Elina Late, Carol Tenopir, Sanna Talja and Lisa Christian
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of reading in scholarly work among academics in Finland. This study analyzes readings from a variety of publication types…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of reading in scholarly work among academics in Finland. This study analyzes readings from a variety of publication types including books, conference proceedings, research reports, magazines, newspapers, blogs, non-fiction and fiction.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was developed and distributed in Finland in 2016–2017 (n=528). Participants were asked their finding and use of scholarly information resources of all types.
Findings
Scholars read from a variety of publications. Different types of publications are read and used differently. Reading also varies between disciplines, ranks, work responsibilities and type of research performed.
Research limitations/implications
The study was a nationwide study of researchers in Finland; therefore, all findings are within the context of researchers in a single country. All results are self-reported; therefore, the authors assume but cannot be sure that respondents accurately recollect the specifics of their use of scholarly information.
Practical implications
The results of this study are relevant to publishers, research librarians, editors and others who serve consumers of scholarly information resources, design information products and services for those scholars, and seek to better understand the information needs and use of a variety of types of scholarly publications.
Originality/value
This study replicates previous studies in a variety of countries and provides a more up-to-date and single-country contextualized overview of how researchers find and use scholarly information in their work.
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Elina Late, Inés Matres, Anna Sendra and Sanna Kumpulainen
The expanded reuse of images as research data in the social sciences and humanities necessitates the understanding of scholars’ real-life interactions with the type of data. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The expanded reuse of images as research data in the social sciences and humanities necessitates the understanding of scholars’ real-life interactions with the type of data. The aim of this study is to analyse activities constituting image data interactions in social science and humanities research and to provide a model describing the data interaction process.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on interviews with 21 scholars from various academic backgrounds utilising digital and print images collected from external sources as empirical research data. Qualitative content analyses were executed to analyse image data interactions throughout the research process in three task types: contemporary, historical and computational research.
Findings
The findings further develop the task-based information interaction model (Järvelin et al., 2015) originally created to explain the information interaction process. The enhanced model presents five main image data interaction activities: Data gathering, Forming dataset, Working with data, Synthesizing and reporting and Concluding, with various sub-activities. The findings show the variety of image data interactions in different task types.
Originality/value
The developed model contributes to understanding critical points in image data interactions and provides a model for future research analysing research data interactions. The model may also be used, for example, in designing better research services and infrastructures by identifying support needs throughout the research process.
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Elina Late and Sanna Kumpulainen
The paper examines academic historians' information interactions with material from digital historical-newspaper collections as the research process unfolds.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines academic historians' information interactions with material from digital historical-newspaper collections as the research process unfolds.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed qualitative analysis from in-depth interviews with Finnish history scholars who use digitised historical newspapers as primary sources for their research. A model for task-based information interaction guided the collection and analysis of data.
Findings
The study revealed numerous information interactions within activities related to task-planning, the search process, selecting and working with the items and synthesis and reporting. The information interactions differ with the activities involved, which call for system support mechanisms specific to each activity type. Various activities feature information search, which is an essential research method for those using digital collections in the compilation and analysis of data. Furthermore, application of quantitative methods and multidisciplinary collaboration may be shaping culture in history research toward convergence with the research culture of the natural sciences.
Originality/value
For sustainable digital humanities infrastructure and digital collections, it is of great importance that system designers understand how the collections are accessed, why and their use in the real-world context. The study enriches understanding of the collections' utilisation and advances a theoretical framework for explicating task-based information interaction.
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Tuulikki Alamettälä and Eero Sormunen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term development of online research skills among lower secondary school students and how various factors such as teaching…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term development of online research skills among lower secondary school students and how various factors such as teaching interventions and students’ self-efficacy, attitudes, information and communication technology (ICT) activity and gender are associated with development.
Design/methodology/approach
Two intervention courses were implemented to improve online research skills among 7th-grade students. In the follow-up test in the 8th grade, students’ skills were measured in Web searching, critical evaluation of sources and argumentative use of Web information. Students’ self-efficacy beliefs in online research, their attitudes toward learning, behavioral intentions in online research and ICT activity were surveyed by questionnaires.
Findings
The main finding was that the effect observed immediately after the intervention in 7th grade did not last until the following year. A cluster analysis revealed six skill profiles characterizing strengths and weaknesses in students’ performance in the subtasks of online research and indicated that many students suffer from poor evaluation skills. Self-efficacy beliefs stood out as a student-related factor associated with the development of online research skills.
