scholarly journals Qualitative study on the social meanings of using mask during COVID-19 outbreak: implications for infection control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiule Lin ◽  
Duncan Wei ◽  
Xiulian Deng ◽  
Haohao Chen ◽  
ZhouWu Shu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: To analyze the perceptions and behaviors related to mask-using in non-medical staff. To protect against respiratory and provide insights on using mask and provide directions for the prevention of infection and health protection.Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 non-medical staff from various backgrounds to reflect a diversity of viewpoints during the peak season of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) since February to March in 2020. A phenomenological approach was adopted for data analysis.Results: Multiple themes emerged: (1) Effective informs and reporting of disease information had raised public awareness of wearing mask. (2) Shortage of masks and reuse exist in the implementation process. (3) The shortage of masks will be dealt by distribution in unified way and increasing production.Conclusions: This study documented non-medical staff perceptions and experiences using mask before the outbreak and this epidemic period. Participants felt that the most effective approach to solve the problem of mask shortage in China is combine prevention infection measures, uniform distribution of masks, material reserve in public health system.

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-124
Author(s):  
Fernanda Maria Felicio Macedo ◽  
Luiz Marcelo Antonialli

The research carried out on the following strategic phenomenon, for the most part, the guidelines of the functionalist paradigm. This production has its relevance in the scientific community, however, does not cover the strategy in all its complexity. In this scenario, it is intended to address the strategy from the assumptions of social phenomenology, an online research study focused on the action. Social action is the experience of the phenomenon. For this, research is carried out "for reasons" and "why reasons" present in strategic action. The relevance of this study is to address the strategy as a phenomenon that exists because of the social subject, which may show that its essence transcends the limits of individuality, because thinking is based on the phenomenological social awareness of the existence of the other. Held semi-structured interviews with fourteen strategists operating in cluster of furniture Bento Gonçalves, and the data analyzed according to the phenomenological approach of Sanders (1982). As a result, it follows that the "why reasons" are the 'becoming' and expertise, and the "for reasons": the search for freedom in corporate decision making and building a legacy. We conclude that the meaning of strategic action is not isolated, being linked to several factors related to the existential project of the strategist.


Author(s):  
Darnel Degand

The social success skills valued and ultimately acquired by youth during their formative years can be better understood by examining the social spaces, processes, and interactions that are related to their personal aspirations and related media experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, I conducted a year-long multi-case study about two Black male high school students’ thoughts on social success, their aspirations, their social experiences, and their experiences with media. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and observations. I performed analyses by using the hermeneutic cycle which requires one to repeatedly read text, write reflections, and interpret data (Kafle, 2011; Laverty, 2008). Findings suggest that my participants’ aspirations held influence over the type of media content with which they chose to engage. Additionally, their thoughts about social success were influenced by their family members’ personal life experiences and the skills their family members valued. Moreover, their sociocultural contexts influenced their evolving thoughts on social success while their media served as resources to help them process their thoughts about social success and help them pursue their goals.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moza Abdullah Al-Malki ◽  
Katie Weir ◽  
Wayne Usher

The research reported here is part of a larger, doctoral study that aims at examining the process of assessing the classroom performance of pre-service English language teachers in three higher education institutions in Oman. This article reports on an investigation into the social practices associated with assessing the classroom performance of pre-service English language teachers at Sultan Qaboos Univeristy (SQU), Rustaq College of Education and Nizwa University. Specifically, this study aims at answering one research question: How do stakeholders understand and experience feedback when assessing pre-service teacher classroom performance? The research adopted a phenomenological approach for examining a total of 10 participants’ feedback experiences through semi-structured interviews and observations of the phenomenon in situ. The findings of this study revealed shared understandings about the purpose of feedback for improving pre-service teachers’ classroom performance. However, it was revealed that variations in feedback processes affected its efficacy in enhancing pre-service teachers’ classroom readiness. Pre-service teachers confirmed this finding and expressed their desire for greater agency and some consistency and uniformity in the type of feedback they receive during their school experience. The paper concludes by presenting recommendations that go to heighten the quality of the feedback process provided to pre-service English language teachers in Oman.


