Paul Duckett, David Fryer, Rebecca Lawthom, Brona Nic Giolla Easpaig and Harriet Radermacher
The purpose of this paper is to answer the question “what is good research?” from the perspective of critical researchers working in the discipline of psychology.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to answer the question “what is good research?” from the perspective of critical researchers working in the discipline of psychology.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first look at what it means to be “good”, then what it means to be critical and then interlink these two as a means of providing a context to understand why there appears to be so little critical research around. Findings– The authors have put together a narrative that they hope is readable but that still pulls on the different ways each of them have approached the topic of defining good research and thinking about critical research.
Originality/value
The authors have personally witnessed the disappearance‐ing of critical activists, anti‐psychiatry activists, disability rights activists, trades unionists, critical scholars; and put forward a reason (among others) as to why there is so little good critical research, which is that the status quo is implacably ferocious in its efforts to close it down wherever it occurs. Indeed, if the status quo is not doing its damnedest to close down the research you are doing, you can be reasonably sure it is not good critical research.
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Rebecca Lawthom, Malcolm Patterson, Michael West and David Staniforth
Women in Britain comprise 44 per cent of the overall workforce (Labour Force Survey, 1994) and 10.7 per cent of those in managerial occupations (UK National Management Survey…
Abstract
Women in Britain comprise 44 per cent of the overall workforce (Labour Force Survey, 1994) and 10.7 per cent of those in managerial occupations (UK National Management Survey, 1995). While much research has documented and critiqued the structural position of women and its impact in the workplace, little empirical work has examined the way in which women see their work environments. Addresses this issue by exploring the way in which a sample of women managers in manufacturing describe the workplace. Using a measure of organizational climate, compares data from 156 women managers with a sample of 894 male managers. Also examines comparative levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and mental health. Results suggest that women managers see their organizational worlds in a significantly more positive light. Explores the explanations and practical implications of these findings.
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Katherine Runswick-Cole and Rebecca Wood
In this chapter, we consider how the character of Rob Titchener has been developed in The Archers, moving him from hero of the hour to villain of the piece. We draw on a critical…
Abstract
In this chapter, we consider how the character of Rob Titchener has been developed in The Archers, moving him from hero of the hour to villain of the piece. We draw on a critical disability studies’ perspective to argue that ability and disability have been crucial in turning the character of Rob from the desirable and attractive man who first arrived in the village into a national hate figure, despised by all. We begin this analysis by introducing critical disability studies and studies of ableism as fields of academic inquiry. We then draw on these resources to offer an analysis of the ways in which ability and disability were used as a narrative device to develop Rob’s character. We question the ways in which ability and disability are used to denote ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in the development of characters in cultural texts like The Archers, and end with a plea to scriptwriters to engage differently with dis/ability and to consider the impact of the stories we tell on the everyday lives of disabled people.
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Barbara Rebecca Mutonyi, Terje Slåtten and Gudbrand Lien
The aim of this study is to examine the role of organizational climate in employees’ creative performance using the public sector as an empirical context. The employees’ creative…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the role of organizational climate in employees’ creative performance using the public sector as an empirical context. The employees’ creative performance is divided into two entities and studied as two separate effect variables: individual creativity and individual innovative behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is developed and tested in a survey in which employees of a public sector organization participated.
Findings
The findings indicate that organizational climate has an important role in employees’ creative performance. The organizational climate showed a positive and significant link to the two creative performance variables included in this study. Moreover, the study revealed that individual creativity mediates the relationship between organizational climate and individual innovative behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited to examining the role of organizational climate on two creative performance variables related to individual employees in the public sector. To trigger individual creativity and individual innovative behavior in the public sector, there is a need for managers to build, develop and maintain an organizational climate that supports both employees’ creativity and enthusiasm in implementing those novel and useful ideas.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first in the public sector to demonstrate the importance of organizational climate for employees’ individual creative performance. The findings of this study adds to our current knowledge and understanding of the value of organizational climate, and its influence on individual creative performance in the public sector.