scholarly journals Outreaching, Outsourcing, and Disembedding

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Heidenreich
Keyword(s):  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Individual Scientist ◽  
Science Technology Society ◽  
Upstream Engagement ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Individual

The role of the individual scientist as a socialization agent (i.e., an actor who contributes to embedding technology into society) is increasingly emphasized in science policy. This article analyzes offshore wind scientists’ narratives about science–technology–society relations and their role in them. It particularly focuses on the nuanced and detailed reasons that scientists give for their level of engagement with society. The analysis is based on semistructured individual and focus group interviews with thirty-five scientists. It finds a diversity of narratives related to the questions of whether socialization of technology is needed and which approaches to socialization scientists should pursue. The six narratives identified are (1) upstream engagement, (2) design against resistance, (3) the outreaching scientist, (4) the difficulty of outreach, (5) the outsourcing scientist, and (6) disembedded development of technology. Despite the importance attributed to scientists for the socialization of science and technology, most interviewed scientists did not embrace their role as socialization agent. Based on the scientists’ narratives, this article argues that we should rethink both who should be responsible for socialization and what should be the object of sciences’ engagement with society.

The Role of an Actual Brand Positioning: An Analysis of Digital Advertisements

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
June Won ◽  
J. Lucy Lee
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Brand Positioning ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Percentage Difference ◽  
Performance Tradition ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study was to: (a) investigate the actual positions in digital communications; (b) assess the relationship between position-congruity among intended positions (i.e., how a firm desires to be perceived by consumers), actual brand positions, and perceived brand positions (i.e., the perceptions that customers have in their minds); and (c) understand the role of actual positioning (AP) in the positioning process. Multiple methods (one-on-one and focus group interviews, content analysis) were applied to analyze positions. Brand managers, golf consumers, and digital advertisements in Golf Digest magazine were sampled. Content analysis, frequencies and percentages, percentage difference, and regression analysis were performed for all positions for each research brand. The results revealed that: (a) tangibility-based positions (88.5%: great quality, innovation) outnumbered intangibility-based ones (11.5%: tour performance, tradition) in digital AP, (b) there was no positive correlation between the degree of congruence between intended and AP and the degree of congruence between intended and perceived positioning, and (c) the AP mediated between intended and perceived positioning in the brand positioning model. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of AP and suggests modifications to the previous positioning process.

Time for caring? Elderly care employees’ occupational activities in the cross draft between their work priorities, ‘must-do’s’ and meaningfulness

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 8-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Nilsson ◽  
Kerstin Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Care Coordination ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Care Giving ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual

An increasing number of older people in the population will bring new challenges for the society and care coordination. One of the most important questions in care coordination is the employees’ work performance. The overall aim of this study was to examine care employees’ experience of factors that rule how they allocate their time and tasks in the care work. The study was qualitative and consists of focus group interviews with 36 employees in elderly care in five Swedish municipalities. Much of the work that care employees perform is controlled by others in the municipality organised health care. The employees had a limited possibility to decide what should be given priority in their work. However, the employees who participated in the focus group interviews did not want to prioritise tasks and duties they felt were faulty or in direct conflict with their own convictions. When employees experienced that the assistance assessments were correct and helpful to the individual elderly patient this contributed to the employees’ priority and performance of the task. The formal and informal control systems caused the employees’ priority to be mainly quantitative and visible work tasks, rather than more qualitative tasks and care giving to the elderly. In the intention to organise good care coordination that fit each elderly patients’ need it is important that those who work closest to the patient to a greater extent are given the opportunity to make their voice heard in decisions of care planning and assistance assessments.

scholarly journals Pupils’ Use of Social Media and Its Relation to Mental Health from a School Personnel Perspective: A Preliminary Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9163
Author(s):  
Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland ◽  
Viktor Schønning ◽  
Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan ◽  
Randi Træland Hella ◽  
Jens Christoffer Skogen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Total N ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Use Of Social Media

The extent of mental health problems among adolescents seems to be on the rise, and this observed trend has often been linked to a coinciding increase in social media use. The goal of the current preliminary study was to investigate how senior high school personnel experience the role of social media in relation to the mental health of their pupils. Two focus group interviews (total n = 11) were completed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, resulting in 4 themes and 11 subthemes. The results illustrate that school personnel experience social media as a tool for communication, but also as a potential cause of mental health issues and reduced academic performance among pupils. The participants called for schools to become better equipped to meet the opportunities and challenges of social media.

