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1 – 10 of 70Susan Geertshuis, Mary Holmes, Harry Geertshuis, David Clancy and Amanda Bristol
Reports on an effort to implement good practices in learning evaluation. Reviews learning evaluation practices and gathers data using a dedicated software system. Demonstrates…
Abstract
Reports on an effort to implement good practices in learning evaluation. Reviews learning evaluation practices and gathers data using a dedicated software system. Demonstrates learning takes place within complex social systems populated by a multiplicity of factors that influence perceptions of learning and performance outcomes. Argues that technology enables cost‐effective evaluations to be implemented that encompass a broad spectrum of influencing variables and acknowledge the empowered status of the learner. Discusses the implications for evaluation methodologies and the role of trainers within organisations.
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Zoe Lee, Sianne Gordon-Wilson, Iain Davies and Cara Pring
Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to…
Abstract
Purpose
Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to communicate about sustainability persuasively remains limited. The authors argue that a key problem with a firm’s efforts in communicating about sustainability is that it is a psychologically distant issue for both businesses and stakeholders. This paper aims to apply construal level theory to explore managers’ construal level in shaping communication about sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used a two-phase qualitative methodology. Phase one involved undertaking interviews with ten managers in fashion firms to address communications about sustainability in the UK. In phase two, 16 consumers interpreted and reflected on the persuasiveness of communications about sustainability encompassing both concrete and abstract forms of messaging.
Findings
The authors identify the factors driving different approaches to communication (concrete and abstract) depending on the construal levels of managers, managers’ perceptions of the construal level of target stakeholders and the perceived authenticity of the sustainability claim. The paper highlights the conditions under which the (mis)match with the brands’ sustainable practices works in crafting communication. The authors also highlight three main communication strategies in responding to the complexity of sustainability in fashion ecosystems: amplification, quiet activist and populist coupling.
Research limitations/implications
As an in-depth qualitative study, the authors seek to expose an under-researched phenomenon, yet generalisations both within the fashion industry and beyond are limited by this focus.
Practical implications
Fashion managers need to be flexible and evaluate how their communications about sustainability affect stakeholders’ evaluations of their brands. As sustainability in fashion brands grows, concrete and specific sustainability messaging may be necessary to improve sustainable behaviours.
Originality/value
The prevailing literature encourages symbiosis between sustainability practices and communications; such relationships are rare, and studies outside the consumer perspective are also rare. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this exploratory study is the first to understand how managers’ construal level influences decisions around communications about sustainability in fashion and how these messages are perceived by consumers.
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Hope Kent, Amanda Kirby, George Leckie, Rosie Cornish, Lee Hogarth and W. Huw Williams
Looked after children (LAC) are criminalised at five times the rate of children in the general population. Children in contact with both child welfare and child justice systems…
Abstract
Purpose
Looked after children (LAC) are criminalised at five times the rate of children in the general population. Children in contact with both child welfare and child justice systems have higher rates of neurodisability and substance use problems, and LAC in general have high rates of school exclusion, homelessness and unemployment. This study aims to understand whether these factors persist in LAC who are in prison as adults.
Design/methodology/approach
Administrative data collected by the Do-IT profiler screening tool in a prison in Wales, UK, were analysed to compare sentenced prisoners who were LAC (n = 631) to sentenced prisoners who were not LAC (n = 2,201). The sample comprised all prisoners who were screened on entry to prison in a two-year period.
Findings
Prisoners who were LAC scored more poorly on a functional screener for neurodisability (effect size = 0.24), and on four self-report measures capturing traits of dyslexia (0.22), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (0.40), autism spectrum disorders (0.34) and developmental co-ordination disorder (0.33). Prisoners who were LAC were more likely to have been to a pupil referral unit (0.24), have substance use problems (0.16), be homeless or marginally housed (0.18) and be unemployed or unable to work due to disability (0.13).
Originality/value
This study uniquely contributes to our understanding of prisoners who were LAC as a target group for intervention and support with re-integration into the community upon release. LAC in prison as adults may require additional interventions to help with employment, housing and substance use. Education programmes in prison should screen for neurodisability, to develop strategies to support engagement.
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Samantha Flynn, Sue Caton, Amanda Gillooly, Jill Bradshaw, Richard P. Hastings, Chris Hatton, Andrew Jahoda, Peter Mulhall, Stuart Todd, Stephen Beyer and Laurence Taggart
The purpose of this paper is to present data about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic across the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present data about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic across the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with 609 adults with learning disabilities. Family carers and support staff of another 351 adults with learning disabilities completed a proxy online survey. The data were collected between December 2020 and February 2021 and concerned both worries/negatives and anything positive that had happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
Social isolation was the most commonly reported worry/negative for adults with learning disabilities, with other frequently reported worries/negatives including: changes to/loss of routine; loss of support/services; and decreased health/well-being/fitness. A large proportion of participants indicated that nothing positive had happened because of COVID-19, but some positives were reported, including: digital inclusion; more time spent with important people; improved health/well-being/fitness; and, a slower pace of life.
