3,325 research outputs found

    Organisations and Variable Embodiments

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    How can organisations survive not only the substitution of members, but also other dramatic changes, like that of the norms regulating their activities, the goals they plan to achieve, or the system of roles that compose them? This paper is as first step towards a well-founded ontological analysis of the persistence of organisations through changes. Our analysis leverages Kit Fine’s notions of rigid and variable embodiment and proposes to view the (history of the) decisions made by the members of the organisation as the criterion to re-identify the organisation through change

    Publics, politics and power: Remaking the public in public services

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    Challenges the notion that publicness and the public sphere is in decline, and analyses the emergence of new forms, sites and practices of publicness and the implications for public services. Covers: - shifting formations of nation and the challenges of migration, diversity and faith to universalistic notions of the public - how the emphasis on of civil society and community are recasting the public domain - the emergence of hybrid organsiational forms and public private authority - new strategies for governing publics and public service

    Trapped in mirror-images: The rhetoric of maps in Israel/Palestine

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    The map of Israel/Palestine has long been used by both Israelis and Palestinians, from their unequal power positions, as a celebrated national symbol. It is virtually the same map, depicting a sliver-shaped land between River Jordan and the Mediterranean, two overlapping homelands in one territory. Thus, a single geo-body appears to contain two antagonistic and asymmetrical nations, locked in a bitter struggle. The article interprets the uncanny mirror-maps of Israel/Palestine by drawing on recent work in critical cartography. One approach has read maps as rhetorical claims for power and over territory; indeed, the mirror-maps of Israel/Palestine are often read as indications of maximalist territorial ambitions and hidden wishes to “wipe the other off the map”. However, this article suggests an alter- native, de-territorialised reading of political maps as “empty signifiers” of multiple meanings. Following analysis of maps as objects of performance, whose meaning depends on users and contexts, the article emphasises the ritualistic sacralisation of the Israel/Palestine map. Embedded within discourses of memory and history, maps are tools of narrating the nation, often in diasporic contexts, carrying with them vast emotional significance to both peoples. These issues were largely left unaddressed by the territorial paradigm which has dominated scholarship and political negotiations. Moving the discussion of geography beyond narrow territorial claims towards an appreciation of the richness and heterogeneity of space is crucial, yet faces formidable challenges both politically and conceptually

    Young Quebecers in a situation of precarity and their digital literacy practices

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    In its latest report based on PIAAC data, the Institut de la statistique du QuĂ©bec (2015) notes that the young people aged 16 to 24 whose education got interrupted did not generally reach or exceed the level 3 in Problem solving in Technology-Rich Environments. Yet, young people in Western countries are often portrayed homogenously as digital native. This may be explained by the fact that studies have mainly focused on ‘Anglo-American or middle-class contexts’ (Prinsloo and Rowsell, 2012: 271). Using a New Literacy Studies perspective, this paper challenges narratives about young people’s digital literacy practices. It draws on data collected in 2012 in two community-based organisations for young people in Quebec (Canada). In total, 122 hours of participant observation were undertaken and 21 research interviews were conducted (14 young people and 7 youth workers). A content analysis (Gibbs, 2008) was performed. The results indicate that the young people used a wide range of new technologies, and this, regardless of their education level. They used digital technologies to learn new things, access cultural products, solve problems, express themselves, organise their social lives, and communicate with friends and family. Another important finding was that the young people’s digital literacy practices cannot be ‘divorced’ from their offline lives (Thomas, 2007); their situation of precarity shaped their online practices. Considering the young people’s financial difficulties, the fact that computers were available on the premises of the two organisations was an appealing element. The organisations were not just offering access to computers and the Internet, but were also supporting young people in learning how to use them. This indicates that even though they were not in education at the time of the study, the young people were still learning about digital literacies. What they learned was directly related to their everyday lives, and in some occasions, countered their situation of precarity

    Public Involvement & Engagement in the work of a data safe haven: a case study of the SAIL Databank

