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This study advances our knowledge about the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) through exploring the perceptions of English police officers in three principal areas: positive perceptions, negative perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions. In doing so, the purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the democratising process in the habitus of policing.

This study presents a novel data set that evaluates the introduction of BWC to police officers in the East Midlands area of England. The authors conducted an extensive survey to explore the perceptions of 162 police officers about the BWCs. The authors examined the empirical data using Stata within the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu concerning the concept of habitus.

The authors have found that most police officers perceive that BWCs have a positive impact on policing practices and evidence collection. The positive perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions increase the importance of BWCs; however, there are also negative perceptions regarding effective policing, administrative functionality and establishing a better relationship with the community. The authors argued that all three areas: positive perceptions, negative perceptions and evidence-focussed perceptions play a stimulating role to democratise the habitus of policing. On the other hand, BWCs do not guarantee the consolidation of democratic principles in the habitus of policing because of the authority of police to decide when, where and how to use BWCs.

The research is limited to the perceptions of 162 police officers in East Midlands before they actually started using it. A future study to analyse their real-life experiences after using the BWCs may help us to compare their perceptions before using it with real-life experiences after BWCs are used. In addition, a comparative approach between countries in future research will help to explain the role of technological applications in different social geographies and legal systems.

This study offers new insights about the perceptions of police on BWCs before they started using them. The authors introduce the democratic habitus of policing as an innovative concept and explored power dynamics in the habitus of policing through BWCs. The findings provide a strong empirical contribution to determine the conditions of democratic habitus of policing. In doing so, this study develops our theoretical knowledge about the habitus concept in sociology by employing BWCs in policing activities.

Purpose – To consider the possibility that research ethics committee perceptions of risk is tainted by their social distance from marginalised social groups and their lack of familiarity with carrying out fieldwork with criminally involved individuals. And to reflect on the potential for the negative perceptions create a vicious cycle by corroding trust and creating an over-reliance on a rigid interpretation of the ethical guidelines leading to tighter restrictions on researcher conduct.

Methodology/approach – Drawing on our experience of carrying out longitudinal research with a group of hard to reach drug using offenders the chapter uses case studies to offer a reflexive account of the practical problems raised by the research.

Findings – It provides examples of the way the ethical boundaries can be stretched and broken by the circumstances of the research. This arises, in part, from the tension of maintaining a trustful relationship with the participant or taking action that is in their interest and abiding by the ethical guidelines. The vicious cycle could be broken by changing the approach to ethical procedures by placing the care of the participants at the heart of the process and by giving due weight to their social circumstances. An ethics of care approach would shift the way researcher obligation to the participants and the project is conceptualised.

Originality/value of paper – The paper makes a valuable contribution to the debate about the negative impact of bureaucratic procedures on academic research among marginalised groups.

The differences between managers and leaders are defined. The role of leader is to be creative, which means creating the rules that managers follow. These rules can be taught to the managers, but how are the leaders to learn? The Leadership Development Programme at Ashridge Management College emphasises feedback skills, techniques of creativity, and also the importance of language for transmitting ideas.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that research governance processes in the National Health Service (NHS) are having on the conduct of research that involves a national survey and to point to ways that existing processes may develop to facilitate such research.

The paper describes the experiences of a research team of seeking approval in 357 NHS organisations to carry out a national postal survey to investigate specialist services and specialist staffing for older people in England in the wake of recent policy developments. Through reflection on this experience, the team propose approaches for the development of existing research governance processes. The national survey was the first stage of the study, which was followed by a detailed investigation of the development of specialist service provision for older people in six case study sites across England. The national survey aimed to map specialist service provision for older people by identifying the range of service models, agency and professional involvements, and nature of the case load in statutory services (health and social care), independent and voluntary sector organisations.

Of the 357 NHS organisations approached for approval to carry out the survey within the organisation, this was achieved only in 247 organisations over 12 months. Many organisations were facilitative of the process; however, protracted and extensive approval processes in others led to long delays and redesigning of the research that was commissioned by the Department of Health.

The paper is of value in that it highlights processes and practices that hinder research and builds on those that work well.

This essay charts an intellectual journey. Geoffrey M. Hodgson became an institutional economist in the 1980s. He explains how he discovered institutional economics and what strains of institutional thought were attractive for him. Another issue raised in this essay is how institutional researchers organize and move forward. Hodgson argues for an interdisciplinary approach, but this is not without its problems.

I would like, in closing, to suggest a few points for your consideration with a view to provoking an interesting discussion, and make the following suggestions:—

Aims to explore the possibility of developing a neoclassical theory of institutional failure, based on “transaction costs”. Critically assesses the role of institutions in General Equilibrium theory and concludes that, with the exception of the market (price mechanism), this is institution‐free. This is unsatisfactory, given the importance of the firm and the state, in particular, which have received wide attention recently in the theory of transaction costs. It is claimed that General Equilibrium theory can be given microfoundations based on transaction costs. This provides the possibility of a neo‐classical theory of institutional failure. It also has important implications on the nature and scope of economic theory in general and the plan versus markets debate in particular.

Challenges the assumption that performance‐related pay for academic staff in higher education will play an important part in the creation of better quality public services. Argues that PRP will lead to the non‐pay benefits of appraisal being dissipated; the undermining of academic staff′s professionalism; collegiality being threatened; the hindrance of innovation and change; and the alienation of women and staff from ethnic minorities. Using the simple definition of quality that emphasizes that service providers get “close to the customer”, the combined effect of these dysfunctional outcomes of PRP is that, far from improving quality, PRP is likely to harm it.