Digital Commons Network^™

Pulling A Rabbit Out Of A Hat, Where Do Policies Come From? An Examination Of The Criminal Justice Policy Processes Behind The Building Of The Dóchas Centre (Ireland’S Largest Women’S Prison), Eoin Carroll

Dissertations

There is an increasing need to understand the processes in which key decisions are made within the criminal justice system. While women in the Irish prison system are still very much in the minority they are the fastest growing population in prison and are currently experiencing overcrowding unknown in living memory in Irish prisons. It is too soon to comprehensively examine the origins of the recent policy decision to retrofit bunk beds and dormitories in Ireland’s largest women’s prison (Dóchas Centre) and what other possible solutions were explored, for example, why a proposed new facility was cancelled. However, it is …

Emerging Adulthood In Ireland: Is The Quarter-Life Crisis A Common Experience?, Mairead Murphy

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight in Ireland to establish the prevalence of what has become known in popular culture as the quarter-life crisis. This transitional period in a young person’s life is academically referred to as emerging adulthood and is a time of great change and personal growth. The study utilised a qualitative approach; individual interviews and focus groups were carried out with the identified research group. The findings of the study indicated that indeed, emerging adulthood is a challenging time, and for some, …

Exploring Iranian Women's Perceptions Regarding Control And Prevention Of Breast Cancer, Eileen Thomas, Socorro Escandón, Minoor Lamyian, Fazlolah Ahmadi, Sam Mohammad Setoode, Shokoofe Golkho

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to explore Iranian women's perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs related to breast cancer screening, breast cancer, and follow up care. A qualitative descriptive inquiry with both individual and focus group interviews was conducted in Tehran with 31 Farsi-speaking women, age 35 to 65 years of age. A constant comparison method of analysis assisted the researchers in gaining an understanding of factors that influence Iranian women's perceptions regarding the control and prevention of breast cancer. Findings suggest that insufficient knowledge regarding breast cancer and breast cancer screening is a significant factor among this population. Breast cancer …

Winning The Phd Game: Evocative Playing Of Snakes And Ladders, Carolyn Dickie

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this paper is to describe a qualitative approach to developing an understanding of the lived experiences of PhD students. Rather than relying on textbook reports and theories about studying a higher degree by research, by allowing the students' voices to be heard, explicit and conscious research can be used to generate appropriate responses to the needs of students as they progress through the PhD process. Thematic analysis focuses on identified themes and patterns of research-learner behaviours.

School Counselor And School Psychologist Perceptions Of Accountability Policy: Lessons From Virginia, Ryan Richard Ruff

The Qualitative Report

This paper is concerned with the professional efficacy of school counselors and school psychologists that operate under the umbrella of accountability reforms. Research questions addressed counselor and psychologist job roles and responsibilities, as well as their personal perspectives on the impact of accountability reforms on both the classroom context and student socio-emotional development. Interviews were conducted with counselors and psychologists of varying professional experience and school level, with analysis following analytic induction. Results indicate that the efficacy of student support personnel has been negatively impacted by accountability reforms, but schools that maintain a positive culture dedicated to excellence minimize that …

Participatory And Action-Oriented Dissertations: The Challenges And Importance Of Community-Engaged Graduate Research, Emily Van Der Meulen

The Qualitative Report

Graduate students commonly experience isolation and estrangement when conducting their final research projects, which can contribute to difficulties in completion. A creative and socially beneficial way to offset academic isolation is for graduate students to engage in participatory and action-oriented research projects with local communities. Facilitating a research study with a local partner can be a richly rewarding experience. This article argues that students who enjoy working in collaborative environments and want their final research projects to lead to beneficial social change can find fulfillment in action research (AR) methodologies. Critiqued by some for its lack of tangible and practical …

Promise And Possibility For Aspiring Principals: An Emerging Leadership Identity Through Learning To Do Action Research, Stella C. Batagiannis

The Qualitative Report

This case study explored the promise and possibility of doing action research both for aspiring principals engaged in such research and for professors using it as pedagogy for teaching educational leadership. The study of a class of graduate students aspiring to be principals had a constructivist theoretical framework. The research design consisted of three tiers: tier one: a reflective self-study by the professor evaluating the pedagogy of developing action research team projects; tier two: an analysis of the self-evaluations of the aspiring principals on the pedagogy of developing action research team projects and its effect on their learning; and tier …

