Critical Incident Approach Research Articles

Adaptation to stress in football athletes: The importance of cognitive appraisal.

This study analysed the adaptation of football athletes to competitive stressors regarding the upcoming match. For that, the study adopted a cross-sectional methodology using a critical incident approach. The participants were 352 young male football athletes, aged between 15 and 19 years (M = 16.91, SD = 0.99), who were competing in the national football championship. The results indicated that cognitive appraisal partially mediated the relationship between competitive stressors and emotions: athletes who perceived stressors as a challenge, tended to feel more control over the situation and more resourceful (coping perception), leading to a more positive emotional experience, while those perceiving the stressors as a threat were more prone to experience less control and more negative emotions. This mediation model was moderated by athletes’ competitive level (U17 or U19), as the role of challenge perception was more pronounced in the U19 team, while the relationship between threat perception and less control was only observed for the U17 team. In sum, the data reveals the importance of cognitive appraisal in young football athletes’ adaptation to competitive stressors, bolstering the theoretical models in this area and the importance of psychologists to consider these variables during intervention, particularly cognitive appraisal.

The Expectation and Learning Impact Framework (ELIF): Evaluating diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development events for academic librarians

This study examines the experiences of academic librarians in Canada and the U.S. at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional development events (PDE) and makes recommendations for improving PDE on DEI. It pursues the following overarching research problem: What accounts for the effectiveness of learning at DEI PDEs and what makes PDEs impactful and memorable? The study is framed through select theories of learning, epistemologically guided by hermeneutic phenomenology, and relies on the critical incident approach and qualitative self-administered survey, enriched by descriptive statistics. It results in the analytical Expectation and Learning Impact Framework (ELIF) for organizing DEI-related PDEs and a specific Checklist of recommendations for improving PDEs. This research will benefit academic librarians, LIS educators, as well as anyone wishing to organize meaningful DEI events. This is particularly instrumental when librarians have a wide variety of events to choose from but limited time and funding for attending them. It is also hoped that this study findings will expand an understanding of DEI PDEs, in general.

Learning and change through diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development: Academic librarians' perspectives

Building on the results of a qualitative survey of academic librarians in Canada and the U.S., this study focuses on the learning and subsequent change following professional development events (PDE) dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Carried out collaboratively by a group of American and Canadian researchers, the study is guided by hermeneutic phenomenology and the concept of retrospective reflection and builds on the critical incident approach supporting the survey design. Reporting on two large clusters of findings – those related to personal learning and change and those related to organizational change – the study highlights five types of learning and subsequent change that result from DEI PDEs: cognitive learning and change (awareness); behavioral learning and change (action); personal learning and change (self-awareness and self-improvement); social learning and change (interaction); and affective/emotional learning and change. The findings are mapped to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change, which creates a foundation for making recommendations for future mixed methods research and impactful PDE design. The study records both achievements and regrettable omissions in the current PDE offerings, in the hopes that noticed gaps and existing shortcomings will be remedied moving forward.

How do safety professionals’ influence managers within organizations? – A critical incident approach

There has been increasing recognition that the ability to influence managers within organizations is a critical capability for safety professionals. Although safety decisions are made at all levels within an organization, those key safety decisions relating to strategies, priorities, operational procedures, and the allocation of resources are largely made by management. However, there is limited empirical research on how safety professionals direct influence upwards in organizations. In this paper, we investigate the specific influence behaviors/tactics employed by safety professionals for upward influence and the sequencing of tactic use for initial and subsequent influence attempts with the same manager. In addition, we identify the factors that safety professionals perceive either enable or hinder their ability to be strategically influential. We use the critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954) to elicit both successful and unsuccessful influencing experiences from thirty safety professionals, employed in a range of industries across Australia and New Zealand. Qualitative analysis revealed rational persuasion was the dominant influencing strategy for initial attempts, while the coalition tactic was most frequently used in follow-up attempts. We also identified three new influence tactics that safety professionals used (coaching, storytelling, social proof) that were different from those described in traditional influence models. Further, factors that enable and hinder upward influence were generated from the critical incidences. This study extends existing theory and empirical research on how safety professionals direct influence upwards in organizations and proposes implications for safety practice and theory.

Healthcare professionals' encounters with ethnic minority patients: The critical incident approach.

