Meaning, Perception and Decision-Making Examining Divisions of Housework in Newly Cohabitating Dual-Earner Couples

abstract: The division of household tasks has been studied extensively over the past fifty years, but there are unanswered questions about why partners still report imbalances. In this study, I employed a grounded theory research design to systematically collect and analyze data from newly cohabitating, dual-earner couples to generate theory. Three prominent theories (relative resources, time availability and gender ideology) served as the framework for this research. The purpose of this study was to expose the processes of meaning-making, interpretations and decision-making regarding divisions of housework and to determine if, and if so how, dissymmetry in household tasks are understood. My research questions addressed the meanings newly cohabitating couples ascribed to household tasks by and explored how they understand their allocation of these tasks. Eighteen in-depth interviews of six newly cohabitating couples were conducted. Results from the study highlight six major themes that contribute to couples’ meaning-making processes regarding housework performance: care, consistency, expectations, gender & upbringing, micromanagement, and task preference. These findings contribute to the broader body of housework literature by demonstrating how grounded theory methods may offer a unique approach to the examination of household task performance. Further, germination of the blended output theory of housework (B.O.T.H.) that emerged from this study could provide an opportunity to better understand changing family structures.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Communication 201

Mealtime insights: A Photovoice project with African American mothers and their young children

Mothering is a complex and multifaceted occupation that encompasses the nurturing work that women engage in. It addition, it has been established that ethnicity, class, and gender have effects on motherhood that need to be taken into account when looking at the occupations of motherhood across cultures. One important task that occurs within a mothers’ daily routine is that of making meals for their children. This dissertation sought to gain a rich, in-depth description of the phenomenon of the mealtime experience for African American mothers of low socioeconomic status and young children living in an inner-city environment in the Midwest. This study used a phenomenological approach with modified photovoice and photo-elicitation interviews to capture the essence of mealtime for African American mothers raising young children. Six mothers were recruited for the study and consented to two in-depth interviews. Individual interviewing occurred along with a second photo elicitation interview with the participant’s photographs. Phenomenological analyses were used for textual data; the photographs were analyzed separately and then together with the textual data from the photo-elicitation interviews. Results of this study indicated the intricate complexities of the occupation of mealtime and mothering with African American mothers. From the photo-elicitation interviews, five themes and three subthemes emerged: (a) Sometimes it doesn’t happen smoothly, (b) We’re all together, (c) We sit there and we talk, (d) It’s an accomplishment, and (e) We’re in the kitchen together. Three subthemes also emerged: (a) Putting in the effort, (b) It was kind of a teaching moment, and (c) It’s like déjà vu. This research (a) promotes a greater understanding of mothers’ perceptions around mealtime with their young children, especially those mothers who have varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds; and (b) suggests a need for increased family-centered and culturally aware training. This study demonstrates how photo techniques can enhance the depth of phenomenological analysis to explicate meaning around mealtime occupations with a diverse group of mothers

Generation news: Consuming, sharing, and producing news across generations in five Johannesburg households

This study sets out to explore the meaning, extent, and impact of the generational divide, between so-called Baby Boomers and their Millennial offspring, on the way news is accessed, consumed, shared, and produced in five purposively selected households in the Johannesburg area. Aside from these widely-used generational identifiers, Baby Boomers and Millennials are also commonly referred to as Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives, respectively. However, in a world where smartphones have become commonplace, and internet connectivity via fixed broadband and mobile data is ubiquitous, it can be argued that digital technologies now serve as a link, or perhaps even a bridge, between younger and older generations living in the same household. The study aims to put this proposition to the test, by interrogating the role of news as a conduit for storytelling and information-sharing in environments where each occupant will typically be using their own devices, with a wide variety of personally-curated news sources and platforms at their fingertips. This fragmentation or individualisation of access to news stands in sharp contrast to the communal traditions of the pre-Internet era, during which families would gather around the TV set to watch the evening newscast, or share sections of the Sunday newspaper according to their age and interest. This research, which seeks to address a gap in the literature of research into intra-generational news consumption in family households in the digital era, identifies points of intersection as well as diversion in media usage habits. An example of the former is the prevalence of WhatsApp as a centralised "meeting-point" for the sharing of useful, hyper-localised information within the family group, and beyond that, as a cross-generational news and discussion platform in its own right. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the study explores strict and seemingly counterintuitive divides between the generations, with some Millennial respondents rejecting social media platforms as "pointless and invasive, and some Baby Boomer parents embracing the platforms as forums for free expression and networking. In line with the key research question, which seeks to identify and analyse news usage and consumption across the generations in a selection of family households, the study considers the ways in which families in the digital era are creating a culture of shared interests and the active sharing of news, breaching the boundaries of their private spaces in a microcosm of the Habermasian public sphere of discourse and opinion.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 202

The Principal’s Role in the Implementation of a One-to-One Initiative: A Case Study of Two Schools

