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Articles 2731 - 2760 of 2967

Full-Text Articles in Sociology

The Multiple Roles Of Low Income, Minority Women In The Family And Community: A Qualitative Investigation, Avery E. Goldstein, Wendy Reiboldt Jun 2004

The Multiple Roles Of Low Income, Minority Women In The Family And Community: A Qualitative Investigation, Avery E. Goldstein, Wendy Reiboldt

The Qualitative Report

This longitudinal, ethnographic research study was incepted to investigate service use among families living in poor urban communities. Themes that emerged during data collection focus on the variety of roles played by women, in the home, and in the neighborhood. We identified numerous strengths exhibited by women, that is, roles that help families adapt and survive. Over a two-year period, we spent time with families, in their homes, and in their communities. Not only did the women fulfill multiple roles in the family, but they performed care taking functions within the community as well. A more complete understanding of family …

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Visual Evidence In Qualitative Research: The Role Of Videorecording, Sorrel Penn-Edwards Jun 2004

Visual Evidence In Qualitative Research: The Role Of Videorecording, Sorrel Penn-Edwards

The Qualitative Report

Videorecording allows the researcher to record and replay the pictures and sound of an event. As such, it can be a valuable research tool. Nevertheless, it is not just a simple measuring instrument. As a qualitative research data gathering tool, video recordings should be authenticated. Researchers should indicate clearly the role of this tool in their work and discuss the factors that may have an influence on the way it is used or on the data analyzed. The substance of these factors is shown in inventoried form. This paper discusses these and advises how researchers may address the validity of …

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Qualitative Research On Mediated Dialogism Among Educators And Pupils, Thomas Hansson Jun 2004

Qualitative Research On Mediated Dialogism Among Educators And Pupils, Thomas Hansson

The Qualitative Report

The relevance of qualitative research to virtual practices rests on subject knowledge and practical know-how on operations for exchange, growth, learning, and dialogue. Highlighting the discursive perspective, this paper covers theory on emerging didactics for online learning. In doing so, the contents show how computer-mediated learning incorporates a dialogical orientation. There is an empirical account of experiences of applying the theory in a comprehensive Nordic network with an aspect of computer-mediated theory focused on Ba, a construct illustrating how educators and pupils keep their higher mental operations creative in the process of critiquing and applying knowledge in English as a …

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Push-Pull Factors Of Undocumented Migration From Bangladesh To West Bengal: A Perception Study, Pranati Datta Jun 2004

Push-Pull Factors Of Undocumented Migration From Bangladesh To West Bengal: A Perception Study, Pranati Datta

The Qualitative Report

Movement is an integral part of human existence. While talking about transborder migration from Bangladesh to India, we are, however, aware that this is a controversial subject. The partition of Bengal in 1947 was the cruelest partition in the history of the world and caused forced illegal migration from erstwhile East Pakistan. It is estimated that there are about 15 million Bangladeshi nationals living in India illegally. West Bengal has a border running 2,216 km along Bangladesh. The present study highlights push-pull factors of illegal Bangladeshi migration based on perceptions of respondents obtained from a qualitative survey done on the …

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Provisions Of Trustworthiness In Critical Narrative Research: Bridging Intersubjectivity And Fidelity, Glenda Moss Jun 2004

Provisions Of Trustworthiness In Critical Narrative Research: Bridging Intersubjectivity And Fidelity, Glenda Moss

The Qualitative Report

This paper is a reflective-reflexive examination of provisions of trustworthiness in critical narrative research. The author presents her understanding of provisions of trustworthiness as a science and as an art, and blurs these boundaries as she acknowledges their tension in practice. She weaves between theory and her experience in two studies first the study of the Texas-Spain Visiting Teachers Program and secondly the study of Amish culture and education where the author felt a deep sense of responsibility that she maintain trustworthiness. This paper examines the provisions of trustworthiness as evidence of research accountability and shared responsibility and brings to …

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Racial Identity And The Development Of Body Image Issues Among African American Adolescent Girls, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Stephanie A. Howling, Patricia Leavy, Meg Lovejoy Mar 2004

Racial Identity And The Development Of Body Image Issues Among African American Adolescent Girls, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Stephanie A. Howling, Patricia Leavy, Meg Lovejoy

