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This chapter investigates how civilians sort truth from lies in the context of the Syrian civil war. In particular, it plumbs a rich batch of semi-structured interviews conducted with Syrian refugees in Turkey that was generously shared by Schon (2020). These interviews include people’s confidence in their truth discernment ability – their ability to distinguish true vs. false information – during the war, along with detailed information on what they heard and experienced while they were in Syria. The chapter analyzes these interviews with a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative analyses show that those who spent longer in Syria, witnessed a wider range of events in the war, and explicitly rely on personal experience to assess new information are much more confident in their truth discernment ability. This is supported by ample qualitative material from the interviews, which demonstrates how Syrian refugees put stock in many of these same factors and drew many of these same connections themselves when discussing informational dynamics in the war.
Self-efficacy (or the belief in one’s ability to effect change) often moderates the relationship between education, interest, and actions in evaluations of training programs that prepare community-based investigators in the clinical and translational sciences workforce. Such evaluations, however, tend to emphasize individual-level attitudes when there are also community- or organizational-level outcomes impacted. Methods: This study uses a novel sequential, explanatory mixed-methods design to explore multiple levels of self-efficacy (or self-awareness of personal growth in leadership) in the Clinical Scholars program, an equity-centered leadership development program for mid- to later-career healthcare professionals. Our design involves: (1) bivariate correlations and confirmatory factor analysis of self-assessed competencies across all program participants to identify emergent combinations of competencies, which informed (2) more nuanced thematic coding of participants’ stories of most significant change in their personal and professional lives, as a result of the program. Results: In unpacking their accounts of personal leadership styles (that aligned with our quantitative analyses of competencies), we found that participants demonstrated multiple competencies simultaneously. Specifically, they employed emotionally intelligent learning and consensus-building dialogue to manage conflict for interpersonal impact. Additionally, they used this combination of skills to unite diverse stakeholders under a shared vision in order to lead and manage organizational change where all colleagues’ contributions were valued. Conclusion: Together, these methods extend our understanding of personal growth in leadership as an outcome of the program in terms of individual- and organizational-level impacts, using representative quantitative self-assessments to categorize rich qualitative descriptions.
The increased international legislation emphasising children's participation agenda heightened the need for high-quality research in early childhood. Listening to young children asserts their participation, agency and voices in research, an approach commonly associated with qualitative research methods. This Element provides a novel perspective to listening to children's voices by focusing on research methods in early childhood studies that are broadly categorised as quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Locating these research methods from a children's rights perspective, this Element is based on values that young children have the right to be involved in research irrespective of culture and context. Each section discusses how the different methodologies and approaches used in early childhood research align with the principles of children's participation and agency, as well as their right to express their views on matters that affect them. The Element concludes with a roadmap for future early childhood research and its ethical dissemination.
To understand how the implementation of primary care services for transgender individuals is undertaken and delivered by practitioners in Northern Ontario.
Background:
Northern Ontario, Canada, has a shortage of primary care health practitioners, and of these, there are a limited number providing transgender primary care. Transgender people in Northern Ontario must also negotiate a lack of allied and specialty services related to transgender health and travel over long distances to access those services that do exist.
Methods:
A convergent mixed methods design was guided by normalization process theory (NPT) to explore transgender primary care delivery and implementation by nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, social workers, and psychotherapists. A survey measuring implementation processes was elaborated through qualitative interviews with participants. Analysis of key themes emerging using the NPT framework informed understanding of primary care successes, barriers, and gaps in Northern Ontario.
Findings:
Key themes included the need for more education on transgender primary care practice, increased need for training and awareness on transgender resources, identification of unique gaps and barriers to access in Northern Ontario transgender care, and the benefits of embedding and normalizing transgender care in clinical practice to practitioners and transgender patients. These findings are key to understanding and improving access and eliminating healthcare barriers for transgender people in Northern Ontario.
Energy literacy can empower individuals to make informed decisions about energy use. However, the level of public interest in learning about energy-related topics remains uncertain, and there is a dearth of research exploring energy literacy-related knowledge gaps. This mixed-methods study aimed to address those issues. A survey of 3,843 citizens from four European countries revealed that most citizens have only a moderate interest in learning about energy. Age, gender, educational level, income level, living situation and environmental attitudes appear to have a significant effect on individuals’ interests. The study identified key knowledge demand areas regarding saving energy and reducing costs, becoming self-sufficient in energy production and cooperating with others for more efficient energy use. The findings indicate that engagement with energy-related topics could be improved by considering affective factors such as individual interest. The study also reveals a need for greater interdisciplinarity in energy research.
