Interview Material Research Articles

Analyzing base-of-the-pyramid projects through sustainable supply chain management

The purpose of this study is to apply a well-accepted framework from sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) to empirical data collected from base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) projects. This enables testing whether such SSCM constructs are also meaningful in a BoP context. A total of 45 interviews are conducted in the local dairy supply chain in Kenya (11) and the export-oriented pineapple supply chain in Uganda (34). Content analysis of the interview material and contingency analysis of the codes are applied to make sense of the data. The findings of the study show that customer pressures and demands drive related developments when third parties (non-governmental organizations [NGOs], certification agents, or middlemen) are involved in auditing and monitoring suppliers. This builds on communication and should drive related cost savings. The contingency analysis allows for interpreting the data in more detail and reframing the findings. Starting from environmental risk management, third-party involvement ensures that the minimum standards for environmental and social issues are being met. Communication and coordination with suppliers help creating win–win situations, while the aim of auditing and monitoring suppliers is to avoid trade-offs. The study tests established SSCM constructs in a BoP environment and contribute to understanding the relevance of particular supplier management-related processes and their outcomes.

The dance goes on: Following in the footsteps of Rosemary Butcher

Abstract This article concerns Lauren Potter’s Frames for Falling (2017c),1 a fifteen-minute work for eleven students graduating from London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), and for which the stimulus was Rosemary Butcher’s Still-Slow-Divided (2002). I trace the artistic and creative background that gave rise to this dance by registering milestones in Rosemary Butcher’s career and investigating her choreographic practice that, echoing the German academic Pirkko Husemann, I define as a ‘critical practice’. Writing from the perspective of practice as research, I chart Potter’s process in the studio when, in the summer of 2017, she created her new dance. Included in the article is interview material from Nigel Butcher, Potter, and one of the participating students, Ryan Jones. There is also a brief sketch of Frames for Falling as it was performed in the Robin Howard Dance Theatre in July 2017. I conclude the article by arguing that under Potter’s expert practical guidance and deep knowledge of Butcher’s choreographic process, the LCDS students engaged in a new form of dance history, studying it as they did in the context of physical studio practice.

Elements of success in multi-stakeholder deliberation platforms

Deliberation platforms are an important component of the multi-actor science-policy interface within the realm of environmental governance, increasingly characterized by the engagement of a diversity of actors. Deliberation platforms provide a mechanism through which stakeholders with diverse perspectives can both discuss problems and explore potential solutions related to environmental governance, integrating scientific and other knowledge. This study employs a Qualitative Content Analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews to investigate which elements of deliberation platforms are most central to their success and how these elements interact with one another from the perspective of public engagers. This fills a gap in the literature on the qualification of knowledge and experience of public engagers regarding the organization of multi-stakeholder deliberation platforms. Elements to consider in the organization of deliberation platforms were ranked, and five central elements were identified: (1) the selection of participants relevant to the topic and conducive to positive interactions, (2) openness as an attitude in both organizers and participants, (3) facilitation of interactions and the role of the facilitator, (4) communication and transparency between organizers and participants, and (5) fostering dialog between participants through various means. Different manifestations of these five central elements which can fit best within different particular contexts and suit various objectives are also investigated based on the interview material. The discussion summarizes the lessons learned with regards to organizing deliberation platforms from the perspective of public engagers, and explores the potential for trade-offs and co-benefits between central elements as a means to improve the efficiency and efficacy of organizing such platforms. Furthermore, the links between the central elements and social learning, as a particular, overarching objective of deliberation platforms, are discussed. This study is an important step towards further analysis of deliberation platforms, necessary in order to avoid the risks of convening actors with diverse perspectives to discuss politically-relevant topics. It provides insights relevant to public engagers and to future studies analyzing these increasingly important venues for engagement in environmental governance.

Longitudinal Effects of Activity-Based Flexible Office Design on Teamwork.

