Election campaigns are catalysts for new forms of political communication. They are a field of experimentation for new techniques and technologies to reach target groups and influence voters. This article explores how weblogs were used in the 2005 Bundestag election campaign in Germany, examining their effect on the mediatized political field. It is based on an empirical analysis of 317 campaign weblogs. Building on mediatization theory and research on campaign weblogs in other countries, weblog usage is examined along the dimensions of activity, interactivity, and connectedness. The results of the study indicate that weblog communication largely follows the dominant logic of mass media. But weblogs also offer forms of communication that allow political actors to bypass established media practices. Although the results are limited by the fact that the political blogosphere in Germany is still under construction, they reveal the potential of weblogs to enrich campaigns.
Evidence-based research is becoming increasingly important in educational research. Calculation and test methods available in statistical software packages such as SPSS and STATA are widely used. To evaluate teaching innovations such as blended learning against classical classroom settings, for example, previous studies have mainly applied inference methods such as the t-test or variance analyses. The problem with these methods is that they test for the difference. A non-significant result does not automatically mean equivalence of the treatments examined, which is why we propose the use of equivalence testing.This paper introduces the equivalence test as complementary to the classical t-test and briefly discusses other approaches based on confidence intervals and Bayesian methods. As an example, the introduction of a blended learning format to a Bachelor's degree program is used to demonstrate the procedure and discuss the results of conducting an equivalence test. By combining tests for difference and equivalence successfully, it was possible to arrive at more informative statistical statements: Whereas a t-test alone only produced results for three out of 22 courses, a t-test and an equivalence test in combination yielded statistically confirmed statements for 12 out of 22 courses.
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