More than a method? Organisational ethnography as a way of imagining the social

The authors – two anthropologists and an organisational theorist, all organisational ethnographers – discuss their understanding and practices of organisational ethnography (OE) as a way of imagining and reflect on how similar this understanding may be for young organisational researchers and students in particular. The discussion leads to the conclusion that OE may be regarded as a methodology but that it has a much greater potential when it is reclaiming its roots: to become a mode of doing social science on the meso-level. The discussion is based on an analysis of both historical material and the contemporary learning experiences of teaching OE as more than a method to our students.     

What accounts for the variations in children's subjective well-being across nations?: A decomposition method study

Studies have shown that there are important differences in children's subjective well-being across nations. However, it has been difficult to explain why this level is lower or higher in certain countries. Using data from the Children's Worlds project, this study examines how much of the country-level children's subjective well-being can be explained by various social and cultural contextual factors. More specifically, we decompose the levels of children's overall subjective well-being to seven factors that are known to be important for children's well-being including leisure, environment, learning, money, relationship, freedom to choose, and self. After the decomposition, the unexplained part (intercept and residual) for each country is considered to represent cultural reporting bias. We found that cultural reporting bias cannot explain all of the variances in children's subjective well-being across nations. Rather, we found that the freedom to choose and self are the two most important factors that explain vast share of the variances in the overall levels of children's subjective well-being across nations. The paper also provides social policy implications of the study results.     

Participatory research and the voice‐centred relational method of data analysis: is it worth it?

Much has been written about participatory approaches in planning and implementing research. The process and practice of participatory data interpretation and analysis is, however, less discussed. This article explores the value of the Voice‐Centred Relational (VCR) method of data analysis and interpretation in the context of participatory research with socially excluded teenagers. Focussing on participatory data analysis, the implementation of the method with teenagers in a West of Ireland town who have left school early is described. Written from the perspectives of academic researchers, members of a research team that included teenagers and a Community Arts artist, this article introduces the VCR method and describes the participatory processes, practices and pitfalls. The challenges of doing participatory interpretation with VCR method are considered.     

Assessing income support where no national minimum income scheme exists. Is it possible to apply the model family method to the Italian case?

This article focuses on the application of a specific comparative methodology, the model family method (MFM), in measuring the income derived from minimum income schemes. The application of the MFM to the analysis of this policy field shows several criticalities such as the difficulty to analyze countries in which no national scheme exists, and in which both the intra-national variations and the discretionary power of street-level bureaucrats are significant. Stemming from the application of the MFM to the Italian case in the framework of an international project, the article analyzes whether and how this method can be developed also in said countries. In particular, it shows that, in order to do so, specific methodological choices and assumptions are necessary, built on a mixed research strategy aimed at complementing the data collected from institutional sources with in-depth interviews with social workers and the use of the vignettes technique.     

The photo‐survey research method: capturing life in the city

Recent promotion of city centre living within UK policy has led to a commensurate interest in city centre conditions and the opinions and experiences of the people who live there. An apposite, straightforward method to capture city centre residents' experiences and views is described in this article. We successfully combined a novel, under‐utilized visual technique (self‐directed photography) with qualitative methods (log‐sheets and interviews) in the form of a ‘photo‐survey’. A background to visual methodologies is presented in this article, alongside a critique of using the photo‐survey with 84 city centre residents to investigate environmental conditions and perceptions within three of the UK's major cities. The method provided a rich, detailed set of data, but also brought a number of noticeable benefits to the data collection process. The photo‐survey not only effectively captured and documented life in the city but also acted as an ‘agent for change’, evoking thoughts and feelings which ultimately encouraged participants to reflect on their existing perceptions and urban experiences. The study also raises some important considerations for future work undertaken with this method and with using photographs as a set of data, and proposes techniques for minimising potential problems.     

What About the Kids?

