Data-Driven Insights on Damp in English Housing: Surveying Practices, Remedial Measures, Stock Analysis, and Predictive Modelling

Damp in residential buildings presents significant challenges to housing quality, occupant health, and energy efficiency. This thesis adopts a mixed-methods approach, integrating qualitative (content and thematic analysis) and quantitative (Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), machine learning, and statistical analysis) methods to provide insights that could enhance damp management in English housing. To achieve this, the study uses real-world data from housing association inspection reports, surveyor comments, photographic evidence, a damp specialist questionnaire survey, and the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) database. The research first examines current damp management practices, revealing a reactive approach that relies heavily on visual inspections and inconsistent diagnostic methods. Analysis of survey responses from damp specialists reveals differing views on the frequency of use, accessibility, and effectiveness of both diagnostic methods and remedial measures for damp. Findings also expose a gap between theoretical best practices and real-world damp management. AHP is used to investigate decision-making in damp diagnostics and remedial measures by providing a structured framework that reduces subjective bias. It integrates multiple criteria, such as cost, effectiveness, feasibility, and expertise availability, to support more informed and systematic decision-making. Results show some advanced diagnostic tools and remedial measures were deprioritised due to cost, feasibility constraints, or lack of specialist expertise. Machine learning clustering is applied to 1,655 damp homes, identifying three distinct damp home profiles based on building characteristics and energy efficiency. A defect analysis highlights condensation as the most prevalent issue, primarily affecting bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Finally, a predictive machine learning model is developed to predict damp risk in over 35,000 homes. Random Forest performed best, with SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis identifying heating cost, energy consumption, wall efficiency, and construction age as key predictors. A Shiny app prototype demonstrates the feasibility of single-property damp risk assessment, though generalisability remains a challenge.</p

Understanding Race Craft in Elite Men’s Omnium Competitions: Performance Analysis Insights and Coaching Perspectives

Introduction: This thesis addresses a critical gap in track cycling research, presenting the first academic study focused on identifying performance factors in the elite men’s Omnium Points Race, a field where, until now, coaches have largely relied on experiential insights, or extrapolated data from other cycling disciplines. Grounded in the author’s dual role as a coach and analyst with national cycling teams from Japan and the USA, the thesis is shaped by three primary aims: (1) to investigate elite coaches' perceptions regarding key performance factors in the Points Race, and the role of data in competitive decision making and outcomes; (2) to analyse physical, tactical, and strategic performance factors in the Points Race; and (3) to develop an actionable framework to support coaches and analysts in integrating insights from data to enhance training, competition strategies, and overall performance.Methodology: A multi-method approach was employed, including semi-structured interviews with elite coaches and video-based performance analysis of seven world-class Points Races from the 2019/20 season. These data informed the development of the Racecraft Framework – a systems informed conceptual model that reflects the complexity of Omnium racing, mapping how multiple interdependent factors underpin race outcomes.Results: In Chapter 5, coaches of elite male Omnium cyclists revealed that performance is conceptualised as a multifaceted combination of physical attributes (e.g., power and aerobic capacity), tactical intelligence, strategic awareness, and psychological resilience. Chapter 6 reveals that repeatable access to high speed, rather than peak speed alone, is more indicative of performance, aligning with a view of racing as a dynamic system of shifting demands. Chapter 7 highlights that there was a variation in the speed of points scoring sprint ranks throughout the subsectionTenLaps leading into each intermediate sprint highlighting a variety of tactics used. Positional analysis showed the top-ranked cyclists achieving advanced positions earlier in the subsection to make the most of point scoring opportunities. Analysis of successful lap gains reveal that they often occur as part of broader strategic plays that include intermediate point accumulation, with most lap gains made by small groups, and most frequently take between 9.5-10.5, or 15.5-16.5 laps to complete. Chapter 8 then explores the strategies among cyclists, emphasising the systems thinking needed to manage energy, positioning, and point scoring over time. High-ranking cyclists score consistently across intermediate sprints and secure positions by capitalising on speed variations throughout the race, often establishing an unassailable lead before the final sprint.Practical Applications: The Racecraft Framework, developed iteratively through a review of and reflection on existing literature, interviews with coaches, video analysis, and the authors own experiences of working as a track cycling coach and performance analyst at the highest level, provides a conceptual model for coaches and analysts to evaluate the physical, tactical, and strategic complexity of Points Race performance. Its real-world utility was demonstrated in athlete preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. A final reflections chapter draws together methodological, applied, and personal insights, reinforcing the thesis’s value as both an academic and practical contribution to enhancing track cycling performance.</p