Practical implications
Future pandemic planning must ensure that adults with learning disabilities are supported to maintain social contact with the people who matter to them and to support their health and well-being (including maintaining access to essential services and activities). Some adults with learning disabilities may benefit from additional support to improve their digital confidence and access. This may in turn enable them to maintain contact with family, friends and support services/activities.
Originality/value
This is the largest study about the experiences of adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The authors primarily collected data directly from adults with learning disabilities and worked with partner organisations of people with learning disabilities throughout the study.
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This paper aims to review the practitioner‐based teaching model for the MSc in Information and Library Management (ILM) at the University of the West of England (UWE). With input…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the practitioner‐based teaching model for the MSc in Information and Library Management (ILM) at the University of the West of England (UWE). With input from students, practitioners and academics it considers the advantages and disadvantages of this approach and questions whether this is indeed the way forward for LIS education.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is used with views gained from students, practitioners and academic staff involved in the course. These views were gained from a combination of informal focus groups, informal interviews and a short e‐mail questionnaire asking current students their views on practitioner involvement in the course.
Findings
Findings reveal a model of practitioner‐based learning on the MSc ILM at UWE, which is meeting student and employer needs in terms of the skills they require in their future roles. Findings also raise questions as to how one can best ensure the involvement of practitioners in the future of the course; whether practitioner input is needed from a broader range of roles outside the library and information service; and how one can best maintain a balance of academic and practical skills.
Practical implications
The study suggests that more thought may be needed on securing practitioner involvement in the development and delivery of LIS education and further consideration on whether some of that involvement should be from a wider range of roles.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the need to consider how to best ensure the ongoing involvement of practitioners in LIS education, particularly those outside academic libraries, whilst maintaining the balance of academic rigour. It is valuable to those involved in designing and delivering course content and to those thinking about getting involved.
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David Sarpong and Mairi Maclean
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the multi-ethnic marketplace as the site of the emergence of service nepotism: the practice where employees bestow relational benefits…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the multi-ethnic marketplace as the site of the emergence of service nepotism: the practice where employees bestow relational benefits and/or gifts on customers on the basis that they share a perceived common socio-collective identity. The authors draw on the contemporary turn to practice in social theory to explore why ethnic employees may engage in service nepotism even when they are aware that it contravenes organizational policy.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the paucity of empirical research which investigates the multi-ethnic marketplace as a locus for the emergence of service nepotism, the authors adopted an exploratory qualitative research approach to advance insight into service nepotism. The study benefits from its empirical focus on West African migrants in the UK who represent a distinct minority group living in urban areas of the developed world. Data for the study were collected over a six-month period, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection.
Findings
The research highlights the occurrence and complexities of service nepotism in the multi-ethnic marketplace, and identifies four distinct activities (marginal revolution, reciprocal altruism, pandering for recognition, and horizontal comradeship), that motivate ethnic employees to engage in service nepotism, despite their awareness that this conflicts with organizational policy.
Research limitations/implications
By virtue of the chosen theoretical lens, the authors were unable to demonstrate how service nepotism could be observed outside spoken language. Also, care should be taken in generalizing the findings from this study given the particularities of the sub-group involved. For example, since the study is based on a small sample of first generation migrants, the findings may not hold true for their offspring, whose socialization and marketplace experiences may be qualitatively different from those of their parents.
Practical implications
Service nepotism challenges fundamental western egalitarian ideals in the multi-ethnic marketplace. Organizations may wish to develop strategies to placate observers’ concerns of creeping favouritism in a supposedly equitable marketplace. The research could also serve as a starting point for managers objectively to assess the likely impact of service nepotism on the organizing value systems and competitiveness. In particular, the authors suggest that international marketing managers would do well to look beneath the surface to see what is really going on in international marketplaces, since ostensible experiences of marketplace consumption may not always reflect underlying reality.
Originality/value
By using service nepotism as an analytical category to explore the marketplace experiences of ethnic service employees living and working in industrialized societies, the research shows that the practice of service nepotism, whilst taken for granted, can have far-reaching impact on individuals, observers, and service organizations in an increasingly highly differentiated multi-ethnic society.