10.33117/512 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69

Purpose: This paper presents aspects of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation Success Model to guide CSR engagements. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case methodology is used to investigate two CSR companies in Uganda. Semi-structured interviews with managers and stakeholders are conducted. Data triangulation includes reviewing CSR reports and documents, and visiting communities and CSR activities/projects mentioned in the case companies’ reports. Grounded theory guides the data analysis and aggregation. Findings: The findings culminate into a “CSR Implementation Success Model. ” Key aspects of CSR implementation success are identified as: (i) involvement of stakeholders and management (i.e., co-production) at the start and during every stage of CSR implementation; (ii) management of challenges and conflicts arising within/outside of the company itself; and (iii) feedback management or performance assessment—i.e., accountability via CSR communications and reporting. Stakeholder involvement and feedback management (accountability) are pivotal, though all three must be considered equally. Research limitations: The studied companies were large and well-established mature companies, so it is unclear whether newer companies and small and medium-sized enterprises would produce similar findings. Practical implications: Successful CSR implementation starts with a common but strategic understanding of what CSR means to the company. However, CSR implementation should (i) yield benefits that are tangible, and (ii) have a sustainable development impact because these two aspects form implementation benchmarks. Additionally, top management should be involved in CSR implementation, but with clear reasons and means. Originality/value: This paper unearths a CSR Implementation Success Model that amplifies views of “creating shared value” for sustainable development. It guides organizations towards strategic CSR, as opposed to the responsive CSR (returning profits to society) that largely dominates in developing countries. Additionally, it explains how to add value to the resource envelope lubricating the entire CSR implementation process


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-80
Author(s):  
Sari Hanafi

This study investigates the preachers and their Friday sermons in Lebanon, raising the following questions: What are the profiles of preachers in Lebanon and their academic qualifications? What are the topics evoked in their sermons? In instances where they diagnosis and analyze the political and the social, what kind of arguments are used to persuade their audiences? What kind of contact do they have with the social sciences? It draws on forty-two semi-structured interviews with preachers and content analysis of 210 preachers’ Friday sermons, all conducted between 2012 and 2015 among Sunni and Shia mosques. Drawing from Max Weber’s typology, the analysis of Friday sermons shows that most of the preachers represent both the saint and the traditional, but rarely the scholar. While they are dealing extensively with political and social phenomena, rarely do they have knowledge of social science


Author(s):  
Anne Roosipõld ◽  
Krista Loogma ◽  
Mare Kurvits ◽  
Kristina Murtazin

In recent years, providing higher education in the form of work-based learning has become more important in the higher education (HE) policy and practice almost in all EU countries. Work-based learning (WBL) in HE should support the development of competences of self-guided learners and adjust the university education better to the needs of the workplace. The study is based on two pilot projects of WBL in HE in Estonia: Tourism and Restaurant Management professional HE programme and the master’s programme in Business Information Technology. The model of integrative pedagogy, based on the social-constructivist learning theory, is taken as a theoretical foundation for the study. A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with the target groups. The data analysis used a horizontal analysis to find cross-cutting themes and identify patterns of actions and connections. It appears, that the challenge for HE is to create better cooperation among stakeholders; the challenge for workplaces is connected with better involvement of students; the challenge for students is to take more initiative and responsibility in communication with workplaces.