Originality/value
This study contributed to the pedagogy of online research skills. It indicates that small-scale interventions are not enough to enhance 7th-graders’ online research skills. Students need continuous practice in different contexts during their school years. It is important to support students’ self-efficacy to motivate them to develop their skills in all the subtasks of online research. This study also demonstrated the importance of follow-up studies in online research skills, as they have been rare thus far.
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Elina Aaltio and Sirpa Kannasoja
While studies on service users’ participation and their perceptions on the quality of services exist, agreement between family members’ and practitioners’ assessments of the…
Abstract
Purpose
While studies on service users’ participation and their perceptions on the quality of services exist, agreement between family members’ and practitioners’ assessments of the family’s situation has received less interest. The purpose of this paper is to investigate agreement and its effect on outcomes by comparing the viewpoints of three groups of informants (children, mothers and practitioners) in the context of statutory child protection in two study groups – one applying a systemic approach (SPM) and a service-as-usual control group (SAU).
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental repeated-measures study design was applied. Outcome data comprised 112 cases (SPM cases n = 56 and SAU cases n = 56) at three sites. Data was collected from all participants at baseline and six months later.
Findings
First, practitioners’ analyses of a child’s need for protection did not meet family members’ expressed need for help. Second, child–mother agreement on the need for service intervention at T1 predicted a decrease in practitioner-assessed abuse or neglect from T1 to T2. In this sample, no differences were found between the two groups.
Originality/value
This study highlights the importance of making explicit the viewpoints of children, parents and practitioners in casework and research to improve understanding of how their perspectives differ over the course of the process and how possible initial disagreements affect outcomes.
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Sari Laari-Salmela, Tuija Mainela, Elina Pernu and Vesa Puhakka
The purpose of this paper is to examine subsidiary positioning within the dynamic business networks in the context of multinational companies (MNCs). The research question of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine subsidiary positioning within the dynamic business networks in the context of multinational companies (MNCs). The research question of the study is: How does the positioning of a subsidiary emerge through strategic practices in the dynamic business networks of an MNC?
Design/methodology/approach
The study relies on the IMP view on strategy with a focus on market positioning activity and the strategy-as-practice approach. Positioning is seen as a question of strategic practices in the interactive spheres of the subsidiaries. In the empirical part of the study, the authors examine the practices of a forest machine industry multinational through longitudinal interview and archival data on three of its sales subsidiaries in Sweden, Russia and the USA.
Findings
The study defines core tensions in subsidiary interactive spheres and the related strategic practices that shape the positioning of the subsidiaries. The study models the practice-based network positioning of MNC subsidiaries as a dynamic play of relationship tensions.
Originality/value
Prior research has focused either on the internal organizing of the MNCs or embeddedness of subsidiaries in their local environment. Less attention has been paid to the practices of positioning through which the subsidiaries deal with the inevitable tensions at the intersection of the internal and external networks.
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Carles Sitompul, Theresia Gunawan, Nina Mesiranta, Elina Närvänen and Johanna Renny Octavia
This study aims to examine food waste behaviours among university students in Indonesia by adapting the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) alongside the theory of domains of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine food waste behaviours among university students in Indonesia by adapting the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) alongside the theory of domains of knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 518 students at five Indonesian universities participated in an online survey, answering questions about their food waste behaviours based on the TPB and the domains of knowledge frameworks. Among them, 250 students had taken a course that covered the food waste topic, while 268 students had not taken the course. The data were later analysed by using partial least squares-structural equation modelling and measurement invariance across the composite models.
Findings
The findings reveal that environmental awareness, attitude towards food waste behaviours, subjective norms and different types of knowledge which are procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge, personal and social knowledge significantly influence food waste behaviour. Students who attended a course related to the food waste topic were more likely to align their intentions to reduce food waste with their reduction behaviour.
Originality/value
While previous research has highlighted the importance of the TPB in understanding food waste intentions and behaviour, studies also show that students’ knowledge about food waste plays a crucial role in shaping these intentions. This study builds on these insights by combining the TPB with the domains of knowledge theory, specifically looking at how participating in food waste-related courses influences food waste behaviours among Indonesian students.
