Belief Statements Research Articles

Fundamental Choices in Human Resource Development Scholarship and Practice

The Problem and the Solution. Statements of philosophy and core beliefs always run the risk of becoming nothing more than abstract and idealistic pronouncements To come alive, such beliefs must be manifested in the ways in which scholars and HRD professionals actually practice their craft This chapter focuses on three fundamental choices that are critical if we are to manifest the ideas expressed in this volume and to lead the HRD profession through research

Parental attitudes toward varicella vaccination. The Puget Sound Pediatric Research Network.

To evaluate parental health beliefs regarding the varicella vaccine and to identify potential areas for interventions designed to increase immunization against varicella. Data were collected in the offices of pediatricians who are members of the Puget Sound Pediatric Research Network, a regional practice-based research group in the Seattle, Wash, area. At the time of an office visit, parents were asked to complete a survey on the varicella vaccine. Respondents indicated level of agreement with 10 health belief statements regarding the immunization using a 6-point Likert scale from "completely agree" to "completely disagree"; responses were subsequently transformed to an ordinal scale from 1 to 6, with 6 corresponding to highly positive beliefs. A composite health belief score for each respondent was computed by averaging responses to all statements. Parents also were asked to indicate the level of influence of their child's pediatrician on their decision to use the varicella vaccine. A total of 598 surveys were completed. Generally, parents agreed that the vaccine was worthwhile even if the only benefit was preventing a rare complication. Conversely, the majority of parents disagreed that varicella vaccine was worthwhile if the only benefit was preventing lost time from work, and that the immunization was worthwhile even if immunity was not lifelong. Parents who indicated that their child's pediatrician's opinion significantly influenced their decision to use the vaccine had higher composite health belief scores than those who indicated less influence (median scores, 4.3 and 4.0, respectively; P<.001). In this sample, parents had more positive health beliefs about the ability of varicella vaccine to prevent rare complications than to save time lost from work. These data also suggest that pediatricians can have an important role in increasing positive health beliefs about the vaccine. These findings may help future interventions to increase the immunization rate against varicella.

Survey on Awareness, Perception, and Extent of Usage of Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements in Metro Manila

ABSTRACT A total of 502 subjects (222 men, 280 women), age 20 years and older from 82 randomly selected barangays in Metro Manila were interviewed during the Fifth National Nutrition Survey in 1998 to determine their awareness, perceptions, and extent of usage of nutraceuticals. The majority of respondents, 62.5%, were not aware of nutraceutical products. Among those who were aware, 77.1% were nonusers, 11.7 were regular users, and the rest (11.2%) were sporadic users of nutraceuticals. The duration of use ranged from 1 day only to 2 years; most subjects had used nutraceutical products intermittently for 1 month. The majority of users reported that nutraceuticals made them healthy and that someone had influenced them to take the products. The most popular supplement used was fish oil, followed by aloe vera and multivitamins plus minerals. Calcium and iron supplements were used by some sporadic users. The respondents' agreement or disagreement with six health belief statements revealed their perception of nutraceuticals. There were no significant differences in the perception of users and nonusers with respect to health belief statements. In general, the level of awareness and usage of nutraceutical products in Metro Manila may be considered low.

Families» Accounts of the Causal Processes in Food Choice

Much of the previous research into the processes involved in food choice has made use of methodologies that neglect the social and familial context in which such decisions are made. The study reported here used a different approach to gather qualitative data from family members regarding their decision processes in the form of naturally expressed social explanations or attributions. Interviews were conducted with 149 family members from a total of 83 British families from four locations. The participants were encouraged to discuss their own personal experience of food choice, including their dietary decisions and behaviours and the factors involved in the process, using systemic interviewing techniques. The 52 h of interview material obtained were subjected to attributional analysis using the Leeds Attributional Coding System (LACS), a qualitative research tool designed for work with families. The data, in the form of 7062 fully coded belief statements or attributions, provided some preliminary observations of the way that families understand and socially explain their food-based decisions. The approach offers a different perspective on family food choice to those provided through more traditional experimental research and surveys.

