Empowerment, Identity and Participatory Research: using social action research to challenge isolation for deaf and hard of hearing people from minority ethnic communities

This paper considers the practice of empowerment within a social action approach, and the importance of an analysis of issues of identity, for an understanding of the experience of individuals and their communities. The discussion is grounded in the experience of conducting a research project on the 'needs of deaf and hard of hearing people from minority ethnic communities', living in the London Borough of Merton. The theme of 'isolation' is taken as a focus for the discussion. It was identified by respondents to be of central importance to an understanding of their experience. The Social Model of Disability and the concept of Deaf Culture are used to explore the complex set of relationships that characterise the day-to-day reality for deaf and hard of hearing people from minority ethnic communities, and recommendations are made to assist researchers and service providers in developing a more empowering practice.     

The Role of Debt Contracts in UK Corporate Governance

The model of managerial incentives used in Positive Accounting Theory sees debt contracts as important in accounting choices in firms. The paper argues that agency theory and costly contracting theory imply a much wider role for debt contracts as corporate governance mechanisms for controlling relationships between lenders and firms. We analyse the creditor's problem in providing debt to the firm in terms of anticipated agency costs. This analysis leads to a consideration of contracting solutions involving the choice of debt contract terms providing credit protections which are efficient in agency cost and contracting cost terms.The model of debt contracts accepted in the literature is based upon US research, both theoretical and empirical, and thus reflects US institutional experience. This model involves detailed bonding and monitoring terms focusing upon financial and other covenants and implies customisation of such terms to meet creditors' contracting requirements. The paper reviews evidence on the applicability of this model in practice and concludes that, despite broad similarities, institutional biases are present if the model is applied to countries other than the US. We examine evidence on UK debt contracting practices, in particular contract form and content, types of covenant, lenders' perceptions of the role of covenants as control mechanisms, and the issue of standardisation versus customisation. The paper identifies important differences in debt contracting in the UK, for example in types of covenants and the role perceived for them by creditors and identifies standardisation in contract terms as being more common than often implied by other research.     

Feminist Methodology in Social Movements Research

Feminist social scientists have developed distinctive principles of inquiry that depart from the positivist ideal of the detached, value-free scientist and are consistent with the feminist goal of rendering women's experiences visible and challenging gender inequality. In this article, I show how my research on the postpartum depression self-help movement illustrates five features of feminist methodology: a gender perspective, accentuation of women's experiences, reflexivity, participatory methods, and social action. My intent is to demonstrate how attention to the epistemological and methodological questions posed by feminist researchers produces new standards of evidence that allow us to recognize the gendering of social movement processes and theory.     

Implementing New Bibliometric Services at EPA-RTP Library

Abstract

The EPA-RTP Library is a federal research library established on the campus of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Historically, one of the ways the library has supported the information needs of researchers on campus is through the provision of basic bibliometric-related reference support. As these requests evolved in complexity due to the nature of organizational and scientific research impact demands, library staff recognized an opportunity to expand the library’s offerings to form two distinct services with product deliverables. The resulting services analyze and package metrics at the author, article, and journal levels with graphical data visualizations to provide researchers with a portfolio-style product they can use to demonstrate their individual scholarly output and research value. Development of Research Impact Reports and Article Impact Reports is explained in detail along with reflections on implementation processes and prospects for future expansion in bibliometric analysis services.     

The Complexity of Forecast Testing

Consider a weather forecaster predicting a probability of rain for the next day. We consider tests that, given a finite sequence of forecast predictions and outcomes, will either pass or fail the forecaster. Sandroni showed that any test which passes a forecaster who knows the distribution of nature can also be probabilistically passed by a forecaster with no knowledge of future events. We look at the computational complexity of such forecasters and exhibit a linear‐time test and distribution of nature such that any forecaster without knowledge of the future who can fool the test must be able to solve computationally difficult problems. Thus, unlike Sandroni's work, a computationally efficient forecaster cannot always fool this test independently of nature.     

Noticing and helping the neglected child: towards an international research agenda

This systematic review examined the evidence on the extent to which practitioners are equipped to recognize and respond to the indications that a child's needs are likely to be, or are being neglected. This paper examines the methodological issues arising from the review. A systematic process of progressive filtering yielded 112 papers representing primary studies that inform the international research agenda for child neglect. A final dataset of 63 studies was of sufficient quality and usefulness for inclusion. The review raised a number of methodological issues of relevance for research in child protection in general, and on neglect in particular. Researchers and practitioners can benefit from an enhanced understanding of the issues that make neglect difficult to understand. Common issues were identified to inform future research. For example, there was a tendency for studies to use a range of proxy measures rather than direct observation of the outcome of interest, and a wide range of different outcome measures was used. Many of the studies were small scale or retrospective in design. Many studies conflated neglect and other forms of maltreatment, and it was often difficult to extract specific messages for neglect.     

Yoga for stress reduction and injury prevention at work

At work employees face numerous psychological stressors that can undermine their work performance. These stressors, stemming from a variety of possible causes, have enormous health and financial impacts on employees as well as employers. Stress has been shown to be one of the factors leading to musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs) such as: include back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder or neck tension, eye strain, or headaches. Yoga is an ancient form of exercise that can reduce stress and relieve muscular tension or pain. Practicing yoga at the workplace teaches employees to use relaxation techniques to reduce stress and risks of injury on the job. Yoga at the workplace is a convenient and practical outlet that improves work performance by relieving tension and job stress.     

Trust: Missing Piece(s) in the Safety Puzzle

While trust is increasingly recognized as a factor that impacts on safety behavior, the exact nature of trust and its role in shaping organizational safety is poorly understood. This special issue contains six articles that examine the relationship between trust and safety behavior in a range of high-risk work contexts. The issue begins with two articles that introduce the complex nature of trust and the positive and negative roles that trust can play in shaping an organization's safety culture. This background is then developed by two articles that explore the role of trust and distrust in safety performance, and uncover a range of significant but often counterintuitive relationships between forms of trust and safe behavior. Finally, the issue concludes with two articles that examine the role that leadership may play in developing trust. These articles examine the conditions important for the development of trust in leaders, and the trust-promoting actions that leaders can employ to influence employees' engagement in safety participation.