Critical Inquiry Research Articles

A Narrative Inquiry of Critical Events Supporting Professional Identity Formation in Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences

ObjectiveProfessional identity formation (PIF) is the process of internalizing a profession’s core values and beliefs so that one begins to think, act, and feel like a member of that profession. PIF occurs over an individual’s professional socialization in stages, precipitated by critical moments or experiences. The purpose of this study was to answer the following: (1) What are the critical events for pharmacy student PIF in introductory pharmacy practice experiences?; and (2) How do these events support or challenge PIF? MethodsThis study used critical event narrative inquiry methodology. A critical event is an experience that creates a change in understanding and affects professional performance. Semistructured interviews were conducted with pharmacy students who completed introductory pharmacy practice experience rotations in community (first year) and hospital (second year) settings. Interviews were coded and analyzed using narrative analysis. ResultsTwelve first-year and 10 second-year students participated in this study. Narratives revealed that common experiential education experiences resulted in a deeper understanding of core role elements (ie, professional autonomy, responsibility, interprofessional collaboration, and patient-centered care), leading to changes in agency, knowledge, and anticipated future behaviors. While first-year participants’ narratives mainly focused on understanding pharmacist roles (“what”), second-year participants focused on understanding the process to fulfill those roles (“how to”). Emotions, assuming responsibility, external validation, and preceptor guidance supported these events. ConclusionCritical events in introductory pharmacy practice experiences affect and shape pharmacy students’ PIF. These events are relevant to pharmacy education because these experiences can result in changes in knowledge, agency, or future behaviors for students.

“¿Y tu novio? Where’s Your Boyfriend?”: A Cultural-Ecological Analysis of Latinas’ Narratives of Teen Dating Experiences

There is a dearth of research examining the dating experiences of Latina teens—a large and rapidly growing population in the U.S. that reports high rates of teen dating violence. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore Latinas’ teen dating experiences and the familial and sociocultural factors that impact them using a cultural-ecological perspective. Twenty-five first-, second-, and third-generation immigrant Latinas between the ages of 18 and 23 participated in the research. A purposive sample was drawn from the New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. We applied a critical narrative inquiry methodology to conduct in-depth narrative interviews with participants, following protocols approved by the IRB. We employed an inductive and iterative analytic process that combined holistic- and categorical-content approaches to identify themes within and across narratives. We identified the following themes: (1) cultural expectations and norms, (2) parents’ rules and expectations, (3) covert relationships, and (4) violence and control. This study’s findings highlight the importance of considering the cultural-ecological context in examinations of Latina teens’ dating experiences, with particular attention to how gendered power dynamics shape Latina teens’ dating experiences across multiple levels.

Digital exclusion and distance in the British welfare system

This article explores how the digitization of the UK’s benefits system has affected welfare service encounters and digitally-excluded citizens’ relationship with the state. Digitization is a key feature of Universal Credit – the Conservative government’s flagship welfare reform policy - that has been subject to limited critical enquiry to date. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in third-sector welfare service centres before and during the rollout of Universal Credit, the analysis contrasts the way advice was given under the old ‘legacy system’ with the new online system.Drawing on an original ethnographic study, the article argues that digitization has profoundly changed the dynamics of welfare service encounters and welfare governance more broadly. It identifies a shift towards a more transactional mode of service encounter and the emergence of new forms of claimant passivity as established routines centred on physical documents were supplanted with less-accessible digital technologies. In making inefficient but relationally-demanding negotiations obsolete, the article details how digitization has worked to further disempower and distance digitally-excluded citizens from meaningful engagement with their benefits claims. Potential implications of the findings for the study of contemporary welfare governance and the state are discussed in the concluding sections.

