Introduction

County Lines ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Simon Harding
Keyword(s):  
Research Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Urban Street ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Line Drug

This introductory chapter describes how the research study was conducted, detailing the number, type, and characteristics of the various respondents. The research study examines how London-based urban street gangs establish county line drug-supply networks into the Home Counties. It draws upon two principle theoretical perspectives with great explanatory value regarding street-gang dynamics: social field analysis and street capital theory. Active participants in county lines were interviewed in one-to-one qualitative interviews, shorter street-based interviews, or short focus groups. All were aged over 16 years old and the study acknowledged their status as victim, offender, or both. The chapter then explores the methodological challenges of the research, including ethics, limitations, negotiating access, and the usefulness of participant observation.

County Lines

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Harding
Keyword(s):  
Critical Issue ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Drug Supply ◽  
Social Field ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Urban Street ◽  
The Social ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Social Fields

Described by the National Crime Agency as a ‘significant threat’, county lines involve gangs recruiting vulnerable youth to sell drugs in provincial areas. This phenomenon has impacted local drug markets, increasing criminal activity and violence. Exploring how county lines evolve, the book reveals extensive criminal exploitation and control in the daily ‘grind’ to sell drugs. Drawing upon extensive interviews and case studies, the book gives voice to users and dealers, providing an in-depth analysis of techniques, relationships and ‘trapping’. The book examines how London-based urban street gangs establish county line drug-supply networks into the Home Counties. It draws upon two principle theoretical perspectives: social field analysis and street capital theory. It then traces the emergence of county lines, noting operational and cultural shifts in drug supply and distribution, and assesses the question of who joins a county lines. The book moves on to examine how the actual processes of county lines drug-supply networks work in reality, looking at the internal dynamics, and it evaluates the complex set of inter-personal relationships between the user community and county line operatives. It then focuses on the families of those involved in county lines, looking at how violence and intimidation often reverberates back into families. The book concludes that in the United Kingdom, the social fields of the urban street gang and of drug distribution markets, are rapidly evolving; it is important to consider how the relational boundaries of these social fields are interacting with the social field of organised crime. With county lines now a critical issue for policing and government, this is an invaluable contribution to literature on gangs, youth violence and drugs. The book begins by describing how the research study was conducted.

Introduction to Ethnography

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Kwame Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Primary Qualities ◽  
Bronislaw Malinowski ◽  
Bronisław Malinowski ◽  
Oriented Research

This introductory chapter introduces ethnography as a distinct research and writing tradition. The author begins by historically contextualizing ethnography’s professionalization within the fields of anthropology and sociology. While highlighting the formidable influences of, for example, Bronislaw Malinowski and the Chicago school, the author complicates existing understandings by bringing significant, but less-recognized, influences and contributions to light. The chapter next outlines three principal research methods that most ethnographers utilize—namely, participant-observation, fieldnote writing, and ethnographic interviewing. The discussion then shifts from method to methodology to explain the primary qualities that separate ethnography from other forms of participant-observation-oriented research. This includes introducing a research disposition called ethnographic comportment, which serves as a standard for gauging ethnography throughout the remainder of the book. The author presents ethnographic comportment as reflecting both ethnographers’ awarenesses of and their accountabilities to the research tradition in which they participate.

scholarly journals Implementing safeguarding and personalisation in social work: Findings from practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stevens ◽  
John Woolham ◽  
Jill Manthorpe ◽  
Fiona Aspinall ◽  
Shereen Hussein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Direct Payment ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Direct Payments ◽  
And Control ◽  
Exercise Of Discretion

