The night Research went on a joy ride

In my Thursday Thirteen I'd mentioned working on a poem. It may not stay exactly in this form. April is poetry month--write or read a poem.

The night Research went on a joy ride
by Norma Bruce
March 31, 2007

Surprise and his best friend Serendipity
picked up the good-looking Research.
As they left the house that night
her mother, Discipline, was nagging and
her dad, Questioning, looking for a fight.

So they sent along her younger brothers
Assumption, Guess and Hunch
who rode along in the back seat
to throw spit balls in the stacks
and trip Librarians they would meet.

Along the way they picked up
Strategy and Documentation
who kept them from caution tossing
to the wind as the lovers parked
on Mount Concept Glossing.

When they stopped to refuel they hailed
Curiosity and Argument waiting for a ride,
noticing Challenges and Debates smoking
language and meaning in the dark
where Inquiry and Paradox were groping.

It was a wild ride that night,
with passionate struggles and heavy breathing.
And now poor Research is pregnant.
Will she birth a fat Report, short Novel
or just a Sweet Little Memory segment?Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/research%20methods
Visit Mary Elizabeth Winstead for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

3539 Why it's better to trust the Bible

Bible scholars disgree on a lot of points, like whether a "day" is a literal 24 hours or a couple of million years, or how Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the New, or the true meaning of various miracle stories and parables, or how much first century sexuality should carry over to the 21st century. But it's nothing as changeable or as debatable as what you find in scientific, peer-reviewed journals.

I just love to read science literature and blogs. Fascinating stuff. But anytime you hear politicans or non-scientific people (media talking heads and journalists) claiming all disagreement needs to be limited on a particular topic, like global warming or stem-cell research or Alzheimer's treatment, I invite you to read the first 5-10 pages of any issue of Nature. Here's what I noticed today:

• The fat metabolism of Drosophila (fruit fly) is a mystery. . .
  
• They still haven't figured out the influence of genes vs. environment in disease, and some studies are "controversial."
  
• Astronomers' galaxy theories are in need of a new model because of new observational techniques.
  
• "despite intense investigation. . ."
  
• "it is a mystery. . ."
  
• "new techniques reveal. . ."
  
• "will test the hypotheses that . . ."
  
• "previously unknown changes. . . "
  
• "reveal an unexpected connection in. . ."
  
• "more widespread consequences than previously predicted. . . "
  
• "may play a role in climate change (this was not human related). . ."
  
• "long running debate in how . . . "
  
• "the nature of how this works is unclear. . ."
  
• "the reason for this variation has been something of a mystery. . . "
  
• "there is only one fossil of this 150 million year old species available for analysis. . . "
  
• "Even some of the most accomplished scientists are in the dark about the most basic information underpinning their work. . . "
  
• "The plant with the largest flower (a metre across) has no roots, leaves or stems and has no DNA clues on how it is related to other plants. . . "
  
• the question of whether this property plays an active role in tumors has remained under debate. . . "

I rest my case--for the Biblical truths.Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/research%20methods
Visit Mary Elizabeth Winstead for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

3443 Virginity pledges vs. condom use in adolescents

Why do you suppose some groups, the media especially, are so opposed to teens being instructed that abstinence is a viable alternative in sex education? Never mind, just tuck that thought away for another day and move one to things we do know. Studies do show that parents are in favor of abstinence education. What got the most media attention hype was a report [Peter Bearman and Hanna Bruckner in the Journal of Adolescent Health, April 2005] that apparently showed virginity pledges made no statistically significant difference in STDs in young adulthood. Upon rechecking their methods that was found not to be the case because their methods also showed that condom use failed even more in making a difference in STDs among this sample, and they were not looking at the teen years, but 7 years after the fact. A study done in June 2005 showed the Bearman and Bruckner study had many design flaws, plus the media had ignored many of the statistically significant differences, like male pledgers had 30% lower rate of infection than non-pledgers. I only bring it up now because recently I heard this misinformation mentioned on a talk show.




Lower STD rates [25%] is just one among a broad array of positive outcomes associated with virginity pledging. Previous research has shown that, when compared to non-pledgers of similar backgrounds, individuals who have taken a virginity pledge are:

Less likely to have children out-of-wedlock;
Less likely to experience teen pregnancy;
Less likely to give birth as teens or young adults;
Less likely to have sex before age 18; and,
Less likely to engage in non-marital sex as young adults.
In addition, pledgers have far fewer life-time sexual partners than non-pledgers. There are no apparent negatives associated with virginity pledging: while pledgers are less likely to use contraception at initial intercourse, differences in contraceptive use quickly disappear. By young adult years, sexually active pledgers are as likely to use contraception as non-pledgers.



Read it here, "Adolescent Virginity Pledges, Condom Use, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Young Adults" by Robert Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., June, 2005.

Although the groups compared did have similar backgrounds, it appeared to me that more non-pledgers were from divorced homes with higher incomes and less religious involvement than the virginity pledge youth. However, whether the differences were statistically signficant enough to satisfy social scientists, I don't know.

And as we all know from life, making a promise doesn't mean keeping a promise.

Here's a good discussion opener for you and your daughter.

technorati: virginity pledges, contraception, condoms, STDsSource URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/research%20methods
Visit Mary Elizabeth Winstead for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection