The influence of self-efficacy and past behaviour on the physical activity intentions of young people

The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of self-efficacy and past behaviour on young people's physical activity intentions using an augmented version of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour. We hypothesized that self-efficacy would exhibit discriminant validity with perceived behavioural control and explain unique variance in young people's intentions to participate in physical activity. We also expected that past physical activity behaviour would attenuate the influence of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy on intention. The sample comprised 1152 young people aged 13.5 - 0.6 years (mean - s ) who completed inventories assessing their physical activity intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy and past physical activity behaviour. A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour achieved discriminant validity. Furthermore, the measures of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy were significantly related to their respective belief-based measures, supporting the concurrent validity of the measures of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. A non-standard structural equation model demonstrated that attitude and self-efficacy were strong predictors of physical activity intention, but perceived behavioural control and subjective norms were not. Self-efficacy attenuated the influence of attitudes and perceived behavioural control on intention. Past behaviour predicted intention directly and indirectly through self-efficacy and attitude. The present findings demonstrate that young people with positive attitudes and high self-efficacy are more likely to form intentions to participate in physical activity. Furthermore, controlling for past physical activity behaviour revealed that the unique effects of self-efficacy and attitudes on young people's physical activity intentions were unaltered.     

Young people, citizenship and citizenship education in Zimbabwe

Citizenship education in Zimbabwe is based on the claim that young people lack citizenship virtues. This study set out to investigate these assumptions by assessing high school students’ knowledge of, attitudes towards and participation levels in citizenship issues. Findings show that while students are knowledgeable about citizenship issues they are however, hesitant about involvement in political activities. The study concludes that the reported claims are partly not valid. In a politically sensitive environment students are unwilling to engage in political activities. They accurately assess the situation and adopt a position which other citizens in similar circumstances might take.     

Investigating pupils' questions in the primary classroom

The paper presents the findings of a coding system applied to the questions generated by primary school pupils to a narrative text. The coding schedule proved consistent across university and teacher researchers. The results and discussion centre on the question type and the degree of understanding displayed by pupils. Suggestions are put forward for the use of a community of inquiry approach to question generation as a means of empowering pupils and allowing the speaking and listening requirements of the National Curriculum to be met in a holistic manner.     

Irony,Silence, and Time: Frederick Douglass on the Fifth of July

Frederick Douglass's oration, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" is a rhetorical masterwork of irony. It illustrates a strategy for enlisting the liberatory potential inherent in the detached and multiple perspective of irony without allowing that detachment to culminate in political impotence. The speech accomplishes this through opening before its audience the expansive visual and temporal spaces in which irony thrives, then collapsing those spaces so irony cannot be sustained. The speech therefore exemplifies a kairotic management of irony's scopic attitude, emphasizing for its audience the importance of seeing when irony is appropriate and when it is not.     

Analysis of Presidential Primary Campaign Commercials of 2004

This article examines television advertising used during the 2004 presidential primary campaign. Based on interviews with the advertising creators and on repeated viewings by the author and his students it describes and analyzes the advertisements. It reveals that Iowa was the heavy spending state at $12.4 million. It discloses how Kerry won through heavy late spending depending on testimonial advertisements from veterans and others; how Edwards depended on talking-head and town meeting advertisements; how Dean's innovation was the delivery of advertisements on the internet; how Clark relied on a strong bio-documentary while Gephardt, Lieberman, and Kucinich had less notable advertisements.     

Question Bias and Violations of Comparability in Intraparty Debates: Iowa and New Hampshire, 2004

Televised political debates are highly effective tools for familiarizing prospective voters with the field of candidates during primary campaigns. However, the questions journalists ask in such debates often diminish the degree to which viewers can truly compare one candidate to the next. An analysis of questions asked in two debates at the height of the 2004 primaries finds the standard of comparability repeatedly violated as well as a clear pattern of inequity in the distribution of questions among candidates. Questions asked in these crucial debates imposed labels and domains on the candidates, through a particularly hostile line of questioning directed at the viable contenders. This article provides a tool for identifying question bias and emphasizes the need to address this understudied aspect of debates in light of its importance.     

Feminine style in presidential debate discourse, 1960–2000

Dow and Tonn's feminine rhetorical style is used to evaluate the argument structures used in presidential debate discourse. Results suggest that the feminine style element of references to personal experience is prevalent in debate discourse but that inductive structure and use of anecdotes and examples are less prevalent than one might expect. Further, feminine style elements, including references to personal experience and use of inductive structure, have decreased over time since the 1960 debate. Differences were also found in use of specific feminine style elements by political party, incumbency status and election outcome.     

Agenda Control in the 2008 CNN/YouTube Debates

This article examines the evolving dynamic between citizens, journalists, and politicians—what we call agenda control—using the CNN/YouTube presidential primary debates as a case. A systematic content analysis of questions asked and candidates’ answers as compared with standard journalist-as-questioner debates hosted by MSNBC reveals that the dynamic between politicians, journalists, and citizens suggests that journalists do a better job of getting candidates to answer questions than do citizens in the YouTube video format, not by virtue of being journalists, but by virtue of asking the right form of question. Results also indicate that the CNN/YouTube debate questions from citizens failed to reflect the broad set of issues of interest to those who submitted questions, and instead included a disproportionate number of culture–war issues and campaign strategy questions. Findings suggest that journalists maintain the upper hand in agenda control.     

“It's We the People…, Not We the Illegals”: Extreme Speech in Prince William County,Virginia's Immigration Debate

Prince William County, Virginia received national attention when county lawmakers voted in July 2007 to enact one of the nation's most sweeping anti-immigrant resolutions. Help Save Manassas, a local anti-immigration group, assumed a prominent role in the county's immigration debate and in leading the charge for local government action. An analysis of Help Save Manassas’ newsletters reveals the role of extreme speech in social change. By linking patriotism to an anti-immigration stance, many of the perspectives expressed in the newsletters achieved legitimacy in the public sphere, ultimately influencing public policy. This case study reveals one strategy by which extremist groups make their views mainstream and in so doing underscores the importance of attending to the vernacular of conservative counterpublics.