Browsing by Subject "content analysis"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    A Content and Thematic Analysis of Foundational Reading Courses in Minnesota’s Teacher Preparation Programs
    (2022-11) Payeur, Abbey
    Due to the life-altering effects reading ability has on one’s life, the public, government, and educators have a vested interest in understanding how reading acquisition occurs and is most effectively taught. The body of research termed the ‘science of reading’ shows that at least 92 percent of children can read at grade level when given scientifically based reading instruction (Foorman et al., 1998; Mathes & Denton, 2002; Mathes et al., 2005); yet, consistently, over 30 percent of Minnesota’s students do not reach the “basic” level of reading as indicated by the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments in Reading (MDE, 2022). While standardized test scores do not provide a holistic picture of students’ academic success, they do serve as an indicator of reading progress. This study aimed to understand how teachers in Minnesota are prepared to teach reading by institutions of higher education. Through a content and thematic analysis of syllabi from reading courses from 29 institutions in Minnesota, this study determined trends in textbook choices, assignments, and key course content topics. Results revealed areas of strength and growth across Minnesota teacher preparation in foundational reading. Areas of strength included topics such as differentiation, diversity in children’s literature and curricular materials, and inclusion of characteristics of dyslexia. Areas for growth included understanding and teaching reading acquisition models, increasing teacher candidates’ opportunities to apply the major components of reading in field placement settings, and selecting exemplary textbooks. The intention of this study was to provide concrete data to those working to retain the strengths of content in foundational reading courses in Minnesota while increasing the course content that aligns with the scientifically based knowledge of reading acquisition.
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    COVID-19 Contact Tracing News Environment in Minnesota
    (2021) Pinaula-Toves, Alanalyn N; Adabor, Maame Amma; Korthas, Jennifer M; Kinzer, Hannah T
    The uncertain and rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has much of the world relying on news outlets for the latest public health information. The content of articles published by these news outlets may therefore have widespread and significant implications on public opinions, beliefs, and behaviors. This cross-sectional content analysis examined 630 unique news articles published in Minnesota, comparing message content from mainstream news outlets to that of local "ethnic" news outlets. The results of the study indicate that inclusion of contact tracing information may vary by news outlet type, and that positive framing was significantly higher in local "ethnic" news articles compared to mainstream articles.
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    Distributional Consequences and Executive Regime Types: The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment Incentives
    (2015-07) Beitman, Aaron
    This dissertation examines variation in the provision of foreign direct investment (FDI) incentives. If FDI is crucial for economic growth, why do some countries offer high levels of incentives to attract FDI, while other countries do not? This study identifies the political dimensions behind FDI incentives provision in democratic countries. I argue that provision of FDI incentives depends on the distributional consequences of FDI and a country's executive regime type. FDI inflows compete up wages and drive down rents, which implies that labor prefers high levels of FDI and FDI incentives, while native capital opposes FDI and FDI incentives. These preferences towards FDI incentives are moderated, however, by a country's executive regime type. Parliamentary democracies, which are more supportive of labor's interests, are expected to provide higher levels of FDI incentives as compared to presidential democracies, which are less supportive of labor. After deriving testable hypotheses using the tools of game theory, I examine the politics of FDI incentives provision by analyzing an original cross-national dataset of FDI incentives generated with machine learning techniques. I then explore the politics of FDI incentives provision by comparing case studies of Poland, a parliamentary democracy, and Romania, a presidential democracy. A final empirical chapter uses unique survey data from Poland to study individual-level attitudes towards FDI incentives.
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    The Impact of Ethnic and Mainstream News Media Collaboration on Immigrant News: A Content Analysis of the Sahan Journal/Star Tribune Partnership
    (2023) Gunapalan, Tracy
    This thesis uses a quantitative content analysis of the Star Tribune’s coverage of immigrant communities and immigration between the year prior to its partnership with Sahan Journal and the year during it. With the goal of examining how patterns of coverage shifted with the partnership, this work considers the visibility of immigrants and immigration coverage across two years as well as the types of frames that were most often deployed in these types of news stories. Considering the complexities of race in this discourse, differences across European and non-European immigrant communities were also examined. Findings reveal that the partnership saw decreased coverage of immigrants and immigration but that it also resulted in the utilization of more positive frames in these stories, regardless of whether subjects were European immigrants or not. However, results also demonstrate that the criminalization of immigration remains a significant issue in mainstream coverage of immigrant communities. This research suggests that while ethnic/mainstream partnerships may be helpful for creating more positive coverage of immigrant communities, further efforts are necessary to address persisting news values and norms that misrepresent and neglect communities of color.
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    A Matter of Life and Death? Examining the Quality of Newspaper Coverage on the Newspaper Crisis
    (Taylor & Francis, 2012) Chyi, Hsiang Iris; Lewis, Seth C.; Zheng, Nan
    During 2008-2010, U.S. newspapers covered the financial issues confronting their own industry extensively. Such coverage drew attention to the state of the newspaper but also raised questions about whether journalists over-reacted to this market downturn. This study examines how the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Times framed the newspaper “crisis.” Results show that coverage focused on short-term drama over long-term trends, lacked sufficient context, shifted blame away from newspapers themselves, invoked “death” imagery, and altogether struggled to capture a holistic portrayal of newspapers’ troubles. Implications for self-coverage and business journalism are discussed.
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    Rising Seas: Representations of Antarctica, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise in U.S. Newspaper Coverage
    (2024-08-23) Bruns, C.J.; Huffman, D.R.; Neff, P.D.; Timm, K.M.F.; Roop, H.A.
    A changing Antarctica carries large implications for global climate systems and sea level rise. However, how climate change is altering Antarctica and how these changes and their relevance are communicated in news media remains unclear. This study explores how Antarctica, climate change, and sea level rise are reported in news media by conducting a content analysis of Antarctic climate coverage in seven U.S. newspapers between March 2007 and December 2022. Findings suggest that newspaper reporting of Antarctica’s changing climate is limited, and that framed coverage about Antarctica, climate change, and sea level rise primarily emphasizes scientific and ecological implications. Data used to conduct this study include: 1) A spreadsheet detailing article metadata for the 987 texts analyzed in this study. Details include the headline, outlet, author, data of publication, and ID number assigned to each article. 2) A spreadsheet containing the results of a content analysis of the 987 texts examined in this study. Analytical reliability was statistically assessed using a two-person inter-coder reliability process.