Achievement Goal Theory Review: An Application to School Psychology

Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) is one of the most popular theoretical frameworks in motivation research. Despite its application to a variety of contexts, including, school, work, and sport, it has not yet been referenced in the field of school psychology. First, we review the theoretical underpinnings as told through the theory’s evolving models, explore its impacts on cognition, emotion, and behavior, and introduce a multiple goals perspective. Second, we outline the leading research supporting AGT, both in terms of structural and individual intervention studies. Third, we apply the principles of AGT to the primary tasks of school psychology professionals, including assessment, intervention, and consultation practices. The students we support can greatly benefit from gearing our approaches toward ones that foster self-improvement and interest.

Publishing Non-Empirical Papers

This chapter provides guidance on publishing theoretical, literature review, and policy papers. A primary theme of the chapter is that these papers are more difficult to publish than empirical papers because they have is no set structure, and because non-empirical papers do not rely directly on empirical data. Authors are advised to stay extremely close to existing empirical work when proposing a new theory or when reviewing literature. Differences between scoping and integrative reviews, and between theoretical and policy papers, are also outlined. The chapter suggests that authors provide clear justification for why their theory, review, or position is needed and for how it advances the literature. Common reviewer criticisms of non-empirical papers are also provided.

Medication Safety and the Independent Double Check: A Work System Analysis and Reliability Engineering Theory Review

Double checking is a standard practice in many areas of healthcare, despite the growing body of evidence suggesting that it is hard to do, and ineffective as a safety measure. We ask here: ‘What are the work system barriers that make IDC so ineffective?’ and, ‘What does the literature say about double-checking as a safety measure in sociotechnical systems?’

REA model, its development and integration as an enterprise ontology framework

Research Question: REA enterprise ontology framework, what is it good for? Motivation: The historical approach to accounting and management information system design was based on conventions expected by the end-users: debits and credits, accounting cycles, general ledger and journals, bank reconciliations, budgeting function, and select management reports. This approach resulted in gross inefficiencies, data-duplication, and inconsistencies, difficulty with system update, modification, porting, and restoration. An alternative system design theory has been in development since 1982, an approach that is easy to understand, formulate, document, and implement; an approach that applies a basic semantic model of structuring all information flow into a widely applicable enterprise ontology framework that facilitates economic activities and strategic planning for the whole enterprise. Yet, until now, this approach is insufficiently known and seldom utilized. Idea: Our purpose is to provide a comprehensive theory guide for anyone desiring to be acquainted with the REA. Data: We review 55 publications comprising dominant Resource-Events-Agents (REA) theory research. Tools: Methodologically, we obtain, classify, define, and discuss the content of major research streams within REA domain. Contribution: The paper's contribution is in structured and comprehensive review enabling a novice to REA reader time-efficient acquaintance with the intricacies and benefits of the ontology, and information system researchers with wide-ranging theory review in this domain. We conclude with a discussion of contentions and challenges surrounding REA theory and its future developmental directions.

Why do some inter-organisational collaborations in healthcare work when others do not? A realist review

BackgroundInter-organisational collaboration is increasingly prominent within contemporary healthcare systems. A range of collaboration types such as alliances, networks, and mergers have been proposed as a means to turnaround organisations, by reducing duplication of effort, and enabling resource sharing, greater influence, and novel innovations. However, in practice, due to the complexity of the process, such efforts are often rife with difficulty. Notable contributions have sought to make sense of this area, however further understanding is needed in order to gain a better understanding of why some inter-organisational collaborations work when others do not, to be able to more effectively implement collaborations in the future.MethodsRealist review methodology was used, combining systematically searched papers and purposively searched ‘middle-range’ theories. The systematic review encompassed searches for reviews, commentaries, opinion pieces and case studies on HMIC, Medline, PsychINFO, and Social Policy and Practice databases and further searches were conducted using Google Scholar. Data were extracted from included studies according to relevance to the realist review.ResultsThirty-eight systematically-identified studies were included, in addition to twelve purposively-identified papers, informing the development of programme theories of how, why, and when partnerships in healthcare work. The findings led to the proposal of programme theories formulated as context-mechanism-outcome configurations, which outline what outcomes may be expected when partnerships are attempted in differing contexts. We found that it was essential to consider mechanisms underlying partnership functioning, such as building trust and faith in the collaboration, in a context of strong initial trust, to enable maximal synergy and thus collaborative performance.ConclusionAs the first realist review of inter-organisational collaborations in healthcare as an intervention for improvement, this review provides actionable evidence for policymakers and implementers, enhancing understanding of mechanisms underlying the functioning and performing of inter-organisational collaborations, as well as configuring context and entry point to aid success. Next steps in this research will test the results against further case studies and primary data to produce a further refined theory. Review registrationThis review is registered at PROSPERO with ID CRD42019149009.