Grounded theory research: literature reviewing and reflexivity

<i>Aim</i>: This paper is a report of a discussion of the arguments surrounding the role of the initial literature review in grounded theory. <i>Background</i>: Researchers new to grounded theory may find themselves confused about the literature review, something we ourselves experienced, pointing to the need for clarity about use of the literature in grounded theory to help guide others about to embark on similar research journeys. <i>Discussion</i>: The arguments for and against the use of a substantial topic-related initial literature review in a grounded theory study are discussed, giving examples from our own studies. The use of theoretically sampled literature and the necessity for reflexivity are also discussed. Reflexivity is viewed as the explicit quest to limit researcher effects on the data by awareness of self, something seen as integral both to the process of data collection and the constant comparison method essential to grounded theory. <i>Conclusion</i>: A researcher who is close to the field may already be theoretically sensitized and familiar with the literature on the study topic. Use of literature or any other preknowledge should not prevent a grounded theory arising from the inductive–deductive interplay which is at the heart of this method. Reflexivity is needed to prevent prior knowledge distorting the researcher’s perceptions of the data

Balancing livestock production and wildlife conservation in and around southern Africa's transfrontier conservation areas

Biodiversity conservation, of which the transfrontier conservation area movement is an integral part, and more effective livestock production/trade are pivotal to future rural development in southern Africa. For that reason, it is imperative to effectively ameliorate the obstacles that have impeded progress towards the coexistence of these two sectors for more than half a century. Transboundary animal diseases, foot and mouth disease in particular, have been and continue to be the most important of these obstacles. Fortunately, new developments in international sanitary standards applicable to trade in commodities and products derived from animals are beginning to make a solution possible. However, while progress in principle has been achieved, practical implementation remains problematic for technical reasons, exacerbated by inconsistent attitudes towards acceptance of non-traditional international trade standards. This paper describes the background to this situation, progress that has been achieved in the recent past and remaining difficulties that need to be overcome to advance towards achievement of balanced rural development in southern Africa.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1865-1682hb2013ab201

International trade standards for commodities and products derived from animals : the need for a system that integrates food safety and animal disease risk management

A case is made for greater emphasis to be placed on value chain management as an alternative to geographically based disease risk mitigation for trade in commodities and products derived from animals. The geographic approach is dependent upon achievement of freedom in countries or zones from infectious agents that cause so-called transboundary animal diseases, while value chain-based risk management depends upon mitigation of animal disease hazards potentially associated with specific commodities or products irrespective of the locality of production. This commodity-specific approach is founded on the same principles upon which international food safety standards are based, viz. hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP). Broader acceptance of a value chain approach enables animal disease risk management to be combined with food safety management by the integration of commodity-based trade and HACCP methodologies and thereby facilitates ‘farm to fork’ quality assurance. The latter is increasingly recognized as indispensable to food safety assurance and is therefore a pre-condition to safe trade. The biological principles upon which HACCP and commodity-based trade are based are essentially identical, potentially simplifying sanitary control in contrast to current separate international sanitary standards for food safety and animal disease risks that are difficult to reconcile. A value chain approach would not only enable more effective integration of food safety and animal disease risk management of foodstuffs derived from animals but would also ameliorate adverse environmental and associated socio-economic consequences of current sanitary standards based on the geographic distribution of animal infections. This is especially the case where vast veterinary cordon fencing systems are relied upon to separate livestock and wildlife as is the case in much of southern Africa. A value chain approach would thus be particularly beneficial to under-developed regions of the world such as southern Africa specifically and sub-Saharan Africa more generally where it would reduce incompatibility between attempts to expand and commercialize livestock production and the need to conserve the subcontinent’s unparalleled wildlife and wilderness resources.US Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Rockefeller Foundationhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1865-1682hb2013ab201

