Alison Owens, Donna Lee Brien, Elizabeth Ellison and Craig Batty
There has been sustained interest in how to support doctoral students through the often-gruelling journey they undertake from enrolment to graduation. Although doctoral numbers…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been sustained interest in how to support doctoral students through the often-gruelling journey they undertake from enrolment to graduation. Although doctoral numbers and successful completions have been steadily increasing globally as well as in Australia, the quality of student progression and outcomes has been widely interrogated and criticised in the literature that is reported in this paper. The authors’ interest as experienced research higher degree supervisors and research leaders in the creative arts and humanities prompted a research project that aimed to better understand the challenges and breakthroughs involved in completing a doctorate from the perspective of candidates themselves.
Design/methodology/approach
This was implemented through an action learning collaboration with 18 students from three Australian universities facilitated by four research supervisors.
Findings
The main findings presented in this paper include the necessity for maintaining, brokering and supporting a range of relationships; understanding expectations of research study and embracing the need for agility in managing these; and finally, using techniques to improve personal agency and ownership of the transformative journey of research higher degree candidature. The importance of establishing an understanding of the multidimensional human experience of doing a doctorate and providing appropriate support through enhanced forms of research training emerged as a core finding from this research project.
Research limitations/implications
The relatively small number of research participants in this study and the discipline-specific focus prohibits generalizability of findings; however, the collaborative, action learning method adopted represents an approach that is both productive and transferable to other contexts and disciplines.
Practical implications
Further research might investigate the relevance of the findings from this research to doctoral students in other disciplines and/or institutions or apply the collaborative action learning approach to doctoral training presented here to a range of contexts and cohorts.
Social implications
Improving doctoral training options to support the multidimensional needs of candidates can better assure the mental and emotional well-being of doctoral students (essential to their continuing intellectual development and sense of agency) through developing sustainable relationships and realistic expectations. This in turn has the potential to address the consistently high attrition rates in doctoral programmes.
Originality/value
This research contributes new insights from doctoral students on the challenges and breakthroughs experienced by them as they pursue original research through formal study and present a novel, collaborative and empowering approach to doctoral training that can be applied in diverse setting.
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Wayne Heatherington and Iain Coyne
Little research has explored individual experiences of cyberbullying in working contexts. To start bridging the gap in our current understanding, we used Interpretative…
Abstract
Little research has explored individual experiences of cyberbullying in working contexts. To start bridging the gap in our current understanding, we used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore individuals' shared experiences of cyberbullying encountered through work. In-depth interviews, conducted with five cyberbullied workers from the pharmaceutical, charity and university sectors, resulted in five superordinate themes: attributions of causality; crossing of boundaries; influence of communication media richness on relationship development; influence of communication explicitness and openness; and strategies for coping. Overall, some similarities emerged between cyberbullying experiences and traditional bullying research, yet the complexities associated with managing relationships, both virtually and physically, were central to individuals' subjective experiences. Practical implications in developing effective leadership and business policies to support virtual groups and manage behaviours are discussed.
Payam Aminpour, Steven Gray, Robert Richardson, Alison Singer, Laura Castro-Diaz, Marie Schaefer, Mohd Aswad Ramlan and Noleen Rutendo Chikowore
This paper aims to investigate different ways in which faculty members of sustainability-related departments in universities across the world perceive, understand and define…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate different ways in which faculty members of sustainability-related departments in universities across the world perceive, understand and define sustainability and how these definitions are linked to their demographics and epistemological beliefs.
Design/methodology/approach
Scholars from different disciplines investigate the sustainability of social-ecological systems from different perspectives. Such differences in the understanding of, and approaches to, sustainability have created ambiguity within the field and may weaken its effectiveness, impact and reputation as a field of research. To contribute to the discussion about sustainability definition, a survey was conducted involving university faculty members working in sustainability-related academic departments around the world. Participants’ responses were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 involving descriptive and inferential statistics and principle component analysis. Additionally, responses to open-ended questions were qualitatively analyzed.
Findings
Factor analysis on sustainability definition items reveal four emergent universal definitions of sustainability, labeled as Environmentalism concerns, Common understanding, neo-Malthusian environmentalism and Sustainability as well-being. Statistical analyses indicate that individuals from developed countries are more likely to define sustainability as Environmentalism and Common understanding; however, individuals from developing countries tend to define sustainability as well-being. Also, more heavily engaged scholars in interdisciplinary research of sustainability are more likely to perceive sustainability as Common understanding. Logistic Regression models demonstrate a connection between epistemological perspectives of researchers and sustainability definitions. Qualitative content analysis indicates that interdisciplinarity and collaboration are the most common challenges to sustainability research.