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    Background: The SAIL Databank is a data safe haven established in 2007 at Swansea University (Wales). It was set up to create new opportunities for research using routinely-collected health and other public service datasets in linkable anonymised form. SAIL forms the bedrock of other Population Data Science initiatives made possible by the data and safe haven environment. Aim: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of public involvement and engagement in connection with the SAIL Databank and related Population Data Science initiatives. Approach: We have a public involvement and engagement policy for SAIL in the context of Population Data Science. We established a Consumer Panel to provide advice on the work of SAIL and associated initiatives, including on proposed uses of SAIL data. We reviewed the topics discussed and provide examples of advice to researchers. We carried out a survey with members on their experiences of being on the Panel and their perceptions of the work of SAIL. We have a programme of wider public engagement and provide illustrations of this work. Discussion: We summarise what this paper adds and some lessons learned. In the rapidly developing area of Population Data Science it is important that people feel welcome, that they are encouraged to ask questions and are provided with digestible information and adequate consideration time. Citizens have provided us with valuable anticipated and unanticipated opinions and novel viewpoints. We seek to take a pragmatic approach, prioritising the communication modes that allow maximum public input commensurate with the purpose of the activity. Conclusion: This paper has set out our policy, rationale, scope and practical approaches to public involvement and engagement for SAIL and our related Population Data Science initiatives. Although there will be jurisdictional, cultural and organizational differences, we believe that the material covered in this paper will be of interest to other data focused enterprises across the world

    Pluralities, Collectives, and Composites

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    Forests, cars and orchestras are very different ontological entities, and yet very similar in some aspects. The relationships they have with the elements they are composed of is often assumed to be reducible to standard ontological relations, like parthood and constitution, but how this could be done is still debated. This paper sheds light on the issue starting from a linguistic and philosophical analysis aimed at understanding notions like plurality, collective and composite, and propos- ing a formal approach to characterise them. We conclude the presentation with a discussion and analysis of social groups within this framework

    The development of product design guidelines based on a new conceptual framework

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    The work described provides the development, implementation and evaluation of engineering product design guidelines suitable for engineering product designers. The motivation arises from collaborative efforts that continue to be made by the Least Economically Developed Countries (LDC) and the Most Economically Developed Countries (MDC) towards the development of the engineering design field. It is argued here that product design guidelines which are derived from existing product design methods enhance the capability of engineering designers to shorten time to market, deal adequately with product design constraints and boost supply chains. The sample for the proposed study is comprised of companies in Botswana (a least economically developed country) and the United Kingdom (a most economically developed country). The research has been conducted using a mixed qualitative research approach comprised of aspects from the framework method, cluster analysis and Kolb's model. The findings have identified five themes central to the product design process which are incorporated into the engineering product design guidelines. Case study work was conducted to validate the approach. The following claims are made for contributions to knowledge: 1. A conceptual framework which is a graphical co-ordinate system of engineering and management techniques required by nine engineering product design methods. The conceptual framework is arranged according to two orthogonal axes that describe the structure of the product design process and incorporate the need function form structure, the divergent convergent structure, the product design drivers, product realisation process and product development lifecycles. 2. The product design method notation which is a register of the expressions derived from the conceptual framework and is used to communicate and aid in the selection of a group of techniques being implemented, or intended for implementation by design teams; and 3. The configuration scheme which provides a clear link between components, subassemblies, products, projects, programmes and policies. The critical point put forward by this work is that the conceptual framework is only comprehensible today because the engineering product design methods in the public domain have imparted knowledge about the functions of physical products (described here as part of the need function form structure) at the expense of human needs and the interactive forms of human responses to physical products. The contributions of this research provide a holistic and coherent means of integrating design methodologies for the benefit of design teams in Botswana. The approach is, however, universal and may also be beneficial for design projects in the most economically developed countries

    Understanding the user - why, what and how?

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    Explains the need, importance, purposes and scope of user studies, discusses procedure for conducting sound user studies together with associated problems of research like selection of problem, formulation of hypothesis, design of study, sampling strategy, data collection methods, scaling techniques, pilot study, processing and analysis of data, testing of hypothesis, interpretation, drawing inferences, communication and dissemination of results and finally concludes by highlighting methodological flaws and gaps in user studies
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