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1 – 10 of 12Nick Midgley, Antonella Cirasola, Eva A. Sprecher, Sheila Redfern, Hannah Wright, Beth Rider and Peter Martin
The purpose of this study is to describe the development of the 14-item reflective fostering fidelity rating (RFFR), an observational rating system to evaluate model fidelity of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe the development of the 14-item reflective fostering fidelity rating (RFFR), an observational rating system to evaluate model fidelity of group facilitators in the Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP), a mentalisation-based psychoeducation programme to support foster carers. The authors assess usability, dimensionality, inter-rater reliability and discriminative ability of the RFFR.
Design/methodology/approach
Eighty video clip extracts documenting 20 RFP sessions were independently rated by four raters using the RFFR. The dimensionality of the RFFR was assessed using principal components analysis. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient.
Findings
The proportion of missing ratings was low at 2.8%. A single principal component summarised over 90% of the variation in ratings for each rater. The inter-rater reliability of individual item ratings was poor-to-moderate, but a summary score had acceptable inter-rater reliability. The authors present evidence that the RFFR can distinguish RFP sessions that differ in treatment fidelity.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first investigation and report of the RFFR’s validity in assessing the programme fidelity of the RFP. The paper concludes that the RFFR is an appropriate rating measure for treatment fidelity of the RFP and useful for the purposes of both quality control and supervision.
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Nick Midgley, Eva A. Sprecher, Antonella Cirasola, Sheila Redfern, Benita Pursch, Caroline Smith, Sue Douglas and Peter Martin
There is little evidence regarding how to best support the emotional well-being of children in foster care. This paper aims to present the evaluation of an adaptation of the…
Abstract
Purpose
There is little evidence regarding how to best support the emotional well-being of children in foster care. This paper aims to present the evaluation of an adaptation of the reflective fostering programme, a group-based programme to support foster carers. This study aimed to explore whether a version of the programme, co-delivered by a social work professional and an experienced foster carer, was acceptable and relevant to foster carers and to gather data on programme effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 38 foster carers attended the programme and took part in this study. Data was collected regarding carer- and child-focused outcomes at pre-intervention, post-intervention and four-month follow-up. Focus interviews were also conducted to further assess acceptability and relevance for foster carers.
Findings
Analysis of quantitative outcome showed statistically significant improvements in all outcomes considered including foster carers stress and carer-defined problems, as well as carer-reported measures of child difficulties. Focus group interviews with foster carers suggested that the programme as co-delivered by a foster carer and a social worker was felt to be relevant and helpful to foster carers.
Originality/value
These results provide a unique contribution to limited understandings of what works for supporting foster carers and the children in their care. Promising evidence is provided for the acceptability and relevance of the revised version of this novel support programme and its effectiveness in terms of carer- and child-related outcome measures. This work paves the way for further necessary impact evaluation.
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Ambiguities in the term ‘evidence‐based practice’ (EBP) are often used to hide some of the tensions within the idea itself. This article seeks to clarify what EBP means and how…
Abstract
Ambiguities in the term ‘evidence‐based practice’ (EBP) are often used to hide some of the tensions within the idea itself. This article seeks to clarify what EBP means and how evidence and knowledge can contribute to the development of children's services. It acknowledges the ‘implementation gap’ between evidence‐based practice and evidence‐based practitioners, and discusses two contrasting perspectives on the problem and its solution. For ‘disseminators’ the primary issue is better translation of findings into practice, illustrated here by the work of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). ‘Revisionists’ look beyond obstacles and drivers to implementation and instead advocate looking again at the relationship between research and practice and propose a number of radical proposals for how this relationship can be re‐envisioned.
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Laurence Ferry, Henry Midgley and Stuart Green
The study explains why Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom (UK) focused on accountability through data during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on how data could be used to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explains why Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom (UK) focused on accountability through data during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on how data could be used to improve the government’s response to the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Understanding the implications of accountability for COVID-19 is crucial to understanding how governments should respond to future pandemics. This article provides an account of what a select committee in the UK thought were the essential elements of these accountability relationships. To do so, the authors use a neo-Roman concept of liberty to show how Parliamentary oversight of the pandemic for accountability was crucial to maintaining the liberty of citizens during the crisis and to identify what lessons need to be learnt for future crises.
Findings
The study shows that Parliamentarians were concerned that the UK government was not meeting its obligations to report openly about the COVID-19 pandemic to them. It shows that the government did make progress in reporting during the pandemic but further advancements need to be made in future for restrictions to be compatible with the protection of liberty.
Research limitations/implications
The study extends the concept of neo-Roman liberty showing how it is relevant in an emergency situation and provides an account of why accountability is necessary for the preservation of liberty when the government uses emergency powers.
Practical implications
Governments and Parliaments need to think about how they preserve liberty during crises through enhanced accountability mechanisms and the publication of data.
Originality/value
The study extends previous work on liberty and calculation, providing a theorisation of the role of numbers in the protection of liberty.
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Nick Vink, Alain Deloire, Valerie Bonnardot and Joachim Ewert
The purpose of this article is to attempt to synthesise the lessons from at least four different ways of looking at the South Africa wine industry: economics, climatology…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to attempt to synthesise the lessons from at least four different ways of looking at the South Africa wine industry: economics, climatology, viticulture, and the sociology of work.
Design/methodology/approach
The economic performance of South Africa's wine industry since democratisation in the early 1990s is reviewed, as is the effect of climate change on the industry. This is followed by an assessment of possible strategies for building international competitiveness whilst simultaneously coping with the effects of climate change.