Conversations On Method: Deconstructing Policy Through The Researcher Reflective Journal, Ruth C. Slotnick, Valerie J. Janesick

The Qualitative Report

In this article the authors argue that the researcher reflective journal is a critical interpretive tool for conducting educational policy analysis. The idea for this research grew from the experiences of a doctoral candidate (Ruth) in pursuit of a policy focused dissertation and a series of on-going conversations with her qualitative methodologist (Valerie). The structure of the paper takes a dialogue form on the topic of policy analysis and the various uses of the journal, including found data poetry and photographic representations of the self as a research instrument, which may expand the findings and increase options for data presentation. …

Till Death Do Us Part: Lived Experiences Of Hiv-Positive Married African American Women, Lorece V. Edwards, Shalon M. Irving, Anita S. Hawkins

The Qualitative Report

HIV/AIDS disease continues to be an escalating health problem, particularly among women. However, African American women are among the leading demographic groups for HIV prevalence in the United States. The typical woman with HIV/AIDS is young, in her late twenties, economically challenged, and of childbearing age. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS outpatient clinic to explore their perceptions of social support, life experiences and marriage. Data were collected through tape-recorded interviews using a semi-structured guide and journaling. Participants reported that most of their time was spent providing care for their husbands who were HIV-positive. Very often their health and well-being …

The Unfocused Focus Group: Benefit Or Bane?, Nancy K. Franz

The Qualitative Report

Facilitating successful focus groups requires both science and art. One element that can fully challenge focus group facilitators includes how to handle the unfocused focus group. This article describes "unfocus" and the benefits and disadvantages of unfocus in focus groups. Lessons learned from and approaches taken on this journey are shared to enhance focus group facilitation best practices.

Evolutionary Theory Of Mate Selection And Partners Of Trans People: A Qualitative Study Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Amanda Forde

The Qualitative Report

Despite much research into mate selection, non-heterosexual populations are often only included for comparison purposes, while trans people and their partners are overlooked. This study attempts to address this using qualitative methodology to explore the mate selection of the partners of trans people. Six participants were recruited from online communities and interviewed via instant messaging, the results were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The author organised the results into four themes. Theme one: Identities/relationships which defy categorisation, Theme Two: Attractive traits and mate selection, Theme Three: Impact of past romantic relationships, other relationships and life changes and Theme Four: …

Exercising The Mind: A Review Of Stretching Exercises For Qualitative Researchers, Kristen Chorba

The Qualitative Report

In this third version of Stretching Exercises for Qualitative Researchers, Janesick (2011) continues to refine and expand upon ways in which qualitative researchers-both new to the field and experienced-can extend and hone a number of skills essential to being an effective researcher. This book will be helpful to those wishing to learn more about and practice the art of qualitative research. Janesick combines valuable information and practical exercises in this text, which will assist in the development of skills essential to qualitative research, including interviewing, observing, journaling, narrating, analyzing, interpreting, and collaborating. This new edition includes a discussion on using …

Looking Back, Moving Forward In The Digital Age: A Review Of The Collection Management And Development Literature, 2004–8, Lorre Smith, Daryl R. Bullis

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

The collection and management of digital resources dominated collection development and management literature produced during 2004–8. Themes covered the changing nature of local collections, redefining collection management responsibilities and practices, cooperation and collaboration, and collection assessment and evaluation. The literature reflected the struggle to manage a vast array of resources while library budgets stagnated. While publishers continued to offer more bundles of electronic publications, librarians responded with strategies to collaborate and negotiate for feasible pricing structures. A culture of continuous assessment was a major topic. During this review period, access to and ownership of digital resources reemerged as a pervasive …

Shared Responsibility In A New Egypt: A Strategy For Refugee Protection, Michael Kagan

Faculty Journal Articles

Refugees in Egypt have endured roughly five years of protection crisis. But as the High Commissioner for Refugees recently said, there is today an opportunity for “a new beginning for refugee protection in Egypt.”Taking advantage of this opportunity requires a bold strategy that addresses both the rights of refugees under law and the interests of Egypt as a country. The best way forward is for UNHCR to ask the Government of Egypt to re-negotiate the 1954 Memorandum of Understanding with the stated purpose of implementing Egypt’s obligations under international law, based on the principle of shared responsibility.

