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Evolve or Dissolve: Will the Extra, Extra Save the Newspaper?
Get PDFNewspapers have always been the trusted source of information for many years by many. The Internet and other electronic mediums have tested that tendency in recent years. Newspapers have been making changes and evolving to remain a medium of choice in the 21st century. Due to declines in circulation numbers and instabilities in advertising revenue, newspapers have found new ways to continue to be successful. They have encompassed an online presence by the use of online newspapers, fragmented and localized by the use of niche publications and reached the untouched Hispanic and Mexican market by the use of Spanish-language publications. For those newspapers, which have made changes, it has proven to be profitable. The opportunities are tremendous, but not without hard work. Newspapers may not be growing in terms of circulation, but are growing by becoming Newspaper Multi-Mediums. Along with their core product, newspapers offer many components to reach readers through journalistic integrity and advertising
Rural Tanzanian Women\u27s Agency: Experiences and Responses to Socio-Economic Challenges
No full textThis qualitative case study explored the rural Tanzania women’s agency and women’s experiences in responding to socio-economic challenges in their environment. The study’s main objective was to uncover the hidden women’s agency as well as the women’s knowledge and capabilities that have been ignored and/or taken for granted. The researcher adopted the Freirean humanization approach and Feminist perspective to understand how these women perceived their situation and exercised their agency to transform their rural environment. Through in-depth interviews, the dialogical approach allowed the women in their own voices to articulate their experiences and to identify issues that limited or encouraged their contribution to the socio-economic livelihood of their families. The study revealed the women’s ability to make critical analyses o f their realities, make choices, and to take steps to change the undesirable conditions in their environment with limited or no key resources. The findings revealed the individual and collective agencies of the women as social actors and change agents working hard to improve their rural environment. To sustain these agencies the study allows calling for urgent local, national, and international recognition and support of women’s efforts
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in Taiwanese University Students
No full textThis study measures the possible relationship between Emotional Intelligence (El) and Leadership as traits of behavior in a sample population of Taiwanese university students. Emotional Intelligence involves the ability to understand and process information about emotions in the self and in others, as a basis for action. The construct postulates that the level of emotional intelligence can be correlated with other attributes, such as leadership ability and behavior. Previous research has not investigated the correlation between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in the context of university students\u27behavior. This study intends to fill the gap in existing research. The study uses the Schutte Self Report Inventory (SSRI) as a measure of emotional intelligence, with the instrument being validated by previous research. In order to measure leadership skills, the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI) is used. SLPI had also been validated by previous research. The sample population consisted of students at a single university, namely: Taiwan’s National Yulin University of Science & Technology. The statistical methods used in this study were; descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, regression analysis, and ANCOVA. The research design examined a range o f correlation between the SSRI and the SLPI, as determined by Pearson\u27s product moment correlation, regression analysis, and ANCOVA. These methods showed a strong relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership behaviors, but failed to show any significant connections between El, and demographic variables
Mythos, Logos and the Poltics of Justice
Get PDFUnited States Politics and Social Justice are forms that a mythology assumes in a culture. The former has lost sight of its earlier sustaining mythos: an image of Paradise. It has also become unconscious of the earlier writings of Plato and Aristotle on the nature and structure of a virtuous society ruled by leaders of wisdom. By revisioning earlier epistemologies outlined by the ancient Greek philosophers, politics and social justice movements can reclaim their origins. The conclusion outlines a series of 13 differentiations between US. politics and the currents of social justice. For men are easily spoilt; not everyone can bear prosperity .... Especially should the laws provide against anyone having too much power derived from friends or from money; if he has, he and his followers should be sent out of the country (Aristotle, Politics, n.d Book V, chapter 8, p. 361)
Operating a U.S. University in China: Identifying Challenges Within a Joint Venture.