Leadership Dynamics and Gender Disparity: Shaping Organizational Culture and Success

This research paper delves into the profound and pivotal role of leadership in shaping the behaviour, culture, and overarching efficacy of organizations. Leadership stands as the cornerstone for fostering a workforce that is not only motivated and engaged but also remarkably adaptable, all finely attuned to the organization's strategic objectives. The influence of effective leadership is not confined to a superficial realm; it extends to encompass the development of employees, the art of skilful conflict resolution, and the orchestration of organizational change. These elements collectively form the bedrock of an organization's triumphant journey. The core of this study lies in its exploration of how the choice of leadership styles embraced by an organization can wield a substantial impact on its capacity to deftly manage and propel successful organizational transformations. Illuminating this critical inquiry is a detailed case study of "TheX-Tech," a dynamic tech startup. This case study reveals a spectrum of diverse leadership styles employed by different leaders within the same organizational framework, spanning the domains of transformational, situational, servant, and distributed leadership. This investigation not only casts light upon the choices made by these leaders but also offers a profound understanding of their profound influence on the intricate tapestry of organizational behaviour and adaptability, particularly in the context of a remote work environment. The research methodology underpinning this inquiry is a meticulous and systematic process encompassing the crystallization of research objectives, a comprehensive review of the existing literature, the judicious selection of research methods, and the rigorous execution of data collection. Data is meticulously garnered through the employment of a multifaceted approach, integrating surveys, incisive interviews, astute observations, and a discerning analysis of relevant documents. Both quantitative and qualitative data are subjected to meticulous scrutiny to discern nuanced correlations and emerging trends that define the intricate interplay between leadership styles and the dynamics of organizational change. Emphasis is given to the inviolable imperatives of data validity and reliability, ensuring the robustness of the findings. The study offers pragmatic recommendations that serve as guiding beacons for organizations seeking to enrich their change management endeavours by embracing and harnessing the manifold facets of effective leadership styles. In summation, the study unequivocally concludes that leadership is an ever-evolving and dynamic force that steers an organization towards resounding success and a remarkable degree of adaptability. It occupies a pivotal position as the linchpin, determining an organization's acumen in navigating the intricate maze of corporate intricacies. Leadership, in its true essence, represents the foundational underpinning upon which the behavioural framework of an organization is meticulously woven. It influences the actions, interactions, and collective contributions of individuals, propelling the organization towards success. In essence, effective leadership stands as a potent catalyst for the catalysing forces of innovation, change, and the overarching growth of an organization. Gender disparity in leadership, marked by underrepresentation, the gender pay gap, and limited mentorship, obstructs women's progress in society as well. Implicit biases, stereotypes, and work-life balance challenges add to the hurdle in the success and upliftment of society. Decision-making bias often results in harassment and discrimination, while the "stereotype threats" taking rise and following some bad impacts with it. Addressing this requirement of organizational gender equality, include diversity initiatives, pay equity, mentorship, transparent recruitment, and flexible work arrangements. Promoting female leadership, addressing harassment, and manifesting role models is vital. Equitable compensation, education on bias, and transparent recruitment practices are essential. Affinity groups, accountability, external collaborations, and legal compliance reinforce change

Ibn Khaldun and Critical Inquiry: A Response to Christian Fuchs

Ibn Khaldun and Critical Inquiry: A Response to Christian Fuchs

Parental Substance Use as a Child Protection Problem: A Poststructural Interview Analysis

The use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) by parents is a significant public policy concern, both in the UK and other jurisdictions such as Australia. Concern about the potential risks posed to children is also paramount in family court decisions, where AOD consumption is framed as a child protection issue in itself. There is a need, however, for more critical inquiry into the ways in which parental use is understood and conceptualised in family court practice. Based on interviews with social workers, lawyers and judges who have worked in Family Courts in England and Wales, the aim of this paper is to pay closer attention to the constitution of parental substance use as a child protection problem. Using methodological tools devised by Bonham and Bacchi (2016), and adopting their poststructural approach to interview analysis, the aim was to pay close attention to the ways in which “reality” was made in and through participant accounts. The focus on the granularity of what, precisely, was said in the interviews unveiled some valuable insights into the ways in which parental subject positions were produced and maintained. For example, the ‘traumatised’ parental substance user was a recurring motif which, while rooted in a more empathetic understanding of the challenges faced by parents, could – I suggest – have unintended consequences.