While the popularity of one-to-one initiatives and the body of research concerning their effectiveness continues to grow, there have been few research studies conducted on how a principal leads a one-to-one initiative (Cowie, Jones & Harlow, 2011; Dexter; 2007; Hayes and Greaves, 2013). The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how a principal can lead, support and influence the implementation of a one-to-one initiative. Stryker and Burke’s (2000) role identity theory provided the theoretical framework for this multi-site case study of two intermediate schools in the same district that were in their first year of implementing a one-toone initiative. The qualitative data collected from both sites during the study included 32 interviews, observations, documents and archival records. The qualitative data was examined through the lens of the two research questions and the role identity theory and various codes emerged during the analysis of the data. The codes were sorted into the twelve a priori roles that were identified during the literature review: visionary, digital expert, manager of resources, model of technology use, technology supporter, leader or organizational, structure and policy change, leader of change in pedagogy and learning, leader of cultural change, evaluator of technology, encourager and supporter, family and community engager and leader of ethics in technology. The role of HR Harriet or HR Harry was added to the twelve a priori roles after reviewing and coding the qualitative data. While both principals took on each of the thirteen roles at some point during the initiative, the principals’ roles of visionary, leader of change in pedagogy and learning, leader of cultural change, leader of organizational, structural and policy change, encourager and supporter and model of technology use had the biggest impact on the initiative. As principals lead, support and influence teachers in the implementation of a one-to-one initiative, they will benefit from establishing a strong vision, eliciting support from all stakeholders, and focusing on preparation to create successful one-to-one initiative change. The study developed the Principal One-to-One Leadership (POTOL) model, which illustrates how a principal can lead, influence and support the implementation of a one-to-one initiative

The Taste of Austerity: exploring the everyday of food aid in East Bristol

This thesis examines the everyday of food aid and food insecurity in East Bristol by exploring three different community-based models of food aid – the food bank, the community kitchen, and the community food centre. Since austerity, food insecurity has increased exponentially, and community-based sites of food aid have emerged to provide much needed support for people experiencing hardship. However, where academic and political attention has been focused on the food bank, other emergent forms of food aid have been underexplored. Addressing this gap in knowledge, this thesis takes a place-based approach to the study of food aid, and explores the wider landscape of food aid, revealing how they work, why people use them, what happens in these spaces, and how they are used, in order to better understand the value, significance and experience of food aid for people experiencing food insecurity. Informed by a multi-sited ethnography built on 11 months of fieldwork, this thesis is produced using data collected through participant observation, semi structured interviews (35), a focus group, and photo documentation. Centering the voices of those accessing and providing food aid, this thesis engages with themes of precarity and power, to highlight these spaces as sites of multiplicity with the potential for care, discipline, control and sociality

Developing and Testing A K-12 Engineering Epistemic Frame to Uncover Engineering in the Interactions of a High School Summer Session

Educational reform has expanded K-12 standards to include engineering. Not only will K-12 teachers have to be trained to teach engineering concepts, but assessments must evolve to reflect the various aspects of engineering. Engineering as a profession is expressed via multiple dimensions of an epistemic frame, such as skills, knowledge, identity, values, and epistemology, but many of these elements are not measured in K-12 formal and informal spaces. In a summer session of a college preparatory program, a research project revealed that although students had design journals, storyboards, and traditional assessments, the in situ video recordings captured decisions, evolution of projects, and rich interactions between students that were not assessed. This dissertation describes the development of a K-12 engineering epistemic frame that incorporates local standards, policy outcomes, and national directives to capture skills, knowledge, identity, values, and epistemologies of engineering. The project then capitalized on the video data to investigate what kinds of engineering and design knowledge could be identified and assessed from brainstorm sessions and studio critiques. It further investigated how Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) might reveal aspects of the engineering epistemic frame. Network models were generated for the class, project groups, and individual students. Over half of the students displayed all aspects of the engineering epistemic frame, some students displayed many of the elements of the epistemic frame, and three students exhibited no elements of the epistemic frame. The engineering epistemic frame was then analyzed to show how it could complement Next Generation Science Standards. In summary, the engineering epistemic frame was an effective tool for viewing learning in situ, and brainstorm sessions and studio critiques are spaces where engineering knowledge occurs

Caregivers’ experiences on the effects of screen-time on social interactions of South African children in the intermediate phase

Mini Dissertation (MSW (Play Based Interventions)) - University of Pretoria 2023The exposure and use of digital devices and screen-time has become an integral part of families' lives (Anuradha, 2019:105). The COVID-19 pandemic restricted people’s movement and social interactions (October et al., 2021:221). The strict restrictions have contributed to a shift in where people became more reliant on technology to keep in touch with family and friends as well as employers moving to online platforms and systems for work purposes. Schools in South Africa also promoted online schooling in order to keep up with the school’s curriculum. With the restricted movements and the shift to online platforms for work and school, children’s social interactions were greatly impacted (Wiederhold, 2020:481). The research study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of caregivers on how screen-time affects the social interaction of their intermediate-phase children. A qualitative research design was used, which was exploratory, and used an interpretivist lens, this assisted in describing the unique perspectives of caregivers. Using an instrumental case study design, allowed the research to gain an in-depth insight into each case. In total six participants, comprised of caregivers were selected for the study using non-probability sampling, specifically purposive sampling. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide, which assisted the researcher in engaging in open and meaningful discussions with the participants. The study’s main conclusions revealed valuable insights into how caregivers and their children in the intermediate phase handle screen-time, education, and social interactions. The findings reveal that caregivers had a collective understanding of the definition of screen-time aligning with the literature. Caregivers actively set limits on screen-time acknowledging the importance of monitoring online experiences. COVID-19 increased screen-time posing challenges to social interactions. Despite some mainstream concerns about screen-time, most caregivers acknowledged that it was integral to everyday life, but more awareness could be taught around the differences between active and passive screen-time. A further finding was that parenting styles significantly influence screen-time and the various approaches impact how children engage with their devices. Lastly it was discovered that caregivers mainly felt responsible for education during online schooling.Social Work and CriminologyMSW (Play Based Interventions)UnrestrictedFaculty of Humanitie