“A Really Strong Bond”: Coaches in Women Athletes’ Experiences of Inclusion in Parasport

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jessica J. Ferguson ◽  
Nancy L.I. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Women Athletes ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Strong Bond ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Specific Barriers

Women within parasport experience discrimination due to marginalization associated with gender and disability. In this study, the authors gain the insights of women parasport athletes about the affordances and constraints to inclusion with an emphasis on the role of coaches, using an ecological approach. Guided by qualitative description, the authors conducted individual and focus group interviews with ten women experiencing disability to explore their experiences and perspectives of inclusion in parasport. Two primary themes were identified: (a) within parasport and (b) beyond parasport, emphasizing the critical role of relationships with coaches and athletes to experiences of inclusion. The discussion highlights the multilevel influences and specific barriers that challenge inclusion, such as few numbers of women athletes, the need for coach expertise, and co-ed playing environments. In doing so, the authors also offer specific recommendations for coaching in women’s parasport.

scholarly journals Outsourcing trust to the information infrastructure in schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 990-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olof Sundin ◽  
Hanna Carlsson
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Interviews

Purpose This paper investigates the experiences of school teachers of supporting pupils and their apprehensions of how pupils search and assess information when search engines have become a technology of literacy in schools. By situating technologies of literacy as sociomaterial the purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss these experiences and understandings in order to challenge dominant views of search in information literacy research. Design/methodology/approach Six focus group interviews with in total 39 teachers working at four different elementary and secondary schools were conducted in the autumn of 2014. Analysis was done using a sociomaterial perspective, which provides tools for understanding how pupils and teachers interact with and are demanded to translate their interest to technologies of literacy, in this case search engines, such as Google. Findings The teachers expressed difficulties of conceptualizing search as something they could teach. When they did, search was most often identified as a practical skill. A critical perspective on search, recognizing the role of Google as a dominant part of the information infrastructure and a co-constructor of what there is to know was largely lacking. As a consequence of this neglected responsibility of teaching search, critical assessment of online information was conflated with Google’s relevance ranking. Originality/value The study develops a critical understanding of the role of searching and search engines as technologies of literacy in relation to critical assessment in schools. This is of value for information literacy training.

scholarly journals Co-afflicted but invisible: A qualitative study of perceptions among informal caregivers in cancer care

2019 ◽  
pp. 135910531989040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Tranberg ◽  
Magdalena Andersson ◽  
Mef Nilbert ◽  
Birgit H Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Next Of Kin ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Informal Group ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Perceived Burden ◽  
Group Interviews

This article explores the lived experience of informal caregivers in cancer care, focusing on the perceived burden and needs of individuals seeking support from an informal group for next of kin. A total of 28 individuals who were closely related to a patient with cancer participated in focus group interviews. Three themes were identified: setting aside one’s own needs, assuming the role of project manager, and losing one’s sense of identity. Together they form the framing theme: being co-afflicted. The characteristics of informal caregivers are shown to be similar to those of people with codependency, motivating development of targeted interventions from this perspective.

Whirl of Prowess-Creation of Tool to Analyze Employability Skills Essential for the Healthcare Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-56
Author(s):  
Swati Sisodia ◽  
Neetima Agarwal
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Health Care Industry ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
The Core ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
Core Skills ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Individual

Employability skills are identified as one of the valuable assets for an individual to perform effectively in their job. This article extricates an encyclopedic list of Employability Skills needed in the health care industry, represented through a pragmatic model termed as The Whirl of Prowess. This conceptual framework was developed using a set of nine core skills extracted from research papers and focus group interviews conducted on 100 respondents. These skills form the core of model along with 22 attributes, forming the periphery. This will assist an organization to set some benchmarks, on the basis of which employees are evaluated demonstrating proficiency/ sufficiency/ deficiency levels. This model would help organizations to facilitate tailored training programs for their employees. The Whirl of Prowess would act as a skill meter available to organizations to evaluate and analyze the individual skills for various HRM practices like recruitment, career-development, performance management and others.