Exploited in immortality: techno-capitalism and immortality imaginaries in the twenty-first century

ABSTRACT Immortality constitutes a very human desire and its pursuit arguably shapes prominent features of human societies. In the twenty-first century, capitalism develops technologies that promise immortality as indefinite survival. Scholars who study immortality often showcase the links between technology, social structures and immortality projects, but a critical inquiry is needed to examine how (techno-)capitalism creates immortality projects that expand the frontiers of capital in contemporary societies. In this article, I highlight how techno-capitalism configures three prominent immortality imaginaries: transhumanist digital immortality, radical biological life-extension, and cryonics. I identify three tendencies of techno-capitalism − 1) expanding commodification to new realms of life, 2) creating new forms of alienation and 3) subordinating life to the private accumulation of capital – and explain how they shape the immortality imaginaries. I argue that pursuing techno-capitalist immortality would induce significant harms for human beings, promising freedom from death but actually sustaining techno-capitalism’s exploitative relations.

Uncovering Student Strategies for Solving Scientific Inquiry Tasks: Insights from Student Process Data in PISA

The advancement of technology has led to a growing interest in assessing scientific inquiry within digital platforms. This shift towards dynamic and interactive inquiry assessments enables researchers to investigate not only the accuracy of student responses (product data) but also their steps and actions leading to those responses (process data). This is done by analyzing computer-generated log files that capture student activity during the assessment. The present study leverages this opportunity by drawing insights from student log files of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It demonstrates the potential of process data in uncovering typically unobserved students’ problem-solving processes by focusing on two critical scientific inquiry skills: coordinating the effects of multiple variables and coordinating a theory with evidence. This study presents two examples for analyzing process data. The first example examined data from the PISA field trial study and showcased the advantage of using a process mining approach to visualize the sequence of students’ steps and actions in conducting investigations. The second example linked student log files and questionnaire data from the PISA 2015. It applied latent profile analysis to identify unique patterns of students’ inquiry performance and examined their relationships to their school-based inquiry experiences. Findings from both examples indicate that students often encounter considerable challenges in solving complex inquiry tasks, especially in applying multivariable reasoning and constructing scientific explanations. This study highlights the profound potential of process data in facilitating a deeper understanding of how students interact with scientific inquiry tasks in a digital-based environment.

Rūmī’s Asceticism Explored: A Comparative Glimpse into Meister Eckhart’s Thought

This paper examines the nature of “asceticism” (rīyāḍat) in Sufism, revolving around the works of the 13th century Persian Sufi Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī Balkī and exploring two critical inquiries: Firstly, it seeks to determine whether Rūmī’s mystical perspective on asceticism is world-rejecting or world-affirming. Secondly, it investigates potential parallels and divergences between Rūmī and Meister Eckhart’s stances—specifically, through the Dominican’s Sermons and Treatises—and assesses the implications for the two figures. In examining Rūmī’s works, the current research primarily relies on secondary sources within the Persian intellectual tradition to provide an intracultural context. Utilizing horizontal and vertical interpretations, this study examines critical themes in Rūmī’s works, such as love, detachment (zuhd), the world’s deceptive nature, and seclusion. The findings reveal that Rūmī’s asceticism is not “monastic” (ruhbānī); instead, it balances moderate abstinence and worldly engagement, underpinned by the Quran and the ḥadīth teachings. Rūmī and Eckhart underscore asceticism as an inner transformation rather than mere physical austerity, emphasizing inner purification, self-transcendence, and spiritual detachment as routes to divine unity. The two thinkers’ teachings are catalysts for profound personal transformation and a more fulfilling life in today’s world.

