Search results

Throughout the world, healthcare policy has committed to delivering integrated models of care. The interface between primary–secondary care has been identified as a particularly challenging area in this regard. To that end, this study aimed to examine the issue of integrated care from general practitioners’ (GPs) perspectives in Ireland.

This multimethod study involved a cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews with GPs in the Ireland East region. A total of 1,274 GPs were identified from publicly available data as practising in the region, of whom the study team were able to identify 430 GPs with email addresses. An email invite was sent to 430 potential participants asking them to complete a 34-item online questionnaire and, for those who were willing, an in-depth interview was conducted with a member of the study team.

In total, 116 GPs completed the survey. Most GPs felt that enhancing integration between primary and secondary care in Ireland was a priority (n = 109, 93.9%). Five themes concerning the state of integrated care and initiatives to improve matters were identified from semi-structured interviews with 12 GPs.

The uniqueness of this study is that it uses a multimethod approach to provide insight into current GP views on the state of integrated care in Ireland, as well as their perspectives on how to improve integration within the Irish healthcare system.

Refugees and asylum seekers worldwide face numerous barriers in accessing health systems. The evidence base regarding who and what helps refugees and asylum seekers facilitate access to and the navigation of the health system in the UK is small. This study aims to address this gap by analysing 14 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with refugees and asylum seekers of different countries of origin in the UK to identify where, when and how they came into contact with the health-care system and what the outcome of these interactions was.

Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were chosen as the key method for this study. In total, 14 individual interviews were conducted. A trauma-informed research approach was applied to reduce the risk of re-traumatising participants.

The paper identifies key obstacles as well as “facilitators” of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ health-care experience in the UK and suggests that host families, friends and third-party organisations all play an important role in ensuring refugees and asylum seekers receive the healthcare they need.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study in the UK that looks at comprehensive health journeys of refugees from their first encounter with health services through to secondary care, highlighting the important role along the way of facilitators such as host families, friends and third-party organisations.

The present study is about generating metadata to enhance thematic transparency and facilitate research on interview collections at the Research Documentation Centre, Centre for Social Sciences (TK KDK) in Budapest. It explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing, managing and processing social science data and its potential to generate useful metadata to describe the contents of such archives on a large scale.

The authors combined manual and automated/semi-automated methods of metadata development and curation. The authors developed a suitable domain-oriented taxonomy to classify a large text corpus of semi-structured interviews. To this end, the authors adapted the European Language Social Science Thesaurus (ELSST) to produce a concise, hierarchical structure of topics relevant in social sciences. The authors identified and tested the most promising natural language processing (NLP) tools supporting the Hungarian language. The results of manual and machine coding will be presented in a user interface.

The study describes how an international social scientific taxonomy can be adapted to a specific local setting and tailored to be used by automated NLP tools. The authors show the potential and limitations of existing and new NLP methods for thematic assignment. The current possibilities of multi-label classification in social scientific metadata assignment are discussed, i.e. the problem of automated selection of relevant labels from a large pool.

Interview materials have not yet been used for building manually annotated training datasets for automated indexing of scientifically relevant topics in a data repository. Comparing various automated-indexing methods, this study shows a possible implementation of a researcher tool supporting custom visualizations and the faceted search of interview collections.

This study considered the use of video conferencing virtual backgrounds with employees located in a large multinational corporate organisation in Ireland and the USA to discern if background images evoking gendered stereotypes of leadership can cue stereotype threat in female technology workers undertaking a leadership activity, thus negatively effecting performance. This study aims to contribute to the body of research on stereotype threat by establishing whether virtual backgrounds used in video conferencing software are inherently identity safe or whether their use could have a negative performance impact on marginalised groups.

Using a mixed methods research design with 22 participants in two countries working in the one large organisation, using two quantitative methods (an experiment and a survey) and one qualitative method (semi-structured interviews), the study examined the relationship between performance on the leadership activity and exposure to gendered backgrounds on a video conference call.

It found that female leaders undertaking a leadership test experienced more anxiety and achieved lower scores on average when exposed to a male-gendered virtual background compared to male colleagues or female leaders exposed to a female gendered background. It was also found that these leaders were aware of the stereotype of leadership being White and male, and showed symptoms of prolonged exposure to stereotype threat in the workplace. While the authors still are working through a post-pandemic environment, it may be judicious for organisations to restrict the use of virtual backgrounds to identity-safe ones, specifically chosen by the company.

