Search results

This paper aims to respond to Budd's discussion of meaning, truth and information by exploring the ontological framework prescribed by critical realism. Budd's thesis that information must be defined within the context of meaning and truth is challenged and the ontological priority of information is argued.

Following a critique of Budd's conclusions, a “regional ontology” of information is discussed. The practical adequacy of this theory is demonstrated by applying it to information‐seeking and meaning‐making, as described by Dervin's Sense‐Making Methodology (SMM). Finally, a case study is provided to illustrate the re‐conceptualization and implications in future research applications.

Information is a “thing” of ontological significance and which possesses truth and meaning as properties. Information may present as uninforming, incomprehensible, deceptive, nonsensical or sensical, depending on how the properties truth and meaning are expressed.

The main implication arising from this paper is that a definition of information is provided which permits application to situations of conflict or dissonance concerning information use. Abductive reasoning facilitates application of SMM to historically produced documents.

The novelty of this paper lies in the analysis of information, truth and meaning according to a realist, emergentist ontology, and in the consequent application of Dervin's SMM to documents by abductive reasoning.

The purpose of the paper is to provide a critical reply to Robert Lingard's close reading of a previously published paper of the present author's, “Meaning, truth, and information.”

The approach adopted in this paper is an examination of Lingard's argument and counter‐points, employing (primarily) logical and rhetorical analysis of his claims.

While some of Lingard's criticisms are legitimate and must be admitted, many have to be subjected to rebuttal on the basis of misreading, logical error, and discursive misapprehension of points made in the original article.

Since the present paper is a reply to another author's work, originality is constrained by the arguments and claims made by that author. That said, additional analysis is added to the matters of meaning, truth, and information in an effort to clarify and expand upon the essence of the original article.

Mental ill-health among construction project professionals (CPPs) is a significant, persistent and unresolved problem that sparked the proliferation of literature worldwide. Despite the diverse research publications, a systematic review to reveal forms of mental ill-health, cause of mental ill-health and coping is lacking.

This paper aims to systematically reviews the existing body of knowledge on mental health in the construction project by analyzing 60 papers published between 1989 and 2020 (years inclusive) using the preferred reporting item for systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Academic journals between 1989 and 2020 were selected for this study because the first published paper on the mental health of construction managers commenced in 1989 and current studies are published in 2020.

The findings show that stress, job burnout, depression, anxiety and substance use disorder (SUD) are prominent forms of mental ill-health among CPPs, with an absence of project-related measuring scales for evaluating the mental ill-health symptoms. Moreover, generic stressors including long working hours, time pressure and work overload were used to establish the root causes of mental ill-health by ignoring construction project related stressors for mental ill-health. Problem-focused coping is more efficient than emotional focused coping in mitigating work stress, job burnout, depression, anxiety, but little is known on the influence of coping strategies on SUD. Knowledge gaps and future research directions were identified. This research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the implications of mental health management on construction projects.

The findings of this study contribute toward understanding the need to investigate individual mental ill-health as against the existing practices of considering all forms of mental ill-health as one umbrella. It also challenges limitations in the utilization of generic stressors to determines factors for mental ill-health by the introduction of the Swisse cheese theoretical model.

Stressors emanated from construction projects are causative factors for occupational stress inherent in the construction industry. Concomitant implications of stressors ignite a burst of empirical evidence, which necessitates a systematic review to capture the state of art of the extant literature. Therefore, this paper addresses this significant gap by conducting a systematic review of mental stressors.

A three-stage screening and data extraction method were employed to retrieve 38 papers that met the inclusion criteria for the study.

The annual publication trends and contributions of selected journals were elucidated. Moreover, this review identified 49 stressors from 38 selected peer-reviewed journals between 1997 and 2020. The most frequently reported mental stressors include work overload, home-work conflict, poor working environment, role ambiguity and poor working relationships. The 49 stressors could be classified into five main categories, namely; organizational stressors, task stressors, personal stressors, physical stressors and gender-related stressors.

The findings of the study broaden the understanding of the practitioners and policymakers on the dynamics of stressors for the development of stress interventions. Future research should focus on exploration of mental stressors specific to construction projects and different occupational trades.

“Becoming” a doctor involves the acquisition of medical knowledge, skills and professional identity. Medical professional identity formation (MPIF) is complex, multi-factorial and closely linked to societal expectations, personal and social identity. Increasingly, doctors are required to engage in leadership/management involving significant identity shift. This paper aims to explore medical professional identity (MPI) and MPIF in relation to doctors as leaders. Selected identity theories are used to enrich the understanding of challenges facing doctors in leadership situations and two concepts are introduced: medical leader identity (MLI) and medical leader identity formation (MLIF) and consideration given to how they can be nurtured within medical practice.

A rapid conceptual review of relevant literature was carried out to identify a set of relevant concepts and theories that could be used to develop a new conceptual framework for MLI and MLIF.