A Critical Inquiry into Jürgen Habermas’ Hermeneutical Reflection as a Methodology of Social Science

This paper aims to examine and evaluate Habermas’ thoughts on hermeneutical reßection as a methodology of social science based on his work titled Zur Logik der Sozialwissenschaften (On The Logic of The Social Sciences). By starting from a theory of action approach focusing on the process of inquiring and understanding intentional action, Haber-mas developed a hermeneutical reßection approach emphasizing the importance of communicative experience between the researcher and the subject examined. This approach has emancipatory power because it encourages researchers to thoroughly identify the ideological elements of social reality researched. Apart from all the advantages of Habermas’ methodological thought, his thinking should be evaluated critically because there are problematic aspects when viewed through the lens of ontology, methodology/method, and axiology.

Am I American enough? A critical narrative exploration of Second-Generation Asian American teachers’ identity and belonging

The United States is in the midst of the largest migration since the turn of the nineteenth century, forever changing the demographics of the nation. This paper is concerned with the implications of this ongoing transformation for schools and the lives of teachers and students who labor and learn within them. In attending to this concern, this paper focuses on Asian Americans, a population that significantly contributes to this demographic shift and who have historically faced legal and formalized exclusion, compounding their relationship to the social imaginary of America. This contestation is even more pronounced for Second-Generation Asian Americans, whose belonging is additionally complicated by their status as American-born. This critical narrative inquiry presents stories of two Second-Generation Asian American elementary school teachers and shares the fraught negotiations of identity and culture that these teachers experience as they mobilize their identity in service of their students.

Crowdfunding platforms as conduits for ideological struggle and extremism: On the need for greater regulation and digital constitutionalism

AbstractCrowdfunding platforms remain understudied as conduits for ideological struggle. While other social media platforms may enable the expression of hateful and harmful ideas, crowdfunding can actively facilitate their enaction through financial support. In addressing such risks, crowdfunding platforms attempt to mitigate complicity but retain legitimacy. That is, ensuring their fundraising tools are not exploited for intolerant, violent or hate‐based purposes, yet simultaneously avoiding restrictive policies that undermine their legitimacy as ‘open’ platforms. Although social media platforms are routinely scrutinized for enabling misinformation, hateful rhetoric and extremism, crowdfunding has largely escaped critical inquiry, despite being repeatedly implicated in amplifying such threats. Drawing on the ‘Freedom Convoy’ movement as a case study, this article employs critical discourse analysis to trace how crowdfunding platforms reveal their underlying values in privileging either collective safety or personal liberty when hosting divisive causes. The radically different policy decisions adopted by crowdfunding platforms GoFundMe and GiveSendGo expose a concerning divide between ‘Big Tech’ and ‘Alt‐Tech’ platforms regarding what harms they are willing to risk, and the ideological rationales through which these determinations are made. There remain relatively few regulatory safeguards guiding such impactful strategic choices, leaving crowdfunding platforms susceptible to weaponization. With Alt‐Tech platforms aspiring to build an ‘alternative internet’, this paper highlights the urgent need to explore digital constitutionalism in the crowdfunding space, establishing firmer boundaries to better mitigate fundraising platforms becoming complicit in catastrophic harms.

Countering 'the moral science of biopolitics': Understanding hepatitis C treatment 'non-compliance' in the antiviral era.

Although new hepatitis C treatments are a vast improvement on older, interferon-based regimens, there are those who have not taken up treatment, as well as those who have begun but not completed treatment. In this article, we analyse 50 interviews conducted for an Australian research project on treatment uptake. We draw on Berlant's (2007, Critical Inquiry, 33) work on 'slow death' to analyse so-called 'non-compliant' cases, that is, those who begin but do not complete treatment or who do not take antiviral treatment as directed. Approached from a biomedical perspective, such activity does not align with the neoliberal values of progress, self-improvement and rational accumulation that pervade health discourses. However, we argue that it is more illuminating to understand them as cases in which sovereignty and agency are neither simplistically individualised nor denied, and where 'modes of incoherence, distractedness, and habituation' are understood to co-exist alongside 'deliberate and deliberative activity […] in the reproduction of predictable life' (Berlant, 2007, p. 754). The analysed accounts highlight multiple direct and indirect forces of attrition and powerfully demonstrate the socially produced character of agency, a capacity that takes shape through the constraining and exhausting dynamics of life in conditions of significant disadvantage.

