Situated Action Research Articles

What Shapes Environmental Responsibility Perceptions? Measuring Value Orientations as a Predictor of Situational Motivations and Communicative Action

ABSTRACTThis study investigates individuals’ cognitive, motivational, and communication responses regarding an environmental CSR issue using arguments from the situational theory of problem-solving (STOPS) with a cross-situational factor as an antecedent. Survey results provide empirical support for the application of the STOPS in a CSR communication context and suggest that a collectivistic orientation predicts individuals’ situational perceptions and cognitive reactions toward organizations’ environmental CSR efforts. Theoretical and practical implications for strategic communicators are discussed.

Motivations, Propensities, and Their Interplays on Online Bullying Perpetration: A Partial Test of Situational Action Theory

Using data gathered from 757 college students in South Korea, the current study examines applicability of situational action theory (SAT) to online bullying perpetration (OBP). Specifically, the current study focuses on testing interplays between motivations in the criminogenic online setting (temptation and provocation) and individual propensities (morality and self-control) as well as interplay between two individual propensities on OBP. Results show that morality significantly buffers the effects of provocation on OBP as expected, while morality unexpectedly enhances effects of temptation on OBP. Moreover, the current study found no significant interaction between two propensities, morality and self-control. Thus, future studies should focus on examining how roles of morality vary depending on different types of offenses and contexts.

Practical Epistemic Cognition in a Design Project—Engineering Students Developing Epistemic Fluency

Contribution: This paper reports engineering students ’ practical epistemic cognition by studying their interactional work in situ. Studying “epistemologies in action” the study breaks away from mainstream approaches that describe this in terms of beliefs or of stage theories. Background: In epistemology, knowledge is traditionally seen as “justified true belief,” neglecting knowledge related to action. Interest has increased in studying the epistemologies people use in situated action, and their development of epistemic fluency. How appropriate such approaches are in engineering and design education need further investigation. Research Questions: 1) How do students in the context of a design project use epistemic tools in their interactional work? and 2) What are the implications of the findings in terms of how students’ cognitive and epistemological development could be conceptualized? Methodology: A collaborative group of six students were video recorded on the 14th day of a fifth-semester design project, as they were preparing for a formal critique session. The entire, almost 6 h, session was recorded by four video cameras mounted in the design studio, with an additional fifth body-mounted camera. The video data collected was analyzed using video ethnographic, conversation analysis, and embodied interaction analysis methods. Findings: The results show that the students use a wealth of bodily material resources as an integral and seamless part of their interactions as epistemic tools, in their joint production of understanding and imagining. The analysis also suggests that students’ epistemological and cognitive development, individually and as a group, should be understood in terms of developing “epistemic fluency.”

An Integral Hospital Response Protocol for Emergencies and Disasters from the Emergency Department

Introduction:Mexico has suffered multiple social and natural events that tested its response capacity. Hospital units of the third level of care are an axis of response and a central reference. Guaranteeing their integral and organized response promotes risk prevention and mitigation strategy in emergencies and disasters.Aim:To analyze the national and international regulations and the existing documents about emergency and disasters related to a hospital with the identification of the critical actors in the response.Methods:This research consists of a cross-sectional and descriptive study with a mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative), that generates a protocol for response in a third level care hospital. Quantitative analysis was carried out using central tendency measurements based on a surveys (training, knowledge) performed in the hospital services that provide a critical response with the ED in emergencies or disasters (ED, ICU, Supplies, Nursing, Operating Room, Security, Hospital Admission, Crisis Committee). In the quantitative analysis, the staff were interviewed about their experience in responding to previous events (to the same critical services), recognizing importance and points of improvement with a discourse analysis methodology.Results:With the information collected and based on the protocols of Safe Hospital program (PAHO/WHO) we generated a protocol organized by the ED that involves massive victims.Discussion:Regulations oblige hospital units to have protocols of action in critical situations linked to Safe Hospital program, so it is a great tool for planning. All the surveyed personnel consider that it is important to have a plan that allows for immediate steps to ensure quality and timely patient care, considering it an ethical and social obligation. Analysis suggests that continuous training and the contribution of an operational plan per service provide security and better prognosis to the victims. The protocol includes all critical response services with a clinical practice guide.

