Although educators have written at length about children's attitudes and the implications these have upon their book preferences (e.g., Rue and Evard, 1963, “Student Evaluations…
Abstract
Although educators have written at length about children's attitudes and the implications these have upon their book preferences (e.g., Rue and Evard, 1963, “Student Evaluations of Newberry Award Books”; Smith, 1972, “The Popularity of Children's Fiction as a Function of Reading Ease and Related Factors”; Groves, 1949, “Concern with the Present: Are Books Meeting this Need?”), there seems to be little attempt to ascertain how much popular media affects children's reading and/or viewing patterns. National magazines such as Time and Newsweek have periodically reported on television's stronghold on today's youth. But their reports largely have not been based on any systematic gathering of data.
Q‐analysis is a methodology for investigating a wide range of structural phenomena. Structures are defined in terms of relations between members of sets and their salient features…
Abstract
Q‐analysis is a methodology for investigating a wide range of structural phenomena. Structures are defined in terms of relations between members of sets and their salient features are revealed using techniques of algebraic topology. However, the basic method can be mastered by non‐mathematicians. Q‐analysis has been applied to problems as diverse as discovering the rules for the diagnosis of a rare disease and the study of tactics in a football match. Other applications include some of interest to librarians and information scientists. In bibliometrics, Q‐analysis has proved capable of emulating techniques such as bibliographic coupling, co‐citation analysis and co‐word analysis. It has also been used to produce a classification scheme for television programmes based on different principles from most bibliographic classifications. This paper introduces the basic ideas of Q‐analysis. Applications relevant to librarianship and information science are reviewed and present limitations of the approach described. New theoretical advances including some in other fields such as planning and design theory and artificial intelligence may lead to a still more powerful method of investigating structure.
International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family…
Abstract
Purpose
International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family concerns” remain a top reason for assignment refusal and assignment failure, including a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggesting that many expatriate marriages fail often at huge cost to organizations, there is not one academic study yet published on expatriate divorce. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the causes and consequences of expatriate divorce.
Design/methodology/approach
In this exploratory case-based study, the author uses respondent data from 13 face-to-face interviews and 25 online survey participants.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that expatriate marriages end in divorce for two main reasons: first, a core issue in the marriage that exists before going abroad (e.g. alcoholism, mental health problems) and which continues while abroad; and second, when one or both spouses is negatively influenced by an expatriate culture to such an extent that a form of “group think” results in polarizing behavior that is counter to how they might behave “back home” (e.g. infidelity, sexual misconduct). The consequences of divorce for expatriates are immense and include bankruptcy, destitution, homelessness, depression, psychophysiological illness, alienation from children, and suicide.
Research limitations/implications
Data are cross-sectional and findings are limited by single-response bias. Future studies would do well to research matched samples of couples engaging in global work experiences over different points in time in order to track longitudinal changes in marital quality, including why some go on to divorce while others recover from marital breakdown and stay married.
Practical implications
One of the strongest pieces of advice offered by most of the respondents is for spouses, and trailing spouses in particular, to know their legal rights and entitlements in each country where they are living in the event of divorce.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically explore the lived experience of expatriate divorce.
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Sujatha Perera, Jill McKinnon and Graeme Harrison
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian…
Abstract
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian government trading enterprise. Data are gathered from semi‐structured interviews with organizational participants and documentation. The study provides support for the importance of stakeholders in shaping organizational processes and practices, including accounting practices, and for the effects of changes in stakeholder constituency and agenda on such practices. The study also provides evidence of the roles accounting and accountants may play in implementing a stakeholder agenda, including both instrumental and symbolic roles, and how the status of accountants may rise and fall commensurate with those roles.
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The purpose of this paper is to set out three dilemmas that challenge historians of education who write for both professional and academic audiences. It focuses on the example of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to set out three dilemmas that challenge historians of education who write for both professional and academic audiences. It focuses on the example of using fiction as a source for understanding the informal education of girls in the twentieth century. It contributes to the debate over the purpose of history of education and the possibilities that intersecting and contested analytical frameworks might contribute to the development of the discipline.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses the rules of engagement and the duties of a historian of education. It reforms current concerns into three dilemmas: audience, method and writing. It gives examples drawn from research into girls’ school stories between 1910 and 1960. It highlights three authors and stories set in Australia, England and an international school in order to explore what fiction offers in getting “inside” the classroom.
Findings
Developed from a conference keynote that explored intersecting and contested histories of education, the paper sets up as many questions as it provides answers but re-frames them to include the use of a genre that has been explored by historians of childhood and literature but less so by historians of education.
Research limitations/implications
The vast quantity of stories set in girls’ schools between 1910 and 1960 necessarily demands a selective reading. Authors may specialise in the genre or be general young people’s fiction authors. Reading such stories must necessarily be set against changing social, cultural and political contexts. This paper uses examples from the genre in order to explore ways forward but cannot include an exhaustive methodology for reasons of space.
