The representation of majorities and minorities in the British press: A content analytic approach

A content analysis examined the way majorities and minorities are represented in the British press. An analysis of the headlines of five British newspapers, over a period of five years, revealed that the words 'majority' and 'minority' appeared 658 times. Majority headlines were most frequent (66%), more likely to emphasize the numerical size of the majority, to link majority status with political groups, to be described with positive evaluations, and to cover political issues. By contrast, minority headlines were less frequent (34%), more likely to link minority status with ethnic groups and to other social issues, and less likely to be described with positive evaluations. The implications of examining how real-life majorities and minorities are represented for our understanding of experimental research are discussed. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Sustainable tourism planning: A content analysis of local tourism plans

Tourism planning has been advocated by many as a possible means of alleviating some of the negative impacts of tourism. While a number of approaches have evolved, tourism planning based on the philosophies of sustainability has emerged as the most comprehensive approaches. To investigate the tourism planning approaches of local tourism destinations in Queensland, particularly the extent to which tourism plans exhibit the sustainable approach to tourism planning, 30 local tourism planning documents have been reviewed. Despite claims that sustainable tourism planning is one of the most accepted approaches the study has shown that this is not necessarily the case in practice. It was found that although a number of plans addressed the issue of sustainability, the subsequent strategies and actions suggest that the sustainable approach is not the dominant planning approach, but in fact the economic and infrastructure approaches are the primary planning methods.

Gut content analysis to distinguish between seed feeding and mycophagy of a biphyllid beetle larva found on Acacia melanoxylon

In a search for potential biocontrol agents for Acacia melanoxylon R. Br. (Mimosaceae), larvae of the beetle Diplocoelus dilataticollis Lea (Coleoptera; Biphyllidae) were found within damaged seeds of A. melanoxylon. The gut contents of larvae and adults were examined to determine whether their diet included seeds, in apparent contradiction to the known mycophagous diet of members of this family of beetles. Calcofluor M2R White, a plant cell-wall staining optical brightener was used to differentiate between plant cell fragments and fungal tissue in the gut content smears. Gut contents of adults of a known seed predator of A. melanoxylon, a weevil of the genus Melanterius, were examined in the same way to provide a benchmark. The gut contents of D. dilataticollis differed from those of Melanterius sp. Fungal structures and microbes were found in the gut of D. dilataticollis, in contrast to plant cell fragments found in the gut of the weevil and from scrapes made directly from seeds. We conclude that larvae of D. dilataticollis feed primarily on fungi associated with damaged seed and therefore may not be the proximate cause of seed damage.

A retrospective lyrical analysis of songs written by adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Song-writing plays a central role in music therapy with adolescents. A retrospective lyrical analysis of songs written by adolescents with anorexia nervosa was undertaken in order to identify common themes solicited through song-writing interventions. Fifteen participants contributed 17 songs, from which 368 lyrical units were identified. A modified content analysis approach was used with each lyrical unit being categorised to one of six themes determined from the literature and clinical experience. The theme of 'identity' was used most frequently (28%), with the sub-theme of 'exploring new behaviours, positive self-talk' being addressed most often (12.5% of total). The dominance of the developmentally important theme of 'identity' may reflect the relationship between adolescents, music and identity or may be related to the way in which anorexia nervosa has been theorised to assist the adolescent in managing challenges to the emerging sense of self. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Participatory approach for the identification of dairy industry needs in the design of research, development and extension actions: Australian and Brazilian case studies

In both Australia and Brazil there are rapid changes occurring in the macroenvironment of the dairy industry. These changes are sometimes not noticed in the microenvironment of the farm, due to the labour-intensive nature of family farms, and the traditionally weak links between production and marketing. Trends in the external environment need to be discussed in a cooperative framework, to plan integrated actions for the dairy community as a whole and to demand actions from research, development and extension (R, D & E). This paper reviews the evolution of R, D & E in terms of paradigms and approaches, the present strategies used to identify dairy industry needs in Australia and Brazil, and presents a participatory strategy to design R, D & E actions for both countries. The strategy incorporates an integration of the opinions of key industry actors ( defined as members of the dairy and associated communities), especially farm suppliers ( input market), farmers, R, D & E people, milk processors and credit providers. The strategy also uses case studies with farm stays, purposive sampling, snowball interviewing techniques, semi-structured interviews, content analysis, focus group meetings, and feedback analysis, to refine the priorities for R, D & E actions in the region.

Early warning signs in postgraduate research education: a different approach to ensuring timely completions

Recent government intervention in research higher degree policy across the globe has sharpened universities' focus on the quality of their students' research education experience and on timely completion rates. Studies have sought to highlight the factors that predict research students' timely completion of their studies. Many universities have sought to tighten their selection processes as a way of improving completion rates, even verging on adopting a risk analysis approach to selecting students. Instead this paper takes a preventative, interventionist approach to improving timely completions. It explores how experienced supervisors detect and deal with early warning signs that their research students are experiencing difficulty. It also investigates the wide range of reasons some students nominate for not discussing these difficulties directly with their supervisors. It proposes that supervisors may be able to improve timely completions if they are aware of these reasons and if they adopt a range of explicit pedagogical strategies to support students' learning.

The status and relevance of Vietnamese journalism education: An empirical analysis

Based primarily on data from indepth interviews with senior journalists and journalism educators as well as a content analysis of journalism curricula, this paper sets out to provide an overview of the demand, overall provision structure, teaching materials and methods of Vietnamese journalism education. It first shows that with a fast expansion in both size and substance, the Vietnamese media system is beginning to feel the urgent need for formal journalism education. However, the country's major journalism programs have been criticised for producing hundreds of unqualified journalism graduates a year. In general, the most deplorable aspects of Vietnamese journalism education include its body of outdated and awkward teaching material, its undue focus on theories and politics at the expense of practical training, its lack of qualified teaching staff and its inadequate teaching resources.

Managing the airspace: A task analysis of Australian air traffic control

The aim of this study was to examine the way Australian air traffic controllers manage their airspace. Fourteen controllers ranging from 7 to 30 years experience were sampled from the Brisbane air traffic control centre. All had previously been endorsed for en route radar sectors. Five static pictures varying in workload level (low, medium and high) were presented to participants. Controllers were asked to work through the scenarios and describe aloud how they would resolve any potential conflicts between the aircraft. Following this controllers were asked a set of probe questions based on the critical decision method, to extract further information about the way they manage their airspace. A content analysis was used to assess patterns in the way controllers scan, strategies used in conflict detection and conflict resolution and the effect of workload on strategy choice. Findings revealed that controllers use specific strategies (such as working in a left to right scan or prioritising levels) when managing their airspace. Further analyses are still planned however a model based on the processes controllers used to resolve conflicts has been developed and will be presented as a summary of the results.