012613 (Sa) A Quantitative Research Project- The Internet Usage and Low Income Mothers

 Do the Knowledge of Using the Internet and the Annual Income Level Affect the Total Life Skill Assessment of Rural Low Income Mothers?      
By  Li-chin (Crystal) Huang at University of Minnesota -Twin Cities

Abstract

This paper investigated the knowledge of using Internet and income levels relating to rural low income mothers’ self-report life skill assessments. The data for this study are from a multistate state research effort- the Rural Families Speak project (RFS) focusing on the well-being of rural low-income families in the context of welfare reform. A two-way between subjects ANOVA shows a main effect of the knowledge of Using the Internet on the Total Life Skill Assessment Scores but not the Income Level, nor the interaction between these two independent variables. Due to the nature of the data collection, the imitations of research results were discussed and further research direction and policy implication were provided.

Key words: Internet (Information technology), rural low income mothers, two-way between subject ANOVA, purposeful sampling, and welfare reform.

                                                             Introduction

Having grown up from an early era that socio-economic deprivation was the norm of the 50s-60s in Taiwan, I experienced to facilitate my never-got-a-chance to enter a day of  elementary school education mother to use the telephone or elevator when I was a young adult.  She passed away without succeeding in how to use any of them in the post-modern stage of Metropolitan Taipei. And she is the most wise, noble, and intelligent individual that I have ever known on this planet, who raised 10 good children with her bare hands.  I always have this imagination- if my mother got an education and learned the power of information technologies, who would say that she would not be much more capable than that of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Marie Curie, or Augusta Ada Byron King/Babbage!

Though information technology (IT)[1] is no longer considered a luxury in many affluent societies nowadays, the digital divide[2] continues to be a major concern both in domestic and international discourse (NPA Report, 2002; PEW, 2004).  Statistics shows a significant gap in access and knowledge of IT among the rural, urban and suburban areas where socio-economic status, gender, and racial background distinguish such disparity (World Bank, 2002).  The far behind in accessing the opportunity and resources relating to IT implies the increasingly marginalized mothers who, as Dean (2000) remarks that people lacking the access to the information technologies will become the second class citizens of the future in the American society.[3] 

The aforementioned perspectives are from my personal experience and observations from larger societies that lead me to ponder and investigate issues concerning social affordance and justice relating to information technologies, in particular, issues relating to information technologies that can serve as a positive mechanism to shorten the socio-economic gaps among various social strata.

 Luckily enough, during my being a full-time student in my sabbatical leave of 2007-8, I got the chance to join a team project that was important and linked to my academic background. That was the RFS- Rural Families Speak.  The data of this study is from a multistate longitudinal research project focusing on the well-being of rural low-income families in the context of welfare reform.   My team leader is associate professor Dr. Susan Walker of Department of Youth, Family, and Community.  Dr. Walker has been engaged in applying technologies in teaching and learning, thus that provided me the great opportunity to investigate information technologies in the rural low income mothers’ lives tied to my current major – Learning Technologies. Among so many published papers and projects associating with RFS, we are the first group studying IT in rural low income mothers’ lives.

Due to the nature of our inquiry and the original data collection, there is not so much quantitative information available for our project.  So a predominantly qualitative investigation has been conducted, and the proposal was submitted in the early March of 2008.

For this project, I consulted Dr. Walker as well about a possibility to conduct a mini research from a quantitative approach using the RFS data set, and I got the permission as long as the relevant research ethics was kept intact.

Rural women’s access to computers in general, as people predicted, is limited. The impacts on children’s well-being can be significant due to mothers’ limits on employment, education and the exchange of information.  Welfare reform policy intends to support the low income mothers to be independent by providing job and skill training, education and other relevant self-sufficient strategies. Based on this policy implication, I found in the original survey, there was a set of questions[4] surrounding on mothers’ self-report life skill assessments. I was curious about whether the Internet usage played a role in mothers’ daily lives that assisted their daily engagements in a certain way. 

Furthermore, as our class coverage got into richer dimension, I also added up an independent variable – annual income level into this study.  Though low income mothers living in under poverty line, due to various types of resources available to some of them, such as number of children, child supports, food stamps,  personal job and partner’s income, WIC,[5] EIC,[6] and other subsidies, the income presents a range of variation.

 According to PEW’s 2004 general survey, it reported that nearly half of the rural households earn under $30,000, which is a significant threshold for Internet use. In rural areas like other places, the likelihood of going online rises as income rises (PEW, 2004, p.19).
             Based on the aforementioned information, my research question is “Do the knowledge of using the Internet and the annual income level affect the total life skill assessments” ?   

Both of the independent variables -  Knowledge of Using the Internet and the Annual Income Level have 2 levels with Yes or No answered by the participants to the former, and high income and low income manipulated (by recoding) to the latter variable.  The depend variable Total Scores of Life Skill Assessment Scores is ranging from 14 to 25 points which is a quantitative variable.
            The three sets of hypotheses according to my research question are:
              H₀: μinternetY= μinternetN
              Ha: Not H₀

  H₀: μincomeH= μincomeL
              Ha: Not H₀

  H₀: There is an interaction between the Internet usage and Income level
              Ha: There is no interaction between the Internet Usage and Income level

                                                     Description of the Study

RFS project began in 2000. Data were collected from families in rural counties (with population centers of less than 20,000) in 15 states. So this was not a random sampling from the fifty states but was a purposeful sampling[7]  Participants were mothers with at least one child under the age of 12 years living at home and with an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line. Participants were recruited primarily through social service providers. Participants were interviewed by trained researchers for approximately 2-3 hours, either at their homes or in another mutually agreed-upon location, and answered questions in a semi-structured format. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered on many aspects of individual and family well-being. To date, three waves of data have been collected.

