36,478 research outputs found
The information needs and the information seeking behaviour of a national sample of the population in the United Kingdom, with special reference to needs related to citizenship.
This paper reports the results of a survey of information needs and information seeking behaviour of a national sample of the UK population. The project was funded by the BLR&IC and comprised a survey by questionnaire covering all regions of the United Kingdom. 1,294 responses were received giving a valid and demographically representative response rate of 45.7%. Major findings include: that the majority of respondents had sought information in the past (59.4%) and that an even greater number predicted a future need for information (78.4%). Over three quarters of respondents said that they would use public libraries and between half and three quarters would approach CABx, post offices, government departments or family and friends. Face to face communications and reading a book were the most popular means of accessing information but a wide variety of other preferred options were cited. Only a small proportion expressed a preference for using a computer to seek information and there was a clear emphasis on public libraries as an appropriate location for accessing computerised information. A highly significant majority (79.2%) believed that access to information was very important for exercising their rights as citizens. Many significant variables, in terms of age, gender, status and region were found. In particular it was felt significant that young people were less sure of the importance of being able to access information
Pilot testing for Feasibility of Role of Public Libraries in Citizenship Information
This paper outlines the significance of the pilot study in determining the feasibility of the main study, i.e., the role of the public libraries in citizenship information, and entails pre-testing the measuring tool (questionnaire). In the pilot study, 25 items were assessed on 27 subjects, and internal reliability was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha. The Alpha was found to be 0.78, indicating acceptable consistency of the measuring tool. (questionnaire). This pilot study will be beneficial in determining how to administer the measuring instrument for conducting the actual study and will bring transparency to the research process. The study will embark on a new paradigm in reporting pilot studies, as the pilot study are usually under-discussed and less reported. The pilot study is the original work carried out and will pave the way for the researchers, particularly to library and information professionals, before undertaking any survey study
Asylum in Ireland - a public health perspective
This report has two elements, first a review of the literature on refugees and asylum seekrs, with particular to the legal and practical situation in Ireland, and secondly a report of a survey of refugees and asylum seekers carried out in part fulfillment of the requirments for the MPH.
The survey had two elements, one a quantitaitve stuy carried out in Dublin and Ennis, and the second a series of focus groups
Social Inequality and Diversity of Families Working Report (April 2010)
In this state‐of‐art report we focus on some of the more relevant issues from the
perspective of social inequality and families within and across European societies. We
begin by addressing the three main topics included in this existential field by the Family
Platform Project: migration, poverty, family violence. Additionally, we will look at two
key issues which are important in contextualizing and discussing the above‐mentioned
topics. First, we will summarize recent trends in social inequality in European societies.
Secondly, we will review some of existing research on the relationship between social
inequalities and families, by examining the impact of social inequality on family forms
and dynamics as well as the transmission and reproduction of inequalities within
families. Social inequality shapes family life, but families and their members must also
be seen as actors in the system of inequality (transmitting inequalities to subsequent
generations, reproducing them within the home and through their networks, and
resisting the effects of inequality).
Research review in this existential field was carried out separately on each of the abovementioned
topics. Migration, poverty and family violence are large and autonomous
fields of research which do not have common theoretical and methodological
underpinnings or empirical data sets. For this report it was therefore important to grasp
the major trends and findings within each research topic before moving on to broader
conclusions on research into social inequalities and diversity of families in Europe.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH‐2009‐3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and
family policies): funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme
for 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011)
The effectiveness of parliamentary information services in the United Kingdom.
This paper describes the results of a pilot project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which explored the effectiveness of the public information and communications policies of the UK Parliament in London and the new devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The study consisted of two elements: a series of indepth interviews with service providers; and interactive, electronically assisted interviews with the general public conducted in a roadshow environment. The paper focuses primarily on the results of the first stage of the research, relating these where appropriate to what was learned about user information behavior in the second stage
Inclusion and education in the United Kingdom
Paper describes inclusion and education in the United Kingdom
Inclusion and education in European countries
The focus in this report is strategies that address the disadvantages experienced byminority background students in schools within the United Kingdom (UK) and the wider policy context in which these operate. More specifically, the focus is on four groups ofstudents:• Ethnic minority students including refugee and asylum seekers' children;• Gypsy/traveller students;• Students in care (Looked After Children - LAC); and,• Linguistic minorities e.g. Gaelic, Welsh.The devolved nature of government in the UK means that while some broad principlesare common across the four nations that constitute the UK (England, Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales), the particular emphases adopted and the strategies developed tofoster social inclusion vary from one to another. In addition, there is no integrated policyfor social inclusion but rather separate policy statements for each of the categories ofdisadvantage identified in the study. All four countries within the UK have a combinationof private and state-funded schooling. In much, if not all, of this report the emphasis ison the state-funded sector
Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for
Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of information need in the context of the impact of new information and communications technologies on the communication of parliamentary information.
This paper discusses critically the theoretical and methodological background to an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research project designed to investigate the impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) on the communication of parliamentary and legislative information to the general public or citizen. It sets out the context of the study in terms of the changes in governance, resulling from devolution and, via a wide ranging literature review, describes the ways in which the authors' research approach has developed The design of the project methodology, that of an interactive online interview executed via a roadshow, is also described
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