Practical implications
This paper suggests fiction as a way of broadening the remit of history of education and acting as a bridge between related sub-disciplines such as history of childhood and youth, history and education. It raises practical implications for historians of education as they seek new approaches and understanding of the process of informal education outside the classroom.
Social implications
This paper suggests that the authors should take more seriously the impact of children’s reading for pleasure. Reception studies offer an insight into recognising the interaction that children have with their chosen reading. While the authors cannot research how children interacted historically with these stories in the mid-twentieth century, the authors can draw implications from the popularity of the genre and the significance of the legacy of the closed school community that has made series such as Harry Potter so successful with the current generation.
Originality/value
The marginal place of history of education within the disciplines of history and education is both challenging and full of possibilities. The paper draws on existing international debates and discusses future directions as well as the potential that girls’ school stories offer for research into gender and education.
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Although there is great potential for diversity, library and information science (LIS) is a relatively homogenous profession. Increasing the presence of librarians of color may…
Abstract
Although there is great potential for diversity, library and information science (LIS) is a relatively homogenous profession. Increasing the presence of librarians of color may help to improve diversity within LIS. However, recruiting ethnic minorities into LIS has proven to be difficult despite various initiative including scholarships, fellowships, and locally focused programs. The central questions explored in this research can be divided into two parts: (1) Why do ethnic minorities choose librarianship as a profession? (2) What would motivate members of minority groups to join a profession in which they cannot see themselves?
The research was conducted through semi-structured, qualitative interviews of 32 ethnic minority students from one of four ethnic minority groups (African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American) currently enrolled in an LIS graduate program. Eleven themes emerged from the data: libraries, librarians, library work experience, LIS graduate program, career plans and goals, education and family, support, mentors, ethnicity and community, acculturation, and views of diversity.
The findings seem to support many assumptions regarding expectations and career goals. The findings related to libraries, librarians, mentors, and support illustrate that many recruitment initiatives are starting in the right place. However, the most noteworthy findings were those that centered on identity, acculturation, and diversity because they dealt with issues that are not often considered or discussed by many in the profession outside of ethnic minority organizations.
Sarah Drakopoulou Dodd, Sarah Jack and Alistair Anderson
Although the literature addressing entrepreneurial networking is reaching a fairly high degree of sophistication and scope, there are certain critical areas where important…
Abstract
Although the literature addressing entrepreneurial networking is reaching a fairly high degree of sophistication and scope, there are certain critical areas where important questions remain unanswered. Specifically, research into the processes of entrepreneurial networking has been hindered by a paucity of longitudinal studies. Thus, the consideration of change over time is de facto limited. Moreover, accounts of how individuals actually use networks to learn about entrepreneurship, its practices and processes remain sparse. Yet, we know that learning is a social process, so the research gap lies in relating networks, as social contexts to the entrepreneurial learning process. Furthermore, since social relations are fundamental to everyone's life, and emerge, develop and change throughout their life course, people are embedded in social situations that put them in touch with others (Kim & Aldrich, 2005). Consequently, learning is often “located in the relations among actors” (Uzzi & Lancaster, 2003, p. 398). As well as direct learning through network contacts, network transitivity also facilitates learning by one embedded network member, through the knowledge held by a second member, about a third, as shown in Uzzi and Gillespie's (2002) study. Accordingly, in many ways how entrepreneurs go about using their networks and with whom they network may be critical for entrepreneurship and thus warrants investigation. It is to this end that we now consider the shape, content and process of entrepreneurial networking.
Jill Manthorpe and Stephen Martineau
Local serious case reviews (SCRs) (now Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs)) may be held in England when a vulnerable adult dies or is harmed or at risk of being so, and local…
Abstract
Purpose
Local serious case reviews (SCRs) (now Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs)) may be held in England when a vulnerable adult dies or is harmed or at risk of being so, and local agencies may not have responded to the abuse or neglect. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a documentary analysis of these reviews to ascertain what recommendations are made about pressure ulcer prevention and treatment at home, setting these in the context of safeguarding, and assessing what lessons may be learned by considering them as a group. This analysis is presented at a time of increased interest of the risks of pressure ulcers among frail and very ill populations; and debates about the interface of neglect and safeguarding systems.
Design/methodology/approach
Identification of SCRs from England where the person who died or who was harmed had been suffering from pressure ulcers or their synonyms in their home; termed home acquired pressure ulcers. Narrative and textual analysis of documents summarising the reports was undertaken to explore the reviews’ observations and recommendations. The main circumstances, recommendations and common themes were identified.
