Lucy J. Lee, Isobel Gowers, Lorraine Ellis and Ilaria Bellantuonoa
This article reports the development, application and results of a baseline investigation of contract research staff in 2007 in the Medical School at the University of Sheffield…
Abstract
This article reports the development, application and results of a baseline investigation of contract research staff in 2007 in the Medical School at the University of Sheffield which was carried out in order to develop a specifically tailored training and career development programme and allow for future impact evaluation of the scheme. Postdoctoral researchers reported on their perceived skill levels, academic achievements, career motivations and the current research environment. Results indicated that transferable skills related to communication and awareness of the process of research (i.e. the process of acquisition of funding, commercialisation of research outputs) were lacking. Furthermore, these skills were associated with higher publication outputs, and improved with mobility between institutions at postdoctoral level. This paper also describes how the findings from the baseline evaluation were used to develop a programme to address the lower ranking skills and evaluate the impact of the programme.
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The historical study of sexuality during the Victorian period has been influenced heavily by the development of sexology as a scientific field. The impetus of sexology to…
Abstract
The historical study of sexuality during the Victorian period has been influenced heavily by the development of sexology as a scientific field. The impetus of sexology to delineate and categorize “types” of sexuality and sexual behavior has situated the late nineteenth century as a starting point for studies of contemporary concepts of sexual “abnormality.” However, research into this subject, while drawing on both legal and medical discourses, has overwhelmingly ignored the value of porn in reconstructing the dynamics of Victorian sexuality. Accordingly, this chapter integrates legal, medical, and pornographic discourses of the late nineteenth century to develop a more thorough examination of Victorian sexual experiences that fell outside the limits of prescribed legal and medical “normalcy.”
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Michael Grant and Lorraine Talbot
The handling of conflicts of interest has become an increasingly important concern for modern professional advisers, in particular lawyers, accountants, brokers and financial…
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The handling of conflicts of interest has become an increasingly important concern for modern professional advisers, in particular lawyers, accountants, brokers and financial advisors. This concern has become exacerbated because of the convergence of a number of factors, namely the bureaucratisation of many areas of professional advisory work, the emergence of megafirms and large national and multi‐national partnerships dealing with this work, coupled with a customer base dominated by large corporations and governments. Indeed, it is the demand of these customers that partly accounts for the emergence of larger advisory firms. However, the outcome of this process has inevitably created severe conflicts of interest problems for such conglomerate professional practices and large advisory firms, problems that they have attempted to contain through the use of what has become commonly known as Chinese walls.
Tiziana Di Cimbrini, Warwick Funnell, Michele Bigoni, Stefania Migliori and Augusta Consorti
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of accounting in the enactment of the Napoleonic imperial project in Tuscany and the Kingdom of Naples in the early nineteenth…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of accounting in the enactment of the Napoleonic imperial project in Tuscany and the Kingdom of Naples in the early nineteenth century.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts the Foucauldian theoretical framework of governmentality and a comparative approach to highlight similarities and differences between the two regions.
Findings
The presence of different cultural understandings and structures of power meant that in Tuscany accounting mirrored and reinforced the existing power structure, whereas in the Kingdom of Naples accounting practices were constitutive of power relations and acted as a compensatory mechanism. In the Kingdom of Naples, where local elites had been traditionally involved in ruling municipalities, control of accounting information and the use of resources “re-adjusted” the balance of power in favour of the French whilst letting local population believe that Napoleon was respectful of local customs.
Research limitations/implications
The ability of accounting technologies to act as compensatory mechanisms within governmentality systems paves the way to further investigations about the relationships between accounting and other governmentality technologies as well as the adjustment mechanisms leading to accounting resilience in different contexts.
Social implications
By identifying accounting as an adaptive instrument supporting less obvious practices of domination the study helps unmask a hidden mechanism underlying attempts to know, govern and control populations which still characterises modern forms of imperialism.
Originality/value
The comparative perspective leads to a new specification of the multifaceted roles that accounting plays in different cultural and political contexts in the achievement of the same set of imperial goals and enhances understanding of the translation of politics, rhetoric and power into a set of administrative tasks and calculative practices.
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Amanda Bateman and Susan Danby
Traumatic events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder due to the severity of the often unexpected events. The purpose of this paper is to reveal how conversations around lived…
Abstract
Purpose
Traumatic events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder due to the severity of the often unexpected events. The purpose of this paper is to reveal how conversations around lived experiences of traumatic events, such as the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, can work as a strategy for people to come to terms with their experiences collaboratively. By encouraging young children to recall and tell of their earthquake stories with their early childhood teachers they can begin to respond, renew, and recover (Brown, 2012), and prevent or minimise more stress being developed.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved collecting data of the participating children taking turns to wear a wireless microphone where their interactions with each other and with teachers were video recorded over one week in November 2011. A total of eight hours and 21 minutes of footage was collected; four minutes and 19 seconds of that footage are presented and analysed in this paper. The footage was watched repeatedly and transcribed using conversation analysis methods (Sacks, 1995).
Findings
Through analysing the detailed turn-taking utterances between teachers and children, the orderliness of the co-production of remembering is revealed to demonstrate that each member orients to being in agreement about what actually happened. These episodes of story telling between the teachers and children demonstrate how the teachers encourage the children to tell about their experiences through actively engaging in conversations with them about the earthquake.
Originality/value
The conversation analysis approach used in this research was found to be useful in investigating aspects of disasters that the participants themselves remember as important and real. This approach offers a unique insight into understanding how the earthquake event was experienced and reflected on by young children and their teachers, and so can inform future policy and provision in post-disaster situations.
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Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.