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– The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of secondary analysis to social sciences and to futures studies, both for research and teaching purposes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of secondary analysis to social sciences and to futures studies, both for research and teaching purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
An illustration of the main characteristics of secondary analysis, presenting it as a theory-driven activity where the definition of the research design plays a fundamental role.
Findings
This paper extends the secondary analysis approach to the study of the future. The utility of secondary analysis for futures studies is illustrated by means of the presentation of two examples developed in the field of the sociology of religion.
Originality/value
The results are useful for those who want to develop sound and robust approaches to the study of social change, taking into consideration the simulation of possible future scenarios.
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Young men and women dominate different niches of science education in Australia, but how this divide varies between university and post-secondary vocational education and training…
Abstract
Young men and women dominate different niches of science education in Australia, but how this divide varies between university and post-secondary vocational education and training (VET) is not well understood. Therefore, I compare courses in both sectors to assess if the male–female gap at later stages of education mirrors adolescent career plans and subject choices made in secondary school. Multinomial logistic regressions estimated on data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (Y06) illustrate the extent to which the gender divides in secondary and post-secondary education correspond with one another. Y06 started with the 2006 Australian Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Each year until 2013, a nationally representative sample of youth, who were nearly 16 years old in 2006, reported their schooling and work experiences. I find that Australian women rarely specialise in physics, engineering and technology (PET); in contrast, they dominate the life sciences. While post-secondary science is segregated by gender everywhere, the disparity within VET is much deeper due to a large share of PET enrolments. VET students, who come from modest socio-economic backgrounds and have less academic success at school, learn in more segregated environments than their university peers. This analysis suggests that gender divides will be particularly hard to close within post-secondary VET, even if schools succeed in eradicating gender differentials in students’ career aspirations, science performance, self-concept and choices of science subjects.
Jenny Bossaller, Christopher Sean Burns and Amy VanScoy
The purpose of this paper is to use the sociology of time to understand how time is perceived by academic librarians who provide reference and information service (RIS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the sociology of time to understand how time is perceived by academic librarians who provide reference and information service (RIS).
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) of two phenomenological studies about the experience of RIS in academic libraries. The authors used QSA to re-analyze the interview transcripts to develop themes related to the perception of time.
Findings
Three themes about the experience of time in RIS work were identified. Participants experience time as discrete, bounded moments but sometimes experience threads through these moments that provide continuity, time is framed as a commodity that weighs on the value of the profession, and time plays an integral part of participants’ narratives and professional identities.
Research limitations/implications
Given that the initial consent processes vary across organizations and types of studies, the researchers felt ethically compelled to share only excerpts from each study’s data, rather than the entire data set, with others on the research team. Future qualitative studies should consider the potential for secondary analysis and build data management and sharing plans into the initial study design.
Practical implications
Most discussions of time in the literature are presented as a metric – time to answer a query, time to conduct a task – The authors offer a more holistic understanding of time and its relationship to professional work.
Social implications
The methodology taken in this paper makes sense of the experiences of work in RIS for librarians. It identifies commonalities between the experience of time and work for RIS professionals and those of other professionals, such as physicians and software engineers. It suggests revising models for RIS, as well as some professional values.
Originality/value
This paper contributes a better understanding of time, understudied as a phenomenon that is experienced or perceived, among RISs providers in academic libraries. The use of secondary qualitative analysis is an important methodological contribution to library and information science studies.
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Sara R Curran, Chang Y Chung, Wendy Cadge and Anchalee Varangrat
Within individual countries, the paths towards increasing educational attainment are not always linear and individuals are not equally affected. Differences between boys’ and…
Abstract
Within individual countries, the paths towards increasing educational attainment are not always linear and individuals are not equally affected. Differences between boys’ and girls’ educational attainments are a common expression of this inequality as boys are more often favored for continued schooling. We examine the importance of birth cohort, sibship size, migration, and school accessibility for explaining both the gender gap and its narrowing in secondary schooling in one district in Northeast Thailand between 1984 and 1994. Birth cohort is a significant explanation for the narrowing of the gender gap. Migration, sibship size, and remote village location are important explanations for limited secondary education opportunities, especially for girls.
Jun Kang, Anthony K. Asare, Thomas Brashear-Alejandro and Ping Li
This study aims to help resolve some of the inconsistencies of the relationships between franchisor growth and its drivers in prior literature.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to help resolve some of the inconsistencies of the relationships between franchisor growth and its drivers in prior literature.
Design/methodology/approach
First, this study provides a meta-analysis with bivariate correlation analysis and moderation analysis. It then offers an additional analysis of secondary data to shed further light on the relationship between franchisor growth and its drivers.
Findings
This study confirms the diverse nature of the relationship between the various measures of growth and drivers. It finds that proportion of outlets franchised and brand reputation have the strongest relationships with geographic dispersion; age and proportion of outlets franchised have the strongest relationships with outlet growth rate; and size has the strongest relationship with the number of new outlets. In addition, these multiple relationships are moderated by all three research characteristics that this study investigates, including data source, time frame and industry context.
Research limitations/implications
This meta-analysis merely offers an examination of the most commonly studied drivers and not a complete review of all potentially important variables. It calls for further research that examines the factors that lead to franchisor growth and performance in general.
Practical implications
Managers of young franchisors do not need to rush to expand their business across a wide range of geographic regions. Young franchisors instead should focus initially on gaining maturity, developing their business concept, building an attractive track record and improving their brand reputation. Beyond a strong brand and well-developed business concept, franchisors can attract potential franchisees by reassuring them and making them feel secure about their investment.