This three-wave longitudinal interview study (time lag: 12 and 18 months) investigates the impact of working in an activity-based flexible office (A-FO) on processes within and across teams (i.e., communication, trust, cohesion, and collaboration) and team management. Based on a new theoretical framework on benefits and risks of A-FOs (A-FO-M; Wohlers and Hertel, 2017), we conducted interviews with 25 employees of an in-house training institute who recently switched from single cell or shared offices to an A-FO. The A-FO consisted of a main open-layout environment without assigned workstations and provided additional working zones appropriate for specific work activities. According to the A-FO-M, A-FO features are expected to alter visibility and proximity of employees compared to office environments with assigned workstations. Altered visibility and proximity, in turn, should be related to team processes, such as communication. The interview material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. This textual analysis procedure revealed that the interviewees reported that inter-team collaboration improved while working in the A-FO. Reasons that were mentioned for this positive effect were more contact, communication, collaboration possibilities (joint project work), and trusting relationships. However, interviewees also reported negative effects, such as that teamwork suffered due to less communication and cooperation. Along with that, especially ensuring team cohesion and communication among team partners were the most often mentioned challenges for management since team members were spatially dispersed within the office building. Theoretical and practical implications, such as assigning additional team areas to support teamwork, as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

Research on the Application of Grief Counseling Model for Parents Who Lost Their Only Child

Objective: Exploring the mode of sadness counseling for parents who have lost their only child, and further understanding the significance of applying this grief counseling mode to them. Methods: A grief counseling group was set up to discuss the intervention model of grief counseling. Through phenomenologicalre search methods, 12 bereaved individuals who received grief counseling were interviewed in depth, and the data were analyzed by using Colaizzi7 seven-step analysis method. Results: Four themes of grief counseling model were set up, namely group theme, one psychological spring festival gala and three individual themes, including caring and protecting oneself, four life styles, and better tomorrow. Through the analysis of interview materials, it is found that the themes of grief counseling experience for those parents who have lost their only child are self-renewal (learning four ways with their child and rebuilding their lives) and the cultivation of family ties (opening their hearts and understanding their roles).Conclusion: we should pay attention to the grief response of the people who lost their only child and give them appropriate grief counseling, which can help the people who lost their only child rebuild their lives and also add benefits to the society.

“Kind of like making porn of yourself”: understanding sexting through pornography

ABSTRACTThis article contributes to the existing literature on sexting and the “sexualisation of culture” by examining how women make sense of their sexting practices by thinking through pornography frames. In doing so, it draws on interview material collected for a study on adult women’s experiences of using digital technology in their romantic and/or sexual relationships. To the women in this study, their private sexual images—as created for the purpose of sexting—were acts of communication that could be both not-pornography and pornography depending on the private and/or public contexts in which they were shared and consumed. They did not distinguish between sexting and pornography based on the content of the images, but based on where they occur and who consumes them. Indeed, they argued that the same private sexual image could take on different meanings, as the predominant conventions within the given context of display and consumption guide the audience’s interpretation. A key argument put forward in this article is thus that, in aiming to understand complex social phenomena like sexting and pornography, we should look to how different types of sexual representations gain meaning within particular contexts as marked by certain conventions.

Freud under the Acropolis: The challenging journey of psychoanalysis in 20th-century Greece (1915–1995)

Psychoanalysis was introduced to Greece in 1915 by the progressive educator Manolis Triantafyllidis and was further elaborated by Marie Bonaparte, Freud’s friend and member of the Greek royal family, and her psychoanalytic group in the aftermath of the Second World War. However, the accumulated traumas of the Nazi occupation (1941–1944), the Greek Civil War (1946–1949), the post-Civil-War tension between the Left and the Right, the military junta (1967–1974) and the social and political conditions of post-war Greece led this project and all attempts to establish psychoanalysis in Greece, to failure and dissolution. The restoration of democracy in 1974 and the rapid social changes it brought was a turning point in the history of Greek psychoanalysis: numerous psychoanalysts, who had trained abroad and returned after the fall of the dictatorship, were hired in the newly established Greek National Health Service (NHS), and contributed to the reform of Greek psychiatry by offering the option of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to the non-privileged. This article draws on a range of unexplored primary sources and oral history interview material, in order to provide the first systematic historical account in the English language of the complex relationship between psychoanalysis and Greek society, and the contribution of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to the creation of the Greek welfare state. In so doing, it not only attempts to fill a lacuna in the history of contemporary Greece, but also contributes to the broader historiography of psychotherapy and of Europe.

Documentation of work ability data in occupational health records.

