(Re)constructing selves : emplaced socio-material practice at the Men's Shed North Shore : an ethnographic case study : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Retirement can bring about significant disruption for men who spend a large amount of their lives in paid employment. When leaving paid employment, men also leave places where they have developed a sense of self, secured resources, found meaning, participated in social networks, and engaged in practices of health and gender. How men respond to such a challenging life stage by creating spaces for participating in positive and affirming practices, is largely overlooked. In this thesis, I explore the ways in which a group of older, retired men jointly (re)construct a sense of self through emplaced socio-material practice in the Men’s Shed North Shore. Amid a dearth of literature on men’s caring and supportive social relationships, this research contributes to an understanding of the ways men in Aotearoa, New Zealand come to re-know themselves and develop supportive relationships through a shared community project. The research is informed by an ethnographic case-based orientation that draws on participation-observation fieldwork, interviews, and a focus group with men who participate at the Men’s Shed North Shore. Findings illustrate the effort these men put into the communal reworking of self, the maintenance of health and dignity in a disruptive life stage, their pragmatic approach to retirement, and their (re)production of place and space. A central focus in the analysis is the importance of socio-material practice in the Shed. In particular, the analysis explores the role of material practice as an essential relational practice in the Shed. Through construction projects, men connect with, and reproduce, the material essence of the Shed, and engage meaningfully with other men. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of material practice for these men in maintaining health and dignity in later life. The men agentively and pragmatically respond to displacement in retirement by (re)constructing a sense of self and reemplacing themselves through familiar and shared labour practices. The analysis also demonstrates how the daily material activities of the Shed reflect an ongoing enactment of wellbeing, enabled and demonstrated through social interaction and productive activity

Understanding data quality issues in dynamic organisational environments – a literature review

Technology has been the catalyst that has facilitated an explosion of organisational data in terms of its velocity, variety, and volume, resulting in a greater depth and breadth of potentially valuable information, previously unutilised. The variety of data accessible to organisations extends beyond traditional structured data to now encompass previously unobtainable and difficult to analyse unstructured data. In addition to exploiting data, organisations are now facing an even greater challenge of assessing data quality and identifying the impacts of lack of quality. The aim of this research is to contribute to data quality literature, focusing on improving a current understanding of business-related Data Quality (DQ) issues facing organisations. This review builds on existing Information Systems literature, and proposes further research in this area. Our findings confirm that the current literature lags in recognising new types of data and imminent DQ impacts facing organisations in today&rsquo;s dynamic environment of the so-called &ldquo;Big Data&rdquo;. Insights clearly identify the need for further research on DQ, in particular in relation to unstructured data. It also raises questions regarding new DQ impacts and implications for organisations, in their quest to leverage the variety of available data types to provide richer insights.<br /

Assessing Quality of Unstructured Data – Insights From a Global Imaging Company

The main objective of this research to understand if previous Data Quality frameworks are still applicable in today’s organisational environment characterised by a wide variety of data types, including the unstructured data. The paper describes a pilot study conducted in a global imaging company with the researchers adopting and re-examining a previously developed data quality framework, used in a number of different research studies for more than a decade. The study focuses on two research questions: Are the existing data quality frameworks developed for highly structured data, still applicable to today’s organisational environment? Do users’ perceptions of data quality change depending on data type? The paper reports on the main findings and offers some suggestions for future research

Understanding Data Quality Issues in Dynamic Organisational Environments : A Literature Review

Technology has been the catalyst that has facilitated an explosion of organisational data in terms of its velocity, variety, and volume, resulting in a greater depth and breadth of potentially valuable information, previously unutilised. The variety of data accessible to organisations extends beyond traditional structured data to now encompass previously unobtainable and difficult to analyse unstructured data. In addition to exploiting data, organisations are now facing an even greater challenge of assessing data quality and identifying the impacts of lack of quality. The aim of this research is to contribute to data quality literature, focusing on improving a current understanding of business-related Data Quality (DQ) issues facing organisations. This review builds on existing Information Systems literature, and proposes further research in this area. Our findings confirm that the current literature lags in recognising new types of data and imminent DQ impacts facing organisations in today’s dynamic environment of the so-called “Big Data”. Insights clearly identify the need for further research on DQ, in particular in relation to unstructured data. It also raises questions regarding new DQ impacts and implications for organisations, in their quest to leverage the variety of available data types to provide richer insights