Added value and numerical measurement of social value: a critical enquiry

Added value and numerical measurement of social value: a critical enquiry

Trust as a key element for quality communication and information management: insights into developing safe cyber-organisational sustainability

PurposeIn recent years, issues like untrusted or questionable sources of information are indisputably rampant in the digital era. The quality of information is now found to be challenging with its kind of issues, crisis and also clarity in which it requires to have a strategic scenario and practice to enhance quality assurance in order to creating safe cyber-spaces. The initiative to organise information at the organisational stage has widely emerged on the cyberspace. This paper aims to examine the insights of the element of trust in quality communication and information management to drive key performance indicator to support organisational sustainability. This approach is likely to play a significant role in enhancing critical inquiry in to issue of trust in information to ensure untainted integrity and quality assurance of the source of the information.Design/methodology/approachThe preparation of this paper used a systematic literature review according to four phases, namely, identification, assessment or examination, extraction and interpretation. This approach was selected to advance critical inquiry into the most current topic on the trust for quality of information as way of strategic communication management to achieve safe cyber-organisational sustainability. The process was made through the various sources of peer-reviewed articles including journals, book chapters, books and conference proceedings. The literature review was carried out through the search for keywords such as trust in information, strategic communication and safe cyber-organisational sustainability.FindingsThe results revealed that the trust in quality of information with its wide range of initiatives could be enhanced as an initial attempt to embrace comprehensive approach in establishing strategic communication to ensure organisational sustainability and quality assurance of safe cyber space. The result further indicated three points, which follows development of virtual interaction with information management for safe cyberspace, enhancing continued predictability assessment in digital information process and practice and developing trust in information and quality of communication for organisational sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is expected to give an insightful value in contributing to quality measurement of the strategic communication to promote trust in quality of information. Hence, the design to expand strategic management to support digital social connections in the cyber space. As a result, the profound contribution would also lead to enhancement of organisational sustainability in the digital era, amid technological trends.Practical implicationsThe need to develop an approach to strengthen the trust in information in the digital cyberspace should focus on providing insights into the quality of information, authenticity and integrity to develop quality assurance for social connection. The awareness raising process in consolidating the trust in information has to start with exploring early social interaction in the digital age. This approach provides quality assurance to linking digital connection to develop trust in the quality of information. This would enable feedback to ensure accessibility and accuracy of quality of information dealing with critical elements relating to organisational sustainability.Originality/valueThe entire awareness in expanding the trust as information quality indicator has to be started with exploring the early social interaction in the digital age, to achieve quality basis on linking the digital connection as an attempt to build the information quality. This would give a feedback in ensuring the accessibility and accuracy of information quality together with dealing with an ultimate element to lead to the organisational longevity.

Part-Time Mothering: A Poetic Autoethnography of a Precariously Employed Academic’s Mothering Experiences

While studies have explored the experiences of motherhood among female academics, the experiences of motherhood among precariously employed academics have not received adequate attention. This autoethnographic inquiry uses poetry to embody my experiences of mothering, in the context of my emotional journey and my subjectivities as a precariously employed academic in a premier higher educational institution in India. From a critical feminist standpoint, the poem explores the experiences through known metaphors including the leaky pipeline of academia, work–life imbalance in the ivory tower, and the sense of being on the hamster wheel. This work is a critical inquiry voicing the everyday realities of precariously employed academics mothering their children. It delves into how the nature of their work status influences their inner turmoil, decisions, and actions vis-à-vis motherhood. It also attempts to demonstrate and raise consciousness about how the private (motherhood) and the public (work) interact.