Psicologia social & moda: uma interface possível

psicologia social é um ramo da psicologia que está no limiar entre a psicologia e a sociologia. É um campo com vasta aplicação, pois estuda a ação humana nas mais diversas situações, desde que envolva a relação do indivíduo com um grupo social. Desta forma, o objetivo do presente artigo é apresentar alguns dos grandes temas da psicologia social (self, atitudes e comportamento, influência do grupo, cultura e valores, personalidade, emoções e neurociência social) e evidenciar interfaces possíveis com a moda. Por meio de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, demonstrase que é real essa possibilidade de diálogo entre as teorias da psicologia social e da moda. Por fim, sugere-se pesquisas em que os temas expostos possam contribuir com os estudos da área da moda.

Терористичні загрози закордонним дипломатичним установам України

Стаття присвячена розгляду проблем забезпечення безпеки закордонних дипломатичних установ (ЗДУ) України в умовах виникнення терористичних загроз у країні акредитації. Зокрема, автором проаналізовані вирішення завдань забезпечення безпеки ЗДУ під час терористичних акцій в їх оточенні, при блокуванні представництв терористами та захопленні приміщень установ і їх співробітників як заручників.
 Метою статті став пошук ефективних шляхів забезпечення безпеки закордонних дипломатичних установ України та їх персоналу під час терористичних акцій в країнах акредитації.
 Наукова новизна статті полягає у дослідженні можливостей розробки сучасної системи організації в ЗДУ, адекватної протидії наявним викликам і загрозам терористичного характеру, а також відповідної актуалізації відповідних правових норм та інструкцій. У статті відпрацьовані конкретні рекомендації щодо дій в екстремальних ситуаціях під час терористичних акцій в оточенні ЗДУ, зокрема, при блокуванні представництв терористами чи захопленні їх приміщень злочинцями, а також утримуванні дипломатичних співробітників як заручників.
 Висновки. Негативні тенденції сучасного світового розвитку такі як: прояви міжнародного тероризму, організованої злочинності, контрабанда наркотиків і зброї, нелегальна міграція і торгівля людьми; зростання екологічних і природних катастроф, загроз епідемій та пандемії; збереження ескалації заморожених конфліктів і поява нових джерел напруженості, виникнення кризових ситуацій, зокрема, активізація щодо України внаслідок подій на сході терористичної та розвідувально-підривної діяльності спецслужб РФ, покладають на СЗР України та інші спеціальні державні органи завдання належним чином забезпечувати національну безпеку держави, її закордонних дипломатичних установ, їх співробітників і членів сімей, а також відряджених за кордон українських громадян, обізнаних з відомостями, що становлять державну таємницю. Напрацьована світова практика та удосконалення нормативного регулювання у сфері зазначених питань сприятимуть вирішенню завдань забезпечення безпеки ЗДУ під час терористичних акцій в їх оточенні, при блокуванні представництв терористами та захопленні приміщень установ і їх співробітників як заручників.

Умови формування професійної компетентності в педагогічній практиці підготовки майбутніх учителів історії

The author in the article analyzes the basic theoretical provisions of the conditions for the formation of professional competence among future teachers of history and presents the main approaches on this issue, which have developed in modern pedagogical and psychological literature. At the same time, attention was drawn to the differences between the two interrelated concepts of "competence" and "competence", as well as the three-component structure of the competence system in education, which includes key or basic, general-sectoral and vocational-specialized (subject) competencies acquired while studying one or another discipline and defining the term "professional competence". In the article, the main features of professional competence are highlighted: the need for knowledge formation, provided they are aware of their significance for future professional activities, a set of operational skills; the development of an algorithm for the implementation of professional exercises and the ability to creativity in the performance of professional tasks. This made it possible to determine the conditions for the formation of professional competence for future teachers in the course of their continuous and systematic activities if they have the appropriate professional qualities that contribute to this activity and general abilities based on knowledge, experience, values acquired through learning, upbringing, integration into the space of social and cultural relations. In addition, the psychological aspects of the formation of students of institutions of higher education of the indicated competence, which allows to significantly improve the effectiveness of the educational process during the training of future specialists, which accompanies the process of assimilation of theoretical foundations, means and methods of fulfilling professional tasks, can be considerably improved; ability to analyze, predict and independently choose means and means of action in certain specific situations; the ability to self-development and self-realization in the context of mastering modern scientific achievements and their implementation and positive attitude to their future professional activities. Key words: competence approach, history, competences, professional competence, future teachers, professional training, professional educational qualifications.