A Conceptual Model to be Used for Community-based Drinking-water Improvements

A conceptual model that can be applied to improve community-based drinking-water in crisis-type situations has been developed from the original general science and technology/development bridging concept and from a case study in Northwest Bangladesh. The main feature of this model is the strengthened role of communities in identifying and implementing appropriate drinking-water improvements with facilitation by multi-disciplinary collaborative regional agency networks. These combined representative community/regional agency networks make decisions and take actions that involve environmental and health data, related capacity factors, and appropriateness of drinking-water improvements. They also progressively link regional decisions and actions together, expanding them nationally and preferably within a sustainable national policy-umbrella. This use of the model reflects stronger community control and input with more appropriate solutions to such drinking-water crisis situations and minimization of risk from potentially-inappropriate ‘externally-imposed’ processes. The application here is not intended as a generic or complete poverty-alleviation strategy by itself but as a crisis-solving intervention, complementary to existing and developing sustainable national policies and to introduce how key principles and concepts can relate in the wider context. In terms of the Bangladesh arsenic crisis, this translates into community/regional networks in geographic regions making assessments on the appropriateness of their drinking-water configuration. Preferred improvement options are decided and acted upon in a technological framework. Options include: pond-sand filters, rainwater harvesting, dugwell, deep-protected tubewell, and shallow tubewell with treatment devices. Bedding in the regional drinking-water improvement configuration protocols then occurs. This involves establishing ongoing representative monitoring and screening, clear delineation of arsenic-contaminated wells with inter-regional linking, and national expansion within national drinking-water policy frameworks

Randomised controlled trials of physical activity promotion in free living populations: a review

This article was first published in:Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 1995:49:448-453OBJECTIVES--To review evidence on the effectiveness of trials of physical activity promotion in healthy, free living adults. To identify the more effective intervention programmes. METHODS--Computerised databases and references were searched. Experts were contacted and asked for information about existing work. INCLUSION CRITERIA--Randomised controlled trials of healthy, free living adult subjects, where exercise behaviour was the dependent variable were included. CONCLUSIONS--Ten trials were identified. The small number of trials limits the strength of any conclusions and highlights the need for more research. No UK based studies were found. Previously sedentary adults can increase activity levels and sustain them. Promotion of these changes requires personal instruction, continued support, and exercise of moderate intensity which does not depend on attendance at a facility. The exercise should be easily included into an existing lifestyle and should be enjoyable. Walking is the exercise most likely to fulfil these criteria.Financial assistance was provided by the Health Gain Project which is funded by North Thames(West)Regional Health Authority and the Health Education Authority

The Self-Efficacy Construct in the Endurance Sport Domain: Formation, Measurement, and Malleability

Self-efficacy has been associated with superior performance in a variety of endurance sports. Despite this positive relationship, there is a lack of understanding regarding how these beliefs may be formed, altered, and measured. This lack of understanding prevents the development and delivery of effective interventions to help enhance self-efficacy. As a result of this, the focus of the current thesis was to gain an increased understanding of the formation, measurement, and malleability of self-efficacy within the endurance sport domain. There were three main research aims. First, this thesis aimed to gain an understanding of the sources of self-efficacy beliefs in endurance sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with endurance athletes to gain an insight into the formation of their beliefs. The importance of cumulative experiences and the congruence between expected and experienced physiological sensations were identified as key sources of self-efficacy. Second, this thesis aimed to improve our ability to measure self-efficacy beliefs for endurance sport. Through a process of three studies which followed best practice for psychometric design, an 11-item unidimensional scale named the 'Endurance Sport Self-Efficacy Scale' (ESSES) was developed and validated. Third, this thesis aimed to gain an understanding of the dynamicity and malleability of these self-efficacy beliefs. Using an experimental laboratory setting, the effects of a change in perceived task difficulty on self-efficacy was examined. An increase in perceived task difficulty was demonstrated to lead to a reduction in self-efficacy strength, but not self-efficacy level. To gain a further understanding of the malleability of self-efficacy, the effects of two web-based brief interventions on self-efficacy and other outcome variables were examined using a randomised control trial. Although no effects were found on most outcome variables, the interventions were found to be useful and the athletes were satisfied with the delivery of them. Taken together, the findings of this thesis provide a series of theoretical and practical implications. Regarding theory, the current thesis advances four key tenets of self-efficacy theory, specifically: the interaction between proximal and distal sources of self-efficacy and the need to distinguish appropriately the dimensionality of self-efficacy beliefs. Additionally, the current thesis provides the first proposed model for the sources of self-efficacy in relation to endurance sport. These theoretical implications also provide clear directions for future research, such as the further investigation and testing of the proposed sources model through mixed-methods enquiry. Regarding practice, the current thesis provides several insights and potential benefits to applied practitioners, coaches, and athletes. The ESSES can be used as a useful tool in highlighting areas of low self-efficacy, which can be targeted via intervention. The current thesis also provides novel insight into the delivery of these interventions via the internet