The π\pi, K+K^+, and K0K^0 electromagnetic form factors

The rainbow truncation of the quark Dyson-Schwinger equation is combined with the ladder Bethe-Salpeter equation for the meson amplitudes and the dressed quark-photon vertex in a self-consistent Poincar\'e-invariant study of the pion and kaon electromagnetic form factors in impulse approximation. We demonstrate explicitly that the current is conserved in this approach and that the obtained results are independent of the momentum partitioning in the Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes. With model gluon parameters previously fixed by the condensate, the pion mass and decay constant, and the kaon mass, the charge radii and spacelike form factors are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Revte

Symptoms of anxiety and depression in school-aged children with active epilepsy: A population-based study

Children (5-15 years) with active epilepsy were screened using the parent-report (n=69) and self-report (n=48) versions of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the self-report version of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) (n=48) in a population-based sample. A total of 32.2% of children (self-report) and 15.2% of children (parent-report) scored ≥1 SD above the mean on the SCAS total score. The subscales where most difficulty were reported on parent-report were Physical Injury and Separation Anxiety. There was less variation on self-report. On the CDI, 20.9% of young people scored ≥1 SD above the mean. Children reported significantly more symptoms of anxiety on the SCAS total score and three of the subscales (p<.05). There was a significant effect on the SCAS total score of respondents by seizure type interaction, suggesting higher scores on SCAS for children with generalized seizures on self- but not parent-report. Higher CDI scores were significantly associated with generalized seizures (p>.05).Symptoms of anxiety were more common based on self-report compared with parent-report. Children with generalized seizures reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety

Child and parental sleep in young children with epilepsy: A population-based case-control study

Objective: To determine the prevalence of parent‐reported sleep problems in young children with epilepsy and their parents, and to compare findings with those in a non–epilepsy‐related neurodisability (neurodevelopmental/neurological difficulties) group. Method: Parents of young children (1–7 years) with epilepsy (n = 48 [91% ascertainment]) completed the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Parents (mothers and fathers) also completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Iowa Fatigue Scale (IFS) in relation to their own functioning. The responses of parents of children with epilepsy were compared with parents of developmental‐, age‐, and gender‐matched children with nonepilepsy‐related neurodisability (n = 48). Results: There was not a significant difference in the proportion of children with epilepsy and the children with neurodisability scoring in the at‐risk range on the CSHQ (81% vs. 71% respectively) (p = 0.232). 62% of mothers and 44% of fathers of children with epilepsy had ‘poor quality sleep’ on the PSQI; there was not a significant difference between mothers of children with epilepsy and those of children with neurodisability (p = 0.526) or IFS (p = 0.245) total scores. However, mothers of children with epilepsy had significantly more difficulties on the productivity subscale of the IFS (p = 0.004). There were no significant differences between fathers’ scores on either measure. In the epilepsy group, child behavioral problems (p = 0.001) were independently associated with child sleep difficulties and maternal mental health problems were associated with parental sleep difficulties (p = 0.04) and fatigue (p = 0.018). Significance: Young children with epilepsy and their parents have a high rate of sleep difficulties. There is a need to develop effective interventions for this population, taking into consideration of the role of child behavioral problems and parental mental health difficulties

Middle to late Pleistocene palaeoecological reconstructions and palaeotemperature estimates for cold/cool stage deposits at Whittlesey, eastern England

