scholarly journals Water management strategies in hotels in arid regions: results and implications from a case study on Gran Canaria island (Spain)

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (45) ◽  
pp. 242-256
Author(s):  
Deborah POPELY ◽  
◽  
Alberto MORENO-MELGAREJO ◽  

Hotels are water-intensive businesses, and water scarcity presents a pressing problem for managers who rely on an uninterrupted supply of water to meet guests’ needs and maintain profitability. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies that hotel managers used to successfully maintain adequate water supplies in arid regions. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and hotel water usage reports from three hotels in Spanish island of Gran Canaria. This study may contribute to business practice by illuminating processes that hotel managers, employees, guests, and partners, can take to improve environmental performance and align practices with water governance.

Author(s):  
Adel Ismail Al-Alawi ◽  
Arpita A. Mehrotra ◽  
Sara Abdulrahman Al-Bassam

The internet has revolutionized the way people communicate, how they manage their business, and even how they conduct their studies. Organizations can conduct meetings virtually and store all their data online. With this convenience, however, comes the risk of cybercrime (CC). Some of the world's most renowned organizations have found themselves having to incur huge recovery costs after falling prey to CC. Higher learning institutions' databases are increasingly falling victim to CCs, owing to the vast amounts of personal and research data they harbor. Despite this, the area of CCs in learning institutions remains understudied. This chapter seeks to identify how CC is manifested in such institutions and the specific cybersecurity measures that stakeholders could use to minimize their exposure to the same. The qualitative case study was designed to explore the research questions, and collected data through semistructured interviews. The findings showed hacking, phishing, and spoofing as the most common manifestations of cybercrime in higher learning institutions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Wynnyk ◽  
Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore children with disabilities’ social relationships and motivation to take part in sledge hockey. Harter’s (1978) theory of Competence Motivation was used as the conceptual framework. Ten children (1 girl and 9 boys) between ages 11–16 years, who experienced a range of disabilities, participated. Primary data were collected using semistructured interviews, participant observations, and field and reflective notes. The thematic analysis led to four themes: (a) coach feedback, (b) parental involvement, (c) skill and belonging, and (d) (dis)ability sport. The findings revealed that interactions with significant others contributed extensively to the participant’s perceptions of competence and motivation to participate, as did the sport’s competitive nature. The findings are discussed in the context of Harter’s theory and the children’s sport and adapted physical activity inclusion literature.


2003 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Nancy Maldonado, ◽  
Kate Callahan, ◽  
Joan Efinger,

This qualitative case study investigated the lived spiritual experiences of participants who attend a Five Weeks seminar about holistic and end of life (EOL) care decisions. Auditaped, semistructured interviews recorded participants’ responses. Content analysis was the central technique used to identify themes. Four themes emerged. These included perspectives, life after death, reflective insights, and rituals. Implications and recommendations are included for caring practices related to EOL care and spiritual support.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Toni Christie

<p>This qualitative case study examines the teaching practices, inspired by the Pikler approach and RIE philosophy, in one infant and toddler centre in a main city of New Zealand. Specifically the practices studied were primary caregiving, freedom of movement and respect for infants’ confidence and competence. Recommendations for practitioners are made at the conclusion of this thesis. Data were collected through non-participant observations, semistructured interviews with teachers, a focus group interview with parents, and collation and analysis of relevant documentation. The framework for data interpretation and analysis was based on a thematic coding of observations and interview data. The findings indicated that a culture of respect was embedded throughout all aspects of teachers’ interactions with children, colleagues and parents within the centre. Respect, defined as treating with consideration, was the overarching feature underpinning the values and actions of teachers. Teachers engaged in ways that would suggest they accept each person as an individual with rights and freedoms. Teachers invited children to engage with them and no action would be initiated for or with a child without his or her agreement. This agreement was shown through cues and gestures, to which the teachers were all highly attuned. Teachers slowed their pace intentionally and offered children choices in their care and education. Peaceful observation from teachers enhanced their ability to interpret individual children’s needs and wants and they would provide support for children rather than intervene unnecessarily. Limitations to this research included the fact that I only studied one early childhood centre and completed observations over a limited period of two weeks. The centre studied had ratios better than the minimum ratios required by early childhood regulations, which means</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Toni Christie