Because participants in the Rural Families Speak project were not randomly selected, demographics of the RFS sample were compared to a Current Population Survey (CPS) subsample of low-income, rural families with minor children and similar incomes (200% of poverty or below). Although the ethnic representation of the RFS sample was comparable to that of the national CPS subsample, the RFS mothers were younger, less likely to have a high school diploma or equivalent, less likely to be married, and had more children. RFS households had lower incomes and were more likely to receive government assistance. Compared to other low-income, rural families with children, the RFS sample represents families at greater risk for poor outcomes and more likely to be using social services. With a significant proportion of poor children and their families living in rural areas (U.S. Bureau of Census 2002), the RFS project provides rich data about a largely ignored at-risk population.

Sample

Among the 3 waves,   the research team added two questions relating to the knowledge of Internet into the W2 questionnaire. And these were the ONLY questions among many relating to information technology and my research interests. These two questions were “Do you know how to obtain assistance to using the Internet”, and “Do you know how to use the Internet”.  Thus I selected W2 as my targeted samples. Among 413 cases in the wave 2, only 124 participants completed all the interview procedures.[8] I am interested in the knowledge of using the Internet relating to the life skill assessments which might have interaction with the income level to affect the total life skill assessment scores of the low income mothers.
Design
            To make this paper not too simple nor too complex, I considered that the two-way between subjects ANOVA was appropriate to use the given data set that I was working with. Why? Because as mentioned in a previous section, both of the independent variables -  Knowledge of Using the Internet and the Annual Income Level have 2 levels of analyses and the dependent quantitative variable Total Scores of Life Skill Assessment Scores is ranging from 14 to 25 points of measurements.

                                                Analysis of the Data

Informal Analysis

            Before my running the two-way between Subjects ANOVA to examine whether the “Income level” and “Use the Internet” (independent variables) have effects on the life skill assessment scores (dependent variable), and informal analysis is beneficial and important. It gave me the overall outlooks of means, standard deviations (center and spread) and outliers of the samples which could lead to a better understand the data set and a possible preliminary prediction of the outcome.  The following are the descriptive statistics of Use the Internet, Life Skill assessments, and Annual Income information to form an initial understanding of my questions and the data set.

Figure 1. Total scores of life skill assessment

Use the internet	Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Variance
no	17.4545	44	5.17801	26.812
yes	21.3500	80	3.21035	10.306
Total	19.9677	124	4.41530	19.495

                                              

Figure 2. Annual income

N	Valid	124
Mean		22774.2118
Median		21500.0200
Std. Deviation		14929.95942
Skewness		1.194
Std. Error of Skewness		.138
Minimum		.00

(For this study purpose, the annual income was re-coded into high and low two categories:
 1 is low income, which is less than $20,000 and 2 is high income, which is greater than $20,001)

Figure 3. Between-Subjects Factors

		Value Label	N
Use the internet	.00	no	44
	1.00	yes	80
Annual income	1.00	low	53
	2.00	high	71

                                                         

Figure 4. Descriptive Statistics -  Dependent Variable: Total scores of life skill assessments

Use the internet	Annual income	Mean	Std. Deviation	N
no	low	17.2000	5.09489	20
	high	17.6667	5.34600	24
	Total	17.4545	5.17801	44
yes	low	21.0000	2.41091	33
	high	21.5957	3.67518	47
	Total	21.3500	3.21035	80
Total	low	19.5660	4.06443	53
	high	20.2676	4.66586	71
	Total	19.9677	4.41530	124

Figure 5

                 There are several things we can note about our groups simply by examining the above boxplot. First we see the life skill assessment scores of mothers who said Yes to the “Use the Internet” are slightly higher (a little bit skewed to the left) than those mothers who said No to the “Use the Internet” no matter in low income (less than $20,000 annually) or high income group (more than $20,001) group.  Mothers who said No to the “Use of the Internet” did not differ in their life skill assessment scores and had greater variability than those mothers who said “Yes” in Using the Internet. Second, we noticed 3 outliers all happened in the Yes to Use the Internet groups: one (#222) was in the low annual income who said Yes to the “Use the Internet”. Two were (#223 and #148) in the high income who said Yes to the “Use the Internet”. It helps to identify the similarity and differences among the total life skill assessment scores groups.
                 As addressed in the early section that the RFS samples were not generated from any kind of random sampling procedures but provided by relevant welfare agencies through specific criteria selection processes such as income below the 200% poverty line and with children age under 12.  Thus questions regarding potential violating the homogeneity of variance or the normality of residuals were my basic concerns.
                To test the assumption of the homogeneity of variances, the Levene’s test of equality errors of variances showed the following result:

Figure 6.

F	df1	df2	Sig.
7.075	3	120	.000
Dependent variable: Total Life skill Assessment scores. Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal across groups. Design: Intercept+yr_incm2(Income Level)+kcr26_2 (Use the Internet)+yr_incm2*kcr_26_2

              The null hypothesis being tested by Levene’s is that the variance across all group are equal.  From the descriptive statistics of this case shown, the combination of 4 factors standard deviations, the largest (high/no 5.34 by squared, variance 28.5) is 4 times bigger than the smallest (low/yes 2.41 by squared, variance 5.8), and the  p-value <.05 was too small which means that the null hypothesis was rejected. The variances are not equivalent.

