Nicholas Woodrow, Hannah Fairbrother, Mary Crowder, Elizabeth Goyder, Naomi Griffin, Eleanor Holding and Helen Quirk
The use of online focus groups to explore children and young people's (CYP) perspectives of inequalities in health and associated “sensitive” topics raises important ethical and…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of online focus groups to explore children and young people's (CYP) perspectives of inequalities in health and associated “sensitive” topics raises important ethical and methodological issues to consider. The purpose of the paper is to discuss lessons learnt from navigating the authors' way through some of the key challenges the authors encountered when researching inequalities in health with CYP through online focus groups.
Design/methodology/approach
In the paper, the authors draw on reflections and notes from the fieldwork design, public involvement and engagement (PIE) activities and data collection for their research project.
Findings
Collecting data online influenced the authors' ability to develop rapport and relationships with CYP and to provide effective support when discussing sensitive topics. The authors note that building activities to develop rapport with participants during recruitment and data collection and establishing clear support and safeguarding protocols helped navigate challenges of online approaches around effective and supportive participant engagement.
Originality/value
The paper highlights that despite ethical and methodological challenges of conducting online focus groups with CYP on potentially sensitive topics, the adoption of practical steps and strategies before, during and following data collection can facilitate the safe participation of CYP and generate useful and valid data in meaningful and appropriate ways.
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Andrew D. Madden, Sheila Webber, Nigel Ford and Mary Crowder
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between preferred choice of school subject and student information behaviour (IB).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between preferred choice of school subject and student information behaviour (IB).
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were employed. In all, 152 students, teachers and librarians participated in interviews or focus groups. In total, 1,375 students, key stage 3 (11-14 years) to postgraduate, responded to a questionnaire. The research population was drawn from eight schools, two further education colleges and three universities. Insights from the literature review and the qualitative research phase led to a hypothesis which was investigated using the questionnaire: that students studying hard subjects are less likely to engage in deep IB than students studying soft subjects.
Findings
Results support the hypothesis that preferences for subjects at school affect choice of university degree. The hypothesis that a preference for hard or soft subjects affects IB is supported by results of an analysis in which like or dislike of maths/ICT is correlated with responses to the survey. Interviewees’ comments led to the proposal that academic subjects can be classified according to whether a subject helps students to acquire a “tool of the Mind” or to apply such a tool. A model suggesting how IB may differ depending on whether intellectual tools are being acquired or applied is proposed.
Practical implications
The “inner logic” of certain subjects and their pedagogies appears closely linked to IB. This should be considered when developing teaching programmes.
Originality/value
The findings offer a new perspective on subject classification and its association with IB, and a new model of the association between IB and tool acquisition or application is proposed, incorporating the perspectives of both teacher and student.
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Engages in debate regarding immigrants and ethnicity in the USA. Research, based on second‐generation West Indian immigrants, shows ethnicity has very real implications for…
Abstract
Engages in debate regarding immigrants and ethnicity in the USA. Research, based on second‐generation West Indian immigrants, shows ethnicity has very real implications for immigrants’ life experience. Suggests that black immigrants complicate the slight understanding of blackness in general, but also the understanding of identity development.
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This paper aims to investigate the presence of the Fisher effect for the USA from a new methodological perspective differing it from all previous studies using the common linear…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the presence of the Fisher effect for the USA from a new methodological perspective differing it from all previous studies using the common linear representation of the Fisher equation.
Design/methodology/approach
The nonlinear ARDL model, recently developed by Shin et al. (2014), is applied for the 10-year US Government bond rates over the period of 1985M1-2017M10.
Findings
The empirical findings indicate that the US Federal Reserve (FED) is a more predominant arbiter in the determination of interest rates during periods of declining inflation rates than periods of rising inflation rates. This finding may allow the FED to apply more proactive and prudent monetary policy. Additionally, this study newly describes and introduces a different version of the partial Fisher effect and extends the Fisher equation to some degree in terms of the partial Fisher effect.
Originality/value
To the best the authors’ knowledge, this method is applied for the first time in testing the Fisher effect for the USA.
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William Sacher Freslon and Paul Cooney
This paper examines the current tendencies associated with transnational mining capital in the context of the current period of neoliberal globalization dominated by transnational…
Abstract
This paper examines the current tendencies associated with transnational mining capital in the context of the current period of neoliberal globalization dominated by transnational corporations, and examines the usefulness of the category accumulation by dispossession, Harvey’s adapted version of Marx’s original accumulation. After a review of the original concept by Marx an evaluation of Harvey’s concept is presented. The current state of affairs in the mining industry is examined, in particular, considering the present level of large scale mining or mega-mining. In addition, this paper examines the associated social conflicts addressing the social and environmental impacts, which have resulted from these recent tendencies, not to mention the problems of increased use of corporate management of social resistance, and repression, on the part of the State, especially with regards to the criminalization of social protest. Moreover, the tendency toward reprimarization in several countries is considered and the degree to which this coincides with ongoing expropriation by the State is addressed, followed by an assessment of the relevance of the concept of accumulation by dispossession in the present day.
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Kris De Welde, Marjukka Ollilainen and Catherine Richards Solomon
Feminist leadership and administrative praxis include areas overlooked or devalued by traditional leadership. In this chapter, the authors explore how academic administrators in…
Abstract
Feminist leadership and administrative praxis include areas overlooked or devalued by traditional leadership. In this chapter, the authors explore how academic administrators in the United States who self-identify as “feminist” integrate their feminist values into daily praxis, decisions, and implementation – or revision – of institutional policies. The goals of this study are to identify how feminist values inform praxis and how feminist administrators’ praxis produce successful changes. Through in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews with feminist administrators in higher education, the authors find commonalities in feminist values, in how those values shape administrators’ interactions, and how they inform initiatives and policies on which administrators have worked. Feminist administrators rely on values such as transparency, collaboration, inclusivity, empowering others, and being mindful of power and personal biases. These values informed their interactions with faculty, staff, and students as well as formal policies and initiatives, which were infused with feminist principles in their efforts to make academe more just.
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Joy Gaston Gayles, Rebecca E. Crandall and Clifford R. Jones
The overrepresentation and lack of academic success for Black male athletes on college campuses are problems that warrant attention in the 21st century. A recent report from the…
Abstract
The overrepresentation and lack of academic success for Black male athletes on college campuses are problems that warrant attention in the 21st century. A recent report from the University of Pennsylvania shows that over the four-year period between 2007 and 2010, Black males were overrepresented in college sports (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013), a startling reality considering that Black males are severely underrepresented in the general student body. Further complicating matters is the fact that Black male student-athletes do not graduate from college at rates comparable to their peers (Harper et al., 2013). Focused primarily on the experiences of Division I Black male student-athletes, this chapter begins with an overview of literature relevant to successful academic support programs. The authors also present an overview of best practices for advising African American male student-athletes, derived from athletic departments with a demonstrated record of academic success for Black males.