Correction to: Mixed methods research: what it is and what it could be

Theory and Society - Unfortunately, figure 2 was incorrectly published.     

Were UK Culture, Sport and Recreation Charities Prepared for the 2008 Economic Downturn? An Application of Tuckman and Chang’s Measures of Financial Vulnerability

UK charities experienced rapid growth during the middle years of the first decade of the new millennium. The issue investigated in this study is whether the charities took the opportunity to strengthen their financial positions before the economic recession of 2008–2009. Having evaluated, and established the empirical robustness of, Tuckman and Chang’s measures of financial vulnerability, they are used as the basis for constructing a Charities Financial Exposure Index (CFEI). Variants of the index are applied to a panel of more than 300 large UK charities in the Culture, Sport and Recreation sector for the period 2002–2007. The findings are that by 2008 these charities were in a stronger financial position than they had been in 2002 and were therefore better prepared to face the onset of the so-called credit crunch recession.     

Bayesian Analysis of an Unobserved-Component Time Series Model of GDP With Markov-Switching and Time-Varying Growths

We propose an unobserved-component time series model of gross domestic product that includes Markov switching as an unobserved component. In addition to a trend component, the model has two time-varying drift components. One drift represents the expected rate of growth during recession; the other drift represents the expected rate during expansion. Estimates indicate a substantial decline in the latter annual rate for the United States from 6.4% in 1950 to 3.6% by 1990. We have employed weak priors based on prewar data. The estimation makes use of the Gibbs sampler and the Metropolis algorithm.     

Outsourcing: decision-making methods and criteria during design and engineering

Research to date for decision-making on outsourcing has almost exclusively focussed on strategic and operational levels. Consequently, we know relatively little about decision-making on outsourcing during design and engineering, i.e. the tactical level; that also means that the characteristics of design and engineering – incomplete and inaccurate information and progressive availability of data – are not incorporated in existing frameworks and methods at that level. To fill this gap, a first-of-its-kind framework, based on an extensive appraisal of the literature, is validated; to that purpose, a Delphi survey was undertaken gauging the opinions of two homogeneous groups of academic and industry experts. The analysis of the survey affirms the assumptions made about the role of the progressive availability of data during decision-making on outsourcing. The results from this study should not only inform further research into decision-making during design and engineering but potentially the framework might also have validity for purchasing at the tactical level and strategic decision-making on outsourcing.     

The Future of HRD Research: A SWOT analysis by five leading scholars in the field

This article presents a review of the 11th International Conference on Human Resource Development Research and Practice across Europe through the lens of global mobility. The conference was held in Pécs, Hungary in June, 2010 and the four authors who participated in the conference present their own narratives as agents of global mobility, examine the theme of global mobility in the various aspects of the conference, and conclude with reflections on the factors that supported the learning environment at the conference.     

'Out of Place', 'Knowing One's Place': space, power and the exclusion of disabled people

Disabled people are marginalised and excluded from 'mainstream' society. In general, our understanding of the processes of exclusion is grounded in time and history. In this paper, it is argued that space, as well as time, is instrumental in reproducing and sustaining disablist practices. Disability has distinct spatialities that work to exclude and oppress disabled people. Spaces are currently organised to keep disabled people 'in their place' and 'written' to convey to disabled people that they are 'out of place'. Furthermore, social relations currently work to spatially isolate and marginalise disabled people and their carers. Disability is spatially, as well as socially, constructed. It is contended that an understanding of society's reaction to, and the experiences of, disability should be framed within an approach that combines a spatialised political economy with social constructivism. Unlike neo-Marxist approaches this approach is centred on notions of power rather than capital. Using this approach, the spatialities of disability are explored.     

On the Margins: disabled people's experience of employment in Donegal, West Ireland

Traditionally, studies of disabled people's access to the labour market have been largely restricted to labour market 'censuses', often conducted by government agencies, and econometric studies. This paper explores disabled people's access to and experiences of employment in Donegal, West Ireland, using a qualitative approach. Twelve disabled people and four non-disabled helpers, divided into two focus groups, were interviewed using an in-depth, informal conversational strategy. A number of different, salient issues were identified in regards to training, and gaining and maintaining employment, ranging from ignorance and discrimination, to poor access (both workplace and transport), to legislation. Respondents identified a number or potential solutions which mainly focused around disability awareness, removing barriers to gaining employment and the implementation of stronger legislation. In the final section, the issues and solutions raised by disabled people are compared to those identified by non-disabled people, collected in a parallel study.