In Finland, patient health records are structured in the same way. Patient data entries are grouped using national headings and each data entry must have at least one heading. To determine the use of national headings for the documentation of work ability data and to gather the experience of professionals on usefulness, ease of use and usability of national headings in occupational health services (OHSs). An electronic questionnaire and a semi-structured themed interview were used to collect data. Data were analysed using SPSS Statistics 24 and interview material was analysed by deductive content analysis using ATLAS.ti. A total of 359 people completed the questionnaire. Most of the work ability data were documented using the headings history, plan and current status. More than half of respondents felt that using national headings improved quality and allowed greater control. Almost all respondents thought that learning to use national headings was easy. During the interviews (n = 19), all respondents felt that use of national headings improved the quality of documentation. However, more than half stated that national headings were not well suited to documentation of work ability data. These results can be used to develop national documentation standards, as well as electronic health records, to support healthcare professionals' interactions with working-age patients. Earlier studies of national headings in OHSs were not found.

Safety work and risk management as burdens of treatment in primary care: insights from a focused ethnographic study of patients with multimorbidity

BackgroundIn primary health care, patient safety failures can arise in service access, doctor-patient relationships, communication between care providers, relational and management continuity, or technical procedures. Through the lens of multimorbidty, and using qualitative ethnographic methods, our study aimed to illuminate safety issues in primary care.MethodsData were triangulated from electronic health records (EHRs); observation of primary care consultations; annual interviews with patients, (informal) care providers and GPs. A thematic analysis of observation, interview and field note material sought to describe the patient safety issues encountered and any associated factors or processes. A more detailed longitudinal description of 6 cases was used to contextualise safety issues identified in observation, interviews and EHRs.ResultsTwenty-six patients were recruited. Events which could lead to harm were found in all areas of a framework based on published literature. “Under” and “over” consultation as a precursor of safety failures emerged through thematic analysis of observation and interview material. Other findings concerned workload (for doctors and patients) and the limitations of short consultation times. There were differences in health data collected directly from the patients versus that found in EHRs. Examples included reference to a stroke history and diagnoses for CKD and hypertension. Case study analysis revealed specific issues which appeared contextual to safety concerns, mostly around the management of polypharmacy and patient medication adherence. Clinical imperatives appear around risk management, but the study findings point to a potential conflict with patient expectations around investigation, diagnosis and treatment.DiscussionPatient safety work involves further burdens on top of existing workload for both clinicians and patients. In this conceptualisation, safety work seemingly forms part of a negative feedback loop with patient safety itself. A line of argument drawn from the triangulation of findings from different sources, points to a tension between the desirability of a minimally disruptive medicine versus safety risks possibly associated with ‘under’ or ‘over’ consultation. Multimorbidity acts as a magnifier of tensions in the delivery of health services and quality care in general practice. More attention should be put on system design than patient or professional behaviour.

Ludic Markers for Player-Player Observation in Location-Based Mobile Games

Background. It can be difficult to capture the subtleties of social behavior during gameplay by using existing commercial location-based mobile games as a research probe since they are not designed to reveal subtleties in player behavior. Aim. We sought to explore whether players spontaneously search for unknown fellow players and to identify ludic markers in player-player observation when playing a digital location-based mobile game that allows location spoofing in addition to automated locationing. Method. We used a constructive research approach and created a game specifically designed to allow location spoofing through self-reporting of player locations. We conducted three field trials with eight participants in total. They took part in separate field trials in groups of three, three, and two players. The participants were previously unknown to each other and commenced play at different locations inside the game area. Results and Conclusions. Qualitative analysis of the gathered video and interview material shows that the players spontaneously searched for unknown fellow players, which confirms earlier research on the topic. Further, behavioral and direct visual markers in the physical environment were reported to be the most significant cues in determining who is a player and who is not.

