Review of Voices from the shopfloor: Dramas of the employment relationship,/by Anne-Marie Greene. Aldershot : Ashgate, 2001

This research monograph seeks, as the author puts it, ‘to demonstrate the utility of ethnographic research methods to industrial relations in the developing world’. To this end, the author provides case studies of two lock factories in the West Midlands of England, with data sourced from interviews and observations by the author during a period of two decades in the case of one, and a rather shorter period in the case of the other. The insights gleaned from these two case studies are then considered in the light of the ethnographic literature on industrial relations in the developing world. The body of the book comprises three main chapters which successively examine the issues of paternalism, gender and family, and collective action in the two factories.

Listening to young people's voices: Youth sports leaders' advice on facilitating participation in sport

This article reports on a study that accepts the proposal that we listento the voices of young people in relation to sport and physical recreation.The study sought the advice of young sports leaders on what can be done to facilitate young people’s involvement in sport. The study used group interviews (Nominal Group Technique) with over 600 14–18-year-olds toelicit responses to a single question, ‘What can be done to help young people participate in sport?’ This article focuses on young people’s views on issues to do with climate and conditions. We argue that, while their advice offers support for some current initiatives in youth sport, it also provides new insights and challenges and suggests a reordering of existing priorities for youth sport and leisure provision.

Listening to the 'voices' of students with severe learning difficulties through a task-based approach to research and learning in physical education

In this article, Hayley Fitzgerald, Anne Jobling and David Kirk consider the physical education and sporting experiences of a group of students with severe learning difficulties. Their study is thought provoking, not only because of the important and somewhat neglected subject matter, but equally for the research approach adopted. The way in which the study engaged with the students and the insights gained from that engagement will be of particular interest to practitioner researchers.