The Effect Of Caretaker Separations On Indigenous Adolescents, Melissa L. Welch

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The family instability hypothesis has been researched among the general population as well as among African American and Mexican American populations, but not yet among Indigenous families. The purpose of this research was to examine whether experiencing separations from their caretakers (lasting at least one month), and the types of living arrangements that follow, affect Indigenous adolescents’ risk of meeting criteria for an internalizing, externalizing, or substance use disorder. Diagnostic criteria were assessed in Wave 6 using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised (DISC-R). The hypothesis that as the number of lifetime separations increases, the risk of meeting criteria for …

Foot Soldiers For Social Justice: Realities, Relationships, And Resilience, Carole J. Olson, Holly A. Riffe, Caroline Reid, Norma Threadgill-Goldson

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Social justice is embraced as a central mission of social work, yet how the profession defines social justice lacks a clear and common understanding. This qualitative study explored social justice as perceived and practiced by social workers in diverse practice settings in mostly rural areas, small towns, and small cities. Their experiences illustrate ways that social workers engage and advocate for their clients with the goal of improving access to tangible and intangible resources through both conventional and unconventional means. The authors provide insight into the resilience that bolsters social workers’ efforts as they navigate between practice ideals and realities.

Online Task Groups And Social Work Education: Lessons Learned, George A. Jacinto Ph.D., Young Joon Hong Ph.D.

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This paper focuses the use of an online task group for social work students to solve problems and produce recommendations. An online site provides students the opportunity to edit documents produced by the group’s work. Online task groups provide an alternative to face-to-face task group meetings in social service agencies with a number of distant service delivery locations. Additionally, online task groups provide a cost effective way to accomplish the business of social service agencies by eliminating the time and cost of travel to attend meetings. This paper offers a stage model of online group development and a discussion of …

Review: Stormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages Between The Two World Wars, Renee C. Romano

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

When Does The Socio-Cultural Context Matter? Communal Orientation And Entrepreneurs' Resource Accumulation Efforts In Africa, Jane N. O. Khayesi, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We examined the effect of entrepreneurs’communal orientation and social capital on entrepreneurs’ acquisition of resources, and the cost of raising those resources. Using an errors-in-variables estimation in a sample of 242 Ugandan entrepreneurs from Kampala, we find that shared identity is positively associated with the quantity of resources raised by entrepreneurs, whereas shared identity and communal orientation are associated with a higher cost of raising resources. Further, communal orientation positively moderates the relationship between kin composition and the quantity of resources raised; whereas communal orientation negatively moderates the relationship between trust, shared identity, and resources. In contrast, a high communal …

Communication, Organizing And Organization: An Overview And Introduction To The Special Issue, Francois Cooren, Timothy Kuhn, Joep P. Cornelissen, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper provides an overview of previous work that has explored the processes and mechanisms by which communication constitutes organizing (as ongoing efforts at coordination and control of activity and knowledge) and organizations (as collective actors that are 'talked' into existence). We highlight differences between existing theories and analyses grounded in communication-as-constitutive (CCO) perspectives and describe six overarching premises for such perspectives; in so doing, we sharpen and bound the explanatory power of CCO perspectives for organization studies more generally. Building on these premises, we develop an agenda for further research, call for greater cross-fertilization between the communication and organization …

Defining Chronic Pain Ethics, Summer J. Mcgee, Brett Daniel Kaylor, Helen Emmott, Myra J. Christopher

Student Publications

Objective. To identify current issues in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain.

Design. Focus groups were convened to discuss the current issues in chronic pain care. Commentary was analyzed across focus groups using an interpretivist method of qualitative data analysis.

Setting. Focus groups were held in five major US cities throughout the United States.

Participants. Key stakeholders working and thinking about the issues surrounding chronic pain, including people with pain, providers, insurance and pharmaceutical industry representatives, law enforcement agents, and advocacy groups.