No full textThis qualitative, ethnographic study explored the perceptions of differences in the business and educational paradigms of the U.S. and China by selecting and interviewing participants from three classifications in a U.S. and Sino (Chinese) joint venture called the JVC. The group classifications were organized into the following: administrators, faculty, and students. The objective was to gain an understanding of perceptions from varying points of view. By examining the cultural factors that influenced the various experiences and decision-making processes, major challenges and themes emerged throughout the interviews. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived challenges of stakeholders in a U.S. university in China operating within a joint venture business relationship and to offer recommendations for future ventures. Once all interviews were transcribed, recurring themes were identified and coded to establish the major challenges. Major challenges identified were: (a) Academic, (b) Administrative, (c) Logistical, (d) Cultural, and (e) Communication. Themes identified were: (a) adjustment; (b) conceptual differences; (c) relationships; (d) personal commitment; (e) teaching and learning styles; (f) trust; (g) access to resources; (h) language; (i) respect for culture; (j) physical environment; (k) training; (1) recruiting; (m) costs; and (n) program rigor. Recommendations and conclusions stress that top-level administrators in this and similar ventures should use this study, and future research, to identify and predict likely points of negotiation based on the major challenges and themes identified. Additional studies of this nature would offer a more comprehensive understanding of major challenges, making the collective findings more applicable and accurate in a broader sense. More research is needed to develop a tool that would serve as an effective predictor of major challenges in this kind of joint venture relationship. Understanding the business, education, and cultural distinctions are critical for a successful outcome, especially when two cultures with such contrasting communication and management styles are involved
The Relationship Between Situational Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction in Overseas Taiwanese Companies in Mainland China
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between situational leadership styles and job satisfaction in overseas Taiwanese companies operating in Mainland China. Central to the study was the examination of the corporate environment embraced by Taiwanese managers and Chinese employees. Findings indicated that the most effective situational leadership styles were: selling and participating. A quantitative inquiry approach was used including two surveys delivered to 235 employees. The Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire XII and the Job Descriptive Index were administered to identify factors related to situational leadership styles and employee satisfaction in Mainland China. Results match others such as Song’s (2001) who sustains that most followers need a significant amount of consideration which is best found in the behaviors described by the selling leadership style, since this style involves leadership behaviors characterized by high relationship and high task
Relationships Between Motivation Factors and Physical Activity Participation of University Students in Taiwan.
No full textThis study was a descriptive investigation employing a relational treatment of data. The purpose of this study was to investigate five factors of motivation: self efficacy, outcome expectation, internal locus of control, the drive to achieve, and outcome values, as well as the activity participation of selected university undergraduate students in Taiwan. In addition, the study examined these factors of motivation in connection to gender, school type, activity organization, and age. Past research has indicated that the lack of regular physical activity continues to be a major health problem and the youth of Taiwan continue to be less active as they age. The most rapid decrease in activity participation was found in the 18 to 24-year-old age group (Taiwan National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2005). In order to make informed fitness curricular decisions, the researcher needed to know possible relationships between motivational factors demonstration that effect exercise participation of adolescents. The researcher administered the survey instrument (Appendix I) to one national university, Chiao Tung University and one private university, Chung Hua University in Silicon Village at Hsin Chu City in Taiwan. The total number of students who participated by responding to the survey was 1000. Of those, 41 indicated they were over 24 years of age, 28 indicated they were members of a varsity team or athletic club, and 21 did not fully complete the survey. For these reasons, 90 participants’ data were disqualified from being in the study, reducing the sample size to 910 (n=910). The most highly represented age category of those completing the survey was 20-21 years of age (60.3 % of the participants). The percentage of the participants who were 22 - 23 years old was the next largest group (18.9 %). The percentage of the participants who were 1 8 -1 9 years old was the third largest group (17.7 %) and the smallest percentage in the group of the participants were 24 years old (3.1%). There was more valid data from the public university undergraduate students (484) than the private university undergraduate students (426); in addition, more males (72.9 %) completed the survey than females (27.1 %). Among 910 participants, 76.6 % (697) of students indicated their participation in physical education activity class, 14.4 % (131) of students indicated their participation in intramural sports teams, and 9 % percent (82) of students indicated that they did not participate in any organized activity. This study used a quantitative survey methodology. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, post-hoc ANOVA, Spearman rho correlation, and linear regression were utilized to examine the research questions. The results indicated: (a) gender differences on self-efficacy, activity participation score, and drive for activity score; (b) age differences on internal locus of control; (c) various activity organization differences on self-efficacy, drive for activity and activity participation score; (d) university type differences on internal locus of control, drive to achievement and activity participation score; and (e) among all examined variables, perceived self-efficacy was the strongest correlated to physical activity participation for these Taiwanese university undergraduate students. The finding of this study provided information relevant to designing physical activity participation interventions targeted to Taiwanese adolescents