Figure 7.

To test the assumption of normally distributed residuals (from normal population), I saved the unstandardized residuals when running the ANOVA.  And the residuals looked like normal but skewed to the left.

            From the above informal analysis, it confirmed my concern that the variances across groups were not equal, and our data was not generated from random sampling processes.

ANOVA analysis

Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Figure 8. Dependent Variable: Total scores of life skill assessment

Source		Type III Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Intercept	Hypothesis	41888.869	1	41888.869	5316.143	.009
	Error	7.880	1	7.880(a)
kcr26_2 (Use the Internet)	Hypothesis	417.035	1	417.035	3585.509	.011
	Error	.116	1	.116(b)
yr_incm2 (Income Level)	Hypothesis	7.880	1	7.880	67.746	.077
	Error	.116	1	.116(b)
kcr26_2 * yr_incm2 (Use the Internet*Income Level)	Hypothesis	.116	1	.116	.007	.933
	Error	1957.852	120	16.315(c)

a.   MS(yr_incm2)   b.   MS(kcr26_2 * yr_incm2)    c.   MS(Error)

Figure 9.

Interpret the ANOVA output:

             In the 3 F-values, one corresponding to the first independent variable (Income), one corresponding to the second variable (Use the Internet), and one corresponding to the interaction between Income and Use the Internet. If either of the independent variables is significant, then there is a Main Effect of that variable on the life skill assessment scores. By looking at the table, only Use the Internet (kcr26_2) had a significant effect on the life skill assessment scores, which showed a large F statistics and a very small significance level of p-value. So “Use the Internet” (kcr_26_2) has a main effect on the total life skill assessment scores, but not the Income Level (yr_incm2) nor the interaction between income level (yr_incm2) and Use the Internet (kcr_26_2). See the Figure 9.
          In this study, both the two factors only had two levels (one of them had significance). I don’t need to proceed with post hoc comparison.

                                              Discussion, Critique, and Implication

           My research question is “Do the knowledge of using the Internet and the annual income level affect the total life skill assessments”?   From the ANOVA analyses, the knowledge of “Using the Internet” (kcr_26_2) does show a main effect on the Total Life Skill Assessment Scores but not the Income Level, nor the interaction between  these two independent variables.
           For the policy implication concerns, within this mini research scale, I might jump into a conclusion to suggest that provide inexpensive Internet (in particular, the broadband) accessibility to rural low income mothers would be a possible solution to enhance their life skill potentials, which in turn, might manifest in their skills and employability to reach the policy goal – independent mothers raising healthy children. However, as discussed in the informal analysis, due to the data was not generated from random sampling procedures as well as the violation of the assumption of homogeneity of variance, many other limitations need to be addressed before a discreet conclusion could be made. 

             Among the limitations, first of all, I only tapped the tip of the iceberg – selecting a very small amount of variables (two independent variables and one dependent variable isolated) from the whole RFS data set to investigate an aspect of the multi-faceted complex phenomena. Thus the conclusion might have very limited power of generalization to other similar situations. 
            Second, more specifically speaking, participants who have knowledge of using the Internet might not be the typical rural poor mothers. Educational level, generational dependency, race and ethnicity, age, marital status, how many children (in particular the very small ones), supporting system, knowledge of community resources, isolation conditions and so on could covariate with the current studied dependent variable.

           Third, the test reliability and validity [9] as well as internal consistency[10] of the 25 items in the life skill assessment questions (see in the footnote 3) need to be examined carefully as well. Were these items measuring the real life skills in rural low income context? Even in rural areas, there are deeper, more isolated areas than those of regions which are vicinity to the urban or suburban areas. Then some questions in the 25 items might not measure what exactly needs to be measured to represent the life skills across general rural low income mothers.

           In short, rural poverty, like many other poverty problems, is contextual and ecological. There are many confounding factors affecting the life skill assessment buildup. My simplified version of this research did not render those bigger issues as many other senior researchers attempted to tackle.[11]

              If I can redo this research in more details according to what I learned from this course, I would like to add either education, or age, or race/ethnicity as independent variable(s), each with more than two levels of analysis. That is to recode the current income into 3 levels, so as education, or age, or race/ethnicity. Then the 3-way between subjects ANONA with more than 2 levels of analyses will make this paper busy with potentially using various post hoc methods and analyses to understand what main effects occur under what specific conditions. And the interactions could be better understood.   In addition, the currently covered ANCOVA design can extend this mini research project by adding multiple variables that are believed to be strongly related to the dependent variable; or try the MANCOVA with two or more measured dependent variables such as the Total Community Knowledge Scores and the Total Parenting Ladder Scores added to the current Total Life Skill Assessment Scores if they are correlated with each other.  The other alternative approach is to use the mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approach as many other RFS researchers did and are doing from this data set.
         This two-way between subjects ANOVA project was started with a very simple idea generated from my belief that information technology (in this case, using the Internet) can accelerate the transformation of human condition, in particular, shorten the digital gap.  As this project evolved, I learned many things that I did not pay enough attention before, in particular, the insight gained from the explorative procedures on the configuration and patterns of the raw data.  Now I see the importance of conducting the informal analysis and selecting research methods and deign carefully.