Summary This paper reports on part of a research study carried out in three local authority adult social care departments in England, which explored links between adult safeguarding and personalisation. The study included statistical analysis of data on safeguarding referrals and the take up of personal budgets and qualitative interviews with managers, social workers, other staff working on safeguarding and with service users. The paper reports the findings from 16 interviews with managers and social workers, highlighting their perspectives and experiences. Findings Five main themes emerged from our analysis: contexts and risk factors; views about risks associated with Direct Payments, approaches to minimising risk; balancing risk and choice; and weaving safeguarding and personalisation practice. Social workers identified similar ranges and kinds of risks to those identified in the national evaluation of Individual Budgets. They described a tension between policy objectives and their exercise of discretion to assess and manage risks. For example, some described how they would discourage certain people from taking their personal budget as a Direct Payment or suggest they take only part of a personal budget as a Direct Payment. Application This exploratory study supports the continued need for skilled social workers to deliver outcomes related to both safeguarding and personalisation policies. Implementing these policies may entail a new form of ‘care and control’, which may require specific approaches in supervision in order to ensure good practice is fostered and positive outcomes attained.

scholarly journals Asking is not enough. A research study on teaching qualitative interviews in Italy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albertina Pretto
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
To Come

In the area of social research, it is not uncommon to come across qualitative interviews (transcribed or recorded) that present conduction strategies which seem to be in contrast to that is recommended by the literature on this subject. In order to understand the reason why this occurs, I present the results of a research carried out among Italian sociologists who use qualitative interviews for their research; I try to establish a connection between the conduction strategies used by researchers and their training. I found three different conducting styles, and divided my interviewees into three categories. But, only one of these categories presents a real positive attitude towards qualitative interviews. The problem is that all these researchers also teach qualitative methods at University or train new interviewers for their research and they pass down their same attitude to their students, for better or worse.

Some theoretical perspectives on African popular music

Popular Music ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin Emielu
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Social Reconstructionism ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Socially Responsive ◽  
Literary Materials

AbstractPopular music occupies a dominant position in the musical landscape of contemporary Africa, yet academic study of popular music is still in its infancy in most parts of Africa. This may be due in part to the absence of theoretical frameworks that stimulate popular music discourses from the African perspective. This paper is an attempt to fill this lacuna. Based on a critical and qualitative analysis of data gathered from field situations, participant observation, interviews and published literary materials on the subject matter, the paper theorises that the creation of African popular music is characterised by two significant processes: indigenisation and syncretisation. The paper further states that African popular music is a socially responsive phenomenon, sustained through the interplay of cross-cultural and trans-national social dynamics. The paper therefore proposes ‘social reconstructionism’ as a new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of African popular music. The paper also suggests that the term ‘African pop’ should be adopted as a generic name for all popular music forms in Africa.

scholarly journals Exploring the relationship between community-based physical activity and wellbeing in people with dementia: a qualitative study

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 522-542
Author(s):  
ALAN WRIGHT
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Informal Carers ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTThis study sought to identify factors which influenced how a group of people with dementia living in their own homes participated in community-based physical activity and explored the effect that exercise groups, dance and walking had on their wellbeing. A broadly ethnographic approach was adopted in which participant observation and interviews were employed. Nineteen people with dementia and seven formal and informal carers were included in the participant observation phase. Eleven people with dementia were interviewed. The analysis and interpretation of data was informed by embodiment and social constructionist theoretical perspectives. Findings suggest that a complex interplay between attitudes and beliefs, retained embodied abilities, and aspects of the physical and social environment influenced how individuals engaged in physical activity and the degree to which they experienced wellbeing as a result. Findings suggest that when certain factors co-exist, physical activity can provide a context within which people with dementia are able to use embodied skills in order to support fragile identities, connect with others and express themselves.

Social Interaction Style in Autism: An Inquiry into Phenomenological Methodology

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-192
Author(s):  
Sofie Boldsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Ongoing Study ◽  
Interaction Style ◽  
Approaches To Studying ◽  
The Social ◽  
Phenomenological Methodology

Abstract Autistic difficulties with social interaction have primarily been understood as expressions of underlying impairment of the ability to ‘mindread.’ Although this understanding of autism and social interaction has raised controversy in the phenomenological community for decades, the phenomenological criticism remains largely on a philosophical level. This article helps fill this gap by discussing how phenomenology can contribute to empirical methodologies for studying social interaction in autism. By drawing on the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and qualitative data from an ongoing study on social interaction in autism, I discuss how qualitative interviews and participant observation can yield phenomenologically salient data on social interaction. Both, I argue, enjoy their phenomenological promise through facilitating attention to the social-spatial-material fields in and through which social interactions and experiences arise. By developing phenomenologically sound approaches to studying social interaction, this article helps resolve the deficiency of knowledge concerning experiential dimensions of social interaction in autism.