Outcome Measures. Qualitative data was analyzed to determine if consensus regarding the current issues in the diagnosis …

Full Issue 3(2) 2011, Rosalind Raby

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Ngo Outreach To Priority Refugee Population Demographics In Cairo, Joelle Petrus

Theses and Dissertations

Cairo is considered to have among the highest populations of refugees in an urban setting in the world. This urban setting presents a unique set of challenges particularly when delivering services and programs to a population with heightened vulnerability who are not easy to locate within the greater population of Cairo. In this context it is of great utility to strengthen outreach programs whose aim is to strengthen the connection between service receiver (refugees) and the service provider (the organization.) Another challenge to delivering services and programs to refugees is the greater diversity or heterogeneity of the population itself. However, …

A Tool In The Kit: Uses Of Bullshitting Among Millennial Workers, Daniel D. Martin, Janelle L. Wilson

The Qualitative Report

This study explores the nature, use, and social organization of one form of communicative action that is common in everyday life -- "bullshitting." We use this form of communication to assess the ways in which dimensions of community, power and status are created in interaction. Abiding by the canons of ethnographic content analysis, we gathered data from over one hundred student respondents to ascertain the behaviors, utterances, and stories that people define as "bullshitting." The study finds that members of the "millennial generation" hone skills both in the telling and detection of this form of communication as they participate in …

Mind The Gap: Unexpected Pitfalls In Doing Classroom Research, Amanda A. Baker, Joseph J. Lee

The Qualitative Report

Inherent in classroom research are the inevitable, and often unanticipated, challenges experienced by researchers. This article moves beyond the main issues highlighted in the literature and identifies some of the problems the authors encountered when conducting two common methodological procedures, classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews (SRIs), as part of our dissertation research investigations. The paper first surveys what the literature describes as the main areas of concern with these two procedures. It then pulls away from these resources to explore actual difficulties we experienced that we believe are inadequately addressed in the literature. Using illustrations from our dissertation projects, …

Qualitative Research From Start To Finish: A Book Review, Linnea L. Rademaker

The Qualitative Report

I reviewed Yin's (2011) recent publication entitled Qualitative Research from Start to Finish, with a particular eye to the benefits for the seasoned researcher, as well as significant aspects that are appropriate for the beginning and intermediate graduate student. A unique element of the book is the inclusion of a discussion of worldviews at the end of the book. Additionally, the adaptive focus of the book might be helpful for both novice and seasoned researchers.

The Effects Of Systemic Ableism On Those With A Visual Impairment : A Theoretical Perspective, Jessica Lynn Wierzbowski

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical investigation examines the link between systemic ableism towards those with visual impairment and whether it elicits symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the visually impaired. For the purpose of this thesis ableism will be defined as, –often makes the world unwelcoming and inaccessible for people with disabilities_С_ (Hehir, 2007, p.10). Meaning, barriers exist (Madriga, 2007) for those with a visual impairment. An example of a barrier for those with a visual impairment is the desire to want those with a visual impairment to read regular print instead of large print or Braille (Hehir, 2007). Society maybe be …

Health Worker Experiences With Environmental Pollution : Health In Urban Targeted Community : A Study Of Pollution And Clinicians' Experiences And Attitudes Towards It In Urban Low-Income Communities And Communities Of Color, Leslie B. Bosworth

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Research suggests that exposure to pollution can impact people's health, and that there are more chances for exposure in some urban low-income communities or communities of color. The purpose of the study is to explore whether social service oriented clinicians consider whether their clients are exposed to pollution, how large of a problem the believe pollution is for their clients, and what actions they and their clients have taken to protect against pollution. A second purpose is to assess whether clinicians view pollution as product of discrimination. A third purpose is to see if pollution is indeed higher in lower-income …

Natural Resource-Based Occupations And Desire For Tourism Are The Two Necessarily Inconsistent?, Stephanie Malin

All Current Publications

One explanation given for resistance to tourism in rural areas focuses on the role of occupational identity in natural resource extraction-based occupations.

Challenges Of Reentering Society For Incarcerated African-American Men, Monica L. Ricci, Carolyn Mcnamara Barry

Modern Psychological Studies

African-American men are at the greatest risk for incarceration. Upon their release from prison, they face tremendous challenges to successful reentry, which explains in part their high recidivism rate. In the current paper, we review the existing literature on the challenges faced by African-American ex-offenders as they strive for successful reentry into society, namely challenges to secure employment and living arrangements, social support assets and challenges, as well as broader community-level challenges of reentry. Policy solutions are then identified to offset these obstacles. Lastly, the limitations of existing literature and future research directions are addressed.