Improvising the City Multiple: Working Through Uncertainty in Ekaterinburg

This paper discusses improvisation as an urban practice in the face of uncertainty. It develops the notion of urban improvisation as situated and emergent action at the encounter of planning and event. To that end, it analyses the multiple mutations of what eventually became the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Centre in Ekaterinburg, a flagship cultural project in Russia’s third-largest city. Morphed from an office block into a memorial multi-purpose complex, the Yeltsin Centre is the product of acting under protracted uncertainty while mobilising the potentialities immanent in that very uncertainty. Based on documents, media reports, interviews and ethnographic research, the paper analyses three aspects of improvisation that made the Yeltsin Centre emerge in its current, precarious form: improvising a purpose, improvising uses, and improvising a public space. As a result of this improvisation, the Yeltsin Centre today is not just a presidential memorial, but one of the most popular public spaces in Ekaterinburg and a rare forum for controversial political debate in an authoritarian setting. The paper concludes to discuss uncertainty as a chance for the political openings it can create and improvisation as a form of uncertain acting in an uncertain world to actualize the potentialities of the city multiple.

Evaluating a Technology-Based Assessment (TBA) to Measure Teachers’ Action-Related and Reflective Skills

Teaching performance can be assessed validly only if the assessment involves an appropriate, authentic representation of real-life teaching practices. Different skills interact in coordinating teachers’ actions in different classroom situations. Based on the evidence-centered design model, we developed a technology-based assessment framework that enables differentiation between two essential teaching actions: action-related skills and reflective skills. Action-related skills are necessary to handle specific subject-related situations during instruction. Reflective skills are necessary to prepare and evaluate specific situations in pre- and postinstructional phases. In this article, we present the newly developed technology-based assessment to validly measure teaching performance, and we discuss validity evidence from cognitive interviews with teachers (novices and experts) using the think-aloud method, which indicates that the test takers’ respective mental processes when solving action-related skills tasks are consistent with the theoretically assumed knowledge and skill components and depend on the different levels of teaching expertise.

Rehearsing resilience(and beyond)

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the value of forum theatre as a means to promote second-order awareness of workplace conflict and to further pragmatise cyber-systemic awareness to a wider public. Design/methodology/approach A blended methodology rooted in grounded theory and action research is used to assess the individual learning of participants in a forum theatre intensive studying workplace conflict. The results are then briefly theorised through the lens of second-order cybernetics. Findings Data indicate significant growth in self, other and context awareness among participants. All three of these competencies can reasonably be considered components of second-order observation. Research limitations/implications The sample size thus far is, because of the time and resource constraints of the project, quite small, but the results strongly suggest a “proof of concept” that invites further study. Practical implications Institutions of various types that experience workplace conflict may be inspired to use similar methods. Cyberneticians and system scientists may also wish to avail themselves of these methods to communicate fundamental cyber-systemic concepts to a wider public. Social implications Buoyed by an empirical demonstration of its effectiveness in facilitating greater self-reflection and alternative action in situations of conflict, a wider uptake of forum theatre technique (and the cyber-systemic concepts entailed), can make a significant contribution to the resolution/dissolution of a variety of conflicts across society. Originality/value This is the only empirical investigation of the outcomes of forum theatre known to the authors. It is certainly unique in its second-order cybernetic framework.

A developmental perspective on option generation and selection.

Little is known about how children generate options for taking action in familiar situations or how they select which action option to actually perform. In this article, we explore the interplay between option generation and selection from a developmental perspective using sports as a testbed. In a longitudinal design with four measurement waves, we asked 6- to 13-year-old children (N = 73) to generate and select action options in a soccer-related task. Children generated and selected options in accordance with the predictions of the take-the-first heuristic, which served as a theoretical starting point: They generated only a few options in decreasing order of validity (i.e., better options were generated earlier) and selected the first options they had generated. Older children selected the first option generated more often than younger children and generated options faster. Longitudinal effects revealed that both age groups generated fewer options and faster across waves. Time limitation fostered fewer and higher quality options being generated and selected. Overall, our results highlight the importance of considering the predecisional process of option generation to deepen our understanding of developmental changes in decision-strategy use. Future research directions and implications for children's real-life decision making are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Decoding the Binary: Reconsidering the Hacker Subculture through a Gendered Lens

ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that hacker subculture – like many other tech-oriented communities – is disproportionately composed of men. While prior attempts have been made to explain this disparity, few, if any, explore the role of subculture in this gendered divide. Drawing from feminist theories, subcultural theory, and cultural criminology, this theoretical analysis examines the intersection of gender, social structure, hegemony, situated action, and subculture to argue that hacker subculture is (1) male-dominated and androcentric, (2) mired in language, like meritocratic rhetoric, which masks inequity, and (3) conducive to forms of sexual harassment and gendered exclusion. Implications for hacking research and subcultural theory are discussed throughout.