Attributions in adolescents medicated for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Forty-three adolescents who were being prescribed stimulant medication for symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder were read vignettes that described adolescents being compliant or noncompliant with parental directives. The 43 adolescents imagined themselves engaging in these behaviors when they had either taken or not taken their medication, and made attributions for each behavior on scales of causal locus, control, stability, and the contributions of taking/not taking a stimulant tablet. No significant effects of medication (presence or absence) or the type of behavior (compliant or noncompliant) were found for locus or stability attributions; however, there was a tendency for the adolescents to see both compliance and noncompliance with their parents' directives as more controllable when they were taking medication than when not. Also, they attributed their behavior more to taking a stimulant tablet when asked about compliance with parental directives compared to noncompliance, and conversely, attributed their noncompliance with parent directives more to not having taken a stimulant tablet compared to compliance. The adolescents were also asked to rate general belief statements about their medication. In general, they did not see medication as responsible for their good behavior, but rather saw it as helping them gain control over their own behavior. They responded with neither agreement nor disagreement to statements about personality changes on medication. The results suggest that measuring attributions and beliefs about medication using multiple methods is important, as adolescents' attributions given in response to behavior vignettes and their general belief statements were not related.

Kitchen Testimony: Ex-Slaves' Narratives in New Company

Kitchen Testimony: Ex-Slaves’ Narratives in New Company Barbara Ryan (bio) A talkative servant is never considered a desirable inmate in any family. (1855) 1 In 1850, a correspondent to the pro-slavery New York Herald had a complaint. Aware, along with most of the nation, of the widely reported divorce suits of the nation’s foremost Shakespearean actor and his allegedly wild wife, the letter-writer questioned the merit of putting Edwin and Catherine Forrest’s domestic servants on the witness stand. “It seems to me to be unjust,” this onlooker commented, and improper, and unreasonable to believe imputations against any respectable woman, of gross misconduct, such as vulgarity or drunkenness, to say nothing of worse charges or insinuations, upon the mere belief and unexplained statement of . . . such witnesses as those relied on in this case. An ignorant housekeeper, and an equally ignorant Irish man servant, are not exactly the persons whose construction should govern us in estimating the conduct of their superiors. 2 The kicker to this haughty assertion lies in its tail for, according to “An American,” servant-witnesses should be inadmissible in court “even though they may speak the truth, and testify under no improper influence.” Nothing about this charge admits that quite a few servant-witnesses had been testifying in print and lecture-halls in recent years because “An American” ignored writers like Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown (to name only the most acclaimed). Ten years later, a pro-slavery novelist did acknowledge the accounts of former and fugitive chattel, but wondered why any sensible person would listen to menials’ complaints. In what looks like a direct reference to the Forrest trial, she scoffed that Carolina readers knew better than to credit Irish servants who claimed to have witnessed immorality. No more, she thought, should “civilized, educated Abolitionists . . . be so daft as to believe the monstrosities fulminated by lying runaway negroes, against their masters.” 3 These comments remind literary and cultural historians that in addition to race-based resistance, ex-slaves’ narratives were subject to a class-based fear, and that both class and race inflect the notorious complaint that “the slave as a general thing, is a [End Page 141] liar.” 4 Class and race also mingle in the term “testimony . . . from the kitchen,” which was coined by one of Catherine Forrest’s alleged lovers, a man with reason to fear what servants might say. 5 With this essay, I want to emphasize the fact that many ex-slave narrators had been house staff at some point, to draw their life-stories closer to accounts of waged service like Louisa May Alcott’s “How I Went Out to Service” (1874) and the housekeeper’s memoir published as A Lifetime with Mark Twain (1925). As this conflation of separable categories runs counter to some familiar patterns of thought, I will first outline the reasons that ex-slaves’ narratives could look like kitchen testimony to 19th-century homemakers trying to defend a rank-perquisite they held dear. I then survey several 19th-century servant-writers to illuminate the strategies they used when venturing into public speech. I conclude with a few thoughts on the boons I see for inquiries about ex-slaves’ narratives as a subset of the broader category of accounts written by people whose claim for attention rested on the fact that they had served. My inspiration throughout is the non-slave servant-writers forced to negotiate many of the same obstacles that former and fugitive slaves encountered when they tried to enter print. 6 A few of these writers are known and esteemed, most notably Alcott and Harriet Wilson, while others are still obscure, like Eliza M. Potter and Kate Leary. In bringing these servant-writers alongside ex-slave narrators like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley, I do not follow the antebellum pundit who opined: “[t]he words slave and servant are perfectly synonymous” or even David Walker’s charge that “a servant is a slave to the man whom he serves.” 7 I contend, instead, that if ex-slave narrators were forced to “run a gauntlet of critics . . . hindered, if not obstructed, by the surveillance of both friend and foe...