The Qualitative Report

As readers, children with dyslexia are vulnerable to becoming academically, socially, and emotionally detached from education. Traditional educational practices tend to use quantitative measures to diagnose children to better serve their needs and researchers, who study students with special needs often focus on a deficit model that quantify just how far a child is from the norm. This practice, while full of good intentions, often creates emotional scars and feelings of inferiority in a child. This reductionist view of a disability is most likely different from the lived experience of the person with the disability. To get a complete picture, …

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Combining Causal Model And Focus Group Discussions: Experiences Learned From A Socio-Anthropological Research On The Differing Perceptions Of Caretakers And Health Professionals On Children's Health (Bolivia/Peru), Pierre Lefèvre, Charles-Édouard De Suremain, Emma Rubín De Celis, Edgar Sejas Mar 2004

Combining Causal Model And Focus Group Discussions: Experiences Learned From A Socio-Anthropological Research On The Differing Perceptions Of Caretakers And Health Professionals On Children's Health (Bolivia/Peru), Pierre Lefèvre, Charles-Édouard De Suremain, Emma Rubín De Celis, Edgar Sejas

The Qualitative Report

During the summer of 2002, thirty-one medieval frescoes went on display at the Museum of Texas Tech University, the only venue in the world for this extraordinary exhibition. This paper summarizes a qualitative research study that focused on the experiences of three visitors to the Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums Collection exhibition. The study applied Gadamers (1993) idea of horizons to both the visitor-participants and the frescoes to illuminate the interpretive event, the meeting of horizons, and to uncover any obstacles that might hinder the fusion of horizons. The findings of the study are presented in a readers theatre …

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Beyond The Horizon: Visitor Meaning-Making And The Vatican Frescoes, Lee Brodie Mar 2004

Beyond The Horizon: Visitor Meaning-Making And The Vatican Frescoes, Lee Brodie

The Qualitative Report

The re-birth of South Africa in 1994 has brought the implementation of effective educational policies. Simultaneously, the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) approach has been introduced to advance teaching and learning of the Learning areas in schools in South Africa. This article focuses on the learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Grade eight. The focus is furthermore on schools from the Black township areas, called previously disadvantaged schools. The introduction of OBE in South Africa heralds an era of meaningful teaching. The use of OBE strives to root out the last vestiges of Apartheid education. With an OBE approach, …

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Outcomes-Based Education In The English Second Language Classroom In South Africa, Gawie Schlebusch, Motsamai Thobedi Mar 2004

Outcomes-Based Education In The English Second Language Classroom In South Africa, Gawie Schlebusch, Motsamai Thobedi

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on the impact of race, and its intersection with gender, in influencing and/or preventing the development of disordered body image. Specifically, Black samples are examined to see the role that racial identity plays in the process of developing such attitudes. Using qualitative data analysis methods rooted in grounded theory, the study finds that race is intrinsically linked to the notion of self-esteem, non-internalization, and maternal support, and that in turn these factors serve to prevent the African American sample from the development of body image dissatisfaction

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Using Qualitative Methods To Understand The Educational Experiences Of Students With Dyslexia, Debby Zambo Mar 2004

Using Qualitative Methods To Understand The Educational Experiences Of Students With Dyslexia, Debby Zambo

The Qualitative Report

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise …

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Mission Drift In Qualitative Research, Or Moving Toward A Systematic Review Of Qualitative Studies, Moving Back To A More Systematic Narrative Review, Kip Jones Mar 2004

Mission Drift In Qualitative Research, Or Moving Toward A Systematic Review Of Qualitative Studies, Moving Back To A More Systematic Narrative Review, Kip Jones

The Qualitative Report

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated. Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise …

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Relating The Categories In Grounded Theory Analysis: Using A Conditional Relationship Guide And Reflective Coding Matrix, Karen Wilson Scott Mar 2004

Relating The Categories In Grounded Theory Analysis: Using A Conditional Relationship Guide And Reflective Coding Matrix, Karen Wilson Scott

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes the process for employing two principal instruments for relating the categories identifying the central phenomenon in grounded theory analysis. The Conditional Relationship Guide contextualizes the central phenomenon and relates structure with process. The second tool, the Reflective Coding Matrix, captures the higher level of abstraction necessary to bridge to the final phase of grounded theory analysis, selective coding and interpretation and ultimately to the theory generation. Examples of each instrument are provided and discussed.