         Human conditions are complex. In both projects -Dr. Walker’s and this EPSY 5262 final work, the necessary humility and caution in interpreting the research outcome is an important lesson which cannot be emphasized enough. Within the existing parameters, research can be done with carefully examining and assessing of the limitations and employing appropriate methods and design, then the vision and revision of the research will move toward more authentic research outcome depicting the genuine human lived and living experiences.

         I love both works.  I appreciate the opportunities from these two projects enhancing my research capacity. And I wish the current RFS project can be continued and extended to include more information technology questions into the questionnaire with open-ended inquiries in a longitudinal format. This is my DREAM - to probe into what have been exactly happening in the current rural low income mothers’ lives – the experience, activities, values, attitudes, barriers and supports  in the information explosive era.

                                                References

Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, 2^nd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Gall, M, Gall, J, and Borg, (2003) W. Educational Research. 7^th ed.  Boston: Pearson Education,
       Inc.

---

[1] Information Technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware."  In this study, it is simplified as “Internet usage”.

[2] The term "digital divide", in this case, refers to the gap between those with access to the Internet and those without access. In an updated term, it can refer to having the high-speed access (broadband/wireless) or not.

[3]   Refer to http://www.netschools.net/whynetschool/cs hundred.htm 

[4] Do you have a driver's license? Car  insurance; Car  registration; Health Insurance; Checking account ; A good credit record; Local library card; Do you know how to manage your bills? Write a personal check; Make a family budget; Stretch groceries to the end of the month; Register to vote; Apply for a credit card; Prepare a well-balanced meal for the family; Get a telephone service; Work with the landlord to improve housing; Register a consumer complaint; Talk to your child's teacher; Fill out forms to apply for services; Apply for a job; Write a resume; Dress for a job; Fill out your own income tax forms; Join a local club or organization; and Create a personal support system.

[5] WIC is The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

[6] EIC is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) sometimes called the Earned Income Credit (EIC), is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

[7]  Purposeful sampling is a process of selecting cases that are likely to be “information-rich” with respect to the purposes of a qualitative research (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003).

[8] In the vast rural areas, conducting interviews took more time and energy. Low income mothers also confronted many personal and situational factors that left the interview incomplete. These factors came from variety of conditions, such as personal illness, children and relative health conditions, relocation, partner’s job changing, failing to follow-up, as well as some newly participating states did not ask the Internet usage relating questions.

[9] Validity refers to in testing, the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of specific interference made from test scores (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003).

[10] Internal consistency refers to an approach to estimate test reliability that examines the extent to which individuals who respond one way to a test item tend to respond the same way to other items on the test (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003).

[11] So far I have read 3 among about 50+ papers employing the structural equation or path analysis to engage with more complex analysis. 

012513 (F) The Phoenixes

Posting "The Endangered" (#114) reminded myself of PBS' Abolitionists. I came up with some thoughts.
Share with you:

To the idealists in the past, appreciate their noble deeds and sacrifice, and
to the contemporary endangered idealists, respect and admire your immense courage and being the beacon for the humanity- now and future!

012513 (F) A Story for No Ending

012513 (F) To the Endangered

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQpaGWCB4Kk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6jhbtDUZE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP7Ry9MfkQU

010213 (W) The Timed-Spaced Apprehension

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyTfbtZeGeU

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohOtDA3dTAA
   
                             To my dearest Feline Majesties!

123112 (M) On this New Year Eve of 2012 posted on fb

December, 31, 2012  Posted on my facebook

On this New Year Even of 2012

Don’t be surprised!!! In responding friends’ birthday requests, I sent out mine too. Life is so precious. Everyone is unique and important.

I grew up from a culture that the birthday is mother’s suffering day - the very first! So we siblings learned to behave (we all, today, still behave, believe it or not- even mother passed away !) hope that mother’s suffering could be alleviated !

Traditionally, on the birthday, there is a ritual to spank the child to remind him/her of being a good kid ! That's! (Here is the old saying prevailing when we were kids - 大人生日吃肉, 小孩生日被揍 ! Adults' birthday - enjoy a meal; children's birthday - get ready for a spanking and behave!) What an early childhood development philosophy/theory !

My feline Majesties don’t believe how I experienced my birthday. Well, anyway, as long as they have their birthday cakes, catnip, and toys available, they don't care what I say is true or not !

Happy birthday to friends -on this New Year Eve!

Dec. 29, (Sa), 2012 I posted a picture on my fb

They are all mothers (fathers, not hanging around !) in the picture, but, only one who might suffer less....because her children won't be eaten (but might be shot in schools - reported by news >;' (((... ).
24 minutes ago · Edited · Like


Crystal Huang The loving mothers make family sacred, but it is the caring fathers who do the noblest. But, how to create the noble father? Then, look into the whole socio-economic system how it constructs or destroys our beloved male comrades !

Dec. 29, 2012 Don't be afraid of what I have

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFxNcKT5ODQ         

Dec. 27, 2012 Illusions

Dec. 27, 2012 Transcending Death

An Invitation - the Taiwanese Vernacular Literature

Dec. 24 (M), 2012.  Browsing through my newsfeed on fb, I found a message by Professor Li from Taipei, Taiwan- my native country. Then I echoed with a simple translation of his messages:

"Define the nature and status of the Taiwanese Literature".