Findings
While industry systems should allow the marketing of speciality wines (e.g. from a single vineyard, from a single estate), this is not a viable strategy for most wine producers. Furthermore, climate change will lead to volatility in the characteristics that identify different terroirs.
Practical implications
Industry strategies should rather focus on the benefits of diversity, but with a range of adaptations that will also result in better quality wines. These encompass quality; geographic location; viticultural practices; the style of wines and the renewal of skills. In synthesising this argument, the authors then consider whether such a strategy could enhance or hinder greater international competitiveness for the industry.
Originality/value
The results can be taken into consideration by policy makers and industry stakeholders in designing future strategies.
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Nick Johns, John S.A. Edwards and Heather Hartwell
This research aims to explore the scope of the food neophobia scale (FNS) as a means of identifying classes of adopters in the market diffusion of new food products.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore the scope of the food neophobia scale (FNS) as a means of identifying classes of adopters in the market diffusion of new food products.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire incorporating the FNS, together with a number of demographics questions, was administered to 226 postgraduate students. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using t‐testing, one‐way analysis of variance, cluster and discriminant analysis.
Findings
There were small differences between recently arrived and long‐term residents, between men and women, and, more significantly, between Europeans and East Asians, although not between other groups. A two‐cluster structure was revealed within the data which broadly conformed to the expected pattern of adopters, but did not provide a more precise discrimination. This suggests that the FNS is dichotomous rather than continuous.
Practical implications
The FNS provides a potential tool for marketers of food products, but it would need to be used with other measures to identify all five classes of adopters.
Originality/value
This study addresses a gap in current knowledge, since food neophobia and the FNS have not been considered before in the context of market diffusion of new food products.
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Thomas Ahrens, Laurence Ferry and Rihab Khalifa
This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the usefulness of institutional theory to critical studies. It pursues this topic by exploring some of the possibilities for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the usefulness of institutional theory to critical studies. It pursues this topic by exploring some of the possibilities for allocating local authority funds more fairly for poor residents. This paper aims to shed light on the institution of budgeting in a democratically elected local government under austerity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses world culture theory, the study of the devolution of cultural authority to individuals and organisations through which they turn into agentic actors. Based on a field study of Newcastle City Council’s (NCC’s) budget-related practices, the paper uses the notion of actorhood to explore the use of fairness in austerity budgets.
Findings
This paper documents how new concerns with fairness gave rise to new local authority practices and gave NCC characteristics of actorhood. This paper also shows why it might make sense for a local authority that is managing austerity budget cuts and cutting back on services to make more detailed performance information public, rather than attempting to hide service deterioration, as some prior literature suggests. This paper delineates the limits to actorhood, in this study’s case, principally the inability to overcome structural constraints of legal state power.
Practical implications
The paper is suggestive of ways in which local government can fight inequality in opposition to central government austerity.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative accounting study of actorhood. It coins the phrase fairness assemblage to denote a combination of various accounting technologies, organisational elements and local government practices.
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This paper seeks to highlight a poorly‐understood dimension of digital exclusion that is not related to access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), but rather to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to highlight a poorly‐understood dimension of digital exclusion that is not related to access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), but rather to the reduction in flexibility for providing and administering public services following the implementation of an integrated e‐government system.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of a project focused on reducing barriers to the delivery of driver licensing services to a remote indigenous community in Australia was undertaken and the data were analysed using Kling et al.'s socio‐technical interaction network (STIN) modelling approach.
Findings
The paper makes four recommendations to improve the licensing situation for the community that are induced from the findings. In particular the paper draws attention to the need to carefully analyse possible negative impacts of any e‐government initiative for those at the margins of society.
Research limitations/implications
The paper aims to analyse the current situation as the foundation for recommending future actions. These can form the basis for subsequent interventions in the licensing situation.
Practical implications
This research provides an outsiders' overview of the licensing situation and recommendations for change that take account of a diversity of viewpoints and interests.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to our understanding of the relationship between ICTs and social exclusion in three ways. It provides a rich narrative describing the secondary impacts of integrated e‐government systems, a theoretically grounded analysis of the situation and some recommendations for addressing some of the implications at both the community level as well as calling for more careful evaluation of possible negative consequences about shifting service provision to integrated systems.
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Setenay Kucukemiroglu and Ali Kara
– The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing online word-of-mouth communication engagement behavior of college students on social networks such as Facebook.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing online word-of-mouth communication engagement behavior of college students on social networks such as Facebook.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey instrument designed to measure the constructs assumed to have an influence on word-of-mouth communication on social networks was administered to college students who are actively using Facebook. Structural equation model was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Results of the study show that social capital and trust were two important factors that positively influenced opinion-giving and opinion-seeking behaviors, which, in turn, influenced the word-of-mouth behavior on Facebook. Although these results were not significantly different from the findings reported in the literature, the results emphasize that the impact of social capital and trust on word of mouth increased through the opinion-seeking/giving path.
Research limitations/implications
Although the college students are ideal users for Facebook, the use of college students could limit the generalizability of the results to other populations. Furthermore, the authors have only investigated a few constructs that are assumed to contribute to the online word-of-mouth communication behavior. Other studies should include a more comprehensive list of construct and test their impact.
Practical implications
The study contributes to the literature on word-of-mouth communication in online social networking sites. Organizations could benefit from this knowledge by understanding that social networking sites should be considered as a key component of the integrated marketing communication strategy, and specific targeting efforts could be directed for those users with high levels of opinion-seeking/giving.
Originality/value
Although online social networking has been popular, not many empirical studies have been conducted on consumers’ engagement in the word-of-mouth communication in social networking sites, such as Facebook. This study attempts to fulfill the gap.
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