Personality correlates and utilitarian judgments in the everyday context: Psychopathic traits and differential effects of empathy, social dominance orientation, and dehumanization beliefs

In this study, we investigated how psychopathic traits, social dominance orientation (SDO), dehumanization beliefs, and empathy for the victim (affective and cognitive) affected utilitarian judgments and choices of action in everyday dilemma situations: ostracism and job termination dilemmas. Participants (N = 439) were asked to relationally harm one person (exclude him/her from a group of friends or terminate his/her employment contract) for maximizing the overall benefits. The results showed that psychopathic traits predicted the endorsement of relational harm onto an identifiable victim in the friendship and job-related contexts. In the ostracism dilemma, dehumanization beliefs predicted utilitarian judgments better than SDO, whereas SDO predicted utilitarian judgments and choices of action better than dehumanization beliefs in the job termination dilemma. In both types of dilemmas, affective empathy was associated with non-utilitarian judgments, whereas cognitive empathy was not. Cognitive empathy was not associated with utilitarian judgments, but unlike affective empathy, it predicted utilitarian choices of action in the job termination dilemma. Overall, the results demonstrate that utilitarian judgments and choices in everyday dilemmas are bound to interpersonal cues, and except for psychopathic traits, correlates affecting utilitarian bias differ across situations.

How prosody constitutes the actions of formulations in courtrooms

Com base nas perspectivas teóricas e metodológicas da Linguística Interacional e da Análise da Conversa, este estudo investiga como o traço prosódico tom contribui para a formação e a atribuição de sentido às ações em audiências de instrução, em particular, na prática de formulação. A análise revela que variações de tom na prática de perguntar estão intrinsecamente relacionadas às diferentes ações realizadas local e situadamente: checar entendimento e desafiar o interlocutor.

Airway management in hospital. Russian Federation of anesthesiologists and reanimatologists guidelines (second edition, 2018)

The review presents the clinical guidelines of the Federation of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation specialists of Russia, revised in 2018. The recommendations are based on a review of publications and modern international guidelines of the Difficult Airway Society (DAS, 2015), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA, 2013), the European Society of Anesthesiologists (ESA, 2018). “Difficult airways” are encountered relatively infrequently in modern anesthesia practice, but if it is impossible to ensure adequate oxygenation of patients, they lead to post-hypoxic brain damage or circulatory arrest. Current requirements for patient safety during anesthesia determine the need for a thorough assessment of patients before surgery, identification of prognostic signs of difficult ventilation through a face mask or supraglottic airway device, difficult laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation, difficult cricothyrotomy. As a result of the examination, the anesthesiologist is obliged to formulate the main and reserve action plan, prepare the necessary equipment, and involve specialists if necessary. The recommendations provide evidence of the effectiveness of modern devices for ventilation and tracheal intubation. Algorithms for making decisions and actions in various situations with predictable and unpredictable “difficult airways” in patients with different risks of aspiration are proposed. An algorithm for preparing, predicting possible complications and performing extubation of the trachea is also proposed. The recommendations presented in the review are aimed at achieving the goal of increasing patient safety during general anesthesia by reducing the risk of developing critical disorders of gas exchange due to airway management problems.

School Personnel's Bystander Action in Situations of Teen Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault: Prevalence and Correlates.

Relationship abuse (RA) and sexual assault (SA) are major problems among high school students, and school personnel are an important part of preventing RA and SA among youth. Therefore, we examined the rates and correlates of bystander intentions among school personnel in situations of RA and SA. School personnel (N = 1150) from 25 high schools in New England completed surveys that assessed their RA and SA knowledge, perceptions of school climate specific to RA and SA, and RA and SA bystander efficacy and bystander intentions. Across each type of bystander behavior measured, the vast majority of school personnel reported intentions to intervene. In the multilevel regression analyses, both proactive and reactive bystander intentions were related to higher levels of RA and SA bystander efficacy and perceptions of a more positive school climate and lower levels of RA and SA barriers to intervene. These data support the utility of school-based interventions that seek to improve school climate and teach school personnel skills that enhance bystander efficacy and reduce bystander barriers in student situations of RA and SA. Although they would need to be evaluated, such interventions could promote positive bystander action among school personnel and untimely contribute to reductions in RA and SA among high school youth.