Paper/Proposal Invitation from Professor Li  (By Professor 李勤岸)

本期徵稿期限：即日起至2013年4月30日止
本期發行時間：2013年10月
（徵稿不限專題）

台灣的母語文學如何界定？台灣文學指的是否是以母語創作的文學？還是凡是台灣作家創作的文學，不論其語言為何均為台灣文學？這些問題一直困擾台灣文學的創作者與研究者，自日治時期至今不曾間斷，也不曾降溫。台灣文學史已經出版幾本了，他們又是如何來評價、編選母語文學？
台灣在世界並非孤立，台灣文學在世界文學並非孤立，因此台灣的母語文學應該與世界各地的母語文學等同齊觀，可以比較，可以借鏡。台灣文學史在世界文學史也非孤立，因此時間上的綜觀也是必要的，各國的文學是如何成就、如何建構他們的文學的？與該國的母語關係又是如何？
殖民中與後殖民的作家往往面對寫作語言的選擇，這些後殖民作家的語言態度如何影響寫作？
華語作家已經有人獲得諾貝爾文學獎，台灣曾經有文學雜誌評選十大可能獲選的作家。諾貝爾文學獎與母語寫作有多少關連？
有鑑於此，本期《台灣學誌》專題將徵求下列議題之相關學術論文，尚祈各位學術先進，踴躍投稿：
一、 台灣文學中母語書寫的史觀
二、 母語文學文類研究：詩、散文、小說、戲劇、歌謠、民間文學
三、 母語與後殖民文學
四、 各國母語文學的比較
五、 諾貝爾文學與母語文學
六、 世界文學史中母語文學的位置
七、 其他與母語文學相關之議題

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a layperson in the literature field. But I think this is a great thought and endeavor of Professor Li.  So, I tried a simple translation as follows for some of my fb friends who asked what the messages were embedded in my post.

Any errors will be my inadequate knowledge in this discipline. Here it goes:

How to define the vernacular Taiwanese (refer to 母語- mother tongue) literature? Does it mean the Taiwanese Literature is the one created or written via the originality of the Taiwanese languages, or any literature written by the Taiwanese writers? These issues are just a tip of the iceberg, still baffling the Taiwanese literati and researchers. The hegemonic domination of the Japanese colonial-imperialism on Taiwan during 1895 to 1945 A.D. has left a controversial legacy in the local literature development, which has been continuously confronting current researchers and writers.

 The history of the Taiwanese Literature has been published in various editions and formats. But how to assess, select, and compile the authentic ones needs your knowledge and wisdom.

Geo-historic-politically speaking, Taiwan is interconnected with the international community, so as her literature.  From the comparative-literature-perspective, Taiwan’s literature plays and contributes a significant role to enrich the world's.

The profound colonial and post-colonial experiences provide abundant motifs for various types of writers. How do these experiences affecting the orientation of the writers is a dimension expanding our understanding of humanity. There are several Asian Nobel writers in the literal category. Based on these inspirations,  this issue of “台灣學誌”  (Monumenta Taiwanica) would like to invite your paper/proposals, focusing on the following subject matters:

1. The historical perspective of the vernacular literature,
2. The vernacular literature in forms of  poetry, prose, novels, drama, folksongs, and folklores,
3. The vernacular literature and the post-colonial literature,
4. The comparative studies in the vernacular literature,
5. The Nobel prize in literature and the vernacular literature,
6. The status of the vernacular literature in the world literature history,
7. And the relevant topics relating to the vernacular literature.
Dead line: April, 30, 2013

Dec. 23, 2012 The Time and Space Calculator

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKZUrhXuXyw

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF2U7zTpdTQ&playnext=1&list=PL2817170CB602C2FA

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5OYbKtMZkc

The Grand Love

                                                     

Dec. 22, 2012 A Fairy Tale for Dummy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzg8DTzh4yk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4LCoh0VGQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbad22CKlB4

What It is vs. How It Should Be

These days, gun and media seem re-surging on the tip of the iceberg. I was looking for some old writings regarding imaging making and its impact on society done when I was an art student. Then the following one appeared first, but, in a "neutral and objective" tone that makes me wonder who, what, how the contemporary image makers, surely, the particular digital ones, who dominate the ubiquitous video game business (for the better and the worse) and the relevant products, taking on their role, status, and functions in this rapidly transformed-into-the-virtual world!!!

 Note on Graphic Design And Visual Communication of Gregg Berryman

                                      By  Crystal Li-chin Huang, 1999

1. Summary:

            “ The absence of design is a hazardous kind of design. Not to design is to suffer design by default.   We cannot afford to have graphics, products, and architecture  ‘just happen.’ ”            

The book is about history and practice of graphic design published in 1979 and revised in 1984.   From the design necessity, the roots of design, the targeted audience, to the process and methodological explanation about different terminology, function and  practice, the author, domestically and cross-culturally laid out a fundamental techniques, concepts and principle of visual communication.

Either for visual literacy or professional practice in design, he emphasized  that the solid foundation of this discipline is the most important part of the design education process.  Through the stable establishment of  historical awareness and visual intelligence,  the designer develops variety of alternative solutions to reach the optimal goals - finds the best and brings it into use.

2. Observation:

Some interesting observations were identified and discussed as follows:

a. The horrendous  “eye harassment” of the author’s specific intention:

There are several things in my life that I almost try not to touch. To read a series of CAP words - not to mention the handwritten CAP of whole body text, is one of them.  The author’s all CAP lettering in this book reminded you the formidable analogy and opposite test in the GRE vocabulary section.

