Navigating through the maze: the practical issues of conducting research for novices

New postgraduate students embark on their research journey typically with little or no experience in doing research. Supervisors and other more experienced student researchers might help them to find their feet during the first few weeks of their research by sharing their own experience of how they solved similar problems during their research. In this way each novice researcher can learn and benefit from other researchers´ ways of resolving problems. This paper discusses the real concerns that researchers reflected upon during a two-day research workshop, where researchers share problems, exchange ideas for overcoming them and learn from each other´s experiences of conducting research. The output from the workshop is in the form of hints and tips that can guide novice researchers when faced with initial problems. The paper can also be used by a department to induct a novice researcher into their environment.

Issues of cause and control in patient accounts of Type 2 diabetes

Patients experience considerable difficulties in making and sustaining health-related lifestyle changes. Many Type 2 diabetes patients struggle to follow disease risk-management advice even when they receive extensive information and support. Drawing on a qualitative study of patients with Type 2 diabetes, the paper uses discourse analysis to examine their accounts about disease causation and disease management, and the implications for how they respond to their condition and health services advice. As it is a multifactorial disease, biomedical discourse around Type 2 diabetes is complex. Patients are encouraged to grasp the complicated message that both cause and medical outcomes related to their condition are partly, but not wholly, within their control. Discursive constructions identified from respondent accounts indicate how these two messages are deployed variously by respondents when accounting for disease causation and management. While these constructions (identified in respondent accounts as 'Up to me' and 'Down to them') are a valuable resource for patients, equally they may be deployed in a selective and detrimental way. We conclude that clear messages from health professionals about effective disease management may help patients to position themselves more effectively in relation to their condition. More importantly, they might serve to hinder the availability of inappropriate and potentially harmful patient positions where patients either relinquish responsibility for disease management or reject all input from health professionals. © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Approaches to issues of job regulation. A study at branch level in a white collar, public sector trade union. Available in 2 volumes.

This study examines the internal dynamics of white collar trade union branches in the public sector. The effects of a number of internal and external factors on branch patterns of action are evaluated. For the purposes of the study branch action is taken to be the approach to issues of job regulation, as expressed along the five dimensions of dependence on the outside trade union, focus in issues adopted, initiation of issues, intensity of action in issue pursuit and representativeness. The setting chosen for the study is four branches drawn from the same geographical area of the National and Local Government Officers Association. Branches were selected to give a variety in industry settings while controlling for the potentially influential variables of branch size, density of trade union membership and possession of exclusive representational rights in the employing organisation. Identical methods of data collection were used for each branch. The principal findings of the study are that the framework of national agreements and industry collective bargaining structures are strongly related to the industrial relations climate in the employing organisation and the structures of representation within the branch. Where agreements and collective bargaining structures formally restrict branch job regulation roles, there is a degree of devolution of bargaining authority from branch level negotiators to autonomous shop stewards at workplace level. In these circumstances industrial relations climate is characterised by a degree of informality in relationships between management and trade union activists. In turn, industrial relations climate and representative structures together with actor attitudes, have strong effects on all dimensions of approach to issues of job regulation.

Inside ‘Inside View’: reflections on stimulating debate and engagement through a multimedia live theatre production on the dilemmas and issues of pre-natal screening policy and practice

Background The role of applied theatre in engaging both lay and professional publics with debate on health policy and practice is an emergent field. This paper discusses the development, production performance and discussion of ‘Inside View’.1 Objectives The objectives were to produce applied theatre from research findings of a completed study on genetic prenatal screening, exploring the dilemmas for women and health professionals of prenatal genetic screening, and to engage audiences in debate and reflection on the dilemmas of prenatal genetic screening. Methods ‘Inside View’ was developed from a multidisciplinary research study through identification of emergent themes from qualitative interviews, and development of these by the writer, theatre producer and media technologist with input from the researchers. Findings Inside View was performed in London and the Midlands to varied audiences with a panel discussion and evaluation post performance. The audiences were engaged in debate that was relevant to them professionally and personally. Knowledge translation through applied theatre is an effective tool for engaging the public but the impact subsequently is unclear. There are ethical issues of unexpected disclosure during discussion post performance and the process of transforming research findings into applied theatre requires time and trust within the multidisciplinary team as well as adequate resourcing.