Image of Russia and Russians in Polish Historical Films (On Materials of Expert Interviews)

The presented research is devoted to the mapping of Russia and Russians in the Polish historical cinema in the XX – early XXI centuries. The aim of the work is to assess the positioning of Russia and the Russians in Polish historical films. The study is intended to enrich the concept of the essence of the politics of memory of Poland and the content of the historical memory of its citizens. Article materials can be used for professional needs by diplomats, journalists, representatives of international public organizations, experts in the field of patriotic education and organization of work with young people. During the collection and processing of the identified array of information, methods such as traditional analysis and expert interviews were used. The conducted researches showed that when creating images of Russia and its inhabitants in the Polish historical cinema, the tendency of negative positioning, determined by the political conjuncture and cultural stereotypes, dominated. For the formation of appropriate images, manipulative practices based on appealing to the sphere of emotions and using symbols with archetypal implication were used. The films of the period before 1939 and the post-Soviet era are related not only to the content, but also the technological side: in both cases, the creators used strategies to create images of someone else’s and phantom enemies, demonization and dehumanization. These techniques were used to reflect not only the Soviet period of Russian history, but also the pre-revolutionary era. Accordingly, not only the Soviet regime, but Russia, acting as the historical, eternal enemy of Poland, was positioned in a negative way.

Protest in Progress/Progress in Protest

Protest in Progress/Progress in Protest

Narrative ethics and cultural analysis. Insolvency stories and moral debt relief

AbstractIn this article and with the example of debt stories, I discuss the theory of narrative ethics and the hypothesis that a person needs a story to make sense of his or her life. Knowing that narrators are able to correct rupture and deviance through the right kind of story, I conclude that a socially and discursively compatible debt story can compensate for the experience of social exclusion. Based on interview material with debtors, I can show how narrative structure becomes a key instrument in presenting a debt story successfully: conversion, educational or underdog stories enable storytellers to claim agency and take control over the narrative representation of their lives

SPORT OFFERS FOR REFUGEES IN GERMANY. PROMOTING AND HINDERING CONDITIONS IN VOLUNTARY SPORT CLUBS

After the long summer of migration, strong social and political movements of solidarity with and resistance against refugees developed in Europe. Expressions of solidarity and resistance were also recognisable in the sport system, especially in voluntary sport clubs (VSCs). As a result of this observation, the following article addresses the question: “Which organisational conditions of VSCs promote or hinder the implementation of sport activities for refugees?” To this aim, the article analyses and discusses the results of three research projects concerning sport offers for refugees in Germany. The interview material (n=49) collected in these projects was examined through the qualitative technique of thematic analysis and interpreted through a systems theoretical framework. The results show that conditions which promote and hinder the implementation of sport offers for refugees were identified in all formal (decision programmes, communication channels, and human resources) and informal (organisation culture) decision premises. Furthermore, the implementation of sport offers for refugees is particularly dependent on human resources within the sport clubs. The data show that the resolute will of individuals or small groups of people is highly relevant for the implementation of these sport offers. Finally, when it comes to organizing support for refugees, VSCs display an unexpected dynamic and a high capacity to mobilise resources within a short period of time. The discussion reflects these results and articulates strategies to safeguard, foster, and facilitate the social engagement of VSCs in relation to refugees.

Narrative stability in interview accounts

ABSTRACTWe identify and discuss the phenomenon of narrative stability, in the context of current methodological literature on interviewing. It derives from two independent studies, undertaken fifteen years apart, of members of the same genetics research group who were interviewed by different researchers. The first (‘Discovery’) interviews were collected very soon after the breakthrough was first published. The second (‘Legacy’) interviews were based on informants looking back at those events. Some strikingly similar narrative episodes across those accounts suggest strong narrative stability. In the course of interviews, informants reproduce biographical stories that are well sedimented. Not all interview materials, therefore, should be thought of exclusively in terms of co-production between interviewer and informant.

Using Causal Mapping in the Analysis of Semi-structured Interviews

In this paper we systemize Eden and Ackermann’s approach to causal mapping as a technique for analyzing semi-structured interviews. By doing so, we aim to popularize causal mapping as an accessible, yet structured and formalized, method that can be used in a variety of studies within the broad organization and management research. In our discussion we characterize this approach to causal mapping as being grounded in Kelly’s ‘Theory of Personal Constructs’. Following Kelly’s work, causal mapping seeks to represent some aspects of a person’s thoughts about a given problem in question. On this basis, causal mapping, which is employed to work with different interviewees’ individual maps carefully merged together, helps to enable an intersubjective position from where the interrelationships, and feedback dynamics, between elements of interview material can be explored. Thereby, while causal mapping can be a good way of surfacing aspects of the available interview material which could not be accessed by other methods, it can be used in combination with more traditional methods such as thematic analysis or narrative analysis. As a result, we argue, not only does causal mapping offer a structured approach to qualitative coding, but it lends itself well to adaptation in new areas of study where it has not been applied so far.