The study makes several practical recommendations, indicating actions which can be taken at the individual, team and corporate levels. Re-running this experiment in a more controlled environment with a larger sample set could yield more definitive, statistically significant results and contribute more to the literature.

Some individual impacts were found via the interviews. Male leaders in the organisation need to do more to mentor and endorse their female colleagues. By doing this, they can counter the negative effects of solo status and the subsequent performance degradations of their female counterparts, while also setting an example for other leaders. Participation in the mentoring programme and initiatives such as Dare and value, inclusion, belonging, and equity should be encouraged and supported. Reverse mentoring should also be encouraged among the population of male leaders to aid in allyship and bias-awareness.

Teams should note that a democratic vote is not always the best way to decide on the names of teams, projects or meeting rooms. These may skew towards niche interests that can serve to alienate members of the team who do not associate themselves with that interest. Rather, the teams should strive to be fully inclusive and educated on the need for identity-safety. Team events may also serve to alienate members if teams are not mindful of the need to be inclusive. Activities, such as “go-kart” racing and physical or competitive team events have been highlighted as unsuitable for some team members, and should be avoided in favour of inclusivity.

A significant body of research has documented the effect to which stereotype threat can be triggered by both the physical environment and by the use of various technology media. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the relationship between stereotype threat, defined as “the concrete, real-time threat of being judged and treated poorly in settings where a negative stereotype about one’s group applies” (Steele et al., 2002, p. 385), and video conferencing software features, such as virtual backgrounds.

With production systems become more digitized, data-driven maintenance decisions can improve the performance of production systems. While manufacturers are introducing predictive maintenance and maintenance reporting to increase maintenance operation efficiency, operational data may also be used to improve maintenance management. Research on the value of data-driven decision support to foster increased internal integration of maintenance with related functions is less explored. This paper explores the potential for further development of solutions for cross-functional responsibilities that maintenance shares with production and logistics through data-driven approaches.

Fifteen maintenance experts were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The interview questions were derived based on topics identified through a structured literature analysis of 126 papers.

The main findings show that data-driven decision-making can support maintenance, asset, production and material planning to coordinate and collaborate on cross-functional responsibilities. While solutions for maintenance planning and scheduling have been explored for various operational conditions, collaborative solutions for maintenance, production and logistics offer the potential for further development. Enablers for data-driven collaboration are the internal synchronization and central definition of goals, harmonization of information systems and information visualization for decision-making.

This paper outlines future research directions for data-driven decision-making in maintenance management as well as the practical requirements for implementation.

This study examines three significant collaborative journalism projects in the Americas: The Panama Papers, from the United States-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ); “América Latina, Región de Carteles,” by Colombian-based Connectas; and the first phase of the Brazilian-based project, Comprova, supported by Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists (Abraji) and First Draft. The work investigates what encompasses collaborative journalism; and explores whether it is a recent phenomenon of the news ecosystem, a consequence of the institutional crisis of journalism, and if it is influenced by a network-based and platformed society. A mixed-method approach is applied in a three-stage analysis: (1) desk research; (2) quantitative content analysis; and (3) qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews. To gain a broader picture of the organizations and their respective projects, documental and bibliographical research was carried out with a focus on data from press releases, corporate reports, and articles published on the websites of the organizations coordinating the projects. Furthermore, a quantitative content analysis of 10 news articles published by each of these collaboration partnerships was completed. Finally, qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with the directors, managers, and professional journalists’ part of the organizations and project. This study emphasizes the importance of collaborative practices, demonstrates how collaborative practices contribute to a new modus operandi of the news ecosystem; and considers why journalists and media organizations have turned to collaborative journalism as a model of production, circulation, and distribution of journalistic investigations.

In this article, we discuss an innovative audience research methodology developed for the AHRC-funded “Beyond the Multiplex: Audiences for Specialised Film in English Regions” project (BtM). The project combines a computational ontology with a mixed-methods approach drawn from both the social sciences and the humanities, enabling research to be conducted both at scale and in depth, producing complex relational analyses of audiences. BtM aims to understand how we might enable a wide range of audiences to participate in a more diverse film culture, and embrace the wealth of films beyond the mainstream in order to optimise the cultural value of engaging with less familiar films. BtM collects data through a three-wave survey of film audience members’ practices, semi-structured interviews and film-elicitation groups with audience members alongside interviews with policy and industry experts, and analyses of key policy and industry documents. Bringing each of these datasets together within our ontology enables us to map relationships between them across a variety of different concerns. For instance, how cultural engagement in general relates to engagement with specialised films; how different audiences access and/or share films across different platforms and venues; how their engagement with those films enables them to make meaning and generate value; and how all of this is shaped by national and regional policy, film industry practices, and the decisions of cultural intermediaries across the fields of film production, distribution and exhibition. Alongside our analyses, the ontology enables us to produce data visualisations and a suite of analytical tools for audience development studies that stakeholders can use, ensuring the research has impact beyond the academy. This paper sets out our methodology for developing the BtM ontology, so that others may adapt it and develop their own ontologies from mixed-methods empirical data in their studies of other knowledge domains.

