Grounded Theory and Serendipity. Natural history of a Research

The paper deals with the issue of “serendipity” (which constitutes the context of discovery) in field research and the analysis of data by using the grounded theory methodology. The thesis of the paper is: the methodology of grounded theory is naturally associated with serendipity. We describe two aspects of serendipity in grounded theory: 1. substantive, and 2. theoretical. We present in the paper serendipity phenomenon by using the case of research on the “social world of pet owners”. We show how the research is developed by a sequence of decisions being made by researchers. The process of emergence of the main analytical category, subcategories and the whole theoretical construction during the long time of the field research and theoretical group analysis is presented, as well as the procedure of coming to unanticipated theoretical conclusions. It was all possible because of the interactional character of serendipity happening during the research in grounded theory style of investigation.

Education in Theoretical Interpretations of Scientific Disciplines: Subject Construction Practices

The relevance of the research is determined, on the one hand, by the fact that education, being the object of multidisciplinary research, is comprehended through the prism of subject practices of its theoretical construction, on the other hand, such subject determinism determines the specifics and nature of subject design practices within the «educationally oriented» scientific disciplines, sets the logic of relevant research programs and suggests that the construction of subject disciplinary theorizations of the phenomenon of education has a common conceptual logic. Objective: to identify the specifics and key theoretical constructs of the subject design practices formed in the «educationally oriented» scientific disciplines by understanding the multidisciplinary theoretical interpretations of education.

The Multiple Potentials of Urban Brownfields

The phenomenon of urban brownfields is significant throughout European metropolitan areas. In this chapter, we assess, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, the inherent potential of urban brownfields to provide a relevant and substantial densification strategy for metropolitan areas. First, we explore the various opportunities for improvement of the built environment offered by urban brownfields in terms of environment, society, and economics, which are the core principles of sustainable development. This analysis is, inter alia, a juxtaposition between urban brownfields and the compact and polycentric city model, adapted to the metropolitan area. While brownfield regeneration appears to be a relevant densification strategy, it nevertheless implies that a sufficient reserve of land is available to engage policymakers. Thus, we attempt to estimate the urban brownfield stock in three countries: the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and France. The data subsequently serves as a basis for our calculation of the theoretical construction potential of brownfield sites.

Trust in the academy: a conceptual framework for understanding trust on academic web profiles

PurposeInstitutional and commercial web profiles that provide biobibliographic information about researchers are used for promotional purposes but also as information sources. In the latter case, the profiles' (re)presentations of researchers may be used to assess whether a researcher can be trusted. The article introduces a conceptual framework of how trust in researchers may be formed based on how the researchers' experiences and achievements are mobilized on the profiles to tell a multifaceted story of the “self.”Design/methodology/approachThe framework is an analytical product which draws on theories of trust as well as on previous research focused on academic web profiles and on researchers' perceptions of trust and credibility. Two dimensions of trust are identified as central to the theoretical construction of trust, namely competence and trustworthiness.FindingsThe framework outlines features of profile content and narrative that may influence the assessment of the profile and of the researcher's competence and trustworthiness. The assessment is understood as shaped by the frames of interpretation available to a particular audience.Originality/valueThe framework addresses the lack of a trust perspective in previous research about academic web profiles. It provides an analysis of how potential trust in the researcher may be formed on the profiles. An innovative contribution is the acknowledgement of both qualitative and quantitative indicators of trustworthiness and competence, including the richness of the story told about the “self.”

Charged thin-shell wormholes with quintessence effects

This work studies the theoretical construction of charged quintessence thin-shell wormholes using Israel thin-shell approach. The stability of these wormhole solutions is investigated by taking linear, logarithmic and Chaplygin gas models as a constituent of exotic matter at thin-shell. The presence of wormhole stability regions particularly relies on the physically justifiable values of charge and quintessence parameter. It is noted that the increasing value of charge seems as an effective component for stable regions while the rise in negativity of the quintessence parameter gives more stable wormhole configurations.

Modeling the Theory-Form: Beyond the Elements of Observational Postulation

We formalize a theory of the subject by sketching a pragmatic functional hierarchy of sapient cognition. Our expanded framework attempts to articulate a normative understanding of discursive cognition by demarcating its functional propriety within a naturalist rejoinder, seeing in the functional development of cognition from pre-discursive to discursive abilities an increase and refinement in representational competence found in non-intentional systems. We therein explain how sapient cognitive systems not only engage in patterns of material and formal inference to map intensional relations between phenomena in nature through theoretical and practical reasonings, but also engage in practices of theoretical construction and systematic integration through techniques of formalization that make the unity of nature and thought progressively intelligible. We trace the development of mind in its representational function from barren discriminatory capacities, shared with inanimate objects, to complex theory-forming systematizing conceptual abilities enabling agents to theoretically map and intervene upon the world of which they are part, and to embed the informational indexes they register from the environment that makes globally explicit the objective modal structure of the world.