Previous research has indicated that explicit information (EI) about either the first language (L1) or second language (L2) along with task-essential practice can facilitate L2 learning (e.g., Fernández, 2008; McManus, 2022). However, little research has examined L1–L2 contrastive EI with L1/L2 practice. Targeting plural-marking accuracy, the present study sought to fill this gap by exposing 127 Japanese intermediate learners of English to six online treatment sessions across four conditions: (1) non-contrastive EI (pluralization rule explanation) + L2 practice, (2) contrastive EI + L2 practice, (3) as per Condition 2 + additional L1 practice (application of L2 pluralization to L1 through the Japanese suffix –tachi), and (4) using prepositions as a control, non-contrastive EI (prepositional rule explanation) + L2 practice. Accuracy was tested at pre/post/delayed intervals using an acceptability judgement task (reading) and a picture description task (writing). Statistical analyses demonstrated greater gains from the contrastive variables in the immediate post-test, with L1 practice appearing especially beneficial, despite improvements diminishing in the delayed post-test. Supplementary data from retroactive interviews and questionnaire responses indicated favourable orientations towards the intervention. The study advances understanding of how EI and practice type can be used to maximize L2 learning through web-based practices tailored to the nature of the learning problem.
A clinical tool to estimate the risk of treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) in people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) would inform early detection of TRS and overcome the delay of up to 5 years in starting TRS medication.
Aims
To develop and evaluate a model that could predict the risk of TRS in routine clinical practice.
Method
We used data from two UK-based FEP cohorts (GAP and AESOP-10) to develop and internally validate a prognostic model that supports identification of patients at high-risk of TRS soon after FEP diagnosis. Using sociodemographic and clinical predictors, a model for predicting risk of TRS was developed based on penalised logistic regression, with missing data handled using multiple imputation. Internal validation was undertaken via bootstrapping, obtaining optimism-adjusted estimates of the model's performance. Interviews and focus groups with clinicians were conducted to establish clinically relevant risk thresholds and understand the acceptability and perceived utility of the model.
Results
We included seven factors in the prediction model that are predominantly assessed in clinical practice in patients with FEP. The model predicted treatment resistance among the 1081 patients with reasonable accuracy; the model's C-statistic was 0.727 (95% CI 0.723–0.732) prior to shrinkage and 0.687 after adjustment for optimism. Calibration was good (expected/observed ratio: 0.999; calibration-in-the-large: 0.000584) after adjustment for optimism.
Conclusions
We developed and internally validated a prediction model with reasonably good predictive metrics. Clinicians, patients and carers were involved in the development process. External validation of the tool is needed followed by co-design methodology to support implementation in early intervention services.
This chapter provides subnational evidence from Kenya’s Rift Valley and Coast Provinces to show how unstable parties have incentivized elites to organize and sponsor party violence in these places. It also incorporates additional subnational variables, including information on candidates’ anxieties over seats, demographic data, and fine-grained information on grievances to explain where, when, and how violence has been organized in the Rift Valley and Coast.
This chapter combines national-level violence and volatility data with in-depth elite interviews to demonstrate the relationship between short projected party lifespans and recurring bouts of ethnic party violence in multiparty Kenya. The chapter proceeds in three phases from the KANU era to the period after the promulgation of the country’s new constitution in 2010. The central findings reveal that although Kenyan voters are not lacking in information about the political nature of party conflicts and actually reject violence-wielding politicians, high levels of party replacement and attendant changes in coalitional arrangements tend to prevent them from holding these leaders to account. As a result, politicians from different parties have been able to organize and sponsor violence on a repeated basis.
This chapter illustrates the relationship between politicians, parties, and communal conflict in India from the 1950s through the late 1980s. Combining national-level violence and volatility data with in-depth qualitative interviews, it shows that the weakening and decline of the Indian National Congress (INC) in the late 1970s spurred an escalation of riot violence across many parts of the country through the 1980s. Since then, however, severe riots have dramatically declined in India, as party stabilization has rendered the risks of provoking such violence prohibitive for many political parties. However, other forms of conflict – including rural clashes and targeted low-level attacks against Muslims – have escalated in recent years under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The chapter suggests that these newer modalities of conflict are part of the same recalibrated elite strategies that have contributed to declines in communal riots across India.
This chapter offers a subnational accounting of patterns of riot violence in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. It shows that much like at the national level, these cities fell prey to repeated and severe riots when soaring party instability incentivized conflict on the part of both Congress elites as well as politicians from its emerging electoral rivals. However, following the restoration of relative party stability in the late 1980s, both Hyderabad and Meerut have witnessed communal quiescence. The chapter further shows that this quiescence is due to the fact that elites are keen to avoid sanctioning from voters for engaging in conflict.
Chapter 4 presents the results of a study by Palaganas, involving participants in an online continuing education course that used an emoji-capable, text-based platform, offered through the Center for Medical Simulation in Boston, Massachusetts. The chapter outlines the study, the compiled data, and the relevant findings. The study yields further insights into the potential for using the emoji code as an effective literacy and communication tool in a higher education context – namely, in a healthcare professional education program. Further, there is discussion of an interview with Dr. Shuhan He, a prominent proponent of emoji use in healthcare situations, wherein he goes over the impetus for his creation of the heart emoji.