This paper aims to consolidate the state of research on information behaviour. Regardless of the scholarly surge on information behaviour using numerous models and extended ones, gaps still exist on the development of more pragmatic frameworks that explain and/or predict the information behaviour across different fragmented environmental situations. Therefore, this paper extends technology-organization-environment (T-O-E) framework and synthesizes different research positions into a multi-dimensional framework that assists small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to understand their information behaviour and to make informed decisions on the adoption of emerging information communication technology (EICT).

This study deployed an inductive approach; data were generated from unstructured and semi-structured interviews with 20 participants drawn purposively from Luton directories.

This study developed a more integrated framework underpinned by T-O-E framework, which helped to identify how EICT adoption is critically shaped by perceived information need, information sources selection and the factors determining information source selection.

Qualitative research is normally subjective, inductive, interpretive and limited on the sample used. However, because of the limited number of interviews used, as well as industry-specific nature of the study, the generalization of the framework and the findings will be difficult, hence, the need to test the framework on a broader population and cross-context testing.

The T-O-E framework is extended to Expectancy (T-O-E-E) to provide a more robust insight into information behaviour of SMEs from a multi-dimensional perspective. It also offers a more analytical framework for exploring critical issues identified and demonstrates the capacity to provide a reliable explanation to the findings. Further, it serves as a tool for assessing the benefits or challenges of SMEs information behaviour especially on the EICT adoption decision.

Cyber security has never been more important than it is today in an ever more connected and pervasive digital world. However, frequently reported shortages of suitably skilled and trained information system (IS)/cyber security professionals elevate the importance of delivering effective Security Education,Training and Awareness (SETA) programmes within organisations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is the questionable effectiveness of SETA programmes at changing employee behaviour and an absence of empirical studies on the critical success factors (CSFs) for SETA programme effectiveness.

This exploratory study follows a three-stage research design to give voice to practitioners with SETA programme expertise. Data is gathered in Stage 1 using semi-structured interviews with 20 key informants (the emergence of the CSFs), in Stage 2 from 65 respondents to a short online survey (the ranking of the CSFs) and in Stage 3 using semi-structured interviews with nine IS/cyber security practitioners (the emergence of the guiding principles). Using a multi-stage research design allows the authors to propose and evaluate the 11 CSFs for SETA programme effectiveness.

This study conducted a mean score analysis to evaluate the level of importance of each CSF within two independent groups of IS/cyber security professionals. This multi-stage analysis produces a ranked list of 11 CSFs for SETA programme effectiveness, while the difference in the rankings leads to the emergence of five CSF-specific guiding principles (to increase the likelihood of delivering an effective SETA programme within an organisational context). This analysis also reveals that most of the contradictions/differences in CSF rankings between IS/cyber security practitioners are linked to the design phase of the SETA programme life cycle. While two CSFs, “maintain quarterly evaluation of employee performance” (CSF-DS6) and “build security awareness campaigns” (CSF-EV1), represent the most significant contradiction in this study.

The 11 CSFs for SETA programme effectiveness, along with the five CSF-specific guiding principles, provide a greater depth of knowledge contributing to both theory and practice and lays the foundation for future studies. Therefore, the outputs of this study provide valuable insights on the areas that practice needs to get right to deliver effective SETA programmes.

This study explores the impact of Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) on learning factory implementation in Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP). A learning factory is an action-oriented approach to teaching with participants acquiring competencies through structured self-learning processes in a production–technological learning environment. It integrates different teaching methods with the main objective of moving traditional teaching methods to become closer to real industrial problems. However, there is still limited information that can be used to evaluate the impact of IR4.0 on its implementation in UMP. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the challenges faced by UMP in developing their learning factory and examines the effectiveness of UMP Learning Factory as a new teaching and learning process to support Industry 4.0.

