Validity Claims Research Articles

How the Lack of Content Validity in the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy Is Undermining Quality Physical Education

Since 2015, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has posited physical literacy as a central tenet and pedagogical reform initiative of quality physical education. An assessment of physical literacy is, therefore, becoming an increasingly important aspect of physical education in schools. Internal and external threats to assessment instrument validity are always important considerations in assessment tool development, but this paper identifies why particular attention needs to be paid to the content validity of one such instrument being used by physical educators and researchers. Specifically, this paper interrogates the content validity claims of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy—Version 2 and discusses why greater attention needs to be paid to the content validity of this instrument if pedagogical reform in physical education is not to be undermined.

Transgender Attitudes and Beliefs Scale-Greek (TABS-Gr) version: translation and initial evaluation of psychometric properties among medical students

BackgroundTransgender people face significantly greater discrimination and health disparities in health care settings than cisgender people. The role of education in eliminating this phenomenon has been increasingly recognized by many medical schools. However, transgender health content is sparse or lacking in the medical curricula of many countries.MethodThis study was designed to validate the Greek version of the Transgender Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (TABS-Gr). The study adopted a cross-sectional, comparative-descriptive research design. Participants (N = 203) were contacted through online recruitment and invited to complete an anonymous web-based survey. The data were collected between December 2022 and February 2023.ResultsThe overall reliability of the TABS-Gr questionnaire was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.961, p. from Hotelling’s T-squared test < 0.000). High Cronbach’s alpha values were estimated for the three subscales, with α = 0.958 for Interpersonal Comfort, α = 0.906 for Gender Beliefs, and α = 0.952 for Human Values. Hotelling’s T-squared test confirmed that all items on the scale had the same mean (p < 0.001 for all subgroups). Explanatory factor analysis (EFA) demonstrated adequate fit. Convergent and discriminant validity were validated based on the estimated correlations. The three-factor structure of the Greek TABS version was confirmed. The mean total score was 155.95 (SD = 30.63), indicating that medical students had a moderately positive attitude towards transgender people. Participants showed significantly less biased (more tolerant, positive) attitudes towards transgender people on the Interpersonal Comfort (IC) and Human Value (HV) subscales than on the Sex/Gender Beliefs (SGB) subscale. A demographic comparison was conducted and demonstrated a correlation between scores and sociodemographics, except for place of origin. A statistically significant increase in the total mean score was estimated for women compared to men.ConclusionThe overall psychometric findings provide some evidence to support the validity of the Greek version of the TABS. However, we call for further validation research in Greek medical schools. Since our claims for validity are based in part on an exploratory factor analysis, a future confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is part of our call for further validation research. While the results of this study are mostly in line with the results of previous research, some nuances were identified. These results may inform educators, medical school curricula and education policy-makers.

Conflict Resolution through Communication: Habermasian Study of Pinter’s The Homecoming

In his Communicative Action Theory, Habermas argues that it is possible to achieve an innovative rationality which has the ability to resolve social conflicts and reach consensus and mutual understanding through communicative action. This ‘communicative rationality’ rests on intersubjective recognition of Habrmasian three ‘validity claims’: Truth, Rightness, and Truthfulness. Based on this classification and drawing on critical-qualitative research into Pinter’s The Homecoming, this paper examines the speech acts of the characters in this play to see if they are able to redeem their criticisable validity claims discursively in their familial context. The conclusion which is drawn here is that ‘emancipation’ can be achieved through ‘communicative rationality’ only if all the members of family and, on a larger scale, all members of society have an equal share of power; and, ‘communicative action’ can be possible even through silence, monologues, and deformed dialogues which are Pinter’s unique style in composing theatrical dialogues. Keywords: Habermas, Pinter, The Homecoming, Communicative rationality, Communicative action.

God's kingdom, but no Planet B?