The Impact of Reform: Challenges for Mathematics Teacher Preparation

The mathematics education community has been widely recognized as a leader in the standards-based reform movement. Despite the widespread interest and attention that reform documents such as the NCTM Standards have generated, what has yet to be fully understood is the impact of these types of reform documents on the preservice teacher preparation process. This paper examines the state of the standards-based reform effort in mathematics teacher education by presenting the results of a three-year study of six cohorts of secondary mathematics student teachers (n = 63). Examined in particular are the ways in which these student teachers' professed beliefs about and knowledge of the NCTM Standards contrast with their teaching practices. Possible explanations for the mismatch between belief and knowledge statements and teaching practices are examined, along with other implications for mathematics teacher preparation.

Marching on the Margins: An Analysis of the Salvation Army in the United States

Most sociologists, using a multidimensional church-sect typology, refer to The Salvation Army as a sect. I use a single criterion, orientation toward secular society, from which to reinterpret the Army's history, including the American experience. I review present official statements of theological and social beliefs and survey a sample of Salvation Army officers to determine their agreement with officially stated positions on the Bible, homosexuality, women, and abortion. I compare their views with those ofevangelical seminarians and a GSS sample of conservative, moderate, and liberal Protestants and conclude that the Army is moving toward the church category while retaining some sectarian traits. It is part of the network of American churches, located in the margin between special purpose groups and recognized Christian denominations. Within the network of Christian denominations it lies in the margin between mainline and evangelical denominations.

Belief Importance in Expectancy‐Value Models of Attitudes1

In this study, 312 respondents were asked to indicate their attitude toward smoking and their smoking behavior. Attitudes were assessed by a direct attitude measure (4 items) and a series of 15 belief statements about the possible consequences of smoking. Next, respondents were asked to select the 3 consequences they found most important. Attitude scores derived from these important beliefs were more predictive of behavior than those based on all 15 beliefs, and far superior to attitude scores based on the remaining 12 beliefs. Differences between the 2 groups (smokers vs. nonsmokers) were more pronounced when attitude scores were based on important beliefs, and disappeared for scores based on nonselected, less important beliefs. It is argued that incorporating belief importance in expectancy‐value models helps to assess the structure of attitudes and could improve our insight in the determinants of behavioral preference.

Literacy orientation survey: A survey to clarify teachers’ beliefs and practices

The development of the Literacy Orientation Survey (LOS) is described. The LOS is an instrument for assessing teachers’ beliefs about literacy learning and classroom practices as they relate to constructivism. Content validity of the LOS was established by a panel of experts who reviewed the items, judging how well items reflected principles of constructivist approaches to literacy instruction. A draft survey of 44 items was administered to 110 teachers. Responses were factor analyzed. Thirty items, 15 belief statements and 15 practice statements, that respectively loaded at a .80 level were retained. The resulting LOS survey was administered to 30 different teachers in order to determine the reliability of the instrument. A test‐retest reliability coefficient was computed as r = .927. The LOS was subsequently administered to 95 teachers. Correlation between belief and practice items was .65. While the LOS was determined to have robust internal validity and reliability, questions remained about external validity of teachers’ self‐reports of their approaches to instruction. To assess external validity, 42 teachers were observed during actual classroom instruction. They were categorized as traditional, eclectic, or constructivist based on indicators used during the observations. The LOS was then administered to these same 42 teachers. LOS scores, by teaching category, were compared using Analysis of Variance. Homogeneity of variance across groups was assured (Levene Test). A significant F = 66.01, at the p < .001 level, resulted in the conclusion that the LOS consistently predicted actual classroom practice. It is concluded that the LOS can be used as a reliable and valid indicator of teachers’ practices during literacy instruction.