High-rise parenting: experiences of families in private, high-rise housing in inner city Melbourne and implications for children’s health

ABSTRACTFamilies raising children in private, high-rise, housing are a new phenomenon in Australian cities. This study explored their experiences and the implications of these findings for children’s health. Parents’ experiences of raising preschool age children in private, high-rise housing (3 storeys or more) in one, inner city Melbourne municipality were explored using the participatory research method Photovoice. Ten parents photographed aspects of their development and neighbourhood perceived to have positive or negative impacts on raising young children. Parents participated in both individual and group interviews about their photographs and key themes were determined. 120 images and over 15 hours of interview material were collected. Three themes were developed from the interviews and photographs relating to: (1) space (2) density and (3) design of housing complexes. The health implications of these experiences were discussed with regards to social ecology theory. Microsystem influences on children’s health included the safety of windows, balconies and car parks, along with exposure to sunlight, noise and places to play. Exosystem influences included the opportunity inner city, high-rise housing provided in maintaining work/family balance. Macrosystem influences included policy on apartment design, which while improving over time (chronosystem influence), is still not directed to families raising children.

From restoration to transitions: delineating the reforms of education inspection in China

This article examines the reforms of basic education inspection in China since 1977, which is accomplished by drawing from a historical institutionalism approach. The empirical analysis is based on policy documents and laws and is supplemented with interview materials. Throughout this work, we have identified three distinct periods: the restoration stage from 1977 until the 1990s, the formalization stage from the 1990s until 2007, and the transition stage from 2007 onwards. The changes of education inspections indicate there is a perceptible path dependency, especially in the change from the first stage to the second one, where the expansion of education inspections was to consolidate the selected path by enhancing its jurisdictive power and promoting its disposition in the educational system. Reforming these inspections to some extent proves the historical stance of “positive feedback” as coined by Pierson (2004) for the growing stage of an organization, but in fact, the expansion of the system appears also to be significantly more problematic or complex than a linear development that is based on positive feedback. From the transition stage, interaction with global players is increasing, with implications for the development of the school inspection system. The finding shows that by 2015, the collaboration with global players influenced the development of Jiance system—a large-scale assessment of students’ academic achievement at grade four and eight—which the inspection sector managed to incorporate into itself. The article argues that this decision to extend the spectrum of education inspection to assessment practices reflects the aspiration of the inspection authorities to reinforce the capacities to survive and thrive in the changing local and global environments of educational quality assurance and evaluation.

The Gap in Viewing China’s Rise between Chinese Youth and Their Asian Counterparts

ABSTRACTUsing a mixed-methods approach, this article surveys and compares how Chinese youth view China’s rise with how their Asian counterparts do. The quantitative analysis uses data from the Asian Student Survey to identify the differences in perception of China’s rise between Chinese and Asian youth. Qualitative interviewing is undertaken to probe and assess the reasons behind the gap. The results show that Chinese youth are more optimistic about political stability and nationalism accompanying China’s rise. Nevertheless, they are open to acknowledge a variety of social problems in the wake of economic growth. With regard to China’s international influence, most Chinese youth have a firm faith in China’s peaceful rise, but they also perceive threats from other countries that are normally ignored in the China threat thesis. Chinese youth tend to attribute the negative evaluations of China among Asian counterparts to external reasons rather than see them as reflections of China’s ‘problematic’ foreign policy. Interview materials show why and how Chinese foreign policy is justified among Chinese young people. They open a door for outsiders to understand Chinese public opinion toward international politics.

Perspectivas Locales ~ NAFTA in Southern Mexico: An Economic Godsend or Curse?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was adopted with the hope that the accord would bring economic growth to Mexico, reducing poverty and social inequality. It is now 24 years later, and these development goals have not been achieved. Using primary source interview material from indigenous people of southern Oaxaca, along with a review of the literature and quantitative data, this article contends that NAFTA has contributed to an increase in rural poverty, regional disparities, and the emigration of campesinos from their native communities. With NAFTA 2.0 negotiations underway, this paper advocates that the voices of indigenous people should be heard at the negotiating table. Their insight on how the trade deal has impacted southern localities is of critical importance moving forward.