Originality/value
The findings of this study demonstrate disconnects between scholars from developing and developed countries in understanding and defining sustainability, and these disconnects may present further challenges for global sustainability scholarship.
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The purpose of this paper is to report on the Spring 2013 MARAC Conference.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the Spring 2013 MARAC Conference.
Design/methodology/approach
This report focuses on the use of technology in archives, libraries, and museums, as presented in various sessions at the Spring 2013 MARAC Conference.
Findings
Archives, libraries, and museums are utilizing various technologies including QR codes, data visualization, open‐source platforms, and single search boxes to better reach and serve the demands and expectations of today's users.
Originality/value
The paper condenses the author's notes from various sessions.
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Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of volunteerism during the digitisation project by the Office of the Premier in Mpumalanga with a view recommending the best…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of volunteerism during the digitisation project by the Office of the Premier in Mpumalanga with a view recommending the best practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data was collected through the semi-structured qualitative interviews with the records manager and ten volunteer archivists employed by the Office of the Premier.
Findings
Local pupils within the Mpumalanga province were recruited to participate in the digitisation project as a form of youth empowerment. The Mpumalanga Provincial Archives was not involved in the digitisation project to ensure that all digitisation specification was in line with the requirement of the provincial archives. Furthermore, a lack of resources to implement the digitisation project was cited as the main stamping block for the successful implementation of the project.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited to the Office of the premier, in the Mpumalanga province.
Practical implications
Archivists interested in recruiting volunteers on a digitisation project can use this paper to understand the benefits and cost of volunteer labor before putting volunteer projects into practice.
Social implications
The success of a digitisation project depends on the involvement of the Mpumalanga Provincial archives.
Originality/value
This paper presents a unique case study in South Africa of a digitisation project staffed with volunteers in the office of the Premier.
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FRANK FRASER DARLING, in his compelling Reith lectures ‘Wilderness and Plenty’ that heralded European Conservation Year, warned us of the dangers of pollution and over‐population…
Abstract
FRANK FRASER DARLING, in his compelling Reith lectures ‘Wilderness and Plenty’ that heralded European Conservation Year, warned us of the dangers of pollution and over‐population. He spoke of overcrowding as ‘a depressant of beauty…and of the romantic spirit which is the pearl of our human heritage’. This romantic spirit that is manifested through our poets, writers, artists and musicians, seems to me to have been overlooked in the welter of propaganda that has been poured out, with the emphasis primarily on the scientific aspects of conservation.
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the eighteenth to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1991. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the…
Abstract
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Office for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1981 and 1982 for VINE is £20 for UK subscribers and £23 for overseas subscribers — subscription year runs from January to December.
Stefanie Reissner and Andrea Whittle
The aim of this review paper is to identify the methodological practices and presentational styles used to report interview-based research in “leading” management and organisation…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this review paper is to identify the methodological practices and presentational styles used to report interview-based research in “leading” management and organisation journals.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews a sample of 225 articles using qualitative interviews that were published in management, human resource management, organisational behaviour and international business journals listed in the Financial Times 50 list between 2009 and 2019.
Findings
The review found diversity and plurality in the methodological practices used in these studies and the presentational styles used to report interview research.
Practical implications
The findings are expected to help doctoral students, early career scholars and those new to using qualitative interviews to make decisions about the appropriateness of different methodological practices and presentational styles. The findings are also expected to support editors, reviewers, doctoral examiners and conference organisers in making sense of the dissensus that exists amongst qualitative interview researchers (Johnson et al., 2007). These insights will also enable greater “paradigmatic awareness” (Plakoyiannaki and Budhwar, 2021, p. 5) in the evaluation of the quality of interview-based research that is not restricted to standardised criteria derived from positivism (Cassell and Symon, 2015).
Originality/value
To make sense of this plurality, the authors map these practices and styles against the onto-epistemological paradigms identified by Alvesson (2003, 2011). The paper contributes to calls for philosophical diversity in the evaluation of qualitative research. The authors specifically articulate concerns about the use of practices in interview-based studies that derive from the positivistic logic associated with quantitative research.
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The paper seeks to explore the relationship between the state and scientists, specifically regarding the ethical and moral issues of research and development of weapons and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to explore the relationship between the state and scientists, specifically regarding the ethical and moral issues of research and development of weapons and military technology.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a methodology of experiential reasoning, the author provides numerous examples of the quandary in which modern research finds itself and asks “What choice is the scientist or engineer to make?”
Findings
The author's perspective on the past and present symbiosis between science and the military shows, however, the future complexity and subtlety of this relationship. It is one that could have a direct bearing on the future of the human race.
Originality/value
For three generations the spectre of nuclear war has been a received idea of such awesome dimensions as to occlude other, perhaps more imminent, menaces. The paper highlights those threats and provides a positive guide for policy makers.