Ethnic minority patients face challenges concerning communication and are at higher risk of experiencing health problems and consuming fewer healthcare services. They are also exposed to disparaging societal discourses about migrants which might undermine healthcare institutions' ambitions of equitable health care. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to critically reflect on their practices and processes related to ethnic minority patients. The aim of this article is to explore healthcare professionals' experiences of working with ethnic minority patients by using the critical incident (CI) technique. In two focus group sessions, participants discussed challenging events in their encounters with patients. The critical incidents show that healthcare professionals may experience unfamiliar situations related to their work performance, prejudice toward patients, and labeling by patients the professionals do not identify with. The professionals' reflections are discussed in relation to social discourses on migration and their work conditions, and the possible influence on the professionals' preconceptions and the patient-professional relationship in health care. Reflections about work experiences with ethnic minority patients and aligned societal discourses should be included in healthcare workers' professional development. Critical incident reflections at work may contribute to better-coping strategies for healthcare professionals and improved patient-professional relationships with ethnic minority patients.

Information Needs of Learning at Emzamweni High School, Inadi, South Africa

This paper reports on the information needs of learners in the Emzamweni High School in Inadi near Pietermaritzburg Msunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A preliminary report, it presents the outcomes of a survey based on the critical incident approach. Students in the Post Graduate Diploma in Information Studies Programme conducted interviews over a two year period from 2001 to 2002. The students were enrolled for an exemplar in the Community Higher Education Service Partnerships project in community based learning at University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The project was hence an exercise in training student researchers and is useful for what it revealed about the critical nature of the needs of these learners.

Factors affecting the implementation of simulation modelling in healthcare: A longitudinal case study evaluation

Simulation modelling is becoming an increasingly popular tool in healthcare management, however published evaluations of simulation modelling are rare. This study therefore aimed to provide an empirical evaluation of simulation model implementation. The study used a qualitative, longitudinal case study approach, grounded in Pragmatism, complexity theory, and the critical incident approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 senior healthcare managers and 5 researchers during a simulation modelling project. Twenty-three critical incidents were identified, including changes in government policy and funding, organisational context, intervention activities, project management, and staffing. The analysis revealed a complex adaptive system, where the role of specific implementation factors changed over time, and through interaction with each other. Constant throughout was the agency displayed by participants in pursing their individual strategic goals. Based on these findings, we argue for a flexible definition of implementation success that allows for emergent project outcomes.

Shared Goals, Different Barriers: A Qualitative Study of UK Veterinarians' and Farmers' Beliefs About Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship.

Although much research has investigated the drivers of inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing in human medicine, equivalent research in veterinary medicine is in its infancy. This qualitative study used a critical incident approach to explore farm veterinarians' (vets) and farmers' beliefs about antimicrobial use and antimicrobial stewardship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 vets and 12 farmers in the UK, who worked mostly with beef cattle, dairy cattle and sheep, but a minority also worked with pigs or poultry. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to explore how vets and farmers understood their responsibilities toward stewardship and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to identify key similarities and differences between the professions. The analysis generated four themes: “A shared conflict between ideals and behaviour,” “Barriers to stewardship: the vets' perspective,” “Barriers to stewardship: the farmers' perspective,” and “A shared ambivalence: ownership vs. other-blaming.” Vets and farmers demonstrated good understanding of stewardship but their treatment decisions are not always aligned to stewardship principles. Various barriers to improving antimicrobial stewardship were discussed by vets and farmers, but they placed differing emphasis on specific barriers. Faced with these barriers and an awareness that antimicrobial usage is not always aligned to stewardship principles, vets and farmers expressed frustration and a sense of ambivalence toward stewardship, and also engaged in other-blaming for the problem of AMR. In conclusion, vets and farmers in this study seem motivated to be antimicrobial stewards but feel challenged by the day-to-day reality of their jobs; they experience ambivalence toward their responsibilities for AMR, which may negatively impact their motivation to always act as antimicrobial stewards. Successfully tackling AMR will require change at the individual-, group-, and societal-level. Future interventions to improve antimicrobial usage in livestock farming could be situated within a social ecological framework, where other-blaming between professions is seen as a result of the interplay between psychological and contextual factors. Other-blaming could be reduced using a social identity approach; a common ingroup identity could be created by encouraging vets and farmers to focus on their common goal, namely a shared desire to promote animal welfare through optimal antimicrobial stewardship.