Complaints about technology as a resource for identity-work

AbstractThis article examines how people complain about technology. Using discourse analysis, we inspect sixteen hours of video-recorded focus-group interviews and focused one-on-one discussions where technology was topicalized. We investigate these conversations paying attention to (i) features of language and its situated delivery, including emphasis, word choice, metaphor, and categorizations; and (ii) how these accomplish social actions. We show how interactants use narratives of complaint-like activities about hypothetical categories of people and confessions of their own complainable participation to accomplish a ‘bemoaning’ speech act that manages competing affiliations, demands, and disagreements to construct reasonable moral identities in the situated interaction. By engaging in specific micro-level discursive practices in interaction, participants produce and reproduce what new technologies ‘mean’ to them and for contemporary society. This shows how important it is to examine opinions as situated actions rather than as simple facts about what people believe. (Complaints, accounts, stance, technology, discourse analysis, identity)*

Sorting out the Value of Cruciferous Sprouts as Sources of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition and Health.

Edible sprouts with germinating seeds of a few days of age are naturally rich in nutrients and other bioactive compounds. Among them, the cruciferous (Brassicaceae) sprouts stand out due to their high contents of glucosinolates (GLSs) and phenolic compounds. In order to obtain sprouts enriched in these phytochemicals, elicitation is being increasing used as a sustainable practice. Besides, the evidence regarding the bioavailability and the biological activity of these compounds after their dietary intake has also attracted growing interest in recent years, supporting the intake of the natural food instead of enriched ingredients or extracts. Also, there is a growing interest regarding their uses, consumption, and applications for health and wellbeing, in different industrial sectors. In this context, the present review aims to compile and update the available knowledge on the fundamental aspects of production, enrichment in composition, and the benefits upon consumption of diverse edible cruciferous sprouts, which are sources of phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, as well as the evidence on their biological actions in diverse pathophysiological situations and the molecular pathways involved.

Youth Strategies for Positive Bystander Action in Situations of Dating and Sexual Violence: Implications for Measurement and Programming.

Research on bystander behavior in situations of dating violence (DV) and sexual violence (SV) in youth populations is growing; yet, there is a distinct lack of qualitative studies to identify nuances in specifically how and when youth are taking action to help to inform theory, measurement, and programming. The current study examined bystander action plans of high school youth after their participation in a classroom-based, bystander-focused prevention program, to inform bystander behavior measurement and programming within the context of DV and SV research and practice. High school youth (N = 889) from schools across New England completed a bystander-focused violence prevention curriculum and subsequently wrote a bystander plan of action addressing a situation of DV or SV that they had seen before or were likely to see again in the future. The responses were qualitatively coded for type of situation and bystander action, while noting situational aspects (e.g., location, relationship to those involved, engagement of others). Students reported a variety of strategies (ranging from directly telling the perpetrator to stop to creating a distraction) and ways of thinking about situations of DV and SV, and related behaviors (e.g., bullying). Many students listed unique situations and bystander behaviors that were not addressed as part of the curriculum. Bystander action plans also varied as a function of situational variables (e.g., relationship to those involved). These results indicate that measures of bystander behavior for high school students need to look different from established measures for older age groups. Furthermore, bystander programming may be more effective if more thoughtful attention is given to how youth see helping in situations of DV and SV as connected to other problematic behaviors.

The role of flexibility in enabling transformational social change: Perspectives from an Indigenous community using Q-methodology

What makes some communities more resilient and transformative than others? This paper explores the hypothesis that the flexibility of perspectives is central to enable the kind of changes called for by current and future environmental and socio-economic challenges. The paper reports on findings from a Q-study conducted with the Indigenous community of Igiugig, Alaska, focusing on perceptions of social change. The study reveals three main narratives concerning drivers of social change, focusing on the role of individuals, the importance of cultural values, and community visioning. The findings from the Q study point to the importance of flexibility, understood as the capacity to take different perspectives, in enabling deliberate action in situations where the correct path to take is often contested. This kind of flexibility, grounded in an Indigenous worldview, is seen to contribute to community resilience through supporting cultural cohesion, collective leadership and enacting alternatives in the here and now. Strong community narratives that allow for individual interpretation is seen as important and highlights the interrelatedness between the individual and the collective and the role of collective agency. Drawing on the critiques of the concept of resilience in an Indigenous context, the paper further points to the need for transformational change occurring at multiple scales and extends a call for flexibility to be fostered among researchers and practitioners alike. The lessons from this community have implications for understandings of community resilience and agency in social-ecological systems and the potential for transformations towards sustainability.