Fictional Case Study Research Articles

Disclosure and disavowal

The Scandal in Academia is a large-scale fictional ethical case study of around 17,000 words and fourteen separate revelations. They are delivered as newspaper extracts from a newspaper reporting on an ongoing crisis at a Scottish educational institution. The scandal case study as presented in its original form comes with only limited commentary on the ethical issues raised, concentrating instead on providing the scenario in isolation. This paper is a companion piece to that case study, discussing the 7 th and 8 th revelations with reference to the issues raised, the mainstream media, and the formal academic literature. The discussion presented here is not intended to be exhaustive or definitive. It is instead indicative of an approach that could be taken within a formal educational context, and illustrative of the kind of discussions that ideally emerge from the effective use of the material.

Quality improvement primer part 3: Evaluating and sustaining a quality improvement project in the emergency department.

Quality improvement (QI) and patient safety are two areas that have grown into important operational and academic fields in recent years in health care, including in emergency medicine (EM). This is the third and final article in a series designed as a QI primer for EM clinicians. In the first two articles we used a fictional case study of a team trying to decrease the time to antibiotic therapy for patients with sepsis who were admitted through their emergency department. We introduced concepts of strategic planning, including stakeholder engagement and root cause analysis tools, and presented the Model for Improvement and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles as the backbone of the execution of a QI project. This article will focus on the measurement and evaluation of QI projects, including run charts, as well as methods that can be used to ensure the sustainability of change management projects.

From e-Health to i-Health: Prospective Reflexions on the Use of Intelligent Systems in Mental Health Care.

Depressive disorders cover a set of disabling problems, often chronic or recurrent. They are characterized by a high level of psychiatric and somatic comorbidities and represent an important public health problem. To date, therapeutic solutions remain unsatisfactory. For some researchers, this is a sign of decisive paradigmatic failure due to the way in which disorders are conceptualized. They hypothesize that the symptoms of a categorical disorder, or of different comorbid disorders, can be interwoven in chains of interdependencies on different elements, of which it would be possible to act independently and synergistically to influence the functioning of the symptom system, rather than limiting oneself to targeting a hypothetical single underlying cause. New connected technologies make it possible to invent new observation and intervention tools allowing better phenotypic characterization of disorders and their evolution, that fit particularly well into this new “symptoms network” paradigm. Synergies are possible and desirable between these technological and epistemological innovations and can possibly help to solve some of the difficult problems people with mental disorders face in their everyday life, as we will show through a fictional case study exploring the possibilities of connected technologies in mental disorders in the near future.

Project Management for Computer-Based Training Development

This article deals with the management of instructional developmentprojects for computer-based training (CBT), and is primarily aimed at project managers working with a team of instructional developers for a corporate client. Two issues are discussed: a) estimating the size of a CBT project, and b) performing a cost-benefit analysis. These issues are important for projecting costs, tracking performance and justifying development expenditures.This is a fictionalized case study. The methodology, examples, concepts and estimates are composite sketches drawn from several projects, based upon the author's experiences while working as a CBT project manager. Actual figures and clients have been intentionally obscured to protect the proprietary rights of all parties involved.The reader should be cautioned that the article presents only one approach to project development and estimation. Wholesale application of the approach described is not recommended, as every project will introduce novel interactions of resources and variables which mandate different treatment. Still, it is hoped that the reader will draw upon the ideas presented to refine project management approaches already used.

Quality improvement primer part 2: executing a quality improvement project in the emergency department.

The topics of quality improvement (QI) and patient safety have become important themes in health care in recent years, particularly in the emergency department setting, which is a frequent point of contact with the health care system for patients. In the first of three articles in this series meant as a QI primer for emergency medicine clinicians, we introduced the strategic planning required to develop an effective QI project using a fictional case study as an example. In this second article we continue with our example of improving time to antibiotics for patients with sepsis, and introduce the Model for Improvement. We will review what makes a good aim statement, the various categories of measures that can be tracked during a QI project, and the relative merits and challenges of potential change concepts and ideas. We will also present the Model for Improvement's rapid-cycle change methodology, the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. The final article in this series will focus on the evaluation and sustainability of QI projects.