First of all, identifying a problem was done, and information regarding the topic was obtained via research from various sources. Example of sources is online journals, books, the Internet and others. It is essential to understand the rationale behind why the research should be carried out as well as the objectives of the study in relation to the topic of interest. After that, a survey of the relevant literature was carried out to compile more pertinent material and run it through the lens of the selected subject. It makes the process of establishing a theoretical framework easier, and it also improves one's knowledge of the research being done. The next step in the process involves selecting responders based on the research. In order to calculate the appropriate sample size for this study, we must identify the entire population so that we can ensure that the findings we obtain are reliable. The entire population are first filtered based on the purpose of the research, and only then is it possible to establish the size of the needed sample of respondents. This research study's data gathering techniques consisted of five steps; however, in this particular study, the researcher only employed two approaches, which focused on individual interviews and semi-structured interviews, respectively. In order to address both the study purpose and the research questions, the interview questions that were developed were meant to relate to one another. During this interview procedure, the interviewees will have the option to elaborate or supply an increasing amount of pertinent data and information. Participants in the interview who have accumulated a significant amount of experience in the relevant sector are better positioned to provide both their personal and professional perspectives. The researcher will utilize audio to gather the script from the responder so that they may collect the data for analysis. The researcher is able to find the precise data analysis from the responses with the assistance of this programme. As a result, the researcher's question to the responders can be considered credible and genuine. Each respondent may read a particular question in the questionnaire in the same manner. As a result, although the question may be trusted, this fact is mostly irrelevant given that it lacks internal validity and hence does not make it possible to answer the research topic. In conclusion, the findings of this study are analysed, and conclusions are drawn from them.

In order to explore and answer research questions that are tailored to research objectives, the purpose of this study is to investigate such questions. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence that Industry 4.0 will have on the instructional methodology that will be utilized at UMP. Regarding the second aim, the purpose is to investigate the difficulties that the Universiti Malaysia Pahang encounters in the process of creating the Learning Factory. The final goal is to investigate how well UMP Learning Factory performs as a novel approach to education and training that is intended to assist Industry 4.0. The University of Malaya in Penang (UMP), which is widely regarded as one of the premier educational institutions of its kind in Malaysia, has recently implemented a learning factory as one of its pedagogical approaches. The university's deployment of the learning factory is very recent, and as such, there is room for improvement to make the most of the potential offered by this instructional approach. However, the findings of this research indicate that there is a favourable influence on both learning and teaching. The influence of the implementation of Learning Factory, which is becoming one technique of educational reform, is one of the most important factors to consider. According to the study's findings, UMP has successfully developed a learning factory that has a major influence on the learning process and is extremely good at what it does. The student benefits from an enhanced teaching and learning experience as a direct result of the contribution made by the learning factory. When it comes to generating a learning component based on the result, several obstacles have been identified. If UMP or other institutions intend to create a new learning factory, the problems might be considered factors to consider. In the teaching and learning process context, it has been demonstrated that a learning factory is particularly successful. The learning factory approach is one of the teaching techniques that makes the students understand better and have the experience of handling and controlling the equipment. Because this method introduces the hands-on approach, it is one of the teaching methods. The learning factory method is one that, in its most fundamental form, may be particularly beneficial for students to prepare themselves for the arduous process of joining the workforce. The classroom setting will be quite similar to that of a factory, and the student will improve their general collaboration. In addition to this, they will be able to operate machines and have knowledge regarding the machines that are found in the learning factory. The learning factory makes a significant contribution to the knowledge transfer process in UMP by facilitating the development of a deeper comprehension of certain bodies of information. When compared to more traditional methods of transferring information, the student will have a much easier time comprehending the material that is taught to them through the use of the hands-on learning technique.

This study gained some information about the impact of IR4.0 towards educational transformation, which is expected to give positive results. Basically, this research will provide further explanation about IR4.0 and educational transformation in UMP focus on learning factory. Generally, the implementation of IR4.0 in education will produce a positive result and help the students in the future. The result from this case study will hopefully be beneficial to society. The finding from this research will be used as references to all, especially top management and technical staff of UMP, for further understanding of the impact of the implementation of the learning factory. While conducting this research, seven respondents were selected from the two faculty with their own learning factories, Faculty of Industrial Management (FIM) and Faculty of Technology (FTEK). The researcher targeted lecturers and technical staff as their respondents. The overall result from the interview session was analysed. All the result is based on the interview answer to the researcher's question