ABSTRACT

Although rhetoric about family-centered services and breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty has survived many failed public welfare strategies, few meaningful collaborative efforts between school systems and the public welfare system have emerged. The following case study describes the processes in which a county DSS director successfully engaged the school system to change the educational trajectories of its children in poverty by using the university as a bridge partner. Capitalizing on the freedom associated with using block grant funds for innovative programs, the collaborating partners redefined the relationship between the two systems through a common goal. Successes, barriers, practice implications and lessons learned are identified and discussed in the case example.     

Will the EU Disintegrate? What Does the Likely Possibility of Disintegration Tell About the Future of the World?

Is it true that either the EU will be democratised or it will disintegrate? I concur that the current policies, principles, and institutions of the EU both generate counterproductive politico-economic effects and suffer from problems of legitimation. These effects and problems, which are not confined to Europe, give rise to tendencies towards disintegration. My second point concerns the timing of the required learning and reforms. Modest policy proposals and tentative steps within the existing EU Treaty framework may be too little too late. The question is whether there is enough time for deeper transformations in Europe—and also globally.     

One of the Boys?

This article argues that American media reports of the Jessica Lynch case illustrate some of the ways in which gender has been reordered, policed and disciplined within the United States (and North America more broadly) in the wake of 9/11 and in the context of war. The study of a key gendered representation of the war – and of the way gender interlocks with race, class, nationality and sexuality in these representations – tells us not only about how the war was sold to the American public, but also about the degree to which normative and disciplinary gender roles can be stretched, or not, within domestic society and the ways in which contemporary media portrayals of foreign adventures serve to reinforce these gender norms. Ultimately we argue that media portraits of Jessica Lynch demonstrate how little the simple inclusion of women in the military acts to disrupt sexist systems of power and meaning.     

Motivating the Unemployed? Attitudes at the Front Line

Abstract

Underlying employment services policy in many countries is the assumption that the unemployed exhibit a range of deficits. The goal of employment activation programs is to develop self-efficacy. Noting the determinants of self-efficacy, we illustrate how case managers and social workers think about the unemployed and suggest that negative attitudes held by case managers are not conducive to the promotion of self-efficacy, unlike the orientation displayed by social workers. We suggest that employment services, wherever provided, would be significantly improved if social work frameworks informed policy and practices.     

A Multi‐method Approach to the Study of School Class Size Differences

This paper describes a multi‐method approach to data collection used in a large‐scale seven‐year longitudinal study of the effect of class size differences on classroom processes. There were five main types of process and the paper concentrates on the results from one of these: teaching interactions with pupils. It was felt that integration of results from quantitative and qualitative methods would help reconcile inconsistencies and limitations in previous research on this topic. Quantitative information was collected from systematic classroom observations and teacher completed time estimates to address relationships between class size and teacher time allocation, and teacher and pupil behaviour in class. But we also wanted a more qualitative assessment of relationships between class size and teaching through the use of methods that captured practitioners’ experiences, and through detailed case studies. Examples of integrated results from these four methods are given, along with some reflections on lessons learned.     

Person-centred communication in dementia care: a qualitative study of the use of the SPECAL® method by care workers in the UK

Abstract

Communication has featured prominently in person-centred dementia care research, but no consensus has been reached on which communication techniques are most helpful in supporting person-centred care. This qualitative study explored communication techniques used by domiciliary and community care workers of people with dementia in the UK. Care workers trained in the SPECAL® method (Specialised Early Care for Alzheimer’s) were invited to semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Themes from the data were discussed as a potential basis for developing a substantive theory. The care workers contributed to client well-being through modifying their communication techniques, expressing a protective, empathetic and reassuring approach, underpinned by reflection. Clients exhibited greater well-being and less anxious behaviour. The care workers’ use of SPECAL® communication methods, supported by supervision, may provide a unique combination of techniques, contributing to the development of caring relationships, to care worker and client well-being, and to the maintenance of client personhood.     

Sartre for the twenty-first century?