The arrival of COVID-19 added potentially deadly consequences to incarceration. In response, jurisprudence developed allowing for some to be spared the deprivation of their liberty. However, there is insufficient empirical evidence that this avoidance of incarceration occurred in practice in Ontario. Using fieldwork methods conducted in Ontario criminal courts coupled with data from Statistics Canada, we investigate if a change in the use of incarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and if friction emerged between those who may and may not espouse this new outlook. We find a notable and persistent decrease in the use of incarceration, that this was welcomed by many court actors but also that a fatigue with such leniency grew among others. We discuss what this fatigue might signify for the potential longevity of this more exceptional use of incarceration and more largely what this can signify about changes in Canada’s criminal justice system.
The last decade has seen the establishment of eight community courts (CCs) in Israel, representing a significant shift from the mainstream criminal justice approach. Inspired by the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York, the Israeli CCs reflect an understanding of the links between local communities, crime and rehabilitation. The authors have evaluated the CCs since their inauguration, first in a formative study and then in an evaluation study. The present article focuses on three research modules that were utilized in these studies: the process characterization, which was based on structured observations of court hearings during the formative study; the subjective experiences of court participants, which were collected via in-depth interviews with programme participants; and the recidivism module, which compared the repeat offending patterns of programme participants with those of mainstream court defendants. Rather than detailing the findings of these modules, the paper uses them as examples, offering an open discussion about the process of conducting such studies: the selection of research questions that go beyond the traditional question of repeat offending and their possible theoretical contribution; the methodological, logistical and ethical choices that are made and their underlying considerations; and the obstacles that researchers face en route.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing One Health crisis that can be impacted by other challenges of sustainable development, such as climate change, but few interventions have been assessed with a systems-wide lens. The objectives of this study were to use a previously defined fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) of the Swedish One Health system to: 1) identify areas in the system to target interventions; and 2) test the potential ability and viability of interventions to reduce AMR under a changing climate. The FCM, based on participatory modelling workshops and literature scan, was used to assess the sustainability of eight interventions under potential climate change conditions. Network metrics were calculated to describe the system structure and identify highly impactful nodes. The network metrics identified high-leverage nodes including alternative productions systems and good farming practices. None of the scenarios evaluated were able to adequately reduce AMR within the system. Overall, fuzzy cognitive mapping provides an innovative way to analyse the AMR system, identify high-leverage interventions, and examine potential impact of interventions using a broader systems lens.
This chapter reflects on Awo Mana Asiedu’s approaches to researching audiences in Ghana, a predominantly oral context. It takes as its starting point her motivations for doing this kind of research and then outlines her work to date in this area, particularly with the audiences of Roverman Productions, a major performance group in Accra. It foregrounds the importance of the perspectives of the audiences themselves and how they perceive the impact that performances audiences watch have upon them.
Tracy C. Davis outlines facets of tradecraft in theatre and performance studies (TaPS). Performances based on dramatic texts or social interactions can take into account distinctions between an aesthetic focus, case studies of performance history, and extrinsic cultural factors; each kind of research prioritizes particular kinds of information and has predominant methodologies for analysis. Additionally, Davis explicates the incompleteness and unrecoverability of performances in relation to different methodologies, and the salience of theory to different methodological traditions. Ultimately, combinations are likely in order to address the complexity of TaPS research.
This chapter addresses the methodological challenges presented by multi-sited, collaborative research design in TaPS, which provides a fruitful space for considering the benefits of mixed methods approaches. Multi-sited, multi-collaborator research projects frequently feature methodological variation. Whereas mixing methods addresses discrepancies between the different sites and cases that such a project brings together, collaborative research ensures that participants’ rationales for selecting and combining methods remain explicit. Emine Fişek illustrates these processes with reference to a hypothetical research project on theatre and performance practices responding to the European migrant crisis of 2015–16.
Assessing perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccines is essential for understanding vaccine hesitancy and for improving uptake during public health emergencies. In the complicated landscape of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and rampant misinformation, many individuals faced challenges during vaccination decision-making. The purpose of our mixed methods study is to elucidate factors affecting vaccine decision-making and to highlight the discourse surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines in diverse and underserved communities.
Methods:
This mixed methods study was conducted in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin between March and November 2021, combining a cross-sectional survey (n = 3593) and focus groups (n = 47).
Results:
The groups least likely to report receiving a vaccination were non-Hispanic Whites, Indigenous people, males, and those with moderate socioeconomic status (SES). Those indicating high and low SES reported similar vaccination uptake. Focus group data highlighted resistance to mandates, distrust, misinformation, and concerns about the rapid development surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines. Psychological reactance theory posits that strongly persuasive messaging and social pressure can be perceived as a threat to freedom, encouraging an individual to take action to restore that freedom.
Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that a subsection of participants felt pressured to get the vaccine, which led to weaker intentions to vaccinate. These results suggest that vaccine rollout strategies should be reevaluated to improve and facilitate informed decision-making.