical activity and Sedentary behaviour habits study (PREPS). The PREPS questionnaire encompassed 21 variables across the constructs of the socialization model of child behaviour. Of the nine variables assessed for internal consistency reliability, eight had good (α ≥ 0.70) reliability. Of the 15 continuous variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, 10 had moderate (intra-class correlation = 0.50–0.74) and 5 had good (intra-class correlation ≥ 0.75) reliability. Of the six categorical variables assessed for 1-week test–retest reliability, two had fair (К = 0.21–0.40), one had moderate (К = 0.41–0.60), one had substantial (К = 0.61–0.80), and two had almost perfect (К = 0.81–1.00) reliability. Of the 12 sedentary behaviour variables assessed for convergent validity, 7 were significantly correlated with children’s screen time, of which three were small (r ≤ 0.29), two were medium (r = 0.30–0.49), and two were large (r ≥ 0.50) effect sizes.     

Measuring the value of theatre for Tyneside audiences

What values do theatre and dance hold for audience members? And how do these values differ between subsidised, amateur, and commercial performance? This paper addresses these questions through a survey of over 1800 spectators for theatre and dance in Tyneside in northeastern England, as well as a parallel set of focus groups, in the spring of 2014. These methods, which are designed for comprehensiveness and comparability, are being used across Europe by the Project on European Theatre Systems, a working group of theatre sociologists. Our research showed two sets of values which performances achieved; one was a common measure of performance quality, while the other described the values particular to subsidised work. This allows us to articulate both the general value of the arts and the particular values which subsidy (attempts to) facilitate. This has implications for both understandings of cultural value and for cultural policy, as the distinction between the two groups was not clean. We also found that amateur theatre participated in the same value system, but with an increased emphasis on loyalty and community cohesion. The paper concludes a methodological reflection on the use of quantitative methods in theatre studies.     

美国图书馆界数字化建设调查

对美国当前的数字图书馆实践进行了调查研究.建设优质的数字化资源是美国各类型图书馆共同的任务,所面临的挑战是将什么资源数字化、应遵循什么标准规范、技术方法有哪些.     

科学道德、学术规范与高校德育教育--以苏州大学调查为例

科学道德、学术规范是当今学术界讨论的一个热门话题。本文以苏州大学的问卷调查为例,具体分析了目前高校科学道德和学术规范的现状和问题,提出了应对这一问题需要加强高校德育教育的措施。     

手机电视发展的受众因素分析

手机电视被称为新媒体先锋,一路走来,受到了业界的青睐,北京、上海和广州等地的媒体纷纷上马手机电视业务,以期抢占潮头,争夺先机。其实,任何一种媒体的诞生及其生命力,都要通过传播效果来反观,受众作为影响传播效果的重要因素,向来受到传播学者关注。手机媒体想在媒体生态中获得一席之地,并求得更好的发展,必须从受众因素分析入手,探求其必要性和可行性。     

厦门市体育人口现状调查与对策研究

通过对厦门市18～60岁劳动力人口的抽样调查,进而推论出厦门市体育人口的基数;根据“参加体育活动”和“不参加体育活动”不同群体中存在的问题,提出“准体育人口”的理论设想,并在实施分析与理论探讨的基础上提出了对策性的建议。     

对文献资源共享服务的调研与分析

文章通过对海南省5所高校图书馆读者调查中反映出的共性的问题,对目前高校图书馆读者服务中存在的文献资源老化、电子资源利用低等问题进行探讨,并提出相应的解决方法。     

General and Specific Factors in Reading Comprehension

One explanation for why many students routinely choose to do their homework with a radio or TV operating is that this distraction facilitates studying. To investigate the validity of this explanation, the authors carried out two experiments with sixth-grade students who worked on two difficulty levels of individualized mathematics assignments (N = 12) and reading assignments (N = 9) under three distraction conditions: quiet; self-selected, self-regulated radio; and self-selected, self-regulated TV. The data yielded no evidence of sizable distractor effects on students' time spent studying, computational accuracy, reading comprehension, or reading rate. These results generally are consistent with the theoretical conceptualization of attention as flexible and adaptable.     

张家口教育学院图书馆读者调查分析

张家口教育学院图书馆2008年6月进行了读者问卷调查工作，对读者服务工作中存在的问题，以及问题产生的原因进行了分析，及时调整了图书馆工作的重点和方向，并制定出应对措施。