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Rethinking Validity In Qualitative Research From A Social Constructionist Perspective: From Is This Valid Research? To What Is This Research Valid For?, Jeffrey P. Aguinaldo Mar 2004

Rethinking Validity In Qualitative Research From A Social Constructionist Perspective: From Is This Valid Research? To What Is This Research Valid For?, Jeffrey P. Aguinaldo

The Qualitative Report

This article theorizes the issue of validity that is premised upon social constructionist assumptions, particularly as it is applied to the assessment of qualitative research. As a social construction, validity must thus be interrogated for its discursive function within the social sciences. I will argue that, as a criterion of assessment, validity polices the social science enterprise and thus, functions as a practice of power through the de/legitimation of social knowledge, research practice, and experiential possibilities. This critique will lead into a reformulation of validity that actively recognizes and negotiates its practice of power. Within this reformulation, research findings are …

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Studying Human-Centered It Innovation Using A Grounded Action Learning Approach, David J. Pauleen, Pak Yoong Mar 2004

Studying Human-Centered It Innovation Using A Grounded Action Learning Approach, David J. Pauleen, Pak Yoong

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes how two research methodologies, grounded theory and action learning, were combined to produce a rigorous yet creative and flexible method for field study of a recent IT-based innovation, virtual teams. Essentially, an action learning program was used to train facilitators of virtual teams and generate research data while grounded theory techniques were used to analyze and interpret the data. This paper shows how this combined method can be used to develop local and practical theory for complex, human-centered areas of information technology. The implications of this grounded action learning approach for practice and research in IS will …

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Faster, Richer, Better: Rapid Appraisal Techniques For The Study Of Is Implementation In Virtual Communities, Linda Wilkins, Paula Swatman, Tanya Castleman Mar 2004

Faster, Richer, Better: Rapid Appraisal Techniques For The Study Of Is Implementation In Virtual Communities, Linda Wilkins, Paula Swatman, Tanya Castleman

The Qualitative Report

A major issue in Information Systems (IS) research is how to combine relevance and rigor (Benbasat & Zmud, 1999) and reduce the widening gap between research results and adoption (Dunn, 1994). Qualitative researchers make use of interpretivist methods to add richness and depth to their understanding of user problems. Interpretivist methods applied to IS implementations can thus result in research which communicates those findings more effectively. However standard interpretivist data-collection and analysis methods can be time-consuming and expensive. Findings based on these methods may be irrelevant to practitioners by the time they reach publication stage. A potential solution to this …

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Power Games Between The Researcher And The Participant In The Social Inquiry, Ana Bravo-Moreno Dec 2003

Power Games Between The Researcher And The Participant In The Social Inquiry, Ana Bravo-Moreno

The Qualitative Report

This article will deal with the different power relationships that are in play during the interview process in ethnographic research. It explores how interviewees are agents in the creation of their own positions during the interview process and how they shift positions in interaction with the researcher and with the questions posed to them.

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The Impact Of Devolution On Organizational Effectiveness: An Exploratory Case Study Of Faith-Based Child Care, Javier Stanziola, Tania Schmitz Dec 2003

The Impact Of Devolution On Organizational Effectiveness: An Exploratory Case Study Of Faith-Based Child Care, Javier Stanziola, Tania Schmitz

The Qualitative Report

Although the foundations of President Bush’s faith-based initiative could be traced back at least to Colonial times, the re-packaging of this idea has raised concerns about the role of the federal government in the affairs of faith based organizations, the professionalization of social services, rent seeking, and the crowding out of private funding. This paper aims to examine the local implications of decentralizing the provision of social services in Lee County, Florida. More specifically, we will identify how devolution has affected the organizational effectiveness of faith-based organizations in the day care sector. For this paper, organizational effectiveness was defined in …

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Real Middle School Teachers, Rhoda C. Sommers Dec 2003

Real Middle School Teachers, Rhoda C. Sommers

The Qualitative Report

Effective middle school teachers are more than the sum total of their educational beliefs and practices. They are whole persons whose lives reflect receptivity to growth, treasured relationships, and the intertwining of their personal and professional lives. This article uses the children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, as a metaphor to describe effective middle school teachers.

