Suchergebnisse

Narrative methods contribute greatly to the advances made in qualitative research. A narrative style should also be promoted in publications and presentations. A study on older LGBT citizens in rural Britain highlights this by means of a report on one part of that study—a Focus Group. The paper demonstrates two ways of writing Focus Group material for publication. First, "data bits" extracted from the transcript are embedded by interpretive categories. The authors ask, "How did this come about? Isn't it time to shift our approach and report these experiences in a different way? Was this not a story of the interactions of strangers and a growing social group cohesion that was taking place by means of this very research exercise?" Secondly, a large section of the Focus Group transcript is presented, including nuances such as breaks, how one person's thought follows another's, and the energy created when several people talk at once. Doing this without comment or interruption brings the reader closer to the group experience itself. The Focus Group provided a opportunity for participants to share a common history and identify individual experiences. Focus Groups can provide marginalised groups with an opportunity to collectively create new knowledge and understanding about shared cultural and historical experiences. Narrative researchers are natural storytellers and need to foreground this when reporting studies for publication. Qualitative research is always about story reporting and story making, and narrative research (listening to and retelling stories) is a key democratising factor in qualitative social science research.

The Government has set an ambitious target to cut the UK's carbon emissions by 80% by year 2050. To meet these targets, action is needed in the residential sector with 27% of the UK's CO2 emissions coming from energy use in homes. While working towards zero-carbon new homes, refurbishment of the existing housing stock to advanced, low-carbon standards is essential. In this process the involvement of all stakeholders and behavioural change of occupants to lowcarbon life styles are primary factors. This paper presents the findings of an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Public Engagement project (2009–2010) carried out to promote low-carbon home adaptations and behaviour change among the elderly. A number of engagement events were held to increase the awareness of environmental upgrading of homes, energy-efficiency measures, financial support available and low-carbon life styles. A feedback process collected information on sustainable actions taken by the attendees 3–6 months after the initial events. A coding method was designed to analyse the questionnaire responses. The results illustrated that many had made changes in their lives since attending the events, are planning to change or have encouraged someone else they know to make a change in their lives to be more sustainable.

The trio of recent government white papers heralds a new world for primary care. Many changes in the education of future primary health care professionals and in the research ethos of the discipline will be needed to realise this vision. New skills and attitudes, not least in multidisciplinary working; lifelong learning; and greater understanding of and participation in primary care research will have to emerge from educational efforts in the next few years.

Up until now, social workers have depended on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM) as the primary diagnostic classification for mental disorders. However, the DSM-5 revision includes scientifically unfounded, inadequately tested, and potentially dangerous diagnoses that may lead them to question its integrity and to find alternatives.

A colony site occupied by grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) from October to May on
the central coast of N.S.W. was monitored over a 48 month period (1986-1990). Faecal and spat-out
material was collected for microscopic determination of contents. Comparison of food items in the
droppings with the array of possible food sources present in the vicinity of the colony at the same time
showed a marked preference for certain foods, in particular blossoms of the family Myrtaceae and of
the genus Banksia. Cultivated orchard fruits were not a preferred food and were only taken at times
when preferred food items were scarce.

This paper explores the relationship between spatial structure and spatial interaction at the intraurban level. To examine this relationship an experimental framework is designed based on the application of a doubly constrained entropy-type gravity model to journey-to-work data for twenty-four Canadian urban areas. The study demonstrates that distance-decay exponents are strongly influenced by geographic structure and the geometry of origins and destinations. As such, both the influence of map pattern and the friction of distance should be explicitly incorporated into spatial interaction models. The paper also explores the impact of city size and the nature of the economic base of the urban area upon distance-decay exponents.

Exports of primary producing countries have for some time been rising more slowly than incomes in industrial countries. A previous article discussed why their exports of industrial materials had lagged behind; this article deals with their exports of food to industrial countries (chart 1).

Schooling in Europe is being transformed by a new policy orthodoxy affecting all aspects of the school. Privatization, decentralization, and business focused curriculum reform are all on the rise. The authors consider the impact and conflict of such changes on schooling in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

OBJECTIVES—To determine compliance with a voluntary code of practice (VCP) for restricting smoking in restaurants and to canvass the attitudes of restaurateurs towards tougher smoking restrictions. DESIGN—Cross-sectional survey conducted in 1996 using a telephone questionnaire. SETTING—Metropolitan restaurants and cafés in Adelaide, South Australia. PARTICIPANTS—276 (86.8%) of a sample of randomly selected owners and managers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Restaurant non-smoking policies, reported and anticipated change in business, and restaurateurs' attitudes towards smoking restrictions. RESULTS—26.8% of restaurants had a total smoking ban; 40.6% restricted smoking some other way; and 32.6% permitted unrestricted smoking. Only 15.1% of restaurants with a ban or restrictions had used the VCP to guide the development of their policy, and only half of these were complying with it. Although 78.4% of those with bans and 84.4% of those with restrictions reported that their non-smoking policy had been associated with either no change or a gain in business, only 33.3% of those allowing unrestricted smoking expected that this would be the case, if they were to limit smoking. A total of 50.4% of restaurateurs, including 45.3% of those with no restrictions, agreed that the government should ban smoking in all restaurants. CONCLUSIONS—The VCP made an insignificant contribution to adoption of non-smoking policies, and compliance with the code was poor. Despite concerns about loss of business, there was considerable support for legislation which would ban smoking in all dining establishments. Keywords: smoking restrictions; restaurants; environmental tobacco smoke; Australia