What psychology students know and believe about Charles Darwin.

204 introductory and 154 advanced students in psychology were asked about their knowledge of Charles Darwin and endorsement of belief statements about the status of evolutionary theory. Advanced students had higher scores than introductory students on three of six multiple-choice knowledge items and differed from them on all six statements of belief as assessed by chi 2. Advanced students appear to know more about evolutionary theory but may be less inclined to endorse its relevancy to psychology.

The Psychological Reality of Reasons

Action explanations like ‘I am heading to the ferry because the bridge is closed,’ are supposed to require restatement: ‘I am . . . because I believe the bridge is closed,’ because (i) the objective claim may be false though the intended explanation is correct, and (ii) because objective circumstances have to be cognitively mediated if they are to bear on action. This supposition is rejected here. Restatements cannot withdraw the objective claim without withdrawing the explanation. In the context of reason‐giving, belief statements do not function as assertions about the inner life. The fact that belief statements may be true though the belief itself is false creates the illusion of distinctive subject matters. The illusion is exploited by conceptions of belief positing stored representations. Even if there were such representations, retrieved for the sake of expressing previously acquired beliefs, the expression of belief must endorse p and cannot merely advert to the existence and content of a representation. The reverse of the standard philosophical view about restatement is actually correct. Wherever an agent correctly adduces a belief that an objective circumstance obtains in explaining his action, a de‐psychologizing restatement that merely makes the objective claim must be ascribable to the agent.

Factors Influencing Membership in a Tourism Promotion Authority

This study examined factors that influence business membership in a new voluntary statewide tourism promotion organization. Three types of factors were considered: the characteristics of the business, beliefs about tourism and statewide tourism promotion, and the perceived benefits/costs of membership. Data were obtained from telephone surveys of current members and nonmembers of the Colorado Travel and Tourism Authority (CTTA). Results from a predictive model indicated that three tourism beliefs and three of the benefits/costs variables differentiated current members from nonmembers. For the model examining the likelihood of a nonmember becoming a CTTA member, two of the belief statements about tourism, two of the perceived benefits/costs variables, and one business characteristic (years of operation) were significant. The implications of these findings for increasing membership in the CTTA are discussed.

Beliefs and Knowledge of Paraprofessionals Teaching Nutrition Education Programs for Pregnant Adolescents

LEARNING OUTCOME: To identify beliefs and knowledge of paraprofessionals teaching pregnant adolescents in two nutrition education programs.The objective of this study was to evaluate a change in the beliefs and knowledge of paraprofessionals teaching pregnant adolescents in a special nutrition education program for pregnant adolescents compared to the regular Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Five paraprofessionals conducted the regular EFNEP program for 15 pregnant adolescents and five paraprofessionals conducted the special nutrition program for 28 pregnant adolescents. Paraprofessionals completed a scale instrument about health and nutrition during pregnancy before and after each program. Paraprofessionals responded to the belief statements according to what most pregnant adolescents believe is true about health and nutrition during pregnancy using a four point Likert-type scale ranging from majority to hardly any. The knowledge section assessed the paraprofessionals’ knowledge. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the pre and post knowledge and belief scores by education program. The belief statements were analyzed using factor analysis. The pre and post knowledge mean and standard deviation scores were 16.5 ±1.8 and 19.0 ± 2.1 respectively. The change in both the belief scores (P=0.04) and the knowledge scores (P=0.005) were significant for all paraprofessionals teaching both nutrition education programs. When analyzed separately, only the change in knowledge score (P=0.009) was significant while there was a trend toward significance for the belief score (P=0.06) of the paraprofessionals teaching the special nutrition education program. Factor analysis indicated the common concepts of food cravings, prenatal nutrition, health and effects on the baby. Both pregnant adolescents and paraprofessionals need accurate and current information regarding prenatal health and nutrition to help alleviate any misconceptions (ie, identify myths related to food cravings marking the baby).

