Cultural Domain in Development and Validation of Tests on Arts to Assess the Skills of Student Graphic Designers

The purpose of the study was to examine whether the presence of items that covered cultural questions in the test оn arts for student graphic designers influenced the fairness of the test across different ethnic and social groups. The reason for the study was to address the gap in the development and validation of tests оn arts that include a cultural domain to assess the skills of undergraduate graphic designers. The research design was based on DIF and DTF methods to examine the factorial structure of test data and to identify whether the factorial structure of the test was the same across ethnic and social groups. A one-factor CFA model was applied to perform measurements for categorised ethnic and social status groups to identify whether the factorial structure was similar or identical for them. The goodness-of-fit measures were calculated using the chi-square statistics, CFI, TLI, and RMSEA to identify how the obtained data is consistent with the hypothesised model. The inclusion of local culture-related questions in the tests оn arts to assess the skills of student graphic designers influences the individuals' latent traits which lead to an increase in DIF values. Though there were detected seven items with the DIF for the whole test, the DTF measurements showed that the DIF effect eliminated each out at test level which is related to the fact the certain ethnic groups performed better in answering some specific test items, while certain status groups performed better in answering some other test items. It is noteworthy that DTF for the Ukrainian art (miscellaneous) section was between 0.07 and 0.14 meaning a moderate DTF effect. However, the DTF variance values for the sections of principles of design and principles of art were lower than 0.07 meaning a small effect. Therefore, it could be concluded that small DTF effects found in both the whole test and each test section separately indicated that DIF effects eliminate each other at the test level.

Iowa Implementation for Sustainability Framework

Background An application-oriented implementation framework designed for clinicians and based on the Diffusion of Innovations theory included 81 implementation strategies with suggested timing for use within four implementation phases. The purpose of this research was to evaluate and strengthen the framework for clinician use and propose its usefulness in implementation research. Methods A multi-step, iterative approach guided framework revisions. Individuals requesting the use of the framework over the previous 7 years were sent an electronic questionnaire. Evaluation captured framework usability, generalizability, accuracy, and implementation phases for each strategy. Next, nurse leaders who use the framework pile sorted strategies for cultural domain analysis. Last, a panel of five EBP/implementation experts used these data and built consensus to strengthen the framework. Results Participants (n = 127/1578; 8% response) were predominately nurses (94%), highly educated (94% Master’s or higher), and from across healthcare (52% hospital/system, 31% academia, and 7% community) in the USA (84%). Most (96%) reported at least some experience using the framework and 88% would use the framework again. A 4-point scale (1 = not/disagree to 4 = very/agree) was used. The framework was deemed useful (92%, rating 3–4), easy to use (72%), intuitive (67%), generalizable (100%), flexible and adaptive (100%), with accurate phases (96%), and accurate targets (100%). Participants (n = 51) identified implementation strategy timing within four phases (Cochran’s Q); 54 of 81 strategies (66.7%, p < 0.05) were significantly linked to a specific phase; of these, 30 (55.6%) matched the original framework. Next, nurse leaders (n = 23) completed a pile sorting activity. Anthropac software was used to analyze the data and visualize it as a domain map and hierarchical clusters with 10 domains. Lastly, experts used these data and implementation science to refine and specify each of the 75 strategies, identifying phase, domain, actors, and function. Strategy usability, timing, and groupings were used to refine the framework. Conclusion The Iowa Implementation for Sustainability Framework offers a typology to guide implementation for evidence-based healthcare. This study specifies 75 implementation strategies within four phases and 10 domains and begins to validate the framework. Standard use of strategy names is foundational to compare and understand when implementation strategies are effective, in what dose, for which topics, by whom, and in what context.

Double-Sided Transformations of Culture-Bound Constituents in William Saroyan’s Cross-Cultural Domain

The article focuses on the transformations, which occur in Russian and Armenian translations of culture-bound constituents in W. Saroyan’s fiction with special reference to the analysis of their pragmatic value and both cross-cultural and cross-language identification. The aim of the analysis is to reveal the so-called Saroyanesque identity and the translation perspectives of his specific manner of reproducing the actual reality, his personal vision of the world he lived in and created in, the world which combined the environment, circumstances, conditions, characters, cultures, ethnicity of two different communities – his native Armenian and no less native America. The so-called double-sided transformations of culture-bound constituents occur in W. Saroyan’s fiction at basically two levels: the cognitive level of ethnic and mental indicators transformations and the linguistic level of culture-bound elements translation (words, phrases, exclamations etc.). To keep Saroyanesque identity the translators should primarily transform the ideas, the concepts, the ethnic mentality of the characters, then the language media should undergo certain pragmatic modification to be correctly interpreted by the target audience.

