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Qualitative Evidence (qualitative + evidence)
Selected AbstractsFilial Piety, Modernization, and the Challenges of Raising Children for Chinese Immigrants: Quantitative and Qualitative EvidenceETHOS, Issue 3 2004ELI LIEBER This study examines Chinese immigrant parents' perceptions of filial piety. The concept of filial piety is introduced and we discuss the impacts of modernization and immigration experience on the challenges faced by contemporary Chinese immigrants as they reconcile traditional values with the demands of sociohistorical change and child rearing in the United States. Factor analysis of a commonly applied scale demonstrates multiple aspects of filial piety and reflects modifications from traditional views. Interview results point to aspects of filial piety not fully represented in the quantitative scale and expose specific challenges in child rearing related to filial values. These findings suggest the evolution of expectations and strategies related to a cultural adaptation of filial piety. One key demand is for strategies consistent with parental values while maintaining respect for children's unique point of view. The conclusions focus on the development of approaches to understanding the evolving conceptualization and meaning of filial piety for contemporary immigrant Chinese. [source] Partnership and the development of trust in British workplacesHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2004Graham Dietz This article examines the alleged links between ,partnership' forms of managing workplace relationships in Britain and the development of intra-organisational ,trust'. The potential for mutually complementary linkages between the two are clear, in theory at least. Partnership should produce, nurture and enhance levels of interpersonal trust inside organisations, while trust legitimates and helps reinforce an organisation's ,partnership'. Qualitative evidence drawn from the self-reports of key participants in three unionised partnership organisations provides some support for the claimed linkages. But it also highlights weaknesses, discrepancies and pitfalls inherent in the process of pursuing trust through partnership. These offer insights into the process for managers, trade union officials, employee representatives and policy-makers, as well as suggesting avenues for future research using trust as a theoretical framework. [source] Why do captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) urine wash?AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Kimran E. Miller Abstract Urine washing (UW) has been observed in numerous species of prosimians and New World monkeys. The functional significance of UW in Cebidae, specifically, Cebus apella, has not been determined. The objective of our study was to test two major hypotheses related to the function of UW: (1) UW functions as a thermoregulatory mechanism, and (2) UW functions as a means of social communication related to (a) territoriality, (b) sexual encounters, or (c) intragroup aggression/agitation. We collected focal data on a captive group of 28 tufted capuchins (C. apella; July,October 2004 and February,July 2005). We found no significant correlation between UW rates and temperature, at a constant, moderate humidity level. Rates of UW were significantly greater outdoors (no conspecific neighbors) vs. indoors (conspecific neighbors). Qualitative evidence suggests a relationship between UW by the alpha male and sexual solicitations from females. UW rates associated with aggression received were significantly higher than UW rates associated with aggression given and UW rates associated with potential fear/stress. There was also a significant negative correlation between cortisol measures and UW frequencies. Our results suggest that UW does not function in thermoregulation or in territorial communication. Alternatively, our results suggest that UW may be associated with sexual encounters and receiving aggression. Additionally, further investigation is warranted to determine whether UW is used as an appeasement mechanism or as a stress reliever or as both. Am. J. Primatol. 70:119,126, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] From Great Depression to Great Credit Crisis: similarities, differences and lessonsECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 62 2010Miguel Almunia Summary The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Credit Crisis of the 2000s had similar causes but elicited strikingly different policy responses. While it remains too early to assess the effectiveness of current policy, it is possible to analyse monetary and fiscal responses in the 1930s as a natural experiment or counterfactual capable of shedding light on the impact of current policies. We employ vector autoregressions, instrumental variables, and qualitative evidence for 27 countries in the period 1925,39. The results suggest that monetary and fiscal stimulus was effective -- that where it did not make a difference it was not tried. They shed light on the debate over fiscal multipliers in episodes of financial crisis. They are consistent with multipliers at the higher end of those estimated in the recent literature, and with the argument that the impact of fiscal stimulus will be greater when banking systems are dysfunctional and monetary policy is constrained by the zero bound. --- Miguel Almunia, Agustín Bénétrix, Barry Eichengreen, Kevin H. O'Rourke and Gisela Rua [source] Antigen-specific oligoclonal bands in cerebrospinal fluid and serum from patients with anti-amphiphysin- and anti-CV2/CRMP5 associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 6 2007O. Stich Using isoelectric focusing