Author(s):  
Ieva Rodiņa

The aim of the research “Historical Memory in the Works of the New Generation of Latvian Theater Artists: The Example of “The Flea Market of the Souls” is to focus on the current but at the same time little discussed topic in Latvian theater – the change of generations and the social processes connected to it, that are expressed on the level of world views, experiences, intergenerational relationships. Most directly, these changes are reflected in the phenomenon of historical memory. The concept of “postmemory” was defined by German professor Marianne Hirsch in 1992, suggesting that future generations are closely related to the personal and collective cultural traumas of previous generations, which are passing on the past experience through historical memory, thus affecting the present. Grotesque, self-irony, and focusing on socio-political, provocative questions and themes are the connecting point of the generation of young Latvian playwrights born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including such personalities as Jānis Balodis, Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce, Matīss Gricmanis, Justīne Kļava, etc. However, unlike Matīss Gricmanis or Janis Balodis who represent the aesthetics of political theater, in Justīne Kļava’s works, sociopolitical processes become the background of a generally humanistic study of the relationships between generations. This theme is represented not only in “The Flea Market of the Souls”, but also in other plays, like “Jubilee ‘98” and “Club “Paradise””. The tendency to investigate the traces left by the Soviet heritage allows to define these works as autobiographical researches of the identity of the post-Soviet generation, analyzing life in today's Latvia in terms of historical memory. Using the semiotic, hermeneutic, phenomenological approach, the play “The Flea Market of the Souls” and its production in Dirty Deal Teatro (2017) are analyzed as one of the most vivid works reflecting the phenomenon of historical memory in recent Latvian original drama.


Author(s):  
María Leonila García Cedeño ◽  
Anicia Katherine Tarazona Meza ◽  
Robert Gonzalo Cedeño Mejía

Resilience is a phenomenon that can be studied in catastrophic situations but also in everyday matters such as disability, this being an alternative way of working in the environment that requires the adaptation of the social networks that contain and support people with this condition. The research was conducted at the Technical University of Manabí applied to the population of students with disabilities. The paper presents an analysis of support networks and their relationship with student resilience. The results related to the application of the Saavedra-Villalta test are shown, which allowed to correlate the level of resilience of the sample studied with the support networks. An analysis linked to the interpretation of the Pearson correlation coefficient is presented. The result obtained is presented by applying semi-structured interviews to a sample of 48 disabled students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese R. Viscelli ◽  
Dana R. Hermanson ◽  
Mark S. Beasley

SYNOPSIS Since the early 2000s, expectations have increased for organizations to strengthen corporate governance with enterprise risk management (ERM) processes, with the accounting profession playing a major role in these efforts. The ultimate goal of an effective ERM process is to help boards and senior executives to manage risks in the context of strategy so that the organization is more likely to achieve its key objectives. We conduct semi-structured interviews of 15 ERM champions to provide insights about whether the ERM process is integrated with the strategic-planning and execution processes of the firm. We find that while the decision to launch ERM often is based on a desire for ERM to provide strategic value, the integration of ERM with strategy typically is limited. We then examine the ERM implementation process to identify possible ERM implementation practices limiting ERM's integration with strategy. We find that organizations' (1) culture and approach to preparing for ERM's launch, (2) ERM leadership structure, and (3) management of key risks appear to limit the intersection of ERM and strategy. Our summary of key findings highlights important considerations for boards of directors, executive management, and auditors as they assess the effectiveness of their risk oversight efforts in overseeing the strategic direction of the enterprise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-455
Author(s):  
Marta Esperti

The Central Mediterranean is the most deadly body of water in the Mediterranean Sea with at least 15,062 fatalities recorded by International Organization of Migration between 2014 and 2018. This article aims at highlighting the rise of a variety of new civil society actors engaged in the rescue of people undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in the attempt of reaching the southern European shores. The peculiarity of the humanitarian space at sea and its political relevance are pointed out to illustrate the unfolding of the maritime border management on the Central Mediterranean route and its relation with the activity of the civil society rescue vessels. The theoretical aspiration of the article is to question the role of a proactive civil humanitarianism at sea, discussing the emergence of different political and social meanings around humanitarianism at the EU’s southern maritime border. In recent years, the increasing presence of new citizens-based organizations at sea challenges the nexus between humanitarian and emergency approaches adopted to implement security-oriented policies. This essay draws on the findings of a broader comparative work on a variety of civil society actors engaged in the search and rescue operations on the maritime route between Libya and Europe, focusing in particular on Italy as country of first arrival. The fieldwork covers a period of time going between 2016 and 2018. The research methodology is built on a multisited ethnography, the conduct of semidirective and informal interviews with both state and nonstate actors, and the analysis of various reports unraveling the social and political tensions around rescue at sea on the Central Mediterranean route.


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