Oliwier Dziadkowiec, Scott Wituk and Debra Franklin
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the composition and strengths/weaknesses and major actors of a coalition of regional economic leaders in the composites participating in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the composition and strengths/weaknesses and major actors of a coalition of regional economic leaders in the composites participating in the Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) project aimed at supporting high-skilled and high-wage careers.
Design/methodology/approach
Social network analysis (SNA) was used to assess south-central (SC) Kansas WIRED coalition (n = 81) based on three surveys question: Who do you know? Who do you communicate with? and Who do you collaborate with? All the surveys were administered online in two waves.
Findings
SC Kansas WIRED network has a strong core, well-defined periphery and is immune to key actor losses, which suggests that they are well developed and sustainable. The well-defined periphery positions the collaborative to reach out to resources outside of the network and innovation.
Practical implications
SC Kansas WIRED Leadership team used the SNA to identify opportunities for further collaboration and reach out to individuals and groups who are not engaged well with others but are positioned well for sparking innovation and bringing resources to the region.
Originality/value
There are few analytic resources to empirically examine coalitions/collaboratives and the human and economic resources embedded in them. The results of this study and the feedback from SC Kansas WIRED Leadership team suggests that SNA was very valuable in identifying areas for action or improvement of the SC Kansas WIRED collaborative and can be utilized for effective decision-making.
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Given the growth in use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) in reproductive medicine, most fertility clinics have developed websites describing the benefits of PGD. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the growth in use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) in reproductive medicine, most fertility clinics have developed websites describing the benefits of PGD. This chapter examines the media frames employed on 372 U.S. fertility clinic websites marketing PGD to consumers and how these frames promote biomedicalization.
Methodology/approach
Evaluation of website discourse was conducted with the use of frame analysis, a research methodology for examining the way media frames bind together claims, judgments, and value statements into a narrative that guides readers’ interpretation of an issue.
Findings
Findings show that website discourse frames PGD in terms of the attainment of reproductive normality, the management of reproductive risk, and the achievement of technological progress. These discursive frames contribute to the ongoing biomedicalization of reproduction by re-naturalizing conception as a choice rather than a natural fact, by promoting preoccupation with biomedical risk, and by affirming new forms of technological power and expertise.
Social implications
Examination reveals the ways in which PGD has developed its own system of representations, notions of exchange, and epistemic forms, and highlights the important ethical issues leveraged on fertility clinic websites marketing PGD.
Originality/value
As one of the first attempts to systematically analyze media frames that depict PGD on fertility clinic websites, this study contributes to medical sociology by advancing theoretical and empirical understanding of the media processes shaping accounts of reproductive technologies. Findings also provide a foundation for further analysis of the social norms and bioethical standards arising from consumer marketing of reproductive technologies.
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This chapter uncovers the destabilizing and transformative dimensions of a legal process commonly described as assimilation. Lawyers working on behalf of a marginalized group…
Abstract
This chapter uncovers the destabilizing and transformative dimensions of a legal process commonly described as assimilation. Lawyers working on behalf of a marginalized group often argue that the group merits inclusion in dominant institutions, and they do so by casting the group as like the majority. Scholars have criticized claims of this kind for affirming the status quo and muting significant differences of the excluded group. Yet, this chapter shows how these claims may also disrupt the status quo, transform dominant institutions, and convert distinctive features of the excluded group into more widely shared legal norms. This dynamic is observed in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, and specifically through attention to three phases of LGBT advocacy: (1) claims to parental recognition of unmarried same-sex parents, (2) claims to marriage, and (3) claims regarding the consequences of marriage for same-sex parents. The analysis shows how claims that appeared assimilationist – demanding inclusion in marriage and parenthood by arguing that same-sex couples are similarly situated to their different-sex counterparts – subtly challenged and reshaped legal norms governing parenthood, including marital parenthood. While this chapter focuses on LGBT claims, it uncovers a dynamic that may exist in other settings.
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Gregory A. Crawford, Glenn McGuigan and Debra Mattern Kephart
This research aims to examine the inclusion of biographies of presidential candidates in library collections.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine the inclusion of biographies of presidential candidates in library collections.
Design/methodology/approach
OCLC's WorldCat database was used to search for biographies of presidential candidates that were held by libraries. Only biographies from the two years preceeding and the actual year of a presidential election were included in the analyses.
Findings
The results show that although candidate biographies are plentiful, most are owned by only a few libraries. Recent elections have seen the greatest number of these biographies, many of which have been produced by special interest groups. Analyses show that libraries collect these biographies without regard to party affiliation of the candidate or whether the candidate was victorious.
Research limitations/implications
Only major party candidates were included in the analyses.
Originality/value
Although such campaign materials may seem ephemeral, the paper shows that this material provides the raw material for future research on presidential campaigns and its associated advertising.
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Debra R. Comer and Leslie E. Sekerka
Patience is underestimated in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of patience and the individual and organizational benefits it confers. Then, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Patience is underestimated in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of patience and the individual and organizational benefits it confers. Then, the paper discuses emotional self-regulation and explain how two self-regulatory techniques can affect the patience of individuals in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper considers religious, philosophical, and psychological perspectives on patience; and highlight the emotional underpinnings of patience.
Findings
The paper argues that patience plays an important role in organizations and that individuals can use emotional self-regulation to enhance their patience. The paper offers two key points about the relationship between self-regulation strategies and patience: first, situation selection mitigates the need for patience and second cognitive reappraisal facilitates the execution of patient responses and the development of the virtue itself.
Practical implications
The paper provides recommendations for increasing individuals’ patience in organizational settings.
Originality/value
The virtue of patience has received scant research attention. This paper focusses on the importance of patience in the workplace and examines how emotional self-regulation can facilitate its activation.
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Stephan Zinn, Martin Sellers and Debra Bohli
A gateway system guides a user to, or automatically selects, an applicable information source, such as a database or file. Once the selection is made, all other network and log‐on…
Abstract
A gateway system guides a user to, or automatically selects, an applicable information source, such as a database or file. Once the selection is made, all other network and log‐on tasks are handled by the gateway system. OCLCs criteria for the selection of an intelligent gateway are described, as are the potential benefits and uses of its new system.
Debra Dudek, Anna Mastora and Monica Landoni
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of usability and overall user satisfaction when comparing performance of different search engines.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of usability and overall user satisfaction when comparing performance of different search engines.
Design/methodology/approach
The study described in this paper starts from an investigation of existing methodologies for evaluating search engines in order to find out what are the most important factors for users to decide which system to use when searching the World Wide Web.
Findings
This study confirmed that usability and popularity are closely linked. This study has shown that no one‐search engine holds the key to ultimate search results. Just as there is cultural, political and geographical differences in the world's population, there are a number of search engines to fit the individual needs of every net citizen. Whereas results, precision, recall and reliability are the factors which participants prize highly, regardless of all other aspects. It was found that the speed of search engine results has become a high priority to participants.
Research limitations/implications
Number of participants was limited and although some questions were confusing to some individuals, a majority of questionnaires were completed in a satisfactory fashion.
Originality/value
This paper describes a usability study involving different search engines looking at links between popularity and usability.