scholarly journals A Blind Man Leads a Blind Man? Personalised Nutrition-Related Attitudes, Knowledge and Behaviours of Fitness Trainers in Hungary

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kiss ◽  
Laura Pfeiffer ◽  
József Popp ◽  
Judit Oláh ◽  
Zoltán Lakner
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Professional Knowledge ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Nutritional Knowledge ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Personalised Nutrition ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Working Out

It is well-documented that fitness trainers could play an important role in the nutrition-related behaviour of their clients based on their personalised nutrition-related counselling activities, but there are considerable concerns all over the world about the level of their knowledge to become nutritional coaches. In the framework of the current study based on qualitative (focus-group interviews) and quantitative (questionnaire and analysis of responses by multivariable methods, as well as structural equation modelling) methods, it has been proven that (1) theoretically, both the trainers and the dietitians acknowledge the importance of cooperation in the optimisation of coaching efficiency and advisory work due to some “professional jealousness” and differences in professional background, as well as in culture, so it is hard to find a common platform for cooperation, especially in market segments characterised by relative low levels of purchasing power; (2) due to lack of regulation, there is a high heterogeneity of professional competences of trainers in general and their nutritional competences, in particular; (3) the majority of trainers do not have an objective picture on his/her effective nutritional knowledge, and they often offer a much wider scope of services (e.g., nutritional counselling for clients with chronic diseases) which are well beyond their professional knowledge and (4) the dietary guidelines have not become an integral part of professional knowledge, even at the level of specialists. To improve the current—in some cases, dangerous—situation, the following steps should be taken: (1) enhancement of the level of professional qualification of future trainers, integrating the practice-oriented approaches and emphasising the role of teamwork by simulation-based practices; (2) highlighting in a clear way the professional and ethical boundaries of the activities of trainers and (3) working out an efficient incentive system for the continuous professional development of trainers.

Voice of Ireland? Children and music within asylum seeker accommodation

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ailbhe Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Video Observations ◽  
Communal Housing ◽  
Participatory Music ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Temporary Accommodation

This article examines the musical lives of children of asylum seekers living under direct provision in Ireland. Direct Provision is a controversial state system of communal housing for asylum seekers while they wait for their refugee applications to be processed. One third of all asylum seekers living under Direct Provision in Ireland are children. A knowledge gap exists on the cultural rights and needs of these marginalised children. Through participatory methods, the research presented examines the role of music for these children within one of the direct provision settings as well as their musical values, identities, and types of musical participation engaged in. Data was collected through six participatory music workshops, video observations, a researcher reflective log and focus group interviews. There were 11 children involved aged between 7–12 years, representing six nationalities and both genders. Findings reveal the importance and relevance of the contexts of music-making within temporary accommodation settings as well as the broader national and international contexts of children living within asylum seeking systems.

The role of community-based playgroups in building relationships between pre-service teachers, families and the community

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura McFarland-Piazza ◽  
Alison Lord ◽  
Melissa Smith ◽  
Belinda Downey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Constant Comparative Method ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Education Courses

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY was to explore how connections between families, communities and educators can be facilitated in teacher education courses through the use of playgroups. Barriers to building relationships, as well as the perceived benefits of these relationships to families and pre-service teachers, were also explored. Participants were involved in weekly university-based community playgroups. Focus group interviews were conducted and the constant comparative method was used to analyse interview transcripts. Themes of ‘Constraints’ and ‘Enablers’ emerged from pre-service teachers' transcripts, indicating that they were initially uncomfortable with community and family involvement but eventually made connections as to why this was important. The theme of ‘positive relationship building’ emerged from parents' transcripts, indicating that they saw building relationships with families and communities as an important role of early childhood educators. Implications for the importance of authentic learning situations for fostering these relationships in teacher education courses are discussed.

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