Effectiveness of vocational interventions for gaining paid work for people living with mild to moderate mental health conditions: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of vocational interventions to help people living with mild to moderate mental health conditions gain paid work. Methods: Systematic review of international, peer-reviewed literature. Development of the prepublished protocol and search strategy was done in consultation with stakeholder reference groups consisting of people with lived experience of long-term conditions, advocates and clinicians. We searched academic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, AMED, CINAHL, Proquest Dissertations and Theses database, and Business Source Complete for controlled trials comparing a specific vocational intervention against a control intervention or usual care, published between 1 January 2004 and 1 August 2019. Two authors independently screened search results, extracted data and appraised studies using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Eleven studies met inclusion criteria. Seven studies investigated Individual Placement and Support (IPS) modified for people who were not in intensive mental health treatment services. These studies occurred settings such as community vocational rehabilitation services, a housing programme and community mental health services. The studies provided very low quality evidence that people who receive IPS-style vocational rehabilitation are more likely to gain competitive employment than people who receive usual care (risk ratio 1.70, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.34, seven studies, 1611 participants). The remaining four studies considered cognitive behavioural therapy or specific vocational rehabilitation interventions designed to fit a unique context. There was insufficient evidence from these studies to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of non-IPS forms of vocational rehabilitation for people with mild to moderate mental health conditions. Discussion: The meta-analysis showed a clear intervention effect but low precision, and more high-quality studies are needed in this field. There is currently very low quality evidence that IPS-style intervention results in more participants in competitive employment compared with &lsquo;usual care&rsquo; control groups in populations with mild to moderate mental health conditions.</jats:sec

The development and exploratory analysis of the Osteopaths’ Therapeutic Approaches Questionnaire (Osteo-TAQ)

Background: Clinical practice encompasses the complex interaction of different skills, knowledge and values in the context of a therapeutic relationship. Research has demonstrated a positive association between well-developed therapeutic relationships, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes in musculoskeletal conditions. There has been little research into osteopaths’ decision making regarding choice of therapeutic approaches. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a new questionnaire to assess differences in osteopaths' therapeutic approaches, and to subsequently investigate the internal consistency of the factors identifying different underlying practice concepts and the validity and generalisability of a qualitative grounded theory on osteopaths’ therapeutic approaches and clinical decision-making. Method: A 30-Item Osteopaths’ Therapeutic Approaches Questionnaire (Osteo-TAQ) was developed using modified verbatim phrases from a published qualitative grounded theory. UK osteopaths were invited to complete the Osteo-TAQ questionnaire. An exploratory factor analysis, using both the principal axis factoring method and principal components method, was performed on the responses. Results: 132 responses were received. Osteo-TAQ displayed acceptable level of modelling adequacy (χ2(435) = 1466.1, p &lt; 0.001; KMO = 0.754) and internal consistency (α = 0.778). Exploratory analysis identified eight factors with eigenvalues &gt;1, accounting for 63.5 of the variance. Conclusion: The Osteo-TAQ identified factors that are congruent with a qualitative grounded theory on osteopaths’ therapeutic approaches. The Osteo-TAQ appeared to have good construct validity with four robust components identified and easily characterised. Further testing for construct validity should be carried out amongst a larger population of osteopaths and outside the UK to test and develop the questionnaire further. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

The sources of self-efficacy in experienced and competitive endurance athletes

Abstract Endurance athletes draw on several sources of self-efficacy, but there is a limited understanding of what information within these sources specifically contributes towards self-efficacy. An increased understanding and awareness of the sources of self-efficacy for endurance performance would allow the design and delivery of more effective self-efficacy interventions. The aim of the current study was to identify sources of self-efficacy specific to the endurance sport domain. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve experienced competitive endurance athletes who had been competing in their endurance sport for an average of 12.2 ± 6.25 years. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using deductive thematic analysis. Past performance experiences, physiological states, social/verbal persuasions and emotional states were generated as initial themes. Within these themes, six sub-themes were identified: cumulative experiences, challenge and adversity, physical familiarity, social support, self-talk, and doubt and worry. Our results indicate that endurance athletes make use of several sources of self-efficacy in the formation and maintenance of their self-efficacy beliefs. Specifically, the culmination of experiences, experiences of overcoming challenge and adversity, and a sense of physical familiarity appeared to key sources in the endurance sport domain