Originality/value
This study includes a bivariate analysis that was used to conduct a meta-analysis and also an empirical analysis of secondary data. By conducting the secondary data analysis, we were able to examine the extent to which the meta-analysis results of this study could be extended beyond the time period for papers included in the meta-analysis.
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Tara Rava Zolnikov, Michael Hammel, Frances Furio and Brandon Eggleston
Dual diagnosis is a term that describes the co-occurrence of mental health disorders or illness and substance use or abuse disorders. Because this co-occurrence results in…
Abstract
Purpose
Dual diagnosis is a term that describes the co-occurrence of mental health disorders or illness and substance use or abuse disorders. Because this co-occurrence results in multiple diseases, layers of treatment are often needed to successfully create positive change in the individual. The purpose of this study is to explore factors of treatment that could facilitate improvements in functionality and quality of life for those with a dual diagnosis.
Design/methodology/approach
A secondary data analysis, using both quantitative and qualitative data, was completed. Secondary analysis is an empirical exercise that applies the same basic research principles as studies using primary data and has steps to be followed, including the evaluative and procedural steps commonly associated with secondary data analysis. Documentation data from the intensive mobile psychosocial assertive community treatment program was gathered for this analysis; this program was used because of the intensive and community-based services provided to patients with a dual diagnosis.
Findings
The major findings from this secondary analysis suggested that significant barriers included “denial” (e.g. evasion, suspension or avoidance of internal awareness) of diagnoses, complicated treatment and other barriers related to housing. Ultimately, these findings provided greater insight into potential effective treatment interventions for people living with a dual diagnosis.
Originality/value
This study adds to the growing body of literature showing that patient-centered care allows for more effective treatment and ultimately, improved health outcomes.
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Laura Marquez-Ramos and Estefanía Mourelle
Might a country’s economic growth performance differ depending on the evolution of its human capital? This paper aims to consider education as a channel for human capital…
Abstract
Purpose
Might a country’s economic growth performance differ depending on the evolution of its human capital? This paper aims to consider education as a channel for human capital improvement and then for economic growth. The authors hypothesize the existence of a threshold for education, after which point the characteristics of economic growth change.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this question, the authors turn from a linear framework to a nonlinear one by applying smooth transition specifications.
Findings
This empirical analysis for Spain points to the existence of nonlinearities in the relationship between education and economic growth at country level, for both secondary and tertiary education. Next, as different patterns emerge in different regions, the authors provide a regional analysis for a number of representative Spanish regions. The results show that both secondary and tertiary education matter for economic growth and that nonlinearities in this relationship should be taken into account.
Practical implications
What is learnt from using Smooth Transition Regression models for the education-economic growth link is that the educational level of the population can be understood as a source of nonlinearities in the economic activity of a country (and of a region). Thus, depending on national and regional educational levels, economic growth behaves differently.
Originality/value
Although the importance of nonlinearities has been identified, linearity is usually assumed in this field of the literature. This paper calls into question the linearity assumption by using time series techniques for 1971-2013 in Spain, an OECD country, and testing whether the results at country level hold for different regions within Spain as a robustness check.
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Xing Xie, Zhenlin Li, Baoshan Zhu and Hong Wang
The purpose of this study is to suppress secondary flows and improve aerodynamic performance of a centrifugal impeller.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to suppress secondary flows and improve aerodynamic performance of a centrifugal impeller.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-objective optimisation design system was described. The optimization design system was composed of a three-dimensional (3D) inverse design, multi-objective optimisation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. First, the control parameter ΔCp for the secondary flows was derived and selected as the optimisation objective. Then, aimed at minimising ΔCp, a 3D inverse design for impellers with different blade loading distributions and blade lean angles was completed and multi-objective optimisation was conducted. Lastly, the improvement in the distribution of secondary flows and aerodynamic performance of the optimal impeller was demonstrated by CFD analysis.
Findings
The study derived the control parameter ΔCp for the secondary flows. ΔCp can indicate the distribution of secondary flows both near the blade pressure and suction surfaces. As ΔCp decreased, secondary flows decreased. The blade loading distribution with fore maximum blade loading at the shroud and aft maximum blade loading at the hub, coupled with a small negative blade lean angle, could help suppress secondary flows and improve aerodynamic efficiency.
Originality/value
A direct control method on internal flow field characteristic-secondary flows by optimisation design was proposed for a centrifugal impeller. The impeller optimisation design process saves time by avoiding substantial CFD sample calculations.
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Chandrasekaran Nagarajan, Indira A. and Ramasubramaniam M.
This study aims to analyse the structure of the Indian vaccine supply chain (SC) during the Covid-19 crisis and explore the underlying challenges at each stage in the network. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the structure of the Indian vaccine supply chain (SC) during the Covid-19 crisis and explore the underlying challenges at each stage in the network. It also brings out the difference in performance of various constituent states.
Design/methodology/approach
This study relied on both primary and secondary data for the analyses. For the primary data, the study gathered experts’ opinions to validate the authors’ inferences. For the secondary data, it relies on government data provided in websites.
Findings
Based on the quartile analysis and cluster analysis of the secondary data, the authors find that the constituent states responded differently during the first and second waves. This was due to the differences in SC characteristics attributed to varied demographics and administrative efficiency.
Research limitations/implications
This paper’s analyses is primarily limited to secondary information and inferences are based on them. The study has important implications for implementing the large-scale vaccination drives by government and constituent states for better coordination and last-mile delivery.
Originality/value
The contribution is unique in studying the performance of constituent states using statistical techniques, with secondary data from authentic sources. It is also unique in combining this observation with validation from experts.
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