So, we know this scheme, or we should say “a very special design” - the author’s choice of hand lettering rather than typesetting to explain design concepts, as he named it-  was personal and was intended to help to remove some sort of the “mystery “ of design, but I  think the most important point is that all caps typesetting reduces reading speed by about 15%. Your can not just read it by browsing or skimming, but chewing and pondering as slowly as you have to. This is a very special experience to me.

b. The difference between Design and other Natural Sciences, e.g.,  mathematics or chemistry:  the author mentioned that the former discipline had more than a single solution for each problem, i.e. alternative solutions, which is different from the Natural Sciences (p.2). Designer attempted to find the optimum or best of the alternative solution.  Actually, this is partially true.  Many hard-core sciences do have  alternative solutions  to a problem set. Trial and error and experiments are necessary for many natural sciences in order to find the best, efficient and economic ones. The major difference is the methodological approach: the latter is pure rational, objective and scientific with universally precise criteria to measure the outcome.

            c. Two forces are in constant opposition: The author pointed out that Design was not art but a creative pursuit and could bring equal satisfaction (p.3)   He also mentioned that the fine artist had an audience of only one (herself or himself).  The graphic designer dealt with a mass audience of sometimes millions. Due to the different intent, the self-expression or personal creativity must be tamed and brought into a delicate balance for the constant need to satisfy an audience in a logical and rational manner within the economic limits.  From the author’s assumption that to fit the targeted audience’s need (time, appreciation, and cost) would confine certain degree of  the creativity of a graphic designer, so design was not art. And the fine artist was his or her own audience.

            These generalizations may not hold true today.  Since the trajectory of fine arts has been evolving from 60’s  Conceptual, Performance, Minimalists’ formalist visual vocabulary...etc. into 70’s pluralism and 80’s post-modernism which critique the Esoteric Modernist concept of the artist as a lone individual heroically creating a unique new personal reality.  The post-modernists place the artist within a socio-economic and political system, which ends the concept of avant-garde genre developed in the 60’s. 

Especially the Simulationists -  they aim their art with a populist audience. The imagery shared by the culture as a whole takes precedence over individualistic forms.

The boundary of fine arts vs. applied arts, arts vs. craft is unavoidably becoming blurry.

            So, I am wondering to what extent the tension between “Two forces”-creativity vs. audience need is existing in today’s design market and practice?

d. Selecting an effective mark is bound by the scale of a business:

The author mentioned that when a budget was small, few exposures could be purchased, magnifying the need for quick recognition and low abstraction.   A high level of abstraction is a luxury only the high-rolling client can afford (p.11)

            Here exists an interesting phenomenon- Good abstraction is a desired and determined variable in the selecting the effective marks.  Because the low budget can make the low abstraction marks possible and get quicker recognition with more effective visual tools. Then, the big business is self-imposed into a dilemma: to spend much more money to gain slow recognition with wide abstraction range for the luxurious/high aesthetics’ sake?

Could big businesses have the luxury to gain quicker recognition with effective visual tools that small business enjoys and get the quality of abstraction with fixed budget?

            e.  This book was published 15-20 years ago;  I did not check it out whether there was an up-to-date version of it.  Some sections (such as mass/multi-media imagery making and rendering), would have been more elaborated and interesting, if the newer version did exist.

3. Effects on the current work:

This is my first class of Graphic Design that helps a neophyte understand the techniques, principles, method and the main gestalt concepts of this discipline.  Not only in the micro level of processing the graphic design per se, but also to the macro state of its practical operation in the competitive marketing world, the author provided the first hand and insightful direction to the learner.

Men spread widely, women choose wisely???

December 19th, 2012 (W)

An indirect FB friend posted something supposed to be humorous, and then turned out to be "funny":

Here it goes:

"A store that sells new husbands has opened in New York City , where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates:

You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increase as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men Have Jobs
She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads:
Floor 2 - These men Have Jobs and Love Kids.
'That's nice,' she thinks, 'but I want more.'
So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads:
Floor 3 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking.
'Wow,' she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.
She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads:
Floor 4 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework.
'Oh, mercy me!' she exclaims, 'I can hardly stand it!'
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads:
Floor 5 - These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads:
Floor 6 - You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

After a glimpse, I said, "Ohhh, boy, it is funny, no kidding!"  I typed a few words to echo-

 Here is a perspective for your other 50% audience:
 - a man goes to the wife-store to purchase a woman. He is shocked to know that there are 6 floors to choose from. "I have to use my legs to walk around in the first floor. That's a lot of work! Up to the 2nd floor to get one? Are you kidding me? Here are tons of.... (hoes)...", he is whining. He is too lazy to go to the 2nd floor. He just grabs one as long as she has "two or three items - depending on how to define an 'item' " he needs in the comfy first floor....

This message existed solely as a happy proof that men are too possible for the "low-life" pleasure :P!
Anyone doubts that how easily to stay and "indulge" oneself at the "bottom" level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which most animals can do much better job ?

Then, I went back to this posting person's site with another glance. I found that this friend posted an update with a wife-store version intended to balance the gender bias in the previous post.

I responded -
"Mr. xxx  just updated a gender-'neutral' remedy to avoid the egg-tomato-can-bottle-beer targeting and tossing from the 'gentlemen camp'! For most women, what a pity! Only 'one' floor is enough- to reduce the workload for the items desperately needed by the man!"

