What ‘works’ when retracing sample members in a qualitative longitudinal study?

Attrition represents a significant obstacle to overcome in any longitudinal research project. It is, perhaps, most keenly felt when the data collected are from a qualitative study, since, unlike quantitative longitudinal research, weighting factors cannot be applied to ‘correct’ for any biases in the achieved sample and even a small number of ‘lost’ respondents can equate to a large percentage of the original sample. It is perhaps because of qualitative longitudinal research’s (QLR) reliance on, generally speaking, smaller samples that few have been able to shed much light on which re-contacting procedures are associated with achieving higher rates of retention. In this article, using data from a fifth sweep of a larger but particularly challenging cohort of 199 former probationers, we explore the strategies which helped us maintain high levels of retention in a QLR study. The article contains many practical suggestions which others planning or undertaking similar studies may find useful.     

Researcher reflexivity: exploring the impacts of CAQDAS use

Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) programs are established tools for qualitative research. Making informed decisions when using them requires researchers to understand how they affect research practices and outcomes. In this article we consider the impact of CAQDAS on researcher reflexivity. Reviewing three decades of literature, we identify specific ‘reflexive moments’ experienced by CAQDAS users, the contexts in which they occur, the issues they raise, and the reflexive awareness they generate. The ways in which CAQDAS can enhance or undermine researcher reflexivity are also reported. By doing so, we aim to help researchers and especially research students (and their supervisors) understand the relationship between CAQDAS and reflexivity and the reflexive moments they may encounter when using such software.     

Observational practice in virtual worlds: revisiting and expanding the methodological discussion

Virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, have seen remarkable mainstream uptake in the last decade. Such environments have grown from hosting niche interest groups to providing sites for leisure, business and education for tens of millions of Internet users. Concurrently, a multi-disciplinary research field exploring the application of such spaces has emerged. This article examines in detail one data collection practice – observation in virtual worlds – that has been applied extensively, but without extensive methodological discussion. By revisiting and extending earlier work on this topic, the article presents four key considerations for those conducting observational research in virtual worlds: defining and delimiting field sites, discerning attention, charting actions and attributing intention. It is concluded that researchers must both ward against flawed assumptions about virtual world observation and consider multi-method strategies to overcome limitations in observational data.     

From peaceful marches to violent clashes: a micro-situational analysis

Recent studies point to the relevance of situational factors in the emergence of violence. This paper applies these insights to a systematic analysis of how and why peaceful protest marches transform into violent clashes. It focuses on the micro-situational patterns and emotional dynamics during protests. The exploratory study compares 20 peaceful and violent protests of the Global Justice Movement in the United States and Germany. It employs a triangulation of visual data with document data. The study relies on in-depth qualitative analysis, based on the principles of process tracing. Findings suggest that in those protests where violence emerges, a prior micro-situational pattern is systematically visible. The discussion of exemplary cases shows that two emotional phases precede the outbreak of violence. These phases emerge in a specific temporal danger zone of 1–3 h after the start of a protest. Further, specific triggering moments seem to prompt the outbreak of violence, like the breaking-up of police–protester lines, actors being outnumbered, or falling down. The emotional dynamic between protesters and officers during a protest likewise influences the intensity of violence and how violent situations end. Consequently, the paper suggests that actors need to go through a confrontational micro-situation in a demonstration in order to be able to use violence.     

The methodology of a multi-model project examining how facebook infrastructures social relations