Can yesterday\u2019s smoking research inform today\u2019s shiftwork research? Epistemological consequences for exposures and doses due to circadian disruption at and off work

In 1950, landmark epidemiology studies by Wynder & Graham and Doll & Hill contributed to identifying smoking as a potent carcinogen. In 2007, IARC classified shiftwork involving circadian disruption (CD) as probably carcinogenic; however, epidemiological evidence in regards to the carcinogenicity of shiftwork that involves nightwork is conflicting.We hypothesize that shiftwork research is lacking chronobiological and methodological rigor and that lessons can be learned from comparison with smoking research. Herein, we provide a factual view at, and a fictional case study of, 1940s smoking research which serves as an analogy for current shiftwork research dilemmas. This analogy takes the form of limiting counting cigarettes to a particular time window (i.e. at work) rather than assessing exposures to, and doses of, accumulated smoking over 24 h, highlighting the importance of exposure and dose. Simply put, smoking insights could have been delayed or even disallowed.In conclusion, CD may be similar to smoking insofar as for quantitative measures of cumulative doses, exposures both at and off work may have to be considered. Future work must explore whether such similarity factually exists and whether CD is a cancer hazard in IARC terms.

Facilitating Adoption of Internet Technologies and Services with Externalities via Cost Subsidization

This article models the temporal adoption dynamics of an abstracted Internet technology or service, where the instantaneous net value of the service perceived by each (current or potential) user/customer incorporates three key features: (i) user service affinity heterogeneity, (ii) a network externality, and (iii) a subscription cost. Internet technologies and services with network externalities face a “chicken-and-egg” adoption problem in that the service requires an established customer base to attract new customers. In this article, we study cost subsidization as a means to “reach the knee,” at which point the externality drives rapid service adoption, and thereby change the equilibrium service fractional adoption level from an initial near-zero level to a final near-one level (full adoption). We present three simple subsidy models and evaluate them under two natural performance metrics: (i) the duration required for the subsidized service to reach a given target adoption level and (ii) the aggregate cost of the subsidy born by the service provide. First, we present a “two-target adoption subsidy” that subsidizes the cost to keep the fraction of users with positive net utility at a (constant) target level until the actual adoption target is reached. Second, we study a special case of the above where the target ensures all users have positive net utility, corresponding to a “quickest adoption” subsidy (QAS). Third, we introduce an approximation of QAS that only requires the service provider adjust the subsidy level a prescribed number of times. Fourth, we study equilibria and their stability under uniformly and normally distributed user service affinities, highlighting the unstable equilibrium in each case as the natural target adoption level for the provider. Finally, we provide a fictional case study to illustrate the application of the results in a (hopefully) realistic scenario, along with a brief discussion of the limitations of the model and analysis.

Quality improvement primer part 1: Preparing for a quality improvement project in the emergency department.

Emergency medicine (EM) providers work in a fast-paced and often hectic environment that has a high risk for patient safety incidents and gaps in the quality of care. These challenges have resulted in opportunities for frontline EM providers to play a role in quality improvement (QI) projects. QI has developed into a mature field with methodologies that can dramatically improve the odds of having a successful project with a sustainable impact. However, this expertise is not yet commonly taught during professional training. In this first of three articles meant as a QI primer for EM clinicians, we will introduce QI methodology and strategic planning using a fictional case study as an example. We will review how to identify a QI problem, define components of an effective problem statement, and identify stakeholders and core change team members. We will also describe three techniques used to perform root cause analyses-Ishikawa diagrams, Pareto charts and process mapping-and how they relate to preparing for a QI project. The next two papers in this series will focus on the execution of the QI project itself using rapid-cycle testing and on the evaluation and sustainability of QI projects.

Gene and Ilsa: A Case of Interpersonal Conflict in a Public Organization

In this fictional case study, the author presents a rich tapestry of interpersonal dynamics in complex public organizations. Contrasting styles of leadership, organizational behavior, and communication are highlighted in a brief drama meant to illustrate how difficult it is sometimes to move beyond such issues to the more fundamental tasks of defining and executing one's responsibilities to serve the greater public good.

Learning in Psychotherapy Group Supervision: Transcending Complementarity and the Generative Potential of Group Conflict

At the site of interpersonal conflict resides the potential for learning. This paper presents psychodynamic theories, empirical research and a fictional case study of psychotherapy group supervision. Supervision is discussed in terms of teaching and learning, triangular relations, and group and organizational perspectives. We examine the interconnectedness of patterns of distress that emerge within dynamic relational systems at the levels of the macro‐social, organizational, group and individual. The concepts of equivalence, parallel process and reflection process provide frameworks for this discussion. We explore the constraints and dynamic influence of the organization upon the supervision relationship and the ethical tensions that construct im/possible positions for the supervisor. The case study tells a fictional story of a supervision group situated in an organizational context – a university psychotherapy education programme. A collapse of the group into complementarity, that is into polarized conflicted positions, proffers a vitalizing opportunity for learning. Through the clinical discussion, we reveal how this is contingent on the group's capacity to think together about the meaning of their struggle and to transcend a binary conflict and achieve ‘the third’.