‘Smartifying’ Construction for Circular and Zero-Carbon Biobased Buildings (SmartBioC)

SmartBioC focuses on creating a user-friendly digital tool that allows users to select and specify biobased materials and building components for a modular housing unit based on a set of performance indicators including carbon footprint, thermal performance, cost, social value, health and wellbeing and strength. The ultimate aim of the tool is to speed up the uptake of circular biobased materials to provide zerocarbon, healthy and socially and economically viable solutions for the construction industry. Smart construction, integrating the use of digital technologies and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has the potential to improve the affordability, efficiency, and sustainability of new buildings. Aligned to a circular economic model, opportunities exist to optimise the use, reuse, and disposal of biobased materials within the expanding MMC housing market, thereby improving carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change. Together with industry partners, SmartBioC’s research team is using the Design Council's Double Diamond Framework of discover, define, develop, deliver, to facilitate a collaborative and iterative process where the end-user is at the centre and determines the final outcome. To date SmartBioC has undertaken an exploratory review of the literature, an early concept modelling using Autodesk Revit, and an outline performance specification for the biobased products defined. A BIM Object library of MMC category 2 components with alternative biobased material configurations is under development for exporting to gaming platform Unity. Rapid prototyping and testing in Unity will ensure that a web-based tool (html) is distributed to users for feedback and development purposes. Userfriendly digital tools like SmartBioC gives end-users, designers, decision-makers and specifiers, the ability to easily select circular biobased materials whilst visualising their design in 3D, along with information about the environmental, economic and social impacts of their choices. The adoption by the construction industry of zero-carbon, healthy and socially and economically viable biobased building solutions is imperative if the catastrophic impacts of predicted global warming are to be averted.#</p

Preface and Editorial

Sociology sets out to develop the sociological imagination of those who study it, allowing us to think critically and reflexively about the social world around us and make sense of the relationship between our personal experiences and wider society. This approach to interrogating the world is embodied in this collection of critical reflections written by final year students on the BA (Hons) Sociology, BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology and BA (Hons) Sociology and Psychological Studies degrees here at Leeds Beckett University.  The essays in this volume underline both the breadth of the subject and its power to shed light on the familiar and the taken for granted. They tackle a wide range of contemporary issues: forms of commodification, entrepreneurship and feminist questions, debates on objectification and empowerment, problematic masculinities, surveillance and devolving technologies such as AI, or self-service machines, as well as experiences of working lass students. To do this, they apply theory as an interrogative and explanatory tool, tackling these subjects through the lens of, for example, commodification, self-surveillance, risk society and post-modern consumption practices, underlining its central role in Sociology.</p

“Girls Capitalism”: Dissecting Consumerism and Fan Culture in K-Pop

The origins of modern K-pop, like many double-edged and superficial pop phenomena, began with the arrival of Western culture. After gaining independence from Japan in 1945, South Korean popular music steadily became influenced by American genres like Jazz, Blues and Rock & Roll, as U.S. troops remained in the country. Radio stations were set up and music auditions were held for Koreans to perform at U.S. army clubs, which enabled the country’s economy to blossom after its impoverished, post-war condition, and which lead to an import of American pop culture (Kim, 2011). Fast forward to the 1990s, where the world of Rap and Hip-Hop opened up to the youth of South Korea, and shortly after, entertainment companies began incorporating the ‘idol’ business model into their musical groups, an idea pinched from Japanese pop culture (Shim, 2006), consequently developing what we now know as K-pop idols.</p

