In “Sounds for Adventurous Listeners,” I argue that Conover’s role in the dissemination of jazz through the Music USA Jazz Hour was more influential on an educational level than what literature on Conover currently provides. Chapter 2 begins with an examination of current studies regarding the role of jazz in Cold War diplomacy, the sociopolitical implications of avant-garde jazz and race, the convergence of fandom and propaganda, the promoter as facilitator of musical trends, and the influence of international radio during the Cold War. In chapter 3 I introduce the Friends of Music USA Newsletter and explain its function as a record of overseas jazz reception and a document that cohered a global network of fans. I then focus on avant-garde debates of the 1960s and discuss Conover’s role overseas and in the United States. Chapter 4 engages social purpose and jazz criticism in the 1960s. I discuss Conover’s philosophy on social responsibility, and how his contributions intersected with other relevant discourses on race on the eve of the civil rights movement. I argue that Conover embodied two personas: one as jazz critic and promoter in the United States, and the other as an international intermediary. In chapter 5 I discuss how Conover presented the avant-garde to his overseas audience. I argue that through his efforts to broadcast jazz impartially, he legitimized avant-garde and emphasized its qualities as art music. In chapter 6 I explore fandom studies as they apply to the formation of Music USA as a global fan network. I discuss the early roots of Conover’s interest in science fiction fandom as a motivation for the implementation of the Friends of Music USA (FOMUSA) groups. Chapter 7 concludes in a discussion of the deification of Conover though the medium of radio in the midst of the Cold War. I argue that, through manipulation of sound resources, Conover composed his broadcasts in a way that allowed him to improvise creatively. Finally, I discuss the effect of a radio personality on crowds and the impact of Conover’s music programming in light of studies concerning deejays as objects of devotion.

Thesis (M.A. in history)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 21, 2010). "Department of History." Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-121).

The Conover Solution is a nonparametric method used to analyze relative growth in students' achievement on state tests administered on two or more occasions. However, there has been very little research assessing the robustness of this method in the presence of missing data. Using vertically scaled and non-vertically scaled data from the math portion of a statewide assessment for grades 4-7, I compare results from listwise deletion and multiple imputation across the residual gain score model, the simple gain score model, and the HLM-NPAR model. In these approaches, I study differences by gender and race in two-level models and then extend the modeling to a three-level model that incorporates school-level random effects. The results are similar across missing data and the modeling approaches for both gender and race. These results hold across multiple cohorts. In addition, there are school-level effects. The results do not vary across missing data or modeling approaches. I discuss implications for these findings and guidelines for practitioners.

Leon Dash and Ted Conover have modeled an ethnographic approach to literary journalism. This approach combines literary journalism's compelling narrative techniques with ethnographic “naturalist-like” (Brewer, 2000) thoroughness and trustworthiness. Rosa Lee: A Mother in Urban America, by Leon Dash, and Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, by Ted Conover, exemplify this painstaking method that skillfully uses the narrative craft, generates trustworthy data, and contributes to an academic body of knowledge as well as exposing findings to the general public. Dash, Conover, and others have demonstrated the synergy and problem-solving potential of merging anthropology with literary journalism, yet there is no typology, no common name and no set of ground rules describing this work. Identifying Dash's and Conover's methods may advance cross-pollination between anthropology and literary journalism, fields that share the role of reporting on contemporary culture. This cross-pollination serves both disciplines. Ethnography stands to increase its numbers of readers by enlisting the writing techniques of literary journalists and by publishing “more public-spirited” (Fillmore, 1987, p. 1) findings in more public venues. Literary journalism stands to be seen and applied as a credible form of qualitative science by enlisting trustworthy naturalistic methods and aiming to contribute to an academic body of knowledge. This thesis explores the promise of ethnographic naturalism in narrative form, as “scholarship for real readers” (S. Olsen, March 2, 2009, personal communication) by examining how practitioners meet rigorous naturalistic criteria for trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and how they present findings in narrative forms and public venues. This exploration draws on personal interviews with Dash and Conover and analyses of their long-form narrative research texts in the context of other scholars' outlooks. Key findings include the discovery that although Dash and Conover were not consciously using naturalistic criteria for trustworthiness, their work meets these criteria. Another key finding is that while both writers consider themselves primarily journalists, they both have read anthropology extensively. A notable finding is the fact that Dash and Conover rely on time-invested “unfettered inquiry,” (Dash, 1996) the mind-set of insatiable curiosity, caring and the liberty to apply practices of other disciplines to conduct research, free from external controls.