The Study of Peaceful Change in World Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.V. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Different Dimensions

This introductory chapter offers an overview of the core themes addressed in The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations. It begins with a discussion of the neglect of peaceful change and the overemphasis on war as the source of change in the discipline of international relations. Definitions of peaceful change in their different dimensions, in particular the maximalist and minimalist varieties, are offered. Systemic, regional, and domestic level changes are explored. This is followed by a discussion of the study and understanding of peaceful change during the interwar, Cold War, and post–Cold War eras. The chapter offers a brief summary of different theoretical perspectives in IR—realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical as well as eclectic approaches—and how they explore peaceful change, its key mechanisms, and its feasibility. The chapter considers the role of great powers and key regional states as agents of change. The economic, social, ideational, ecological, and technological sources of change are also briefly discussed.

Guided heritage walks as a tool for inclusive heritage education: case study of New Delhi

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekta Chauhan ◽  
Sanjana Anand
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Heritage Education

PurposeThis paper studies the role of heritage walks and tours in promoting inclusive education. It assesses if these walks are an effective method of exhibiting culture and facilitating inclusive heritage learning. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to establish that walks can play an imperative role in creating greater sensitivity towards heritage and conservation.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a case study approach using mixed methods. Participants for qualitative interviews were chosen using purposive sampling and six interview schedules were sent to walk leaders. Walk participant data were collected through participant observation and standardised survey with randomly selected participants of the case walks. Surveys were sent to participants electronically.FindingsHeritage walks play a crucial role in not only imparting knowledge about history and heritage but also as a tool for learning other crucial skills, competencies, values, attitudes, etc. This paper attempts to highlight that walks are an effective and inclusive way to shed light on the alternative and forgotten stories. As an educational tool these walks can not only encourage the development of historical knowledge and appreciation but also assist in the development of competency to “de-construct” mainstream “grand narratives”, questioning and learning about the forgotten.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has limited itself to the study of select cases in New Delhi. Since the study has followed a case study design, it does not produce a largely generalizable result, but rather examines and understands the dynamics of particular walks and produces insights that may well be applicable in other contexts. Whilst this paper makes an attempt to understand the changes in perception and attitudes, it does not study behavioural changes.Social implicationsIn the long run, walks allow for meaningful citizen engagement with tangible heritage such as monuments as well as intangible heritage such as practices and festivals. This allows for appreciation for the value of heritage resources and leads to a demand for better conservation and preservation from the authorities. In a few cases, local citizens themselves lead heritage management and development activities in a bid to promote their local culture. This paper has shown that heritage walks can be helpful tools in giving “forgotten” voices and stories recognition in contemporary society.Originality/valueAs heritage walks have recently gained popularity, there has been very limited research in the field especially linking heritage walks to heritage education. This is especially true for India. Even a city like New Delhi, which boasts of a robust heritage and is one of the tourism hubs of the country, heritage walks have been a very recent phenomenon. This research aims to address this lacuna in academic research and contribute meaningfully to the field of heritage education and conservation by studying how heritage walks support and promote inclusive heritage education.

Background, Clarifications, and Overview

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Brad Vermurlen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Common Misconceptions

This introductory chapter opens with a brief summary of the big picture. It then establishes the existence of a New Calvinist movement in the United States since the turn of the millennium while acknowledging that the reality of the movement is itself a part of the puzzle. The chapter then provides an overview of the empirical data collected for this book, which includes participant observation at three (wildly popular) New Calvinist megachurches across the country, personal interviews with seventy-five Evangelical leaders (including New Calvinists and their religious challengers), and content analysis of printed and online materials, as well as how these data were analyzed. This chapter includes a section that responds to five common misconceptions about the nature and approach of this project. It ends with a summary of the narrative arc of the rest of the book, broken down by chapters.

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