MOGBA dataset total school

The dataset presents data for the MOGBA Randomised Control Trial involving 229 children (51% girls) from nine different primary schools in the north of England. The average age of participants was 9.1 years (SD = 0.21). Participants were randomized at the school level into either the MOGBA intervention group (n = 128 students) or a wait-list control group (n = 101). The MOGBA intervention was delivered over nine weeks during PE lessons by trained deliverers. Pre-Post test design was employed, with participants being assessed at baseline and within 7 days post intervention. The assessment included measures of movement competence (Dragon Challenge), in-class PA (accelerometer), muscular fitness (standing long jump and plank), and perceived game and self competence (Game Play Perception Profile and Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children).</p

From Object to Icon: The Paradox of Objectification & Empowerment in Female Hip Hop

This critical reflection will focus on popular Black Female artists such as Onika Maraj-Petty, known as ‘Nicki Minaj’, Megan Pete, known as ‘Megan Thee Stallion’, and Isis Gaston, also known as ‘Ice Spice’. The essay will achieve this through examining neoliberal culture and the impact of sexual commodification in a postfeminist era. Firstly, this project briefly touches on the new globalised nature of sexual capital before outlining the hyper sexualisation of female rappers and how this exists in a neoliberal, feminist format. Lastly, drawing on scholars’ opinions on sexual liberation and the underlying powers of the patriarchy, the commonalities of the female artists mentioned above will be discussed.</p

The impact of cognitive bias on project success

The construction industry is a dynamic environment characterised by uncertainties and complexities. This challenging nature of construction projects makes project managers' decision processes susceptible to cognitive biases that adversely impact project success. The devastating impact of failed construction projects has massive financial implications for project stakeholders and the UK economy. Hence, this study investigates the effects of cognitive bias on the decision-making processes in construction projects in the United Kingdom. The research adopted an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative surveys and focus group discussions to explore the prevalence of cognitive biases among project managers and how these biases impact project outcomes sub-optimally. The study focused on optimism bias, availability error and loss aversion as the predominant biases in construction projects. The quantitative findings identified the latent factors for the emergence of cognitive bias as project management practices, team dynamics, professional regression, and external influences. These factors significantly influence decision-making across the different construction project phases. Remarkably, the study identified similar parallel levels of biases within the three decision-making phases examined; the initiation and planning phases exhibit comparable levels of bias as the execution and closing phases. In addition, the study identifies a high perceived effectiveness and usage of debiasing techniques among project managers. The qualitative insights support the quantitative findings, highlighting the widespread recognition of cognitive biases and the unanimous endorsement of debiasing strategies within the construction industry. The study developed a cognitive debiasing protocol to mitigate biases and enhance rational decision-making in construction projects. The practical implications for the research findings are that project managers can understand the underlying factors for the emergence of cognitive bias and adopt proactive measures for the challenges presented by cognitive bias at the different project phases. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions and industry-specific debiasing strategies. The study provides a foundation for future research to explore individual differences and cross-cultural influences in bias mitigation and the integration of artificial intelligence in mitigating cognitive biases within construction projects.</p

Movement Characteristics of International and Elite Domestic Netball

A base of high-quality research is necessary for developing robust literature, and is required before advancing to more complex research. In applied sports settings, practitioners can apply research to practice to support athlete development (e.g., physical preparation). Although netball is among the most popular women’s sports, a limited literature base currently exists in comparison to other team sports. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to building the foundation of netball literature, focused on the characteristics of netball match-play. This thesis includes four studies which 1) develop a framework of descriptors and definitions for netball literature and practice, 2/3) assess the reliability and validity of a commonly used microtechnology device in court-sports, and 4) quantify and compare the movement characteristics of elite domestic and international level match-play. Using a Delphi consensus method, study 1 established 25 physical, 29 technical and 41 contextual descriptors and definitions to standardise netball terminology. Studies 2 and 3 identified only inertial movement analysis (IMA) detected jump events and PlayerLoadTM variables are recommended for use in court-sports, following the reliability and validity analysis. The IMA event algorithm for detecting accelerations, decelerations and change-of-direction (COD) events was limited in female court-sport athletes and requires further development. Study 4 observed differences in match-play movement characteristics between competition levels and playing positions. Intensity metrics (e.g., PlayerLoad per minute) were greater at the international level, whereas volume metrics (e.g., PlayerLoadTM) were greater at the domestic level, suggesting that practitioners should focus on match-play intensity when transitioning players from domestic to international competition. Advanced analysis also identified individual variations in movement characteristics for players competing at both levels, supporting more individualised training. In conclusion this thesis develops a framework to support the standardisation of terminology in netball literature and practice, provides guidance on the recommended metrics for quantifying court-sport movement characteristics, and establishes these movement characteristics of elite domestic and international level netball match-play, contributing to the foundation of netball literature.</p