‘Damned one way or another’: Bariatric surgeons’ reflections on patients’ suboptimal outcomes from weight loss surgery

Objective: A minority of patients show sub-optimal outcomes after weight loss surgery. Research has identified predictors of poor outcomes focusing on the patients’ perspective. No research has explored surgeons’ accounts. Design: Ten Bariatric surgeons were interviewed using a critical incident approach to explore their explanations for sub-optimal outcomes in the context of a real-life case. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes were developed: ‘Challenges to success’ highlighting the role of psychosocial issues, poor adherence and patient non-disclosure; ‘Ideal world solutions’ describing who should identify and address psychosocial issues; and ‘Real world compromise’ reflecting the impact of limited resources and weighing up risk between carrying out versus not carrying out surgery. Transcending these themes was the notion of ‘responsibility’ with surgeons balancing the role of the patient, themselves and the health care system. Conclusion: Some surgeons concluded that if they had known before surgery what they know now, they may not have operated. All emphasised that they could only know what was disclosed by the patient, that they were not convinced that not operating would have resulted in better outcomes in the longer term and many felt that they were ‘damned one way or the other’.

Identifying passengers’ needs in cabin interiors of high-speed rails in China using quality function deployment for improving passenger satisfaction

This study aims to propose a methodology for understanding the needs of passengers of the second-class cabins of high-speed rails (HSRs) in China. Addressing these needs is important to improve service quality and passenger satisfaction. We initially utilize the most important and also the first step of quality function deployment (QFD) to collect and organize data. Multiple methods, including scene deployment/gemba, social media analysis, and critical incident approach, are used to collect the voice of the customer (VOC). With aid of the VOC table (VOCT), the collected VOC is interpreted from passengers’ perspective and deployed as need items, which are grouped into passenger needs using the technique of affinity diagramming. To determine which of the passenger needs are important, we present the need items in a questionnaire in the form of pairwise comparison to obtain the opinion of frequent passengers. The collected responses are processed with the interval-valued analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to obtain the relative importance of the needs. Comfortable seat, sensory comfort, and proper luggage storage are identified as the major concerns of passengers. The obtained results should serve as valuable reference for planning and improving the design of cabin interiors and the quality of passenger service of HSRs in China. The study also provides a method for understanding customers’ needs related to the infrastructure and facilities of rails and those of other modes of public transportation.

Tacit knowledge sharing among library colleagues: a pilot study

PurposeThis study aims to explore the nature of tacit knowledge (TK) sharing among library colleagues, with a focus on the characteristics of TK and contextual factors such as organizational culture or the mentor/mentee relationship.Design/methodology/approachUsing a critical incident approach, participants self-selected based on pre-established criteria to report knowledge sharing incidents between colleagues at either an in-person or virtual reference desk. Subsequent semi-structured interviews were transcribed from recordings and coded for thematic elements.FindingsThree thematic areas emerged. First are the influence of organizational culture and the importance of trust on knowledge sharing behavior. Second, the value of teamwork and the significance of mentor/mentee roles surface as significant drivers of TK exchange. Last but not least is a better understanding of the nature of TK, as it relates to types of knowledge and characterizations of experience and expertise.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small sample size nevertheless revealed some important findings that contribute to the understanding of the role of TK sharing in libraries.Originality/valueThe value of knowledge sharing in libraries is not well understood. This study demonstrates the value on several levels, including the influence of culture and trust, and the power of mentoring to harness TK held by experts. The proposed Tacit Knowledge Alignment Framework contributes to the understanding of the nature of TK in libraries. These findings begin to fill a research gap by furthering our understanding of TK and informing future retention efforts that are lacking in many libraries.