Environmentally conscious citizen don´t think homogeneous. Their different perceptions of the world cause a moral diverstiy in climate politics. The article shows that religious and non-religious approaches to climate adaptation refer back to a variety of transcendent notions of truth. Claims of validity result from concrete images of the world including community constructing ideas and action guiding notions such as the kingdom of God or the icon “blue Planet”. We can therefore not expect worldwide homogeneous climate-politics. But notions of truth do not describe the world as it is, they rather show the images that people follow. This is why even opposing conceptions for climate mitigation such as the demand for and the claim against nuclear power can be open to compromise. Voting for the acceptance of plurality, the article suggests not to ignore the Christian wisdom of Chalcedon that offers a way, how to deal with opposing proclaims. The article originates from the Global Centre for Water Security and Climate Change.

Structural and Photoprotective Characteristics of Zn-Ti, Zn-Al, and Mg-Al Layered Double Hydroxides—A Comparative Study

Organic UV filters have been known to generate harmful by-products and undergo photoreactive degradation, which ultimately poses a great threat to consumers using sunscreen products. Inorganic UV filters such as TiO2 and ZnO, although considered safer options, are not without threat considering their photocatalytic nature and ability to generate reactive oxygen species. A study was conducted to identify the influence of different metal ions on the photochemical properties of layered double hydroxides (LDH), Zinc-Titanium LDH (Zn-Ti LDH), Zinc-Aluminium LDH (Zn-Al LDH), and Magnesium- Aluminium LDH (Mg-Al LDH) and their prospects in photoprotection. The photocatalytic properties of the LDH were analyzed and compared to TiO2 and ZnO. The intermediate band gaps of Zn-Ti (3.72 eV) and Zn-Al LDH (3.3 eV) proved favorable and safer for the use of these LDH in cosmetic formulations as they offer lower photo-reactivity when compared to cosmetic grade ZnO and TiO2. The in vitro SPF values obtained for formulations containing 2 wt% Zn-Ti and 2 wt% Zn-Al LDH showed promise, with both samples claiming “broad spectrum” protection and valid claims of UVA protection.

UN ETEROCLITO BABUINO: On Giordano Bruno’s Candelaio and the Infinitization of the Sexes

ABSTRACT Giordano Bruno (Nola 1548 – Rome 1600) published in 1582 Candelaio, a comedy that anticipates the core arguments he developed in the six dialogs written in volgare during the philosopher’s stay in England (1583–1585). In the comedy, the term candelaio (candlebearer) is deployed not only as a trope for light and illumination, but also as a slang designation for sodomite. Thus, sexual dissident Bonifacio, the tragicomic personage to which the title refers, brings to light the mostly unavowed or denigrated, albeit ineradicable complexities of every sexual individuality. In this framework, the personality, lifestyle, and views of disruptive Bonifacio/Candelaio serve as narrative support for a critical stance aiming at undoing the validity claims of the man/woman dichotomy. At the antipodes of the finitization of sexuality fostered by Christian creationism, Bruno’s sexual approach is framed within a conception of “natura naturante,” the all-pervasive, inexhaustible and animating power, which enables the emergence of utterly diversified beings throughout the infinitude of the existing worlds. Having dismantled the epistemic pretentions of sexual binarity and its possible closed supplementations, Bruno effectively frees Bonifacio’s sexual heteroclisis from the stigma of unnaturalness. Notwithstanding the trailblazing traits of Bruno’s sexual thought and its ontological framework, Brunian scholarship to the present has ignored that the philosopher from Nola posed the arguably most profound and consistent challenge to binary sexuality and its finite suppletions in pre-Darwinian Modernity. In view of the critiques of patriarchy and anti-feminism that began to develop at the turn to the twentieth century, it is striking that no systematic effort has been undertaken to relate Bruno’s principled reversion of the form/matter hierarchy to his advocacy for the axiological restauration of femaleness in the masculinist-centered culture of the West. In accordance with Bruno’s explicit design to “turn upside down the reversed world,” his philosophy seeks to reveal the endless profusion of sexual forms not as creations of an omnipotent paternal figure, but as emergences from an inexhaustible source, which he signally terms “the maternal womb of Nature.”