The Potential for Transformation in Second Generation Afghan Women Through Graduate Education
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the educational experiences of Afghan women in graduate education whose parents are Afghan immigrants. Afghan immigrants are from one of the smallest ethnic groups in the United States and have only started arriving here after the 1980s. Their participation in the educational system has gone largely undocumented. Afghan Americans have been educated in the American system by immigrant parents who have had little experience with this system. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with Afghan American women about education, family, ethnicity, and relationships. The women’s experiences are discussed in the interconnected contexts of the Afghan American experience, the educational system, and in particular graduate education. Being raised in an immigrant home has influenced the women’s encounters with education and the decisions they have made. Issues of resistance and assimilation are considered in this study. Findings from this research include the discovery of five themes that lead to four roles which the women adopt in order to survive graduate school. The women develop these roles in order to find ways to approach their graduate work while maintaining the relationships in their personal lives and their cultural identities. Recommendations are made for further research and applications of research findings
Applying Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide for Understanding the Vision of Benedictine Education in the Philippines
No full textThis qualitative study aims to utilize the grounded theory model as the method to reflect and clarify the vision of Benedictine education in the Philippines for the twenty-first century. The study further purports to show how such a method can be effective in delving more deeply into the meaning and challenge that a noble reality such as the vision of Benedictine education possesses. This study adds to the sparse literature on the use of classical Grounded Theory Model, originally discovered by Barney G. Glaser and Anselm Strauss, but later espoused exclusively by Glaser. The method was applied as described and detailed by Glaser in his numerous publications after his break with Strauss. To show the method’s characteristics and unique features, the researcher applied it to draw out and understand the vision of Benedictine education in the Philippines for the twenty-first century. Data for the study was purposely selected. The first source of data consisted of semi-structured interviews with selected experts: the two superiors of the male and female branches of the Benedictine Order in the Philippines and the two presidents of the respective communities’ prime educational institutions. The second source of data, which also served to corroborate the findings of the first source of data, consisted of the vision and mission statements of the religious communities and the schools concerned. The study followed the four different phases of doing grounded theory, namely: (a) open coding, (b) theoretical coding, (b) selective coding with sorting of memos, and (d) writing up of theory. Open coding consisted of the application of the constant comparison method in the first level. Theoretical coding, the next higher level of conceptualization, involved the integration o f categories and their properties. The next phase necessitated a third level of conceptualization, that is, selective coding with the use of the core variable as guide as well as the sorting out of memos for conceptual frameworks. The fourth and final phase concerns the writing up of the theory. In all these, there is an insistence on the generation of theory from the data and allowing the theory to emerge and not forced upon the data. Rooting in Community, the core category that emerged from the data, indicates the basic social process by which the experts and the documents create and sustain a vision for the kind of education that is essentially Benedictine in orientation, Christian in principle and Filipino in character. The theory presented fundamentally revolves around this core category, and how this category impacts the themes that were drawn from the sorting process. With Rooting in Community as the central theme or variable, six major categories or themes appeared, and these explain the theory about the vision of Benedictine education in the Philippines in detail. These major themes describe and clarify what visioning entails, what the vision implies and what it requires o f the institutions and its agents as they relate to Church, society and the world. These six major themes or categories are the following: (a) Empowering the Vision Agents; (b) Contextualizing the Response; (c) Re-Imaging, the Benedictine Way; (d) Founding and Fortifying the Community; (e) Upholding the Catholic Character; and (f) Claiming the Future. Each major theme carries with it related processes and sub-processes that deepen the meaning of the theme and its implications for theory building. The research has shown that the classic Grounded Theory Model not only proved to be methodically useful in reflecting on such a complicated topic as the school vision but likewise demonstrated its appropriateness for the study by its various levels of conceptualization. The study has recommendations for theory development, school management and leadership, as well as school effectiveness and stakeholders’ benefit