and affinity blotting employing paraneoplastic recombinant antigens, we investigated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera from three patients with positive anti-CV2/CRMP5- and one patient with positive anti-amphiphysin serology. CSF and sera were previously adjusted to total IgG concentrations of 20 mg/l. All patients suffered from paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) with predominant involvement of the central nervous system (CNS). Using affinity blot preloaded with paraneoplastic antigen, we detected in three of four patients more or stronger specific oligoclonal bands (OCB) in the CSF than in the corresponding serum, providing qualitative evidence of antigen specific intrathecal antibody synthesis. These results are in line with previous studies demonstrating specific OCB predominantly in CSF from patients with anti-Hu-, anti-Yo- and anti-Ri-associated PNS, supporting the hypothesis of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of PNS. One patient harboured extensive anti-amphiphysin specific OCB, although OCB of total IgG could not be detected, indicating a higher sensitivity for detection of intrathecal antibody synthesis of the affinity blot preloaded with the paraneoplastic antigen, compared with investigation of total IgG OCB. These results could have implications concerning pathophysiological autoimmune aspects in other inflammatory diseases of CNS associated with total IgG OCB, provided that the target antigen is known. [source] Why Do Governments Delegate Authority to Quasi-Autonomous Agencies?GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2006The Case of Independent Administrative Authorities in France In recent years, there has been a considerable degree of delegation from governments to quasi-autonomous agencies. Various reasons have been put forward to explain why governments decide to delegate authority in this way. Some reasons are based on a transaction-cost approach, such as credible commitments. Other reasons are more contextual. For instance, governments may be responding to a process of cross-national policy transfer. In the literature on delegation some hypotheses have already been tested. Specifically, evidence has been found suggesting that governments create agencies to commit credibly to particular policy choices. However, other hypotheses, particularly ones based on contextual explanations, have proved much more difficult to operationalize. This article aims to help fill this gap. It does so by focusing on the creation of Independent Administrative Authorities in France. Does the qualitative evidence in this particular case corroborate the quantitative studies that have been undertaken elsewhere? [source] Systematic review on embracing cultural diversity for developing and sustaining a healthy work environment in healthcareINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED HEALTHCARE, Issue 1 2007Alan Pearson RN, FRCN, FRCNA Abstract Objectives, The objective of this review was to evaluate evidence on the structures and processes that support development of effective culturally competent practices and a healthy work environment. Culturally competent practices are a congruent set of workforce behaviours, management practices and institutional policies within a practice setting resulting in an organisational environment that is inclusive of cultural and other forms of diversity. Inclusion criteria, This review included quantitative and qualitative evidence, with a particular emphasis on identifying systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials. For quantitative evidence, other controlled, and descriptive designs were also included. For qualitative evidence, all methodologies were considered. Participants were staff, patients, and systems or policies that were involved or affected by concepts of cultural competence in the nursing workforce in a healthcare environment. Types of interventions included any strategy that had a cultural competence component, which influenced the work environment, and/or patient and nursing staff in the environment. The types of outcomes of interest to this review included nursing staff outcomes, patient outcomes, organisational outcomes and systems level outcomes. Search strategy, The search sought both published and unpublished literature written in the English language. A comprehensive three-step search strategy was used, first to identify appropriate key words, second to combine all optimal key words into a comprehensive search strategy for each database and finally to review the reference lists of all included reviews and research reports. The databases searched were CINAHL, Medline, Current Contents, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Embase, Sociological Abstracts, Econ lit, ABI/Inform, ERIC and PubMed. The search for unpublished literature used Dissertation Abstracts International. Methodological quality, Methodological quality was independently established by two reviewers, using standardised techniques from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information (SUMARI) package. Discussion with a third reviewer was initiated where a low level of agreement was identified for a particular paper. Following inclusion, data extraction was conducted using standardised data extraction tools from the JBI SUMARI suite for quantitative and qualitative research. Data synthesis was performed using the JBI Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument and JBI Narrative, Opinion and Text Assessment and Review Instrument software to aggregate findings by identifying commonalities across texts. Quantitative data were presented in narrative summary, as statistical pooling was not appropriate