(Mis)measuring Men’s Involvement in Global Health: The Case of Expectant Fathers in Dakar, Senegal

Background In 2018, USAID published a report based on Demographic and Health Surveys data on the relationship between men’s involvement and women and children’s health outcomes. Based on the data collected, USAID’s analysis implies that Senegalese men are not involved in women and children’s health. Methods Twenty-two months of ethnographic research from 2012 to 2018. Research participants included 32 pregnant women and 27 expectant partners recruited from three maternity wards by convenience sampling, plus chief physicians, nurses, midwives, employees of the Ministry of Health and Social Action, and employees of nongovernmental organizations in the health sector. Research methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, free-list and pile sort exercises, and various visual ethnographic methods. Data were evaluated using rhetorical, textual, and cultural domain analysis. Results This research demonstrates that expectant fathers are involved in prenatal care in ways that USAID does not track through DHS. Conclusion Context independent reporting on men’s involvement is potentially harmful and obstructive to improving maternal and child health when the problem that is targeted is not a problem at all. State and non-state organizations investing in men’s involvement campaigns would save money and resources by amplifying men’s strengths (an asset-based model) rather than seek to educate them toward Eurocentric conceptions of fatherhood and masculine care (a deficit-based model).

The challenges of physicians’ participation in hospital accreditation programs: a qualitative study in Iran

Background Due to the increasing pressure on hospitals to enhance the quality of services, the participation of physicians in accreditation programs has become more important than ever. The present study was conducted to describe challenges of physicians’ participation in hospital accreditation programs in Iran using a qualitative approach. Methods We conducted interviews with 11 managers, 9 physicians and 8 experts in the field of hospital accreditation. Interviewees were selected through purposive snowball sampling. In-depth unstructured and semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. The data obtained were analyzed in ATLAS.ti using the conceptual framework method. Results The results of this study extracted 3 main themes including: cultural, organizational and behavioral factors. Also, this study found 12 sub-themes and 57 items. Sub-themes in the cultural domain were motivation, patient demand, mutual trust and evaluation system. The organizational domain consisted of seven sub-themes, including high workload, understanding the role of quality management unit, unrealistic accreditation, nature of accreditation, empowerment of physicians in the field of quality, effective communication, resource constraint. Sub-themes in the behavioral dimension were ambiguity in the role and uncertainty about how to participate in accreditation program. Conclusion Physicians’ participation in accreditation programs can be increased through culture building and proper training about accreditation activities in the medical community.

Investigating Conceptual Metaphorical Expression in English Suicide Notes: A Cognitive Linguistic Study

The human experience is mysterious, so, metaphor is commonly used to portray life experiences. The significance of metaphor for expressing and developing selfhood. The function of metaphor in determining the conceptual meanings in suicide letters. Language reflects our worldviews. Language is a component of the body. The technique is used to illuminate crucial issues in cognitive semantics that is linked between experience, the conceptual system, and the semantic structures encoded by language is studied in cognitive semantics. These include conceptual metaphor and embodied cognition. The study's flaw is that body metaphors and embodiment may be linked. A suicide note's cultural domain aspect and the importance of interpreting conceptual metaphoric notions cannot be overstated. The study claims that body metaphors utilized in suicide can be systematized utilizing sensoryperceptual information of the outside environment. Either way, the body or actual components as domains are clearly connected. Art is considered to require embodiment.

Biculturalism and Self-Esteem: Differential Associations Based on Cultural Domain

Acculturation is multidimensional in that it encompasses both heritage and dominant cultural orientations, and it can take place across multiple domains; therefore, biculturalism, an acculturation strategy involving strong orientations to both heritage and dominant cultures, can also occur for the domains of behaviors and practices, values and beliefs, and cultural identity. The current study is the first to compare the relations between biculturalism and self-esteem across these three cultural domains. Mexican American undergraduate students ( N = 219; Mage = 18.82 years, SD = 1.09), who were primarily women (72.15%) and born in the US (81.74%), responded to an in-person survey. We found that biculturalism is differentially associated with personal and collective self-esteem depending on the domain, with stronger associations for bicultural behaviors and weaker associations for bicultural values. Our findings highlight the importance of recognizing the multidimensionality of biculturalism in theory, research, and practice.

Examining the Unique Role of Premilitary Religious Commitment in Posttraumatic Symptomatology Among Post-9/11 Veterans

Religion can influence recovery from the many stressors and traumas that may occur during war-zone service. On the one hand, religious faith might provide an array of resources for healthy coping and relational connections. However, military trauma can also affect veterans spiritually in ways that lead to conflict and struggles in this cultural domain. In this brief report, a sample of 225 war-zone veterans from the post-9/11 era who screened positive for spiritual struggle completed Worthington et al.’s (2003) Religious Commitment Inventory on the basis of religious beliefs, practices, and relationships before serving in the military and according to the present time. In addition, veterans completed validated assessments of symptomatology related to posttraumatic stress disorder, moral injury, and spiritual struggles. The present religious commitment was not associated with any of these posttraumatic outcomes at the time of the study. In contrast, veterans’ premilitary religious commitment was uniquely linked with worse outcome across bivariate and multivariate analyses. Other analyses revealed a general weakening of religious commitment. In combination, these findings underscore the value of assuming a process-oriented view in conceptualizing religious identity in veterans who are struggling to heal emotionally, relationally, and spiritually from war-related traumas. Looking ahead, research will ideally dis- entangle the role of religious approaches to spirituality and dynamics of changes in religious identity among war-zone veterans.

Local plant knowledge and its variation among farmer’s families in the Napf region, Switzerland

Background Local plant knowledge typically is unevenly distributed within a community. This knowledge variation is important in understanding people’s relationship with their environment. Here we ask about knowledge variation among farmers’ families in the Napf region of Switzerland. Methods In 2008 and 2009, 60 adults and children living on 14 farms were interviewed about known and used plant species, and the data analyzed for knowledge variation. The farms were chosen by random stratified sampling, and freelisting and semi-structured interviews were conducted individually in the local idiom. The data were organized in an access database and analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlations, Mann–Whitney U tests and cultural domain analysis. Results Totally, 456 folk taxa were listed, whereas frequently listed species are common meadow and forest species. Uses were indicated for 391 taxa, most of them culinary, followed by fodder, wood, medicinal and ornamental uses. Local plant knowledge correlates with age and gender. Due to professional specialization, adults above 20 years have broader plant knowledge than children and adolescents. This is true for almost all examined habitat and plant use categories except for toy uses. Women and men share a common body of plant knowledge especially about herbaceous grassland species and woody species. Specialized knowledge of men is linked to cattle fodder and the processing of wood, specialized knowledge of women concerns edible, medicinal and ornamental plants, often garden species, but also herbaceous forest species. Conclusion In a rural region like the Napf, people retain a solid basis of plant knowledge. The variation of plant knowledge within farmers’ families of this region reflects sociocultural patterns. As these patterns are changing and as (agro)biodiversity is declining, local plant knowledge in the Napf region is suspected to undergo a mainstreaming process.

How Have the Subjective Poverty Lines and The Perceived Consequences of Poverty Changed During the Pandemic in Minnesota?

I examine how the subjective interpretation of poverty has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic downturn in St. Louis County, Minnesota, using comparative data from a data collection conducted before and during the pandemic. The data collection using cultural domain analysis asked information about the informants’ beliefs about poverty. I find that the importance of the main perceived consequences of poverty did not change significantly during the pandemic. In both Surveys, consequences related to material needs made up an important part of the items. A remarkable difference, however, is that the problem of perpetuated poverty is perceived to be more important during the pandemic. The subjective poverty lines did not change significantly during the pandemic either. The income level below which most of the people can be considered poor is between $ 14-15 per capita hourly net income on average. Three friends who are ready and able to help were enough to avoid poverty. Most of the large families are perceived to be poor when they bring up at least three children, while it was two children right before the pandemic. As for educational level, the poverty threshold was increased from 11th grade to high school graduate. It implies that if the individual did not graduate from high school, (s)he is more likely to become poor than before the pandemic.