LAW BEYOND GOD AND KANT: A PRAGMATIST PATH

AbstractThe liberal principle of reciprocity requires that states maintain neutrality with respect to their citizens’ competing comprehensive worldviews (both religious and secular) while officially justifying the law and while adjudicating under it. But the very possibility of such liberal neutrality has come under attack in a post-Enlightenment world in which even foundational arguments for the principle of reciprocity itself are no longer taken for granted. This article offers a pragmatist path to the resolution of this liberal dilemma. It recommends a “default and challenge” model for legal justification and legitimation that is rooted in social-linguistic practice. By rooting justification and legitimation in practice, it is argued liberal neutrality can be preserved without need for appeals to controversial foundational commitments at any level of public political justification. The article closes with a fictional case study concerning abortion to show how politicians and courts can apply this method to preserve liberal neutrality while addressing even the most controversial issues.

The rescued self. Value experience and the moral conflict. A case study

This paper addresses the topic of the emotional conflict by presenting a fictional case study, exemplifying the overwhelming force of social pressure on individual consciousness. This is a phenomenon we are well familiar with in the wake of the era of totalitarian states in 20 th century Europe, although it seems also to be a structural feature of social life not just limited to totalitarian contexts, as Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s experiments show. The moral conflict endured by the hero of our narrative displays a rich phenomenology of value experience, revealing an amazing yet essential link between moral courage and intellectual insight. Drawing on some basic tenets of a phenomenological theory of emotional feeling, this paper argues for three distinctively anti-Kantian claims concerning the relations i) between autonomy and moral knowledge, ii) between moral knowledge and social conformism; iii) between morality and individual personality.

The quantified university

The Scandal in Academia is a large-scale fictional ethical case study of around 17,000 words and fourteen separate revelations. They are delivered as newspaper extracts from a newspaper reporting on an ongoing crisis at a Scottish educational institution. The scandal case study as presented in its original form comes with only limited commentary on the ethical issues raised, concentrating instead on providing the scenario in isolation. This paper is a companion piece to that case study, discussing the fifth and sixth revelations with reference to the issues raised, the mainstream media, and the formal academic literature. The discussion presented here is not intended to be exhaustive or definitive. It is instead indicative of an approach that could be taken within a formal educational context, and illustrative of the kind of discussions that ideally emerge from the effective use of the material.

Systems Approach Solution: Cyber Security and Power Industry Resilience

The United Kingdom Energy sector powers homes and supports businesses, delivering a major contribution to the economy. In this article, the author looks at the increasing complexity and interconnectivity of generation and supply technology, and the potential vulnerabilities that could impact upon the power industry, characterising the challenges that companies face in developing organisational-level resilience strategies. Resilience enables an organisation to respond to change and disruption, understand risks, and gain a competitive and reputational edge. A company can measure the resilience of its tangible elements, but assessing the security of intangible elements such as cultural ethos is more complex. One approach to this complexity is to apply a systems approach, structuring the available mix of data for analysis to understand an organisation and assess its resilience, enabling recommendations to support management and investment decisions in key areas including cyber security. The author illustrates a fictional case study, in which a renewable generation company discovers gaps in its cyber security resilience, and the steps it might take. The key challenge for the power sector is to develop a sound understanding of the vulnerabilities of its systems, and to put in both the appropriate engineered controls and related societal, cultural and organisational controls.

JURY SIMULATED AS PROPOSED FOR THE APPROACH OF FUELS IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Fuels are materials that possess the ability to release energy when there is change in the chemical structure, and are part of everyone's life in society, including students of basic education. This work aims to analyze the potential of teaching strategy Jury Simulated in the construction of chemical knowledge on fuels approach, in perspective of development conceptual, procedural and attitudinal. The survey was conducted in a municipal public school in the city of Carnaíba, countryside of Pernambuco, in Primary Education II, using as main pivot axis of a fictional case study about the closing of a gas station. To obtain the data, was use as research tools: notes the observation of the field during the course of the jury and interviews with students. After completion of the jury, students demonstrated arguments and more profound chemical knowledge on the subject, and prove motivated and interested throughout the process. It was concluded that the simulated jury performed in a powerful didactic and methodological strategy, effective and interesting for addressing chemical knowledge related to the daily lives of students, in case the fuels, issue not yet worked in recreational activities in chemistry teaching.