with the included studies. Results, Of the 659 identified papers, 45 were selected for full paper retrieval, and 19 were considered to meet the inclusion criteria for this review. The results identified a number of processes that would contribute to the development of a culturally competent workforce. Appropriate and competent linguistic services, and intercultural staff training and education, were identified as key findings in this review. Conclusions, The review recommends that health provider agencies establish links with organisations that can address needs of culturally diverse groups of patients, include cultural competence in decision support systems and staff education as well as embed them in patient brochures and educational materials. The review also concluded that staff in-service programs consider the skills needed to foster a culturally competent workforce, and recruitment strategies that also explicitly address this need. [source] Stories of Rural Accumulation in Africa: Trajectories and Transitions among Rural Capitalists in SenegalJOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2007CARLOS OYA This paper analyzes primary qualitative evidence from life histories of rural capitalists in contemporary Senegal. Various common themes in the declining literature on rural capitalism in Africa are discussed with reference to the specific individual trajectories of rural farm capitalists in Senegal. The themes include the emergence of rural capitalism in the context of protracted, uneven and gradual rural social differentiation and the various processes that have accompanied it; the condition of ,entrepreneurship' in such changing historical contexts; the symbiotic relationship between different spaces (loci) of accumulation, especially trade, transport and farming and the historical context in which they take place; the crucial but sometimes contradictory role of the state in spurring or constraining rural capitalist accumulation; and the variety of ,idioms of accumulation', which reflect transitions and synthesis between non-capitalist and capitalist forms of labour surplus appropriation at the level of individual capitalists, despite some uniformity in the general logic of capital and the spread of capitalist relations of production and exchange. The paper also discusses the methodological power and limitations of oral narratives as a method to gather evidence on long-term processes of agrarian change and accumulation in rural Africa. Finally, the life histories shed some light on the origins of rural capitalists and show that there is a combination of instances of ,capitalism from above' and ,from below' but that no dominant pattern can be clearly discerned at least in the space of one or two generations. [source] The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of MemeticsJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 8 2007Joseph O'Mahoney abstract This paper applies a theory of memetics to help explain the diffusion of management innovations as a dynamic evolutionary process. Existing analyses of diffusion frequently note the variation, selection or replication of management innovations, yet few have linked these together with the common observation that some innovations seem to ,evolve'. This paper draws on qualitative evidence from two case-studies of BPR implementation to illustrate that the replication, selection and variation of management innovations can form evolutionary algorithms (,memes') which support diffusion processes, and, in doing so, clarifies the ways in which innovations contribute to their own replication and explains how the high ,failure' rates associated with BPR can sometimes improve its chances of reproduction. [source] Advancing reflective judgment through Socioscientific IssuesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2009Dana L. Zeidler Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to explore possible relationships between Socioscientific Issues instruction and students' development of reflective judgment. The usefulness of the Reflective Judgment Model as a tool for assessing the value of SSI is established in the parallels that can be drawn between them. Both involve ill-structured problems requiring evidence-based reasoning subject to differing interpretations by students, and both require examination, analysis and the blending of scientific and normative evidence, as students use that evidence to support a reasoned position. Results demonstrated both qualitative evidence revealing more sophisticated and nuanced epistemological stances toward higher stages of reflective judgment, as well as statistically significant gains within treatment groups with a moderately large effect size. Theoretical implications for advancing students' epistemological beliefs about evidence-based argumentation and pedagogical implications for rethinking how to connect science with topics that are fundamentally meaningful to students are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 74,101, 2009 [source] Unexpected but authentic use of an ethnically,marked dialectJOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 4 2002Julie Sweetland Recent work on language crossing in the U.S. has examined the temporary appropriation of African American Vernacular English by white youth in an effort to participate in the current popularity and prestige of hip,hop culture, or in order to highlight racial boundaries. While such verbal behavior probably encompasses most white use of AAVE, it is not the only way in which whites (or other non,blacks) can use the variety. This paper presents a case study of the language of a 23 year old white female who makes consistent use of many distinctive linguistic