<p>This qualitative case study examines the teaching practices, inspired by the Pikler approach and RIE philosophy, in one infant and toddler centre in a main city of New Zealand. Specifically the practices studied were primary caregiving, freedom of movement and respect for infants’ confidence and competence. Recommendations for practitioners are made at the conclusion of this thesis. Data were collected through non-participant observations, semistructured interviews with teachers, a focus group interview with parents, and collation and analysis of relevant documentation. The framework for data interpretation and analysis was based on a thematic coding of observations and interview data. The findings indicated that a culture of respect was embedded throughout all aspects of teachers’ interactions with children, colleagues and parents within the centre. Respect, defined as treating with consideration, was the overarching feature underpinning the values and actions of teachers. Teachers engaged in ways that would suggest they accept each person as an individual with rights and freedoms. Teachers invited children to engage with them and no action would be initiated for or with a child without his or her agreement. This agreement was shown through cues and gestures, to which the teachers were all highly attuned. Teachers slowed their pace intentionally and offered children choices in their care and education. Peaceful observation from teachers enhanced their ability to interpret individual children’s needs and wants and they would provide support for children rather than intervene unnecessarily. Limitations to this research included the fact that I only studied one early childhood centre and completed observations over a limited period of two weeks. The centre studied had ratios better than the minimum ratios required by early childhood regulations, which means</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Khatibi

Abstract This study explores the collective settings of Hallenwohnen (hall dwelling) as a section of the Zollhaus settlement, which is the follow-up project by the Kalkbreite housing cooperative and has been in function since January 2021 in Zurich, Switzerland. Hallenwohnen is the first legal hall cohousing arrangement in Switzerland. The private and semiprivate spaces of Hallenwohnen consist of a large open hall with collective basic structures and mobile residential towers (roll spaces) as the core concept, which offer an affordable, self-managed/self-build, collaborative coliving and coworking arrangement in the center of Zurich. The qualitative case study method was applied through semistructured interviews with occupants of Hallenwohnen, direct observations, spatial investigations and document analyses. The results reveal that the innovative socio-spatial potentials of the intermediate spaces have been activated through the participatory intentions of the community. Living as one household in a collective arrangement and multiplicity usage of hybrid spaces have activated participation-capable housing spaces, while constraints and conflicts have mobilized the (re)negotiations and reinterpretations of collective housing spaces.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e025633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azure Dominique Grant ◽  
Gary Isaac Wolf ◽  
Camille Nebeker

ObjectivesParticipant-led research (PLR) is a rapidly developing form of citizen science in which individuals can create personal and generalisable knowledge. Although PLR lacks a formal framework for ethical review, participants should not be excused from considering the ethical implications of their work. Therefore, a PLR cohort consisting of 24 self-trackers aimed to: (1) substitute research ethics board procedures with engagement in ethical reflection before and throughout the study and (2) draft principles to encourage further development of the governance and ethical review of PLR.MethodsA qualitative case study method was used to analyse the ethical reflection process. Participants discussed study risks, risk management strategies and benefits pre-project, during a series of weekly webinars, via individual meetings with the participant-organisers, and during semi-structured interviews at project completion. Themes arising from discussions and interviews were used to draft prospective principles to guide PLR.ResultsData control, aggregation and identifiability were the most common risks identified. These were addressed by a commitment to transparency among all participants and by establishing participant control via self-collection and self-management of data. Group discussions and resources (eg, assistance with experimental design and data analysis) were the most commonly referenced benefits of participation. Additional benefits included greater understanding of one’s physiology and greater ability to structure an experiment. Nine principles were constructed to encourage further development of ethical PLR practices. All participants expressed interest in participating in future PLR.ConclusionsProjects involving a small number of participants can sustain engagement in ethical reflection among participants and participant-organisers. PLR that prioritises transparency, participant control of data and ongoing risk-to-benefit evaluation is compatible with the principles that underlie traditional ethical review of health research, while being appropriate for a context in which citizen scientists play the central role.