Findings
The authors located 18 relevant SCRs, one of which was a case summary and two SARs covering pressure ulcers that had been acquired or worsened when the individual was living at home. Most of these inquired into the individual’s circumstances, their acceptance of care and support, the actions of others in their family or professionals, and the events leading up to the death or harm. Failures to have followed guidance were noted among professionals, and problems within wider health and care systems were identified. Recommendations include calls for greater training on pressure ulcers for home care workers, but also greater risk communication and better adherence to clinical guidelines. A small number focus on neglect by family members, others on self-neglect, including some vulnerable adults’ lack of capacity to care for themselves or to access help. In some SCRs the presence of a pressure ulcer is only mentioned circumstantially.
Research limitations/implications
The value of this documentary analysis is that it draws on case examples and scrutiny at local level. Future research could consider the related findings of SARs as they emerge, similar documents from the rest of the UK, and international perspectives
Practical implications
This analysis highlights the multitude of complex social and health situations that gives rise to pressure ulcers among people living at home. Several SCRs observe problems in the wider communications with and between health and care providers. Nonetheless poor care quality and negligence are reported in some SCRs. Cases of self-neglect give rise to challenging practice situations. While practices and policies about poor quality care and safeguarding in the form of prevention of wilful neglect are emerging, they often relate to hospital and care home settings. Preventing and treating pressure ulcers may be part of safeguarding in its broadest sense but raises the question of whether training, expertise and support on this subject or wider self-neglect and neglect by others are sufficiently robust for home care workers and community-based professionals.
Originality/value
The value of having a set of SCRs is that they lend themselves to analysis and comparison. This analysis is the first to focus on home acquired pressure ulcers and to address wider considerations related to safeguarding policy and practice. Pressure ulcers feature in several SCRs either as contextual information about the vulnerable adults’ health-status or as indications of poor care. The potential value of examining home acquired pressure ulcers as a key line of enquiry is that they are “visible” in the system, with consensus about what they are, how to measure them and what is optimal care and treatment. In the new Care Act 2014 context, they may still feature in safeguarding inquiries as symptoms of failings in systems or of personal culpability for poor care. Learning from them may be of interest to other parts of the UK.
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Stephanie Bramley, Caroline Norrie and Jill Manthorpe
People experiencing homelessness are being identified as a potentially vulnerable group in relation to gambling-related harm. The purpose of this paper is to explore the links…
Abstract
Purpose
People experiencing homelessness are being identified as a potentially vulnerable group in relation to gambling-related harm. The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between gambling-related harm and homelessness.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review of the English-language literature was conducted in 2016-2017 using a wide range of international sources. Qualitative content analysis was employed to code and identify key themes within the literature.
Findings
Five themes were identified: emerging knowledge about why people experiencing homelessness may participate in gambling; emerging knowledge about the prevalence of gambling within the homeless population; the likelihood that gambling-related harm is under-reported within the homeless population; emerging knowledge about the extent that people experiencing homelessness access gambling support services; and limited awareness about the potential impact of gambling participation among people experiencing homelessness.
Originality/value
The paper reviews research concerning the links between gambling, gambling-related harm and homelessness, which may be relevant to those working with people experiencing homelessness.
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Jill Manthorpe, Jess Harris and Sam Mauger
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on UK older people’s forums. Forums seek to influence statutory responses to ageing, and enable older people to speak up on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on UK older people’s forums. Forums seek to influence statutory responses to ageing, and enable older people to speak up on matters important to them. The review examined three facets of forums: their membership, structures, and effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Methods included searching databases, internet, and specialist libraries for materials relating to older people’s forums. Key points were extracted and source material described but not subject to quality appraisal. Relevant non-UK studies are included to draw contrast and comparisons.
Findings
Several studies and reports have explored forum members’ socio-demographic profiles, motivations and triggers for joining and the two-way rewards of participation. However, membership remains a minority activity, with only a small percentage of members actively engaged and the review highlights gaps in the literature on widening participation. Both statutory and voluntary sectors have supported forum development and sustainability. There is little data on formal structures but some exploration of the informal communications and behaviours that sustain them has been undertaken. Forums are viewed as effective but resource intensive. The size and representativeness of the membership, strength of influence and deployment of members’ expertise are all identified as potential contributors to effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
Some material may not have been accessible and there is potential bias by greater inclusion of journal published materials than other possible sources. Material was not quality appraised, and research literature and self-reporting by forums are presented alongside each other.
Practical implications
Practitioners should familiarise themselves with current older people’s organisations locally to ensure that consultations are broad and reach different groups. While partnerships with voluntary sector health and care providers are encouraged some of these groups may not wish to represent all older people. Wider reach may provide multiple perspectives. Help in kind as well as financial resources may be welcomed by older people’s groups, such as meeting spaces, assistance with administration, and briefings that are accessible. Offering to meet with older people’s forums to discuss matters regularly may provide insight into experiences of services and changing needs earlier than professional feedback. Dismissing older people’s forums as made up of the “usual suspects” is likely to be unfair and unhelpful to building up positive relationships.
Originality/value
The review provides a preliminary assessment of the size and scope of research and grey literature on UK older people’s forums, synthesising points of similarity and difference and identifying clear gaps in the evidence.