By virtually dominating French intellectual life (literature, philosophy, culture) during the early post-World War II period, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) embodied what Pierre Bourdieu calls a “total intellectual” – one who responds to and helps frame public debate on all the intellectual and political issues of the day. During his lifetime and even after his death in 1980, Sartre’s thinking and political engagements provoked sharp reactions, both positive and negative, in France and abroad. Marxism, decolonization struggles, and violence are three key themes on which Sartre’s public positions continue to generate considerable debate – a debate that remains relevant today.

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Governance Beyond the Global: Who Controls the Extraterrestrial?

How is outer space governed? This article argues that private authority is gaining salience in space politics, even with respect to the traditionally state-centric security and military aspects of space. Further, while commercial actors have always played a role in space programs, three significant changes can be detected: transnational conglomerates and consortia as opposed to individual corporations are emerging as key partners in space politics; private partners are gaining stronger and wider responsibilities for the development and management of space programs (including manned spaceflights); and public accountability is increasingly at stake due to a widening of security in space policy. The latter development includes a blurring of key distinctions between military and civilian usage (also referred to as dual-use or dual-role application), as well as between the public and private realms.

¿Cómo se gobierna el espacio externo? Este artículo sostiene que la autoridad privada está ganando prominencia en la política espacial, inclusive con respecto a los aspectos tradicionales de seguridad centro estatal y militar del espacio. Además, mientras que los actores comerciales siempre han jugado un rol en los programas del espacio, se pueden detectar tres cambios: los conglomerados transnacionales y consorcios en lugar de corporaciones individuales, están surgiendo como socios claves en la política del espacio; socios privados están ganando responsabilidades más poderosas y más amplias para el desarrollo y el manejo de los programas del espacio (que incluye vuelos espaciales con tripulación); y en tercer lugar, la rendición pública de cuentas está cada vez más en juego debido a un incremento de seguridad en la política del espacio. El último desarrollo incluye una desaparición de las diferencias claves entre el uso militar y el civil (también llamado como una aplicación de doble uso o doble rol), como también entre los ámbitos público y privado.

外层空间如何得到治理？本文认为在太空政治中,即使是那些传统的以国家为中心的空间安全与军事方面,私人的权威正在凸显。进一步地,由于商业性的行为体一直在太空计划中发挥作用,三大重要变化可以被观察到：与个体的公司相对的跨国公司和财团正在成为太空政治中的关键合作;为了空间计划（包括载人太空飞行）的开发和管理,私人合作伙伴正在获得强大而广泛的责任;而由于太空政策中安全的（范围）变宽,公共责任则日益濒于险境。后一点包括容易混淆模糊的军民使用（也指的是两用或者双重角色的应用）、以及公私领域之间的区隔。

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Как космосом управляют? В статье утверждается, что частная власть приобретает значимость в космической политике даже относительно традиционно государственно-ориентированной безопасности и военных аспектов космического пространства. Кроме того, принимая во внимание то, что коммерческие структуры всегда играли важную роль в космических программах, могут быть выявлены три существенных изменения: транснациональные конгломераты и консорциумы, в отличие от отдельных корпораций, становятся ключевыми партнерами в космической политике; частные партнеры получают более сильные и более широкий спектр обязанностей по развитию и управлению космическими программами (включая пилотируемые космические полеты); и в-третьих, общественная ответственность оказывается под угрозой все чаще в связи с расширением областей безопасности в космической политике. Последнее включает размывание ключевых различий между военным и гражданским использованием (также называемый двойным использованием или применением двойной роли), так же как между общественной и частной сферами.     

What Were the Deputies Discussing?

IN the last five years, since the Seventh Chinese Women's National Congress, the women's movement of China has developed vigorously. For the purposes of moving the women's cause into the next century, the Eighth Chinese Women's National Congress recently convened in Beijing to hold wideranging discussions on women's issues. More than one thousand deputies came from different nationalities and social