Issues of collaboration, representation, meaning and emotions:utilising participant-led visual diaries to capture the everyday lives of people in mid to later life

In recent years there has been an increasing use of visual methods in ageing research. There are, however, limited reflections and critical explorations of the implications of using visual methods in research with people in mid to later life. This paper examines key methodological complexities when researching the daily lives of people as they grow older and the possibilities and limitations of using participant-generated visual diaries. The paper will draw on our experiences of an empirical study, which included a sample of 62 women and men aged 50 years and over with different daily routines. Participant-led photography was drawn upon as a means to create visual diaries, followed by in-depth, photo-elicitation interviews. The paper will critically reflect on the use of visual methods for researching the daily lives of people in mid to later life, as well as suggesting some wider tensions within visual methods that warrant attention. First, we explore the extent to which photography facilitates a ‘collaborative’ research process; second, complexities around capturing the ‘everydayness’ of daily routines are explored; third, the representation and presentation of ‘self’ by participants within their images and interview narratives is examined; and, finally, we highlight particular emotional considerations in visualising daily life.

Review on protection issues of low-voltage distribution network with multiple powerelectronic-converter-interfaced distribution energy resources

The realisation of an eventual low-voltage (LV) Smart Grid with a complete communication infrastructure is a gradual process. During this evolution the protection scheme of distribution networks should be continuously adapted and optimised to fit the protection and cost requirements at the time. This paper aims to review practices and research around the design of an effective, adaptive and economical distribution network protection scheme. The background of this topic is introduced and potential problems are defined from conventional protection theories and new Smart Grid technologies. Challenges are identified with possible solutions defined as a pathway to the ultimate flexible and reliable LV protection systems.

Social and scientific issues in the acceptibility of radiation risks

Ionising radiation hazards are perhaps the most documented and regulated occupational and environmental hazard. In the radiological protection field a single expert advisory organisation has had an unusually large influence on the international standard setting process. This is the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Two common, and opposing views, exist over the formulation of protection recommendations by the ICRP. The first, and most widely accepted, is that its recommendations are scientifically determined. The second view, is that its recommendations are politically or socially determined. Neither of these analyses adequately accounts for the complex process in which protection recommendations are formulated. A third view, provided by studies of the origins of scientific controversy, suggests that both science and social factors are important in the assessment and limitation of risk. The aim of this thesis is not simply to examine the origin of controversy. Issues of equal, if not more, importance are the resolution of controversy, the formation of consensus and the maintenance of expert authority and influence. These issues form the central focus of this thesis. The aim is to assess the process through which the ICRP formulates its radiological protection recommendations and comment on the extent that these are influenced by the affiliations of its members. This thesis concludes that the ICRP's recommendations have been shaped by a complex relationship of scientific and social considerations, in which a socio-technical commitment to nuclear energy has played a key role. The Commission has responded to new scientific data by making complex changes to its philosophy and methods of describing risk. Where reductions in numerical limits have been applied they have been accompanied by practical measures designed to limit the impact of the change and provide continuity with the old limits and flexibility in the application of the new recommendations.

Intolerance of ambiguity, gender stereotypes, and attitudes to sexuality

The premise of this thesis is that Western thought is characterised by the need to enforce binary classification in order to structure the world. Classifications of sexuality and gender both embody this tendency, which has been largely influenced by Judeo-Christian tradition. Thus, it is argued that attitudes to sexuality, particularly homosexuality are, in part, a function of the way in which we seek to impose structure on the world. From this view, it is (partly) the ambiguity, inherent in gender and sexual variation, which evokes negative responses. The thesis presents a series of inter-linked studies examining attitudes to various aspects of human sexuality, including the human body, non-procreative sex acts (anal an oral sex) and patterns of sexuality that depart from the hetero-homo dichotomy. The findings support the view that attitudes to sexuality are significantly informed by gender-role stereotypes, with negative attitudes linked to intolerance of ambiguity. Male participants show large differences in their evaluations of male and female bodies, and of male and female sexual actors, than do female participants. Male participants also show a greater negativity to gay male sexual activity than do female participants, but males perceive lesbian sexuality similarly to heterosexuality. Male bodies are rated as being less 'permeable' than female bodies and male actors are more frequently identified as being the instigators of sexual acts. Crucial to the concept of heterosexism is the assumption that 'femininity' is considered inherently inferior to 'masculinity'. Hence, the findings provide an empirical basis for making connections between heterosexism and sexism, and therefore between the psychology of women, and gay and lesbian psychology.