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Minna Säävälä, Elina Turjanmaa and Anne Alitolppa-Niitamo
School is an institution that provides an opportunity to improve children’s equity and wellbeing and to bridge the potential disadvantage related to ethnic- or language-minority…
Abstract
Purpose
School is an institution that provides an opportunity to improve children’s equity and wellbeing and to bridge the potential disadvantage related to ethnic- or language-minority backgrounds. Information sharing between immigrant homes and school can enhance school achievement, support positive identity formation and provide early support when needed. In this paper, the perspectives of immigrant parents, school welfare personnel and school-going adolescents are analysed in order to understand how they see their respective roles in information flows between home and school. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The data consist of qualitative group and individual interviews of 34 representatives of school personnel, 13 immigrant parents and 81 young people who have experienced immigration, in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, Finland.
Findings
Despite general goodwill, school personnel may fail to secure the flow of information. Due to structural power imbalance, school personnel are often incapable of engaging the parents in dialogical discourse. Young people of immigrant background in turn try to manipulate the information flow in order to protect their family and ethnic group and to cope with pressures from parents. The patterns of information flows in school as a social field reproduce immigrant homes as subaltern. Adolescents act in a strategically important juncture of information flows between immigrant home and school, which indicates that home-school interaction is actually a triad.
Social implications
Awareness building among school personnel is vital for equity and wellbeing of children of immigrant families.
Originality/value
This triangulated analysis of patterned information flows in school as a social field provides a fresh perspective to those working with children of immigrant families.
Details
Keywords
Hanna Leipämaa-Leskinen, Elina Närvänen and Hannu Makkonen
The purpose of this study is to define and analyse the emergence of collaborative engagement platforms (CEPs) as part of a rising platformisation phenomenon. Contrary to previous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to define and analyse the emergence of collaborative engagement platforms (CEPs) as part of a rising platformisation phenomenon. Contrary to previous literature on engagement platforms (EPs), this study distinguishes between formalised and self-organised EPs and sheds light on collaborative EPs on which heterogeneous actors operate without central control by legislated firm actors.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on institutional work theory, this paper explores the institutional rules, norms and practices involved in the emergence of a new platform. This paper implements a longitudinal case study of a local food network called REKO and explores how engagement practices and institutional work patterns catalysed its emergence during 2013–2020.
Findings
The findings of this study show that actors engaged within the REKO platform participated in institutional work patterns of disruption, creation and maintenance, which drove the development of the platform and ensured its viability.
Research limitations/implications
This paper encourages future research to further explore how different types of EPs emerge and function.
Practical implications
The rise of CEPs pushes the dominant managerial orientation to progress from the management “of” a platform to managing “within” a platform. For managers, this means developing novel practices for engaging and committing a versatile set of actors to nurture open-ended, multi-sided collaboration.
Originality/value
This study contributes by conceptualising different types of platforms with a particular focus on CEPs and explicating the engagement practices and institutional work patterns that catalyse their emergence.
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Katrien Verleye, Elina Jaakkola, Ian R. Hodgkinson, Gyuchan Thomas Jun, Gaby Odekerken-Schröder and Johan Quist
Service networks are inherently complex as they comprise of many interrelated actors, often driven by divergent interests. This can result in imbalance, which refers to a…
Abstract
Purpose
Service networks are inherently complex as they comprise of many interrelated actors, often driven by divergent interests. This can result in imbalance, which refers to a situation where the interests of at least one actor in a network are not secured. Drawing on the “balanced centricity” perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of imbalance in complex service networks.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a qualitative case-based approach, this paper examines a public health service network that experienced imbalance that was detrimental to the lives of its users: the Mid-Staffordshire National Health Service (NHS) Trust, UK. Drawing on service-dominant logic and stakeholder theory, case evidence provides insight into the origin and drivers of imbalance in complex public service networks.
Findings
The origin of imbalance stems from competing institutional logics of various actors (patients/public, employees, managers, regulatory bodies, etc.), but the degree to which these competing institutional logics lead to imbalance is moderated by accountability, communication, engagement, and responsiveness within the service network.
Research limitations/implications
By uncovering causes of imbalance in complex public service networks, this paper pinpoints important research avenues for developing the balanced centricity perspective.
Practical implications
The inherent existence of multiple parallel institutional arrangements makes networks imbalanced, but value creation can be achieved when the appropriate mechanisms are fostered to manage balance between divergent logics.
Originality/value
By examining imbalance as the underlying cause of network dysfunction, this research contributes to understanding of the dynamics in, and performance of, complex public service networks.