Using Ethnography to Understand Meaning: A Review of Sam Ladner\u27s Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector

Ethnography is a qualitative research methodology that explains the meaning of a culture within context. Ethnographers take the emic position, participants’ point of view, and try to understand their language, concepts, categories, and opinions that defines their research. The author, Sam Ladner, wrote a thorough text that bridges the research and the practical use of ethnography in the private or public sector. An experienced or new researcher could gain knowledge by reading this text and implementing the methods in his or her private or public sector job. If a client wants to understand why consumers make certain decisions, the methods in this book would help one gather that data

Happiness, Economy and Institutions

A cross-regional econometric analysis suggests that institutional factors in the form of direct democracy (via initiatives and referenda) and of federal structure (local autonomy) systematically and sizeably raise s elf-reported individual well-being. This positive effect can be attributed to political outcomes closer to voters' preferences, as well as to the procedural utility of political participation. Moreover, the results of "standard" microeconometric well-bein g functions previously published for other countries are generally supported. Unemployment has a strongly depressing effect on happiness. A higher income level raises happiness, however, only to a small extent.Subjective well-being, institutions, direct democracy, unemployment

Getting Jobs, Keeping Jobs, and Earning a Living Wage: Can Welfare Reform Work?

Most discussions of welfare and work have focused on how demographic characteristics, schooling, training, and work experience limit welfare mothers’ employment and wages, but they have largely ignored factors such as inappropriate workplace behaviors, expectations of discrimination and harassment, depression, alcoholism, and domestic violence, all of which may affect welfare mothers and make employment difficult. In this paper we review the prevalence of these individual-level barriers and argue that they, in combination with an economy which does not pay low-skill workers well, are likely to impede employment and self-sufficiency for a large proportion of welfare mothers. At the end of the review, we summarize the current state of knowledge about barriers to the employment of welfare recipients and suggest several ways in which welfare-to-work programs might address these barriers.

Saint Mary\u27s Magazine - Spring 2021

https://digitalcommons.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-magazine/1015/thumbnail.jp

The Hilltop 5-7-1971

This document created through a generous donation of Mr. Paul Cottonhttps://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_197080/1023/thumbnail.jp

The Social Network: How People with Visual Impairment use Mobile Phones in Kibera, Kenya

Living in an informal settlement with a visual impairment can be very challenging resulting in social exclusion. Mobile phones have been shown to be hugely beneficial to people with sight loss in formal and high-income settings. However, little is known about whether these results hold true for people with visual impairment (VIPs) in informal settlements. We present the findings of a case study of mobile technology use by VIPs in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi. We used contextual interviews, ethnographic observations and a co-design workshop to explore how VIPs use mobile phones in their daily lives, and how this use influences the social infrastructure of VIPs. Our findings suggest that mobile technology supports and shapes the creation of social infrastructure. However, this is only made possible through the existing support networks of the VIPs, which are mediated through four types of interaction: direct, supported, dependent and restricted

Decolonization through collaborative filmmaking: Sharing stories from the heart

Utilizing a conversational style, this article describes the collaborative, consensus based filmmaking process of a diverse group with Indigenous and settler identities who are engaged in creating the Stories of Decolonization film project. Although it has morphed in purpose and composition, the project has remained true to its core vision of providing a basic and accessible understanding of colonization and its continued impacts on those residing on lands occupied by Canada, and of inspiring greater participation in decolonization movements. The first short film of the project, Land Dispossession and Settlement shares personal and ancestral stories and features a diverse group of Winnipeg- and Canada-based persons who have come to understand themselves in relation to colonization and have engaged in decolonization work. In completing this first short film, the filmmakers have experienced a transformative journey through which they have engaged in critical dialogue and built strong relationships

Homeless Persons\u27 Interest in Basic and Health Services: The Role of Absolute, Relative, and Repressed Needs

This study describes and explains the interest of homeless persons in housing, economic, and health-related services with intake interview data collected by a large urban shelter for single adults. Shelter guests were most interested in assistance with housing, job, and economic benefits, rather than health services. Three explanations of variation in service interests are identified: the absolute needs explanation expects service interests to vary directly with service needs, the repressed needs explanation expects service interests to vary inversely with alcoholism and mental illness, while the relative needs explanation expects interest in health-related services to be related to health needs, but only after basic needs are satisfied. The absolute needs explanation receives the strongest support