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Joint Stories And Layered Tales: Support, Contradiction And Me Aning Construction In Focus Group Research, Agnieszka Kosny Dec 2003

Joint Stories And Layered Tales: Support, Contradiction And Me Aning Construction In Focus Group Research, Agnieszka Kosny

The Qualitative Report

This paper uses focus group data about women’s work experiences gathered in five Canadian east coast communities to examine some of the strengths and weakness associated with focus group research. I explore the case made against the use of focus group methods and the basis for some of the critiques aimed at focus group research. By examining the evolving discussions between focus group members, it is possible to understand some of the benefits of group-talk, including the creation of a unique opportunity for interaction, joint meaning creation and contradiction.

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Meta-Inquiry: An Approach To Interview Success, Nancy M. Carlson, Mark Mccaslin Dec 2003

Meta-Inquiry: An Approach To Interview Success, Nancy M. Carlson, Mark Mccaslin

The Qualitative Report

Developing an effective interview strategy presents unique challenges for the novice and master researcher for if the questions one asks are not crucial, then differences in responses are not crucial either (Creswell, 1998, p. 335). To focus qualitative research in the human ecology of the study, our strategy uses an initial interview protocol and preanalysis process, called meta-inquiry, prior to developing our formal interview protocol. Meta-inquiry of initial interview data, obtained in dialogue with key informants in the researched culture, provides us with an inductive tool to assess, modify, enhance, and focus the formal interview protocol. Thus, preparing for the …

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Indicators Of Resiliency Among Urban Elementary School Students At-Risk, John L. Rausch, Cheryl R. Lovett, Christopher O. Walker Dec 2003

Indicators Of Resiliency Among Urban Elementary School Students At-Risk, John L. Rausch, Cheryl R. Lovett, Christopher O. Walker

The Qualitative Report

This study was designed to investigate the phenomenon of resiliency among urban elementary school students in an at-risk environment. In contrast with previous studies narrowly focused upon the identification of risk factors, this study utilized a phenomenological qualitative approach to investigate indicators of resiliency from both individual and contextual perspectives. The narrative descriptions of 25 elementary school students in an at-risk environment were analyzed. The results indicated that the participants had strong individual and contextual resiliency indicators through the fifth grade despite being educated in a school district with almost a 60% drop-out rate before high school graduation.

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Autoethnographic Verse: Nickys Boy: A Life In Two Worlds, Ronald J. Ricci Dec 2003

Autoethnographic Verse: Nickys Boy: A Life In Two Worlds, Ronald J. Ricci

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnographic verse is about my childhood experience of two distinct and ethnically representative family cultures. Poetry and qualitative research share in their goals of providing meaning, density, aestheticism, and reflexivity They are also evocative I selected verse as a means to express my experience, and to invite the readers reflections on this experience for themselves and others.

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Understanding Reliability And Validity In Qualitative Research, Nahid Golafshani Dec 2003

Understanding Reliability And Validity In Qualitative Research, Nahid Golafshani

The Qualitative Report

The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is reconsidered in the qualitative research paradigm. Since reliability and validity are rooted in positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach. Like reliability and validity as used in quantitative research are providing springboard to examine what these two terms mean in the qualitative research paradigm, triangulation as used in quantitative research to test the reliability and validity can also illuminate some ways to test or maximize the validity and reliability of a qualitative study. Therefore, reliability, validity and triangulation, …

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Memories In Context Via Cyber Reminiscing: The Case Of Marilyn Monroe, Kelvin Eng Yong Low Dec 2003

Memories In Context Via Cyber Reminiscing: The Case Of Marilyn Monroe, Kelvin Eng Yong Low

The Qualitative Report

This paper attempts to extend the various existing lieux de memoire available hitherto in the perpetuation and (re)construction of social memory by looking at the cyber landscape. Marilyn Monroe as an icon of American popular culture and thus of popular memory in this context, is explored, by looking at various select websites designed in commemoration of her stardom. Within this investigation, I also invoke the link between the production of social memory, with frames of remembrance and collective memory that therefore indicates memory as indubitably, a social phenomenon. The value of cyber reminiscing is also addressed briefly, by exploring how …

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Practice Approaches And The Ethnography Of Communication: Investigating For The Possibility Of A Mutually Beneficial Relationship, Keith Berry Dec 2003