2019 ◽  
pp. bmjqs-2018-008898
Author(s):  
Jo-Louise Huq ◽  
Jaana Woiceshyn

BackgroundHealthcare quality improvement (QI) efforts are ongoing but often create modest improvement. While knowledge about factors, tools and processes that encourage QI is growing, research has not attended to the need to disrupt established ways of working to facilitate QI efforts.ObjectiveTo examine how a QI initiative can disrupt professionals’ established way of working through a study of the Alberta Stroke Quality Improvement and Clinical Research (QuICR) Door-to-Needle Initiative.DesignA multisite, qualitative case study, with data collected through semistructured interviews and focus groups. Inductive data analysis allowed findings to emerge from the data and supported the generation of new insights.FindingsIn stroke centres where improvements were realised, professionals’ established understanding of the clinical problem and their belief in the adequacy of existing treatment approaches shifted—they no longer believed that their established understanding and treating the clinical problem were appropriate. This shift occurred as participants engaged in specific activities to improve quality. We identify these activities as ones that create urgency, draw professionals away from regular work and encourage questioning about established processes. These activities constituted disrupting action in which both clinical and non-clinical persons were engaged.ConclusionsDisrupting action is an important yet understudied element of QI. Disrupting action can be used to create gaps in established ways of working and may help encourage professionals’ involvement and support of QI efforts. While non-clinical professionals can be involved in disrupting action, it needs to engage clinical professionals on their own terms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Coleman McKoy

Cybercrime has become one of the fastest-growing concerns for law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and municipal levels. This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of nine law enforcement officers from Texas regarding combating cybercrime at the local level. The study focuses on how do law enforcement officers who respond to traditional crimes describe law enforcement agencies’ preparedness to fight cybercrime locally. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews, where member-checking helped to enhance trustworthiness. The results from this study helped fill the gap in the literature regarding the unknown perceptions of law enforcement officers responding to cybercrimes at the local level. This study also focused on the behaviors of the participants regarding responding to cybercrimes. Participants indicated that law enforcement agencies take cybercrime seriously; however, cybercrimes are not a high priority for law enforcement at the local level. Participants also provided challenges that local law enforcement agencies face in cybercrime investigations locally.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2485
Author(s):  
Pantelitsa Loizia ◽  
Irene Voukkali ◽  
Georgia Chatziparaskeva ◽  
Jose Navarro-Pedreño ◽  
Antonis A. Zorpas

Tourism activities are considered, among others, the backbone of the local economies. However, tourism activities lead to adverse environmental impacts, especially in coastal zones. Coastal areas are considered and recognized as of strategic importance due to the fact that several activities take place, from leisure to business. At the same time, coastal areas are under pressure from tourist activities, and the waste generated is a very serious issue. Therefore, there are limited studies related to the environmental dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the coastal environment. This paper provides answers to the hypothesis that the pandemic lockdown scenario would improve environmental performance due to reduced usage and, therefore, waste, taking into account specific key performance indicators (KPIs) as these KPIs are used to evaluate the performance of an area. The results showed that the study area improved, as did the selected KPIs, i.e., clean coast index (CCI), waste accumulation rate (WAR), and waste accumulation index (WAI). Additionally, according to the final results, the concentration of micro-, meso- and macroplastics on the beach reduced, and the main issues remained the solutions on cigarette butts, straws, and other plastic containers. Furthermore, the final results are considered very useful to local authorities, stakeholders, consultants, policymakers, and any other competent authorities, to reschedule their waste management strategies, to improve waste infrastructures and their level of services (LOS), as well as, to suggest frequent awareness-raising activities to their visitors on how to protect the coastal environment, taking into account a pandemic scenario, as well as, the policy alternative impacts on EU coastal zones 2000–2050.


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