Reframing history and listening to students through Learning Labs professional development

PurposeThis practice-oriented article aims to describe the origins of the Learning Labs PD model and theory behind it, explains what it involves in social studies and illustrates this model by sharing examples from one PD session focused on facilitating inquiries into justice via Hammurabi's Code and Black Founders with seventh and eighth graders.Design/methodology/approachAs the authors developed Learning Labs for Social Studies (LLSS), they used a Design-Based Research approach to study and iterate such that the model is supportive of teachers' and students' learning (e.g. Jennings et al., 2022). In this practice-oriented article, the authors offer a conceptual orientation to the model and some of the take-aways relevant to the demands of offering professional development in polarizing times by sharing examples from one PD day.FindingsLLSS PD in combination with curriculum that structures critical inquiry has supported the authors and their teacher-partners by fostering a community of practitioners who work as a collective to reframe content, support one another while teaching in new ways and learn from students. Specifically, the authors have observed teachers (1) approach social studies topics with greater criticality and center Black identity and history as more than oppression, (2) develop instructional practices that create space for students to make sense of the past in the context of their lives in the present and (3) listen to and center students' thinking and knowledge.Originality/valueThis article presents and illustrates Learning Labs for Social Studies for the first time, offering a professional learning model that supports teachers in polarizing times as they work collaboratively to translate theory into practice and to problem-solve challenges that emerge within their school and classroom contexts.

Critical inquiry on National Innovation System: Does NIS fit with developing countries?

Innovation is not only a random or accidental process. It requires a deliberate and systematic approach to enhance the innovation performance of a country. The concept of the National Innovation System (NIS) has provided a valuable framework for organizing and fostering innovation efforts across individuals, groups, and organizations within a country. While numerous studies on NIS have been carried out in developed countries, contributing to their socioeconomic progress and shaping effective policies, there is a significant disparity between developed and developing countries. Researchers have recognized the importance of studying NISs in developing countries and have highlighted the need for in-depth investigations into system configurations to generate valuable insights for policy formulation.This paper presents a conceptual model for conducting NIS studies in developing countries, derived from a critical review of existing literature. The proposed model serves as a guide for conducting comprehensive studies within the unique contexts of developing countries, focusing on the central core of NIS. Moreover, this study opens opportunities for future NIS-related research by identifying specific subsections of the overall NIS that warrant attention, while acknowledging the limitations faced by researchers. By adopting this conceptual model, researchers can delve into various aspects of the NIS in developing countries, facilitating a holistic understanding, and enabling the generation of impactful policy recommendations.

Making a Case for Afrofuturism as a Critical Qualitative Inquiry Method for Liberation

Afrofuturism as “both an artistic aesthetic and a framework for critical theory” is concerned with racial equity and technological agency to create emergent liberatory [social] systems. Using Afrofuturism as a research method encourages the imagination of new possibilities for Black liberation in a world where racial inequalities persist. Through Afrofuturism, researchers and public administrators can enter empirical and imaginary evidence required for Black liberation into the public sphere. This article provides thick descriptions of a pilot project, the Three Cities project, to demonstrate how Afrofuturism can be used as a research method for gathering empirical and imaginary evidence, particularly for public service design. This article provides an illustrative example of experiences of racism in schools and corresponding solutions with a key finding that Afrofuturism centres Black communities’ knowledge, subjectivities and experiences. The article concludes that Afrofuturism as a critical qualitative inquiry method for liberation can challenge the range of traditions and histories that have shaped public administration in ways that subjugated and marginalised Black communities, but importantly, academic researchers would need to be embedded with Black communities for an extended period in service of their Black liberation agenda.

Brand Management and Social Media

Social media allows sport entities (organizations, athletes, coaches, fans, and partnering companies) to reach audiences across the world and create, extend, maintain, and improve their brand equity through constant communication. Brand management and the strategies employed by entities to create effective content that reinforces brand image and brand equity are a common goal among sport marketers. Over the last 20 years, scholars have investigated a wide range of topics in sport social media and branding, yet there is a need to continue to expand the social media brand management literature to address and reflect rapidly changing industry challenges. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a reflection of past academic literature, while critically examining areas in methodology and theory to guide future research. The recommendations of more sophisticated designs, along with a call for experimental designs, qualitative approaches, and critical communication inquiry, among others, are discussed.