Humor in The Stand-Up Comedy You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?: A Universal Pragmatic Study

Humor is an interesting phenomenon that has been studied widely, yet it is considered a universal trait that cannot be an old subject for a study. This study is conducted to investigate humor from a universal pragmatic lens in a stand-up comedy show, namely, You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?. It aims to study humor as a coin with two sides, the production side and the understanding side. To achieve the aim of the study, the researchers use an eclectic contains Grice’s CP model (1975) and Habermas’s UP model (1979, 1984, 1987, 1998). The study has noted that while using the observance and the non-observance of the cooperative maxims to produce humor, the universal validity claims of truth, sincerity, and normative rightness for reaching a mutual understanding with the audience are raised. The study concludes that more than one maxim can be used, whether it is observed or non-observed, to produce humor. Besides, humor can be produced through the combination sequence of the observance and the non-observance of maxims. It is also shown that humor has adhered to the universal validity claims of truth, sincerity, and normative rightness. On the whole, humor is used communicatively to get the hearer into a mutual understanding.

Unethical but not illegal! A critical look at two-sided disinformation platforms: Justifications, critique, and a way forward

Crowdsourced disinformation represents a two-sided-market model wherein a platform organizer orchestrates the interaction between disinformation requesters and crowdworkers for a fee. Academic research and industry reports demonstrate that the disinformation business is thriving and that its consequences can be severe; however, research on this topic has focused mainly on developing technical methods to detect disinformation, while leaving the social aspects of the phenomenon unaddressed. In particular, very little is known about the discursive tactics that platforms apply to justify disinformation-service offerings such that these appear acceptable to potential customers. Taking a critical approach to the topic, the paper examines how platform organizers justify their disinformation services and to what extent the justifications given are valid. These questions are addressed via a unique dataset from 10 crowdsourcing platforms specializing in social-media–based reputation management. Drawing on the lens of accounts, the analysis suggests that these platforms employ six means of justification for persuasion purposes: the “claim of entitlement,” “defense of the necessity,” the “claim of ubiquity,” “language sanitization,” “appeal to professionalism,” and “appeal to codified rules.” Critical discourse analysis scrutinizing these accounts against the validity claims of comprehensibility, truth, sincerity, and legitimacy indicates that they cannot be considered valid. The paper discusses the implications of the findings and offers several recommendations designed for improving the status quo.

Developer involvement and COI disclosure in high-stakes English proficiency test validation research: A systematic review

Language test developers play a critical role in gathering evidence to support test score interpretations and real-world uses, but independent research is necessary to put claims of validity to the test (Kane, 2013). This study systematically reviews the prevalence of developer involvement in high-stakes English proficiency test research published in five peer-reviewed language testing journals from 2016 to 2021, focusing on aspects of validity addressed, research methodology, and disclosure of relevant conflicts of interest (COI). Nearly half of the 181 included studies featured some degree of developer involvement, in terms of authorship or funding, and developer-involved studies had some notable methodological advantages, including larger sample sizes and access to official test materials/data. COI reporting was generally poor, with only 4-7% of studies with potential conflicts making adequate disclosures. We discuss implications of these findings in terms of evaluating tests and make recommendations for greater transparency in COI reporting and validation research.

Delving Into Pragmatic Horizons: Critical Ethnographic Research on the Assessment Culture in School

In this article, we introduce Carspecken‘s (1996) pragmatic horizon analysis and validity reconstruction (PHAVR), an approach for examining taken for granted claims articulated by research participants as part of the critical ethnographic research. Validity claims are the assumptions that express implicit intentions of participants of communicative act. The application of the approach is illustrated by two examples from our fieldwork established to explore the assessment culture in one school.

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

The return of war in Europe has renewed the urgency of understanding war’s role in the interstate system. Although many theorists take a progressive view in which war is withering away, others argue war remains a recurrent feature of political life. This article contributes to theoretical debates about war’s ongoing significance by systematically reconstructing Hegel’s theory of war and its relevance for understanding war’s persistence. Historically, Hegel thinks war has taken increasingly rational forms over time, though, contrary to optimistic interpretations, this points to enmity’s distillation rather than its elimination. Causally, Hegel suggests war occurs because the lack of a power above states capable of adjudicating conflicting rights and the consequent struggle to enforce one’s formally valid claims against those who could substantively deny them. Ethically, Hegel holds war is a necessary evil which, abstractly, ought to end. However, since war teaches citizens that their good is tied to the good of the community as a whole, thereby restraining civil society’s encroachments on the political, Hegel denies the end of war would be an absolute ethical good. By systematically reconstructing Hegel’s views on war, this article sheds new light on war’s role in the system of European states.