Experiences of challenging heteronormativity in pre-service teacher training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: A reflective critical incident approach

Experiences of challenging heteronormativity in pre-service teacher training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal: A reflective critical incident approach

School leavers with learning disabilities moving from child to adult Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) teams: SLTs’ views of successful and less successful transition co‐working practices

School‐leaving for pupils with long‐term speech, language, swallowing or communication difficulties requires careful management. Speech and language therapists (SLTs) support communication, secure assistive technology and manage swallowing difficulties post‐school. UK SLTs are employed by health services, with child SLT teams based in schools. School‐leaving entails transition from child‐ to adult‐services. Little is known about the process, or how SLTs develop co‐working across managerial boundaries. A qualitative study within one health board employing separately managed child and adult SLT teams interviewed SLTs and analysed their views on successful and less successful school‐leaver transitions. A critical incident approach elicited views on transitions that ‘stuck in the mind’, rather than typical instances, identifying supportive and risky co‐working factors. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, checked and thematically analysed. Three linked overarching themes emerged: SLT team remits and properties; communication and information exchange across SLT teams, and outside influences on teams. These applied to successful and less successful transitions, suggesting robust constructs along which SLTs evaluated transitions. Risk factors included unclear provision, pupils’ earlier discharge by child SLTs affecting referral at school‐leaving, and practical issues in accessing notes. SLTs used existing social‐capital relationships to facilitate transitions. Implications for practice and ways of improving transitions are discussed.

A critical incident approach to consumer response in the smartphone market: product, service and contents

Multitudes of theory-based models have been developed and applied to identify drivers behind user behaviors in various information systems (IS) markets. Although these theory-based models have been successful in identifying and explaining consumer behavior, their fixed nature necessitates customization efforts when applied to a specific usage context. In this paper, we utilized critical incident technique (CIT) as a complementary approach to IS user behavior study to traditional theory-based models in the context of the smartphone market. Through a two-stage survey, both positive and negative critical incidents are collected, which are categorized into device, device-related services, network services and content services. Then, their impacts on user intention variables of loyalty and recommendation are derived by a structural equation analysis of 795 smartphone users’ responses. The results can be summarized as follows: Positive critical incidents improve user intentions whereas negative ones worsen them; among the positive incidents, the events related to network services are the most influential; Critical incidents related to application contents are the most influential among the negative; Mobile device manufacturers are the most strongly affected by critical incidents among the smartphone supply chain parties. Merits of CIT in IS user behavior study have been demonstrated: CIT’s flexible nature provides convenience in adapting to a particular IS usage context; Both positive and negative incidents are examined, yielding a complementary implication to other methods. We also revealed that a conventional wisdom of CIT to focus mainly on negative critical incidents might have to be adjusted since positive ones might be more influential depending on the particular context of IS usage.

Developing Social Work Professional Judgment Skills: Enhancing Learning in Practice by Researching Learning in Practice

ABSTRACTThe aims of this article are twofold: to discuss the value of practice-based research as a basis for enhancing learning and teaching in social work and, as an illustration of this, to present the findings of a preliminary qualitative research study into social work students’ development of professional judgment skills. The research was conducted with UK social work students at the point of qualification (graduation) to explore how they had developed skills of professional judgement during their field work placements. Practice-based research was used to gain insight into the authentic professional learning that takes place for students as they develop into qualified social workers required to formulate and exercise their own professional judgment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using a critical incident approach, within an appreciative inquiry framework. The findings indicate that the participants’ conceptualization of professional judgment was formulated around an interplay of social work values and knowledge and that their skills of professional judgement were developed through supported autonomy and a sense of their personal agency in learning and professional development.

“Zebra world”: The promotion of imperial stereotypes in a children’s book

Learning materials have become significant determinants of quality learning environments for young children. This study presents an example of such learning material in the Finnish context – a children’s book entitled: Bibi muuttaa Suomeen (translated: Bibi Moves to Finland) by Katja Kallio and Maggie Lindholm (2005 ). The main concern of this article is how the ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Finland vs. Africa) meet or co-exist together in the book, which describes a young girl, Bibi, her life in a ‘traditional’ African village and subsequent move to Finland. The positive intention of the book is to familiarize Finnish children with different cultures and the life of immigrant children. In this study concepts such as ‘Whiteness’, normality and belonging are discussed within a critical approach to intercultural education. The data consist of a focus group interview conducted for student teachers and our own analysis as two experts in the book. The material was analysed with the help of critical discourse analysis and a critical incident approach. The results show that despite good intentions to educate children about immigration and other people in a more positive light, the book serves to maintain the social structure of Finnish society as White, modern and superior to ‘others’ in Africa. It is important that teachers and teacher educators are able to challenge this type of representation of the world and of immigration in children’s books and learning materials.

Viewing Focus Groups Through a Critical Incident Lens.