Investigating and Prosecuting Cyber Crime: Forensic Dependencies and Barriers to Justice

The primary goal of this paper is to raise awareness regarding legal loopholes and enabling technologies, which facilitate acts of cyber crime. In perusing these avenues of inquiry, the author seeks to identify systemic impediments which obstruct police investigations, prosecutions, and digital forensics interrogations. Existing academic research on this topic has tended to highlight theoretical perspectives when attempting to explain technology aided crime, rather than presenting practical insights from those actually tasked with working cyber crime cases. The author offers a grounded, pragmatic approach based on the in-depth experience gained serving with police task-forces, government agencies, private sector, and international organizations. The secondary objective of this research encourages policy makers to reevaluate strategies for combating the ubiquitous and evolving threat posed by cyber- criminality. Research in this paper has been guided by the firsthand global accounts (via the author's core involvement in the preparation of the Comprehensive Study on Cybercrime (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013) and is keenly focused on core issues of concern, as voiced by the international community. Further, a fictional case study is used as a vehicle to stimulate thinking and exemplify key points of reference. In this way, the author invites the reader to contemplate the reality of a cyber crime inquiry and the practical limits of the criminal justice process.

Understanding Clinical Alarm Safety.

Patient safety organizations and health care accreditation agencies recognize the significance of clinical alarm hazards. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, a nonprofit organization focused on development and use of safe and effective medical equipment, identifies alarm management as a major issue for health care organizations. ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches approaches for improving patient safety and quality of care, identifies alarm hazards as the most significant of the "Top Ten Health Technology Hazards" for 2014. A new Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal focusing on clinical alarm safety contains new requirements for accredited hospitals to be fully implemented by 2016. Through a fictional unfolding case study, this article reviews selected contributing factors to clinical alarm hazards present in inpatient, high-acuity settings. Understanding these factors improves contributions by nurses to clinical alarm safety practice.

Power and perception in the scandal in academia

The Scandal in Academia is a large-scale fictional ethical case study of around 17,000 words and fourteen separate revelations. They are delivered as newspaper extracts from a newspaper reporting on an ongoing crisis at a Scottish educational institution. The scandal case study as presented in its original form comes with only limited commentary on the ethical issues raised, concentrating instead on providing the scenario in isolation. This paper is a companion piece to that case study, discussing the third and fourth revelations with reference to the issues raised, the mainstream media, and the formal academic literature. The discussion presented here is not intended to be exhaustive or definitive. It is instead indicative of an approach that could be taken within a formal educational context, and illustrative of the kind of discussions that ideally emerge from the effective use of the material.

Hoover Seeds, inc.: A Period of Transition

AbstractHoover Seeds is a fictional case study written to illustrate the challenges faced by food and agribusiness firms that are transitioning from small, entrepreneurial businesses to larger, more professionally managed enterprises. Though fictional, the competitive and financial situation of Hoover Seeds is based on realistic facts. The case introduces Dan Hoover, the Chief Executive Officer of Hoover Seeds, Inc., a small, family‐owned and operated seed company in Ohio. Founded by his grandfather, Dan has worked his way up the ranks of the company and, now leading the company, has worked to expand market share. The case study details the sales, production, administration, and finances of the firm. Exhibit A includes a full set of financial statements over four years. The case also has industry context with market, customer, and competitor details.

Campus Crisis Response at Viberg College

This fictional case study examines crisis response in higher education settings. Information about current crisis response procedures, plans, and trends was gathered from informational interviews, current crisis management literature, and multiple college and university websites. The information was synthesized into a fictional case study using Zdziarski, Rollo, and Dunkel’s crisis matrix as a framework for discussion and analysis. The case examines the response of a mid-level administrator and the far-reaching implications of an active shooter crisis on campus. The case study allows flexibility so that multiple roles can be considered in an institutional response plan. The case is designed to provide administrators guidance in creating a crisis response team, a chance to reflect on their current understanding of crisis management and a review of the crisis management cycle.