Using A Split-ballot Survey to Explore the Robustness of the 'MIP' Question in Agenda-Setting Research: A Methodological Study

Three aspects of the ‘most important problem’ questionused in agenda-setting research to measure issue salience amongthe public were examined. A split-ballot design in a state-widesurvey compared versions of the public agenda with a socialframe of reference versus a personal frame of reference, versionsusing the traditional term ‘problem’ versus ‘issue’,and the effects of question order. High correlations betweenthe different versions were found in all three sets of comparisons.     

Comparative persuasive styles in Arabic and English: A study of the United Nations General Assembly Debate speeches

This study analyzed persuasive styles and tactics used in the United Nations General Assembly Debate speeches by Arabic and English speaking leaders. Past work has identified three persuasive styles: analogical, presentational, and quasilogical. The literature suggests that Arabs use analogical and presentational styles, while the “West” prefers the quasilogical style. Our results indicate that Arabs used the quasilogical style more often than English speakers. All speakers drew upon most of the tactics identified to strengthen their arguments. Finally, there has been a shift in the usage of some tactics for both sets of speakers over 30 years.     

Social Movements in Brazil and their Educational Work

Using a distinction first proposed by Alain Touraine between historic and social movements, Ghanem's review of grassroots initiatives in Brazil argues that, despite differences in composition and aims, movements such as the landless rural workers, indigenous groups, and the women's movement in Brazil have attempted to shift the current socioeconomic order toward a new equilibrium – a process that is, however, not yet complete. In Ghanem's view, these movements are best described as historic movements. Addressing their educational aims, the author finds that they tend to fall into two types: (1) the self-provision of knowledge related to the set of problems that gave rise to their movement in the first place; (2) the striving for access to knowledge that is due to them as citizens and yet not given to them by the state. Often, social movements in Brazil are obliged to offer educational services through their own resources, services which are characterized by precarious conditions and which make the right to quality education still a distant dream.     

Semantic and Phonological Ability to Adjust Recoding: A Unique Correlate of Word Reading Skill?

This study addresses whether reading involves a process termed semantic and phonological ability to adjust recoding (SPAAR). It was hypothesized that SPAAR helps readers link inaccurate pronunciations to lexical entries (e.g., spynitch to spinach). Psychometric properties of the Mispronunciation Correction Task (MCT), a measure of SPAAR, were investigated using a sample of 206 elementary-age children. The 25-item MCT appeared to measure a single construct, and the items discriminated well across the range of ability. Based on a sample of 94 children, construct validity analyses indicated that phonological awareness and decoding skill predicted MCT performance. Hierarchical regressions were used to test the relationship between SPAAR and word reading. After controlling for other skills, SPAAR showed a relationship with both timed and untimed word reading. Phonological awareness did not. These data suggest that SPAAR may be a reading-related ability involving phonological processing and some form of semantic processing.