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Introduction This was the first comprehensive survey and analysis of UK university professorial and senior staff salaries. The survey was conducted by the AUT in response to…
Abstract
Introduction This was the first comprehensive survey and analysis of UK university professorial and senior staff salaries. The survey was conducted by the AUT in response to membership demand for information on their salaries and in order to assess the support among professors and senior staff for a salary scale. The analysis of the results was carried out by the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) Social Research Unit.
Samantha Flynn, Chris Hatton, Richard P. Hastings, Nikita Hayden, Sue Caton, Pauline Heslop, Andrew Jahoda, Stuart Todd, Edward Oloidi, Stephen Beyer, Peter Mulhall and Laurence Taggart
This paper aims to present data about access to and use of health and social care services by adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, Northern…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present data about access to and use of health and social care services by adults with learning disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in three waves between December 2020 and September 2021 and concerned the use of health and social care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected at one or more time-points directly from 694 adults with learning disabilities and through separate proxy reports by family carers and paid support staff of another 447 adults with learning disabilities.
Findings
Many people with learning disabilities who reported regularly accessing services/supports pre-pandemic were not receiving them during the timeframe of this study. There were indications of increasing access to some services and supports between Wave 2 and 3, but this was not universal.
Practical implications
People in Cohort 2, who were likely to have severe/profound learning disabilities, were less frequently reported to access online community activities than people in Cohort 1, which is likely to exacerbate existing social isolation for this cohort and their family carers. Service providers should seek to ensure equitable access to services and activities for all people with learning disabilities in the event of future lockdowns or pandemics.
Originality/value
This is the largest longitudinal study about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and social care services for adults with learning disabilities in the UK. We primarily collected data directly from adults with learning disabilities and worked with partner organisations of people with learning disabilities and family members throughout the study.
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Jacek Koziarski and Jin Ree Lee
This paper explores the various challenges associated with policing cybercrime, arguing that a failure to improve law enforcement responses to cybercrime may negatively impact…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the various challenges associated with policing cybercrime, arguing that a failure to improve law enforcement responses to cybercrime may negatively impact their institutional legitimacy as reliable first responders. Further, the paper makes preliminary links between cybercrime and the paradigm of evidence-based policing (EBP), providing suggestions on how the paradigm can assist, develop, and improve a myriad of factors associated with policing cybercrime.
Design/methodology/approach
Three examples of prominent cybercrime incidents will be explored under the lens of institutional theory: the cyberextortion of Amanda Todd; the hacking of Ashley Madison; and the 2013 Target data breach.
Findings
EBP approaches to cybercrime can improve the effectiveness of existing and future approaches to cybercrime training, recruitment, as well as officers' preparedness and awareness of cybercrime.
Research limitations/implications
Future research will benefit from determining what types of training work at the local, state/provincial, and federal level, as well as evaluating both current and new cybercrime policing programs and strategies.
Practical implications
EBP approaches to cybercrime have the potential to improve police responses to cybercrime calls for service, save police resources, improve police–public relations during calls for service, and improve police legitimacy.
Originality/value
This paper links cybercrime policing to the paradigm of EBP, highlighting the need for evaluating and implementing effective evidence-based approaches to policing cybercrime.
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Hüsna Kaya Kaçar, Amanda Avery, Sarah Bennett and Fiona McCullough
This paper aims to understand the association of dietary patterns with perceived fatigue and identify predictors for presence of fatigue in women who are obese and trying to lose…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand the association of dietary patterns with perceived fatigue and identify predictors for presence of fatigue in women who are obese and trying to lose weight.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey, hosted by slimming world (SW), comprised of a questionnaire regarding weight, level of fatigue and food frequency questionnaire before joining the weight management programme (T0) and current data (T1) was conducted. In total, 543 non-pregnant women with obesity of child-bearing age (19-49 years) completed the survey (T0-T1). The principal components analysis was used to determine dietary patterns and multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse predictors for presence of fatigue.
Findings
The participants who have a “simple carbohydrate and high fat” dietary pattern were more likely to have fatigue at T0 (p ≤ 0.001) and those who followed a “vegetables” dietary pattern were less likely to have fatigue at T1 (p ≤ 0.05). The study findings indicate that while “simple carbohydrate and high fat” dietary pattern was associated with increased risk of fatigue, “vegetables” dietary pattern was associated with reduced risk of fatigue and a higher percentage of weight loss.
Originality/value
The present study appears to be the first study to examine associations between dietary patterns and fatigue. The strengths of the study included the in-depth analysis of this association in both before joining a weight management programme (SW) and currently as a member of SW with an adequate sample size.
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