features associated with AAVE. I argue that the interaction of ideologies of race, class, localness and language allow her to be considered an ingroup member despite her biographical race. This suggests that there is a tension between academic linguistic theory and actual speaker practice in assigning authenticity to individuals, and I conclude that language ideologies and other forms of qualitative evidence should be taken into account by sociolinguists looking at the link between language and race. [source] Low-income mothers, nutrition and health: a systematic review of qualitative evidenceMATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 4 2005Pamela Attree phd Abstract Diet is a key issue for UK health policies, particularly in relation to poorer socio-economic groups. From a public health perspective, the government's role is to help low-income families to make healthy food choices, and to create the conditions to enable them to make healthy decisions. Arguably, however, current policy on nutrition and health is influenced by individualist and behavioural perspectives, which fail to take into account the full impact of structural factors on food choices. This paper draws on a systematic review of qualitative studies that prioritize low-income mothers' accounts of ,managing' in poverty, synthesizing a subset of studies that focus on diet, nutrition and health in poor families. Synthesis findings are explored in the context of dominant discourses concerning individual responsibility for health and gendered societal values concerning ,good' mothering. The paper concludes that a shift in emphasis in health policies, affording a higher priority to enabling measures that tackle the underlying determinants of health, would be advantageous in reducing nutritional inequities for low-income mothers and their children. [source] How residents learn: qualitative evidence for the pivotal role of clinical activitiesMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 8 2007P W Teunissen Objectives, Medical councils worldwide have outlined new standards for postgraduate medical education. This means that residency programmes will have to integrate modern educational views into the clinical workplace. Postgraduate medical education is often characterised as a process of learning from experience. However, empirical evidence regarding the learning processes of residents in the clinical workplace is lacking. This qualitative study sought insight into the intricate process of how residents learn in the clinical workplace. Methods, We carried out a qualitative study using focus groups. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the transcribed tape recordings. A total of 51 obstetrics and gynaecology residents from teaching hospitals and affiliated general hospitals participated in 7 focus group discussions. Participants discussed how they learn and what factors influence their learning. Results, An underlying theoretical framework emerged from the data, which clarified what happens when residents learn by doing in the clinical workplace. This framework shows that work-related activities are the starting point for learning. The subsequent processes of ,interpretation' and ,construction of meaning' lead to refinement and expansion of residents' knowledge and skills. Interaction plays an important role in the learning process. This is in line with both cognitivist and sociocultural views on learning. Conclusions, The presented theoretical framework of residents' learning provides much needed empirical evidence for the actual learning processes of residents in the clinical workplace. The insights it offers can be used to exploit the full educational potential of the clinical workplace. [source] Burnout, psychiatric morbidity, and work-related sources of stress in paediatric oncology staff: a review of the literaturePSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 10 2009Suzanne Mukherjee Abstract Objective: A growing body of research suggests that staff working in adult oncology services are at risk of burnout and psychiatric morbidity, but whether or not these findings can be generalised to staff working in paediatric oncology is questionable. This paper reports the findings of a comprehensive review of the literature on burnout, psychiatric morbidity, and sources of work-related stress in paediatric oncology staff. Methods: Electronic searches of MEDLINE and PSYCHINFO. This was followed by a screening process, during which papers where checked against inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the quality of study reporting was assessed. Information about the study design and methods was then extracted from each paper so that the methodological quality could be critiqued. Results: Ten studies meeting the review inclusion criteria were identified. No studies were identified which compared paediatric and adult oncology staff. Research on paediatric oncology staff has failed to use the well-established standardised measures of burnout and psychiatric morbidity employed in studies of adult oncology staff. There is some qualitative evidence to suggest paediatric oncology nurses experience a unique, additional set of stressors not encountered by colleagues in adult oncology services. Conclusion: The evidence on stress and burnout in paediatric oncology staff is extremely limited. In order to devise appropriate and effective interventions to support staff, we need to have a much better understanding of the level of burnout and psychiatric morbidity experienced by all members of the paediatric oncology multi-disciplinary team, as well as the factors that contribute to these experiences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||