Practice Approaches And The Ethnography Of Communication: Investigating For The Possibility Of A Mutually Beneficial Relationship, Keith Berry

The Qualitative Report

In this essay, I explore the areas of accord and discord between two efficacious modes of research: practice approaches and the Ethnography of Communication (EOC). As an interpersonal and intercultural scholar, I carefully analyze these approaches in order to find innovative ways to describe the diversity that I see in modern social interaction. Working against paradigms that suggest using either one approach or another, I engage this project hoping (expecting?) to find and/both alternatives for communication study. I argue that, in spite of their differences, practice and EOC traditions co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship for the study of communication …

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Self-Monitoring And Consumer Behavior, Sue-Ellen Kjeldal Sep 2003

Self-Monitoring And Consumer Behavior, Sue-Ellen Kjeldal

The Qualitative Report

In the present research, the relationship between the psychological construct of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) and consumer behavior is investigated. The word association study undertaken for the present paper was deliberately unstructured. This type of methodology provides respondents with a context free environment in which contents of fruit and vegetable knowledge structures can be elicited. This is the first such study that examines self-monitoring in a free-recall situation, and the results are instructive in providing more information on the specific nature of self-monitoring effects. Furthermore, the results of this study demonstrate a relationship between two sub-disciplines of psychology, namely self-monitoring (Snyder, …

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Lives In Transition: Stories Of Three Foreign Elementary Students From India, Beloo Mehra Sep 2003

Lives In Transition: Stories Of Three Foreign Elementary Students From India, Beloo Mehra

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative study tells the stories of three Asian Indian children dealing with the initial phases of adjustment and acculturation at a multicultural elementary school in USA. Constructed using data collected through classroom observations and in-depth interviews with children, parents, and school personnel, these stories reveal important linkages between families and schools, and their respective roles in foreign-born children’s acculturation into the host culture. The pressures to maintain Indian identity, language, food habits, and traditions are all important aspects of these children’s experiences. The school context shapes their educational experiences and adjustment. This study also touches upon some important policy …

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A Critical Reconstruction Of Care-In-Action, Barbara Korth Sep 2003

A Critical Reconstruction Of Care-In-Action, Barbara Korth

The Qualitative Report

This paper uses the findings of a critical ethnography studying the interactions of adult colleagues (Korth, 1998) to propose a critical approach to care theory and research. The argument proceeds from Jaggar's (1995) critique of the scholarship on care. Her criticism voices concerns regarding the lack of attention to the justificatory potential of care research/theory and the over-dependence on particularities. This paper provides one set of responses capable of addressing these concerns and of reformulating the concerns into a more complex conceptualization of care. The resulting analysis implies a theory of care as a pragmatic-communicative construct, one that is more …

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Marriage & Family Therapy Students Learning Qualitative Research: Frameworks Identified Through Participatory-Observation, Dawn Marie Pratt, Megan Leigh Dolbin-Macnab Sep 2003

Marriage & Family Therapy Students Learning Qualitative Research: Frameworks Identified Through Participatory-Observation, Dawn Marie Pratt, Megan Leigh Dolbin-Macnab

The Qualitative Report

In this study, we used participant-observation to achieve grounded theory as we constructed a model outlining how marriage and family therapy graduate students learn qualitative research methods. We identified three major learning frameworks: Pragmatism, Ethics/Morality, and Identity of the Researcher. We also found that certain learning modalities are most congruent for students holding these major frameworks. “Critical learning incidences” appeared to cause a shift or r e -balancing of students ’ frameworks as they learn qualitative research. Application of these findings may help guide instructors who are teaching students with little previous exposure qualitative methodology. Recommendations for future research are …

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Disparate Academic Environments: An Emergent Framework Of Socialization, Michael D. Thompson Sep 2003

Disparate Academic Environments: An Emergent Framework Of Socialization, Michael D. Thompson

The Qualitative Report

Twenty-four graduate associate and/or full professors from four disparate academic environments were interviewed on the salient attributes they emphasize and reinforce to their graduate students in socializing them to the professional norms of their respective academic discipline. Qualitative research methodology was utilized to assess and understand the socialization mechanisms and processes of graduate students within disparate academic environments. The results of the study have produced a new theoretical framework for understanding the differential patterns of student learning and development as a result of student’s collegiate experience.

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