Then I needed to copy and paste the wife-store version on my wall for readers to enjoy the humor better. Strangely, I could not find the original post. Seemingly Mr.xxx is less redneck than I am.

Fortunately, I vaguely remember the intended gender-neutralization contents, paraphrased as follows:

"The same 6-floor warehouse with the same purchasing instructions as husband's in the wife-store:

In the first floor, the wife serves sex;

In the second floor, the wife serves sex and beer;

The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th floors - are empty - no any prospective husband visits !!!

Thank you for shopping at the Wife Store."

Conclusion-  Are there alternative explanations to the bio-psychological determinant of "Men spread widely, women choose wisely???"

A short conversation with my colleague on fb

On December 14, I posted a photo from Farmacy's site to point out one of the symbiotic relationships between mental illness as a bio-psycho-cultural sickness and the pharmaceutical  industries relating to Newtown's Sandy tragedy and the subsequent copycat events.

My colleague (an Economics professor) posted the following response:
Drug companies easy to hate with high CEO salaries etc., however, profits are not evil - they are what make the world go around. In case of drug companies, some of that profit is used on research and development to find valuable treatments for ailments you or your family might suffer from. I certainly don't want to stop that process - I have Rheumatoid Arthritis!

I replied:
Agree, to some degree! There are US-Canada border crossing buses, delivering our NECESSARY medicine-consumers to CA for the affordable medicinal drugs or treatments (the price, not necessarily the generics, can range from 3 to 10 times inexpensive). CA seemingly does not neglect their medical research, though. Yes, profits are not evil, but can be the insatiable blood of the profiteers. Pursuing profits can be an unfathomable act, the black-hole - irresistible and uncontrollable under Certain politico-economic system.

Who loves my gun

Prayers for the 27 (18 children) victims who were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy, Newtown, Connecticut outside of New York City early Friday.

The tragic factors, probably, again, the bundled cliches of deteriorating economy, struggling families, mental stress/illness, dependency, drifting life (e.g., drugs and alcohol abuse), domestic terrorism, inadequate social programs/services/education, media manipulation, and their origin of social inequality derived from the "abusive type" of Capitalism.

(There are some ramifications going on - In addition to the prayers, the top gun issues, and the rest of controversies, seemingly, an emerging of another Conspiracy Theory is spreading, e.g., regarding UN new voting act, how many gunmen, the gunman's parents, in particular the father's issues, and the rest of unfolded info... ).

Mulan and the Art of War

                                                                                                                                                                                

                                 Disney’s movie ‘Mulan’ has its roots in history

(This article was written for the Dunn County News when I was a LifeStyle Columnist several years ago).

                                                   By  Crystal Li-chin Huang

A while ago I went to the State Theater to watch the Disney production- ‘Mulan (木蘭) ’- an actual historical figure named Mu-lan Hwa (Hwa-花 is her last name), who lived between the Sui (隋) and Tang (唐) dynasties,  581-618 A.D.

It was an interesting movie with high quality of special effects in portraying her images. After the delightful entertainment I found out that there were more messages beyond the screen that I learned from my history classes, and stories read in Taipei when I was a school kid, which might interest you as well.  So, here they go: 

Like her western counterpart Xena Warrior Princess, the well-known Mu-lan Hwa has long been identified as a heroine in the Far Eastern Asia. 

In the screen, through wonderful entertaining effects, Mu-lan Hwa,  the historical heroine known for her military acumen, bravery, filial piety (孝- familial loyalty) and patriotism was slightly modified.  The Disney’s version of Mu-lan  becomes a very simple, feminine, and cunning cutie. The subtle touch, however, of family honor, social responsibility makes the originally pontificating theme in history acceptable and enjoyable.

But, unlike the traditional Disney’s portraying of female cartoon images, such as Snow White, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Beauty and Beast etc., the Mulan’s legend seems having a tinge of  feminism through the celebration of her heroic deeds.

The underlying point is that, contrary to conventional feminist ideology, Mu-lan’s disguising herself as a male warrior did not say much about her gender awakening in the historical and social context of the time. Patriarchy and male supremacy had been taken for granted for centuries. Rather, the young woman’s motivations for becoming a warrior lay more in the sense of filial piety (or the conventional repressive familism) that she had to help her father who was too old to serve in the military during the turbulent time.   In the traditional version of the tale (not mentioned in the movie), she also had a brother who was too young to go to the battlefield.

In short, from the known historical documents, Mu-lan was recorded as an excellent warrior, gone through numerous bloody campaigns, and proved the remarkable martial skills and strong determination in a male gender preferential society.  The family love, courage, duty, honor and commitment which are held in high regard in the society, through her, reveal the Confucian ethical humanism.

Furthermore, a significant point of view associated with Mu-lan’s legendary deed well known in Far Eastern Asia is the military thought and practice associating with the philosophy and art of war.

                                       

Historically speaking, the thousand years of constant “barbarian threats” and unremitting incursions of volatile nomadic peoples' invasions fostered generations of professional military figures to develop sophisticated battlefield strategies.   During the fifth and sixth centuries B.C, the most significant war theorists are Sun-tsu (孫子), Wu-tsu (吳子), and Han Fei-tsu ( 韓非子).