Cancer detection: how effective is public education?

The American Cancer Society has been educating the public about cancer detection methods since 1922. Originally, only two warning signs were published; however, for more than 40 years, there have been seven cancer warning signs. In an attempt to evaluate the public knowledge of cancer detection and prevention, this pilot study examined the attitudes, knowledge and behaviors of 172 laypersons. The instrument used consisted of four sections and was designed by the investigator and the graduate nursing research class. The first section contained 30 questions about the individual, health practices, and risk status in a forced-choice format. Ability to identify the seven cancer warning signals was the second section. Attitudes toward Cancer Detection methods were evaluated in a semantic differential format as the third section. The list section contained 24 Likert-formatted statements of beliefs about the importance of cancer detection. Before data analysis, a Cronbach's alpha was obtained on each scale and ranged from 0.8031 to 0.8897. Eighty nine (52%) of the respondents were women and 83 (48%) were men. The sample was 85% white, 11% African-American, and 4% other ethnic groups. Ninety-four percent of the population had some form of health insurance. Gender was not significantly related to scores on the Attitudes toward Cancer Detection or the Beliefs about Cancer Scale. Race was significantly related to scores on the Attitudes toward Cancer Detection Scale. Nineteen percent of the sample could not identify any of the cancer warning signs. The median number of warning signs correctly identified as warning signals was three. Thirty-two items were incorrectly listed as warning signs. Survival of cancer is linked with early detection. The inability to influence changes in knowledge and practices over the past 50 years is examined. Implications for nurses and teaching related to cancer warning signs are explored.

Core Curriculum Outcomes: Discrepant Beliefs about the Field

When disciplines perceived as to mission of their liberal arts college are reinforced and those regarded as non-central are eliminated, merged, or subsumed into a more contributing discipline, faculty in negatively targeted fields may be prompted to inform their university colleagues about importance of theories and skills of their discipline. As part of such an effort, they may point to knowledge that is special to their discipline and, at same time, crucial to other currently more favored disciplines. What knowledge, beyond technical skills, is special province of journalism and mass communication?(1) The present survey examined selected beliefs to probe whether a journalism and mass communication curriculum instilled a more sophisticated view of media reality in formal coursework for majors than for non-majors who learn about media from daily experience. The goal was to use this information to initiate a fruitful discussion, which might culminate in consensus(2) about core understandings that could distinguish a person who has received a mass communication education. Such a core could then be offered as a vital component of a comprehensive university to colleagues and administrators. Since 1984, national studies and gatherings (e.g., Oregon Report, 1987; Stark and Lowther, 1988; Wingspread Project, 1989; Blanchard and Christ, 1993; State of Field, 1994; What Makes a Great Journalism School, 1995) have explored domain of journalism and mass communication education. However, these books, reports, and conferences, while continuing to generate discussion about new paradigms for curricular development and role of mass communication education in changing university cultures, have failed to define current baseline. To establish a baseline, consensus about basic concepts of mass communication education is necessary. However, effort to reach consensus for even a modest list of belief statements for this exploratory study emphatically reinforced what Blanchard and Christ (1993, p.92) discovered in their 1990 national survey: Across country there is great diversity in number of required core courses in journalism and mass communication programs and no pattern. A review of core courses would have been another way to assess faculty philosophy and to demonstrate what a school believes is basic and fundamental to discipline (Blanchard and Christ, 1993, p. 92). However, after two years of surveys and discussion, even Oregon Report (1987) suggested only broad-based communication competencies--general literacy, visual literacy, computer literacy, information-gathering ability, media-writing capability--not specific outcomes. At University of Michigan, two-year Professional Preparation Network (Stark and Lowther, 1988) also recommended general competencies that overlap or expand Oregon Report. Scanning course titles in a curriculum, or examining syllabi for these courses, did not reveal outcomes of interest here, actual mass communication-related understandings of graduating seniors, and fit of these understandings to those of their instructors. The Professional Preparation Network (Stark and Lowther, 1988, p. 23) concluded that journalism educators should expect students to learn to identify, understand, and critique media's values in courses common to mass communication programs across country. Despite different emphases at different institutions, mass communication majors should learn media value systems in ethics courses, restrictions and regulation in law courses, impact of media in media and society courses, leadership in management, internship and capstone courses, and scholarly concern for improvement in research and communication theory courses (Christ and McCall, 1974). Mass communication programs have been admonished to distinguish themselves nationally, and to contribute to their local campuses through the promotion of media literacy and fostering of freedom of expression (Oregon Report, p. …

