Political Information, Party Identification and Voting Defection

This section of POQ is reserved for brief reports of researchin progress, discussions of unsolved problems, methodologicalstudies, and public opinion data not extensively analyzed orinterpreted. Succinct case histories are welcomed, as well ashypotheses and insights that may be useful to other studentsof public opinion. Usually, material in this section is shorter,more informal, and more tentative than in preceding pages     

Touch, Sexuality and Power in Residential Settings

Summary This paper examines areas of concern surrounding touch, sexualityand associated power in residential establishments. The placeof touch and the expression of sexuality are considered in relationto residents and staff. It is suggested that these are importantfactors in framing a concept of residential care based on rightsand duties, and that current practice often takes a limitedperspective of some of the fundamental needs of residents     

Agency Decentralization: Planning and Assessment

Summary Criteria are examined for the location of area offices in SocialServices Departments, drawing on the monitored experience ofdealing with voluntary callers to an area office in the ProbationService. Changes were observed in numbers of voluntary callersand the kinds of problems presented, together with developmentsin inter-agency relationships. The caller's subjective feelingsregarding the accessibility of the agency were found to be importantdeterminants of agency use. Implications are drawn out for planningdecisions in local authorities     

Conceptualizing reflection in experience-based workplace learning

This paper seeks to understand key dimensions of reflection in experience-based workplace learning for research being collaboratively undertaken by scholars in Dutch and US research institutions. We systematically explore and compare Tara Fenwick’s analysis of five perspectives on cognition to distinguish among constructivist, psychoanalytic, situative, critical-cultural, and enactivist perspectives on reflection. Our aim is to examine how to conceptualize reflection so that one or more perspectives can complement our understanding of learning through experience at work. We position reflection not only from a practical but also from a theoretical perspective that moves beyond the individual focus of the constructivist perspective. Fenwick’s five perspectives are described in terms of whether and how reflection is utilized, key activities in the process of reflection, relative focus on the individual and/or the context, triggers for reflection, role of power and positionality, role of emotions, and reflection outcomes. We conclude that adding other lenses to the dominant constructivist perspective helps expand our understanding of reflection as well as identify and attend to other tools, people, and factors in the work situation that influence reflection processes and learning outcomes. The paper closes with a discussion of promising new approaches that have emerged since Fenwick’s analysis.     

Public Multichannel Management – an Integrated Framework of Off- and Online Multichannel Government Services

Government institutions have introduced multichannel environments over time following trends and technological innovations. These public multichannel environments often neglect specific channel characteristics and potentials and thus miss the opportunity to make full use of a strategic channel integration and combination with a focus on customer value creation. This study offers a systematic approach to establish an integrated public multichannel system not only taking into account user preferences, habits and their environment, but also the respective channel issuer and the characteristics of channels and public interfaces. Against this background, the study presents a systematic approach to expand services and channels according to their capacities, and provides academics and practitioners with a framework on public multichannel strategies.