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1 – 10 of 43The purpose of this paper is to describe Karen refugee women’s experience of resettlement and the factors which structured community capacity to support their mental health and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe Karen refugee women’s experience of resettlement and the factors which structured community capacity to support their mental health and well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
A postcolonial and feminist standpoint was used to bring Karen women’s voice to the knowledge production process. Data were collected through ethnographic field observation, in-depth semi-structured individual and focus group interviews with Karen women as well as healthcare and social service providers.
Findings
Three interrelated themes emerged from the data: Karen women’s construction of mental health as “stress and worry”; gender, language and health literacy intersected, shaping Karen women’s access to health care and social resources; flexible partnerships between settlement agencies, primary care and public health promoted community capacity but were challenged by neoliberalism.
Research limitations/implications
Karen women and families are a diverse group with a unique historical context. Not all the findings are applicable across refugee women.
Practical implications
This paper highlights the social determinants of mental health for Karen women and community responses for mitigating psychological distress during resettlement.
Social implications
Public health policy requires a contextualized understanding of refugee women’s mental health. Health promotion in resettlement must include culturally safe provision of health care to mitigate sources of psychological distress during resettlement.
Originality/value
This research brings a postcolonial and feminist analysis to community capacity as a public health strategy.
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Michelle L. Damiani, Brad V. Unick and Karen-Joy Schultz
Professional development (PD) is an essential component of continuing learning for in-service teachers. This paper discusses a school-based example of using the best practice of…
Abstract
Purpose
Professional development (PD) is an essential component of continuing learning for in-service teachers. This paper discusses a school-based example of using the best practice of coaching in early childhood education supported by a professional development school partnership. We explain how a teacher identified need led to a collaborative, multistep approach to meeting that need in connection to State mandates.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, we used a case study methodological approach with a team of preschool teachers at one school. The model combines use of PD sessions, classroom coaching, classroom observation and reflection.
Findings
Teachers’ feedback indicates that using the strategy positively impacted most of the participants’ ability to support communication, community-building and inclusive practices in their classrooms. The data that emerged in the following year evidenced increased use of visual supports in classrooms, use in connection with literacy goals and interest in creating new uses in the school.
Originality/value
This article contributes an action-oriented school-based example of bridging research to practice to support teachers’ needs through PD and coaching in a PDS. The design and practical implications may interest preschool educators, instructional coaches, administrators, professional development schools and others involved with monitoring teacher development initiatives.
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Karen A.F. Landale, Aruna Apte, Rene G. Rendon and Javier Salmerón
The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of potential cost savings for category managers of installation-level services. Using…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of potential cost savings for category managers of installation-level services. Using integrated solid waste management (ISWM) as a test case, the authors also examine the impact of small business set-asides on price and contractor performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data analytics, specifically sequential regression, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and ordered logistic regression to investigate the influence of service- and contracting-related variables on price and contractor performance.
Findings
The authors find that service- and contracting-related variables influence price. Specifically, they identify that a service-related variable, number of containers, significantly affects price, and that two contracting-related variables, one type of small business set-aside and the number of offers received, also significantly affect price. The authors quantify the price premiums paid for using various types of small business set-asides.
Research limitations/implications
Although the findings were significant, the authors believe that the robustness of the conclusions could be enhanced if the Air Force captured more data. Additional observations would increase the generalizability of the results.
Practical implications
This empirical experiment demonstrates that detailed analyses are required to gain insights into services’ price drivers to craft more appropriate category management strategies for installation-level services.
Originality/value
This empirical study shows how historical data can be used to assess price drivers of installation-level services. It is also one of the first to quantify the impact that small business set-asides have on price.
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Karen Kelly, Carl James Schwarz, Ricardo Gomez and Kim Marsh
The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study on the time needed to load and disburse cash using bill validators on slot machines and stand-alone cash dispensers in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study on the time needed to load and disburse cash using bill validators on slot machines and stand-alone cash dispensers in casinos in British Columbia under a Ticket In Ticket Out (TITO) system.
Design/methodology/approach
Testing took place over two days, using 18 machines. The results were extrapolated to estimate the approximate time required to process $1,000,000 with different average bill amounts in the cash mix and three different bill validator machines in common use. The average value per bill using the cash mix used by the public in the casino was $33.11 [standard error (SE) $2.11].
Findings
The mean time/accepted note ranged from 4.12 to 9.65 s, depending on bill validator type. This implies that the time needed to load $1,000,000 onto credit slips using bill validators on slot machines ranges from 35 to 81 h, excluding rest breaks and other breaks. The time needed to redeem $1,000,000 is estimated to be 3 h.
Practical/implications
The implications of these finding for illicit actors to successfully launder large amounts of cash are discussed. Given the time needed to physically handle the cash, and other control systems currently in use in casinos in British Columbia, processing large amounts of cash using bill validators on slot machines would require a highly organized team that would find it difficult to elude detection.
Originality/value
The trial results provide a baseline estimate to be used going forward when investigating or proposing money laundering methodologies that include slot machines.
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Jeremy St John, Karen St John and Bo Han
This study furthers one’s understanding of the motivations of the crowdfunding crowd by empirically examining critical factors that influence the crowd's decision to support a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study furthers one’s understanding of the motivations of the crowdfunding crowd by empirically examining critical factors that influence the crowd's decision to support a crowdfunding project.
Design/methodology/approach
Backer's comments from a sample of the top 100 most funded technology product projects on KickStarter were collected. A latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) analysis strategy was adopted to investigate critical motivational factors. Three experts mapped those factors to the known theoretical constructs of social exchange theory (SET).
Findings
Although backers are motivated by value, they are also motivated by far less tangible social factors including trust and a feeling of psychological ownership. Findings suggest that the crowd is far more than a passive group of investors or customers and should be viewed as participatory stakeholders. This study serves as guidance for project owners hoping to motivate the crowd and for future investigators examining backer motivations in other types of crowdsourcing projects.
Research limitations/implications
Online chatter in the form of user-generated comments is an excellent data source for researchers to mine for value and meaning.
Practical implications
Given strong feelings of psychological ownership, project owners should actively engage the crowd and solicit the crowd for advice and help in order to motivate them.
Originality/value
The study presents the first empirical exploration of backer motivations using LDA guided by theory and the knowledge of experts. A framework of latent motivational factors is proposed.
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