Among classic military treatises, the one perhaps known best in the West  is “The Art of War ( 孫子兵法)”, -a holistic warfare classic consisting of inter-disciplines of  tactics, psychology, geography, management, espionage (and perhaps, with a little bit flavor of Machiavellianism), and so on, by Sun-tsu. A compendium was compiled in Song (宋) Dynasty-the Seven Military Classics, (1078 A.D. circa). This dynasty was also famous for its eminent female generals/warriors, such as Lang Hong-yu (梁紅玉), Chin Lang-yu (秦良玉), Mu Guai-in (穆桂英) and her female in-law  warriors in the respectable family of Young Gia Ginag (楊家將).

In stark contrast to the militarists were the dominant philosophy of Confucius (551-479 B.C.) and Mencius, (371-289 B.C. - another important ethical philosopher, second to Confucius),  who insisted in cultivating the ruler’s virtue and implementing benevolent policies. Their humanistic philosophies were a major factor in the conduct of military affairs that were more or less disdained by hegemonically oriented government officials for many centuries.

Yet that suppression of military thought did not smother the seed of its wisdom. The most profound treatises developed by Sun-tsu - “The Art of War” was first translated by a French missionary about two hundred years ago. The book was reportedly employed by Napoleon and some Nazi High Commands.

Over last decades, due to  globalization fostering business expansion and competition, a growth of  the Western society interest in the Far East  has been noticeable. In particular one sees the phenomenon of  “corporate warfare” in its incarnation, these traditional philosophies and strategies for battle are now employed in the business arena.

In some part of the Far East, the continuously reinterpreting  the ancient wisdom  has been lingering on, again, in the business world.  For example, a commercially revised Sun-tsu’s warfare theory has once become the bestseller for quite a while.  Not to mention people in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the Japanese, Koreans, and Singaporeans have held the intensive study to seek out the insight from the Art of War not only in the entrepreneurial sphere, but also pursing the wisdom applied to the personal  life.

As to a final note- in my native country, Taiwan, Mu-lan is a synonym for a female officer or cadet.  Being a veteran- Mu-lan myself, Disney’s production of Mu-lan more or less provides me with an emotional tie.  Now, pick up the book, reread the Art of War, I do enjoy messages between the lines, more than ever.

Dec. 6, 2012 Calling - Una Paloma Blanca

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHE1DvsM0ek

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA3XBMH-Yzw

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8XmLuTmKIM

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2FRLxfhDUM

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh2LmUYqUTE

                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69AvNm8zubo

A Pilgrimage of a Cross-cultural Sojourner

     

A Pilgrimage of a Cross-cultural Sojourner   By Crystal Li-chin Huang 

 (This article was written a while ago when I was a LifeStyle columnist for the Dunn County News.)

          Goethe once wrote “He who does not know a foreign language does not know his own.”   For some people who are politically correct for not favoring  bilingual or multicultural issues, this statement might not sound creditable.  On the other hand, Kipling’s ” East is east and west is west, and  never the twain shall meet,” presented another perspective which is very different from those who have thousand reasons to cross the cultural boundary.

          Either voluntarily or not, millions of people, from centuries ago immigrated to or lived for a time in the United States- a nation applauded for her diversity, democracy, equality, and modernity;  a nation  inspires people with dream and hope (still holds quite true today- since this article was written several years ago). 

          That also means millions of people had gone or is going through the bitter and sweet process of  cross-cultural transitions, or “transformations”, either by their own will or not. 

           

          No matter for avoiding political persecution, oppression, or other socio-economic reasons, such as for the better life chances and/or other inspirations,  it demands tremendous courage and risk-taking to move geographically and culturally. And the issue of adjustment is a heavy task that has to be made. There are gains and losses. 

          This phenomenon is not merely a historical footnote.  As human beings have been inevitably moving toward the global interdependence, more and more people will take on this cross-culturally transitional route.

          Cross-culture experience entails both advantage and heavy cost!

          It can enhance the cross-“culturers” to develop a global perspective and a critical, while sometimes, marginalized mind. It stimulates one to acquire the facility to move back and forth between cultures. Furthermore, it can provide one with the experience to enjoy and appreciate human diversity in terms of class, gender, race, ethnicity, faith, creed, ancestry, languages, norms and values, just to name a few.  

          But, to readjust oneself to a new culture, in some way is similar to restarting a new life. There are losses which are immeasurable in this process.   Many cultural “transitioners” experience tremendous hardship far beyond that Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother can describe.

           I know some friends who gave up their prestigious status, intellectual prowess and achievement in their countries for the sake of freedom, democracy, or better opportunities. One couple, seeking political asylum, were medical doctors in their country, but worked as janitor and  dishwasher in America.  Under the difficult condition, they gradually overcame the linguistic and cultural barriers, and went back to their track. Another family, emigrating to the U.S. as refugees during World War II, have gone through homelessness, isolation, eventually conquered the challenges of acculturation and identity confusion.

          In my own community, some of Hmong friends, whose help U.S. army during the Vietnam war, became the source of the ruthless persecution of their own in the post war period.  Coming to U.S. with a humble mind, restarting their lives, they have been confronting unimaginable challenges: the lifestyles, the language barrier, the different social structure, the difficulty of parenting under two value systems and so on.

          As to myself- was an international student who is fascinated by the concept of “global Village,”  having been through the challenging journey of my own. The learning process in linguistic and cultural (in particular, race, ethnicity, class, and especially, political ideologies) acquisition and acculturation takes forever to learn and to adapt. 

          There are gains and losses, joy and frustration, appreciation and disappointment- all kinds

of human dramas going on in the daily presentation of the cross-cultural sojourner!