Suicidal and counter-suicidal thinking

A survey of 326 individuals found that 66% had considered suicide at some time in their lives, 9% had seriously contemplated suicide, and 7% had attempted suicide. One-third reported thinking about suicide during the previous 12 months, while 20% believed that suicide would solve some of their current problems. Two-thirds of those who had contemplated suicide during the previous 12 months had told no one about these thoughts. Individuals who reported relatively more serious histories of suicidal ideation were less likely to endorse counter-suicidal belief statements about their (a) ability to survive and cope with life pressures, and (b) fear of being dead. The findings are discussed in relation to risk assessment and other aspects of practice.

The conflicted individual: personality-based and domain-specific antecedents of ambivalent social attitudes.

Historically, attitude theory and research has assumed that attitudes are largely unconflicted and unidimensional summary statements of feelings and beliefs. More recent work has reexamined this assumption (Thompson, Zanna, & Griffin, in press). The present article details two studies that continue to investigate this notion, examining antecedent variables assumed important in the genesis of attitudinal ambivalence. The first study focuses upon personality-based factors such as individuals' Need for Cognition (NFC) and Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI) (a heightened concern with error). The pattern of results was consistent with our predictions: High NFC was associated with less ambivalence and high PFI was associated with greater ambivalence. The second study investigated a domain-specific antecedent. It was predicted that higher involvement would reduce the level of ambivalence experienced. Further, involvement was expected to moderate the effect of the personality-based antecedents. Again, results confirmed our hypotheses. High NFC was associated with less ambivalence, especially under conditions of high involvement with the issues. Conversely, high PFI individuals who were highly involved with these issues experienced more ambivalence. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for attitude theory.

Infant feeding beliefs: A cross cultural perspective

The purpose of this study was to compare the infant feeding beliefs of Anglo Americans [AA], Asian Indian Americans [AIA], living in Knoxville, Tennessee and Asian Indians [AI] in Coimbatore, India. Belief statements were generated from personal interviews and literature reports. The 19 item Likert scale format Infant Feeding Belief Questionnaire [IFBQ] was mailed to 530 mothers; the response rate was 88%; n = 166 AA, 170 AIA, and 149 AI. All three groups were middle income and had one to three children. Over 70% of the mothers had a baccalaureate degree. There were differences [p ≤ .05] in the mean agree/disagree scores on 17 belief statements between AA and the two groups of Indians and differences between AI and AIA on 7 statements. Responses were not related to mother's age or number of children but were related to length of years in the U.S. and parents' education and occupation. AIA responses generally were intermediate between the AA and AI mothers, suggesting a cultural transition period. AIA and AI responses differed on several items about the timing of introduction of supplemental foods. AA mothers were less likely to believe that infant feeding practices were related to specific illnesses, such as diarrhea or indigestion, than were AIA or AI mothers. Results indicate the existence of culture-based differences in infant feeding beliefs which may influence adherence to recommended practices.

Locating Hazardous Waste Facilities: The Influence of NIMBY Beliefs

Abstract. The‘Not‐In‐My‐Backyard’ (NIMBY) syndrome is analyzed in economic decision making. Belief statements that reflect specific NIMBY concerns are subjected to factor analysis and the structure reveals two dimensions: tolerance and avoidance. Tolerance reflects an acceptance of rational economic arguments regarding the sitting of a hazardous waste facility and avoidance reflects a more personal fear of‐consequences. Analysis identifies demographic characteristics of individuals likely to exhibit these two beliefs. These beliefs also are shown to influence the acceptance of a hazardous waste disposal facility in ones neighborhood when compensation is offered.