Working at a marginal 'career': the case of UK social science contract researchers

Contract researchers constitute a significant occupational group within the UK higher education system, and the products of their labour are crucial to the research profile of the institutions in which they work and to the sector as a whole. Given the ‘marginality’ of the contract researcher role, with its attendant insecurities and inferior employment conditions in comparison with ‘permanent’ faculty, it is perhaps not surprising that relatively few individuals manage to sustain any continuity of employment resembling a career path. The fact that some researchers do succeed in achieving this is therefore worthy of investigation. This paper examines and charts some of the ways in which contract researchers manage their everyday work routines and construct a presentation of self in order to maximise opportunities for ‘staying in the game’.     

Housing assessment criteria of rural households

This paper is an assessment of factors which influence a household to make decisions in relation to their residential location involves a complex set of variables. The location is an important aspect of quality of life, therefore, a better understanding of the components of residential decision making is essential. This paper explores factors contributing to the ideal housing situation and compares two measurements: congruence and quality score.     

Parental Provision of Academic Structure and the Transition to Middle School

This study examined parents' provision of academic structure, and whether they implement it in an autonomy supportive or controlling manner, in relation to children's competence‐related beliefs, motivation, and academic behavior over the transition to middle school. Interviews with 160 sixth‐grade children were coded on parental structure and autonomy support. Children reported on their competence‐related beliefs, motivation, and engagement in sixth and seventh grades. Regression analyses showed that higher structure predicted seventh‐grade perceived competence, intrinsic motivation, engagement, and English grades, controlling for these same outcomes at sixth grade. Autonomy support predicted perceived competence, autonomous motivation, and English grades, controlling for prior outcomes. Structural equation models indicated that relations between structure and engagement and between autonomy support and grades were mediated by perceived competence.     

深度复制

正当代摄影家托马斯·鲁夫(Thomas Ruff)属于那种让艺术评论者头疼、无法用简单尺度进行归类的艺术家。他对摄影和图像媒介的参与性和渗透性几乎是"万花筒式"的。其作品涉及建筑、新闻、人像、天文学、色情等诸多领域,同时他也对传统或新兴图像媒体和技术具有强烈的探索欲望,并有可能是摄影界最早使用数字图像技术和网络的艺术家。