(Re)Designing a Sports School Scholarship Programme

Sports scholarship programmes are used internationally within academic and sporting organisations to attract and develop athletes. Resources such as a fee remission, no cost to training, facilities or accommodation are incentives offered to separate organisations from competitors and attract exceptional candidates. However, despite their global application, very little research explores the effectiveness of these programmes. This professional doctorate project (re)designs a U.K. sports school sports scholarship programme considering principles of ‘talent’, the talent development environment (TDE), dual career (DC) competency development, allocation of resources, holistic development and talent identification (TI) procedures. The project then evaluates this programme and provides reflections in my professional role.The project is grounded in a constructivist approach utilising action research to generate knowledge from personal driven and theory driven data to prescribe pragmatic solutions. Iterative cycles allow for broad theories to be examined, designed, acted and evaluated. Key stakeholder perspectives from both student-athletes, sports coaches and teachers informed the (re)design process. Firstly, staff perspectives were collated to evaluate an established (>12 years) sports scholarship programme alongside student-athlete’s perceptions of the TDE and their possession of important DC competencies. Findings, led to investigating head of sports (HoS) perception of talent through a focus group with thematic analysis identifying staff could not agree on a definition of talent. Subsequently, the term, ‘talent’, was removed from the definition of selecting sports scholars with coaches identifying desirable behaviours and capabilities instead. Alongside, sports coaches completed a questionnaire on the strategy and vision of a sports scholarship programme. Three key purposes of a sports scholarship programme were identified through thematic analysis, including 1) to deliver a holistic development opportunity, 2) to be a marketing strategy and, 3) to recognise student achievements.A financial redesign of the sports scholarship programme was undertaken with two primary aims, 1) to save the school money and 2) ensure student-athlete development was a key factor in strategic and policy decision-making. A remodel was successful in reducing the sports scholarship budget to the school whilst also creating three strands of funding support to student-athletes. Furthermore, it created a fourth strand that allocated a specific budget for the sports scholarship programme to invest in a holistic athlete development programme.The findings from coaches' interpretation of talent initiated the development of a new TI and selection tool spanning multiple sports, and athlete skills and characteristics. The design incorporated both subjective and objective measures and was co-created with coaches to ensure staff confidence in its application. There was an improved robustness in the new application process which included observations and assessments on the athlete’s history, behavioural expectations with the tool providing a total athletic score comprised of technical, tactical, physical and psychosocial qualities. The tool was used successfully as a supportive instrument alongside coaches’ opinion to help minimise subjective biases and make the conversation around student-athlete and sport scholarship selection easier.In summary, the outcomes of the sports scholarship (re)design process have been perceived favourably by colleagues within the school. The iterative cycles of action research have ensured each key domain are continually evaluated and improved. The TDE remains a perceived strength by student-athletes, on the other hand student-athletes perceive DC competency possession as an area of continued development. Coaches share positivity to the new sports scholarship programme (e.g., coherent structure and process) and highlight areas of further development (e.g., marketing for attraction and recruitment). Finally, the new sports scholarship programme received a significant strength from the independent school inspectors which is an extremely rare occurrence. The thesis concludes with five key guiding principles that had supported the research and acknowledges its limitations. In the final chapter I share my personal and professional development from this professional doctorate journey.</p