Dissertation Information for Kathleen Mitchell NAME: - Kathleen Mitchell
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1999)
ADVISORS: - Virginia A. Walter
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Mary Niles Maack - Michele Valerie Cloonan - Patricia Marie McDonough
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: The problem of the girl: Reading for a transitional age
Abstract: It has been noted that some books endure the tests of time and changing taste while others do not. This study proposes that books of enduring popularity share a set of themes or concepts. Using developmentally and psychically appropriate themes and characteristics this study sets for the development and justification of a model to describe the enduring popularity of certain books among young girls.
The Girl's Special Books Model posits that when a book continues to be popular from generation to generation, that book contains three defining characteristics or themes.
Using an inductive, qualitative thematic analysis nine selected books were analyzed for the presence or absence of the themes and/or their indicators. The first set of books are ones which have proven to be of enduring popularity. The second set were selected as being roughly contemporary with the first set and not generally considered to still be popular among young girls. The third set of books are current books which are comparable to the original books with respect to type of book and age of the main character at the start of the book.
A coding sheet incorporating specific defining indicators for each theme was developed and tested. The nine selected books were read by the researcher and an outside reader. At the same time the text of each book was marked for retrieval of exemplar passages.
Because both the researcher and the reader had a sense of missing themes not elicited by the presence/absence analysis, a series of questions was posed to allow for a more general and more particular approach to the text. All three themes were found to be present in the books which are of enduring popularity. This confirms the premise of the Girl's Special Books Model which says the three defining themes must all be present for a book to be of enduring popularity.
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MPACT Scores for Kathleen Mitchell A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:15:02
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