It is the purpose of this paper to make explicit the methodology (the theory of the methods) by which we conducted research for an Economic and Social Research Council-funded research project on the relationship of values to value. Specifically, we wanted to study the imperative of Facebook to monetize social relationships, what happens when one of our significant forms of communication is driven by the search for profit, by the logic of capital. We therefore wanted to ‘get inside’ and understand what capital's new lines of flight, informationally driven models of economic expansion, do to social relations. Taking up the challenge to develop methods appropriate to the challenges of ‘big data', we applied four different methods to investigate the interface that is Facebook: we designed custom software tools, generated an online survey, developed data visualizations, and conducted interviews with participants to discuss their understandings of our analysis. We used Lefebvre's [(2004). Rhythmnanalysis: Space, time and everyday life. London: Continuum] rhythmanalysis and Kember and Zylinska's [(2012). Life after new media: Mediation as a vital process. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press] ideas about ‘lifeness’ to inform our methodology. This paper reports on a research process that was not entirely straightforward. We were thwarted in a variety of ways, especially by challenge to use software to study software and had to develop our project in unanticipated directions, but we also found much more than we initially imagined possible. As so few academic researchers are able to study Facebook through its own tools (as Tufekci [(2014 Tufekci, Z. (2014). Big questions for social media big data: Representativeness, validity and other methodological pitfalls. In ICWSM ‘14: Proceedings of the 8th International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, pp. 505–514. [Google Scholar]). Big questions for social media big data: Representativeness, validity and other methodological pitfalls. In ICWSM ‘14: Proceedings of the 8th International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (pp. 505–514)] notes how, unsurprisingly, at the 2013 ICWSM only about 5% of papers were about Facebook and nearly all of these were co-authored with Facebook data scientists), we hope that our methodology is useful for other researchers seeking to develop less conventional research on Facebook.     

Women who sacrifice themselves for everybody: qualitative research with mothers of disabled children

This study, from a feminist perspective, aimed at examining the experiences of women whose children with cerebral palsy received a treatment at a physiotherapy and rehabilitation center located in Ankara, Turkey. The study intended to reveal the perceptions of in-family roles of women with disabled children, their participation in public life, and their self-concept within the scope of feminist social work. Thus, the objective of the present study was to contribute to the understanding of the fact that non gender-blind services should be developed in this field on the basis of social justice and human rights, which constitutes the fundamental philosophy of social work. Qualitative research method was employed in the study where data were analyzed through content analysis. The findings of the study were interpreted under four main themes: the lives of the women with disabled children after their disabled children were born; being a woman within the scope of family life, participation in decision-making processes, and domestic division of labor; participation in public life and relations with women's associations; the self-sacrifice; and the suggestions of women concerning self-realization within the scope of self-concept.     

香椿树绿化道路投资项目的可行性研究——以长丰县"村村通"工程为例

选择长丰县“村村通”工程为研究对象,提出以香椿树作为新修乡村道路的绿化树木,通过每年采摘树芽产生效益,增加道路养护资金的来源。经过对经营者、投资者和管理者三个方面的可行性论证,建议形成“政府牵头、市民投资、农民经营、共同受益”的农业经济的长效发展格局。     

政治哲学研究的问题域探析

政治哲学是对政治本质以及政治科学整个发展进程和其蕴含的价值取向的考察和反思,是对政治科学的基本问题即研究主题问题的探究,其研究范畴指涉相关的问题域:由对政治的本质及分界问题的探求,对政治作为一门科学的发展过程的审视和对政治科学发展取向的价值判断的厘清等诸多问题建构而成。     

现代企业组织内部关系研究综述

改革开放以来,经济体制形式的多样性使得现代企业组织既传承了计划经济体制下“单位制”的特点,也采用了所谓先进的“科层制”来进行管理。然而,随着构建和谐社会理念的提出,现代企业组织内部关系也出现了许多新矛盾和新问题。从经济学视角来看,这些矛盾和冲突的根源是资源占有的不平等;从管理学视角来看,组织内部的关系更应该提倡合作和双赢,即和谐。笔者在归纳组织理论和组织关系相关研究的基础上,探析组织依赖研究,进行简要述评,提出从社会学视角开展基于资源交换的组织依赖研究的意义。     

董事会特征与盈余管理关系研究

近年一些上市公司会计信息严重失真,盈余管理现象十分严重。董事会作为公司治理机制的重要组成部分,无疑会对公司盈余管理产生很大的影响。文章从实证角度分析了董事会特征与盈余管理之间的关系,发现董事会规模和盈余管理的程度之间存在U型曲线关系;独立董事比例与盈余管理成反比,但t检验不具有显著性;董事会持股和审计委员会与盈余管理的大小都呈反比。根据以上结论进而提出了相应的政策建议。