Scholars often do not describe in detail the complex process of conducting focus groups, including what happens when they take unexpected turns. A critical incident lens provides a framework for better analyzing and understanding what actually happens during focus group sessions. Using a critical incident approach, we examine our experiences of carrying out focus groups about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine with vaccine-eligible adolescent girls and parents/caregivers of vaccine-eligible adolescent girls in New Mexico. The critical incident lens allowed us to productively explore the context and interactional dynamics of our focus groups and ultimately pushed us to talk through the challenges of conducting and analyzing them. We hope this serves as a call to qualitative researchers to be attentive to the critical incidents in your own research to enrich your analysis and contribute to a broader discussion of the realities of focus group conduct.

Do engineering master’s students know what they don’t know?

Purpose– The purpose of this study was to determine whether engineering master’s students at a medium-sized university use library-provided abstracting and indexing (A&I) services (e.g. Compendex), and if they do, to what extent, in what manner and for what purposes.Design/methodology/approach– A mixed methodology approach was used to explore electronic information-seeking patterns of engineering master’s students at New Mexico State University. Usage statistics, a focus group and a Web-based survey were used, the latter composed of 17 questions using a critical incident approach and direct questions to probe: reasons for and method of search, types of materials used (with relative frequencies), means of obtaining materials and evaluations of the usefulness of five library-provided A&I services.Findings– Only 15 per cent of respondents used a subscription A&I service such as Compendex when searching specific terms. The majority of sources used were located through known term searches, and master’s learned of these information resources through article citations or conversations with colleagues. Half the respondents reported using Google Scholar to find the last scholarly article they had read. Engineering master’s students – similar to practicing engineers – evaluate the costs associated with obtaining information, and may “satisfice”. Even so, students expressed interest in increasing their knowledge of skills and strategies to find worthwhile electronic information.Originality/value– This study sheds light on engineering master’s students’ use of A&I services, and examines their perceptions of five of these services commonly provided by academic libraries.

Enhancing the impact of online simulations through blended learning

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach for utilising a critical incident method within the context of an online business simulation game in order to provide an effective framework for reflective learning.Design/methodology/approach– The paper presents a review of pertinent literature to place the critical incident technique within the novel context of simulation gaming. Through presenting a case study of practice, it goes on to describe a blended learning approach that combines online simulation with post-simulation reflection based on the critical incident method. An action research approach is adopted as a framework for reflection on practice.Findings– From a conceptual perspective, there are a number of potential benefits to employing a critical incident approach combined with simulation gaming. The ability of educators to compress time frames and manage the introduction of critical incidents allows students to learn in a way that would not be possible in the real world. Furthermore, carefully designed post-simulation debriefing, structured around a critical incident framework, has the potential to enhance the learning impact of online simulation.Research limitations/implications– The research is limited in that a single case study context is described. Further evaluation research is required to fully assess the benefits of the approach adopted.Originality/value– The study explores the use of the critical incident approach within the novel context of online simulation gaming. It provides educators with a blended learning method that can be employed to enhance the impact of e-learning through structured reflection.

In search of systemic innovation for sustainable development: A design praxis emerging from a decade of social learning inquiry

Processes of designing for systemic innovation for sustainable development (SD) through the lens of three long-term case studies are reported. All case studies, which originated from the SLIM (Social Learning for the Integrated Management and Sustainable Use of Water at Catchment Scale) Project, funded within the EU Fifth Framework Program (2001–2004), constitute inquiry pathways that are explored using a critical incident approach. The initial starting conditions for each inquiry pathway are compared; significant pathway dependencies are identified which foster the development of social learning processes locally, but constrain their uptake and embedding across the wider system of interest. In the first case study, in England & Wales, promising developments in the application of social learning approaches to river basin planning over an initial 3-year period were subsequently marginalised, only to resurface towards the end of the 10-year period of study. In the second, South African case study, significant spaces for social learning and innovation in integrated water resources management were opened up over a five year period but closed down again, primarily as the result of lack of policy support by national government. The third, Italian, case study was designed to assess options for adapting to climate change by opening up new learning spaces between researchers, stakeholders and policy makers. A case for investing in local level systemic innovation through social-learning praxis design approaches and in learning processes around well contextualised case-studies is supported. However, concomitant investment by policy makers in social learning as an alternative, but complementary, governance mechanism for systemic innovation for SD is needed.