The biopsychosocial model: Its use and abuse.

The biopsychosocial model (BPSM) is increasingly influential in medical research and practice. Several philosophers and scholars of health have criticized the BPSM for lacking meaningful scientific content. This article extends those critiques by showing how the BPSM's epistemic weaknesses have led to certain problems in medical discourse. Despite its lack of content, many researchers have mistaken the BPSM for a scientific model with explanatory power. This misapprehension has placed researchers in an implicit bind. There is an expectation that applications of the BPSM will deliver insights about disease; yet the model offers no tools for producing valid (or probabilistically true) knowledge claims. I argue that many researchers have, unwittingly, responded to this predicament by developing certain patterns of specious argumentation I call "wayward BPSM discourse." The arguments of wayward discourse share a common form: They appear to deliver insights about disease gleaned through applications of the BPSM; on closer inspection, however, we find that the putative conclusions presented are actually assertions resting on question-begging arguments, appeals to authority, and conceptual errors. Through several case studies of BPSM articles and literatures, this article describes wayward discourse and its effects. Wayward discourse has introduced into medicine forms of conceptual instability that threaten to undermine various lines of research. It has also created a potentially potent vector of medicalization. Fixing these problems will likely require reimposing conceptual rigor on BPSM discourse.

Mainstreaming Religious Moderation in the Digital Space: An Examination of Islami.co Web Portal in the Perspective of Jürgen Habermas’ Communicative Rationality

The development of popular Islamic media in the digital era, associated with an authority shift from traditional to popular religion, has enhanced peoples’ ways of thinking. Ironically, conservative and radical Islamic models have dominated the digital space. Therefore, in response to this phenomenon, this research examines how the mainstreaming strategy of religious moderation is carried out by moderate groups, specifically a non-affiliated Islamic portal called Islami.co, with the tagline “Enlightening and Friendly Islamic Media.” This research also analyzed articles, concepts, and perspectives to determine whether they are in the moderate category using the Jürgen Habermas’ theory of communicative rationality. Furthermore, the essays in the islami.co were analyzed according to three kinds of validity claims, namely truth, accuracy, and honesty. This study concluded that mainstreaming religious moderation through this islami.co’s media significantly impacts the community as a filter from news content or thoughts that do not reflect the Islamic value of mercy to all mankind. Islami.co’s writers continuously endeavor to test conservative-radical Islamic narratives that develop in a society with logical (aqli) and religious (naqli) arguments presented with brief and uncomplicated explanations. The strategy of popular Islamic portals such as islami.co is quite acceptable to middle-class Muslims, as often preached by the fundamentalist groups. Therefore, it is very appropriate to direct islami.co’s target audience to readers from the general public. Keywords: Religious moderation, digital space, Islami.co, communicative rationality, religious authority.

Ethics principles for social and behavior change communication

The field of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) has a history reaching back to the period of decolonization following World War II. Since that period, much has been learned about theories and methods pertinent to this communication subfield. One topic that has received too little attention is the ethical dimension of SBCC. This paper considers the need for an SBCC code of ethics and justification for such a code. Amartya Sen's capabilities approach and Habermas's discourse ethics are reviewed as substantial contributions to such a justification. Habermas's U and D principles are selected as especially useful when the criteria for communicative action are considered, including criteria related to validity claims and general symmetry conditions. The paper argues that discourse ethics is the most suitable general ethical approach for SBCC, offering both a theoretical foundation for SBCC ethics and guidelines for practice in the field.

Comparative Analysis of Forensic Software on Android-based MiChat using ACPO and DFRWS Framework

Instant Messaging (IM) is a popular and widely used communication application. MiChat is a multi-platform instant chat service with several features that can attract various segments of the population to use it as a tool for committing cybercrimes. A forensic framework and several forensic tools are needed to carry out physical evidence investigation procedures. This study focuses on analyzing and comparing the forensic tools used during the research, based on defined digital evidence parameters and applying a specific mobile forensic framework. The results show that Final Mobile Forensic has the highest ability to obtain digital evidence and can recover deleted data, while Oxygen Forensic Detective has advantages in terms of audio, images, and video but cannot recover data. The best framework is DFRWS, which has the most complete stages so that it can support the investigation process. The best digital evidence is text chat and contacts, which can be used to support valid legal claims.