MLIF is crucial for doctors to develop as medical leaders, and, like MPIF, the process begins before medical school with both identities influenced, shaped and challenged throughout doctors’ careers. Individuals require support in developing awareness that their identities are multiple, nested, interconnected and change over time.

This paper draws on concepts from wider literature on professional identity, in relation to how doctors might develop their MLI alongside their MPI. It offers a new perspective on MPI in the light of calls on doctors to “become and be healthcare leaders” and introduces the new concepts of MLI and MLIF.

Safety performance indicators are a major research concern globally in the construction sector, so this study aims to systematically analyse construction safety performance indicators from some top research publications from 2000 to 2019.

Systematic review was performed using Scopus search engine and relevant publications were compiled. Visual and far reaching search in all publications were performed. Final analysis was done to evaluate selected attributes.

The outcome of the analysis showed growing interest in research on construction safety performance indicators since 2000. From the review, 48 safety performance indicators are identified from 41 selected publications. The most reported safety performance indicators were safety climate, safety orientation, management commitment to safety, near-miss and job site audits. It was noted further that USA, Australia, Canada and China have been international locations of attention for most research on construction safety performance indicators. The 48 safety indicators are classified into six categories, namely people indicators, culture indicators, processes indicators, infrastructure indicators, metrics indicators and technology indicators

The findings identified provide researchers and practitioners a summary of the safety indicators in the construction sector through a vision to streamline future applications and increase the safety performance in the construction sector.

A safety performance indicators' list has been established for the adoption of future empirical research. The findings will make a significant contribution to current but limited knowledge on safety performance indicators in construction industry.

The demanding nature of the construction industry poses strain that affects the health of construction personnel. Research shows that mental ill health in this industry is increasing. However, a review mapping the field to determine the extant of research is lacking. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a scientometric review of mental health (MH) research in the construction industry.

A total of 145 bibliographic records retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus database were analyzed using CiteSpace, to visualize MH research outputs in the industry.

Top co-cited authors are Helen Lingard, Mei-yung Leung, Paul Bowen, Julitta S. Boschman, Peter E.D. Love, Martin Loosemore and Linda Goldenhar. Previous studies focused on healthy eating, work efficiency, occupational stress and workplace injury. Emerging research areas are centered around physiological health monitoring, work ability, and smart interventions to prevent and manage poor MH.

Result is influenced by the citations in retrieved articles.

The study found that researchers in the construction industry have intensified efforts to leverage information technology in improving the health, well-being, and safety of construction personnel. Future research should focus on developing workplace interventions that incorporate organizational justice and flexible work systems. There is also a need to develop psychological self-reporting scales specific to the industry.

This study enhances the understanding of researchers on existing collaboration networks and future research directions. It provides information on foundational documents and authors whose works should be consulted when researching into this field.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

This opening chapter sets a frame for the chapters of this volume, dealing with how the dynamic dialectic interplay between forceful global societal forces and context shape humanity’s education response in various parts of the world. “Context” as a perennial threshold concept in Comparative and International Education is explicated. It will then be explained how, during its long historical evolution, scholars in the field each time had to contend new contexts, or reconceived the notion of “context” in a new way. Subsequently the problems of an overly fixation on the historical and the present, to the detriment of the future, and inertia are extant in the field, will be explained. The unprecedented, seismic changes currently impacting on the societal context worldwide, will then be enumerated. These changes can be subsumed under the collective name of globalization. The concept globalization is then clarified, and the take of the scholarly community on the impact of globalization on education is then mapped and interrogated. The authors’ stance on this is stated, namely that a dynamic interplay between global focus and contextual realities shape education in various parts of the world. It is in this theoretical frame that the remainder of the chapters of the volume is presented, combing out the main features of education development in each part of the world, as a dialectic between global forces and contextual imperatives.

Field theory is waxing in the sociology of science, and Pierre Bourdieu’s work is especially influential. His characterization of field structure and dynamics has been especially valuable in drawing attention to hierarchical and center-periphery relations in science and technology, and to the stability and reproduction of science and technology practices. What field theory does less well, however, is to capture the existence of multiple (including marginal) logics around a given sociotechnical object. Nor does it capture the dynamics of a specific logic of neoliberal capitalism in the US: the cultural and economic value of entrepreneurship that emphasizes the continual reconfiguration of social relations, which has its roots in a longer US history of progress-through-reinvention, and is abetted by new technologies designed to continually “update” and remix. Much better at capturing these qualities, we argue, is an institutionalist theory in which dynamism, not stasis, is foregrounded, and there is room for multiple, contradictory, and non-cognitive logics to co-exist. Using the expansion of “alternative nutrition” in the US, we show that its formation took place via the conjunction of parallel streams of social action that encompassed diverse logics and encouraged creativity and hybridity. More generally, variability in field stability and qualities, not static fields, deserve analytic attention.