Wissenschaftliche Episteme und Geltung. Von der Konstruktion zum Dialog

Abstract. The long triumph of constructivism, particularly visible works such as Kuhn's writing on the structure of scientific revolutions, and many other scientific studies have made one thing clear: Reason alone does not decide on scientific topics, theories, and methods. Instead, very different factors, often considered illegitimate, help determine the course of science. These findings make scientific enlightenment gestures recurrently appear as sheer mockery, undermine the validity claims of scientific statements, open up possibilities for a strong politicisation of science and block any retrograde way out. Those who are nevertheless convinced of the importance of scientific autonomy, who defend a special validity of scientific knowledge and who accept the scientific duty of responsiveness, should acknowledge the decision-making challenges in science and, as the article recommends, engage in theory-theoretical dialogues.

Are Rights of Nature Manifesto Rights (And is That a Problem)?

That nature, including insentient entities such as trees, rivers, or ecosystems, should be recognized as right-holders is an enticing thought that would have substantial practical repercussions. But the position finds little support from moral conceptions of rights and moral distinctions that have judicial relevance in the sense of providing normative reasons for legislation and assessing existing laws. An alternative to viewing rights of nature as proper rights resting on valid moral claims that ought to be legally recognized is to regard them as ‘manifesto’ rights. Such rights are based on political demands and hold even if there is no one with a corresponding duty to fulfill them. I investigate whether rights of nature can be considered manifesto rights. Some objections to regarding rights of nature as manifesto rights will be considered, such as difficulties of delimiting the borders of an environmental entity and making successful analogies with existing (human) rights based on interests and needs. It will be suggested that while some of those challenges can be mitigated by custodianship, it is not clear what needs of insentient entities in nature would justify such claims. It is found that rights of nature depend substantially on legitimate custodians both for delineation of the entity in question and for establishing interest-like characteristics. But rights of nature are not manifesto rights when there is a legitimate custodian having the possibility of evoking duties in others. However, the need for a legitimate custodian in delimitation and establishing normatively relevant characteristics of specific environmental entities defeats universal appeals to rights of nature.

Being a master of metaphors

Being a master of metaphors

Reinsuring pandemics: the role of government and public-private partnerships between reinsurers and governments.

Pandemic-related business interruption (BI) losses are generally considered 'uninsurable' because, in order to pool sufficient premium revenue to meet valid claims, premiums would be unaffordable for the majority of policyholders. This paper explores whether and how such losses might be made insurable in the U.K. The authors consider post-pandemic governmental responses, including the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the meaning and implications of FCA v Arch Insurance (U.K.) Ltd ([2021] UKSC 1). The central premise of the paper is to highlight the importance of reinsurance in increasing an underwriter's insuring capacity and to illustrate how, with the support of government in the form of a public-private partnership (PPP), 'uninsurable' risks of this type may be made insurable. The authors propose a PPP, 'Pandemic Business Interruption Re', which provides, in their view, a feasible and defensible solution that would confer the benefit of increasing policyholders' faith in the industry's ability to underwrite pandemic-related BI claims and reduce reliance on ex post government aid.

Membangun Komunikasi yang Komunikatif

Communicative communication is a process when a person or several people provide information to connect with the other person or the communicator using language, attitudes or behavior that is easily understood by the communicator. Communicative communication is a process when a person or several people provide information to connect with the other person or the communicator using language, attitudes or behavior that is easily understood by the communicator. In all situations this communicative attitude is needed to facilitate communication with other people, understand things and so on. And we must apply this communicative attitude from an early age so that we can train someone to have the courage to speak in public, to express opinions and to make decisions. Of course, we have to study communicative attitudes first, starting from understanding to example sentences. Because this can make it easier when communicating with other people. Communicative when communication takes place on the individuals who are involved and want to make the interlocutor understand his intentions by trying to achieve what is called validity claims. Hardiman (2009) mentions 4 kinds of claims. And any effective communication must also achieve this fourth claim and the person who is able to communicate.&#x0D; keywords: communication, communicative