Fossiliferous beds in a complex sequence of late Middle to Late Pleistocene deposits at Whittlesey, eastern England, provided a rare opportunity for a multidisciplinary study of the palaeoecology of cool/cold stage deposits from different glacial stages. The fossiliferous sediments investigated form part of the River Nene 1st Terrace. Three of the four fossil assemblages investigated pre-date the last interglacial stage (Ipswichian/Eemian/marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 5e), whereas the other dates to part of the MIS 3 interstadial complex (Middle Devensian/Weichselian). Pollen, plant macrofossil, molluscan, coleopteran, ostracod, foraminifera and vertebrate data are available to a greater or lesser extent for each cool/cold stage assemblage, and they broadly present the same ecological picture for each one: a continuum from low-energy permanent to non-permanent aquatic habitats through marshland with associated waterside taxa, together with flood influxes of fluvial, riparian and ruderal taxa. Although each fossil assemblage records cool/cold climatic conditions, to a greater or lesser extent, these conditions are more apparent in the insect and ostracod faunas. In comparison with results published for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) stadial in The Netherlands, palaeotemperature estimates based on ranges of mutual agreement between independent coleopteran and ostracod methods for the three pre-Ipswichian/Eemian assemblages indicate minimum mean July air temperatures that are from +1° to +3 °C warmer, but January values that embrace the −8 °C estimate for the LGM. There is, however, a disparity between the coleopteran and ostracod palaeotemperature estimates for the Middle Devensian/Weichselian fossil assemblage, which are based on two different sample stratigraphic levels; the lower, coleopteran assemblage is indicative of very cool, continental climates, whereas the stratigraphically slightly higher ostracod assemblage suggests a climatic amelioration. Lack of numerical age-estimates prevents a robust stratigraphical interpretation, but the youngest pre-Ipswichian/Eemian fossil assemblage could date to the MIS 7–6 transition, at a time when cooling possibly preceded glacially driven sea-level fall. It is apparent from the rich coleopteran data that some continental cold-indicator taxa also appeared in pre-Ipswichian/Eemian cold stages and therefore assignment of continental cold-indicator taxa to particular Devensian/Weichselian intervals should be undertaken with care

Soccer and homosexuality: the conflicts that lie within the affective game of the coach-adolescent athlete relationship

Discussions regarding homosexuality within a sports context are mediated by emotional nuances, especially in the world of soccer, where practitioners are required to have attributes such as strength, masculinity and aggressiveness. As a consequence, this work aimed to analyze the symbolic representation of homosexual relationships between adolescent soccer players and their coaches; and, furthermore, to understand the intention behind homoerotic relationships that are established between members of the management team and its players. In this study, researchers used the life history methodology, with participation from three adolescent athletes, ages 14, 15 and 16, and three former athletes, ages 26, 28 and 45, who we called speakers. Based on the collection and analysis of research participants’ testimonies, homosexual relations were found to have occurred between athletes and coaches, or between athletes and other members of the management team, as a part of a “social contract” that is exclusively linked to their professional objectives. These relationships appear to be purely objective; authentic affective links are absent, due apparently to the transient nature of the athletes in these groups. Too, this context is usually marked by the athlete’s physical and emotional vulnerability, and the agreements he makes within this context are accompanied with moral dilemmas, because such adolescents idealize the coach as a paternal archetype.“Futebol e homossexualidade: Os conflitos que se encontram dentro do jogo afetivo da relação treinador-atleta adolescente.” As discussões a respeito da homossexualidade no contexto esportivo são mediadas por nuanças emocionais, especialmente no mundo do futebol que exige de seus praticantes atributos de força, virilidade e agressividade. Por este motivo este trabalho teve como objetivos diagnosticar existência de relações homossexuais entre atletas adolescentes da modalidade de futebol e seus técnicos e sua representação simbólica e ainda, compreender a intencionalidade das relações homoafetivas que se estabelecem entre componentes da equipe diretiva e os jogadores. Esta pesquisa é de natureza qualitativa e a técnica adotada foi a “história de vida” e a participação de três atletas adolescentes em atividade, com idade de 14, 15 e 16 anos e três ex-atletas profissionais, com idades 26, 28 e 45 anos serviram de base metodológica. A partir da análise e tratamento dos depoimentos verificou-se que ocorreram relações homossexuais nas categorias de base envolvendo técnico e atleta, ou com outros membros da equipe diretiva, como parte dos contratos sociais, ligados exclusivamente a objetivos profissionais. Estas relações parecem ser puramente objetais, não parecendo existir vínculos afetivos duradouros, aparentemente, devido à natureza transitória de atletas nesses grupos. Também, nesses ambientes, muitas vezes marcados pela vulnerabilidade física e emocional dos atletas, os acertos para as relações homossexuais são permeadas por dilemas morais, tendo em vista que os atletas adolescentes idealizam o treinador como o arquétipo paterno ideal.“El fútbol y la homosexualidad: Los conflictos que se encuentran dentro del juego afectivo de la relación atleta-entrenador de los adolescentes.” Las discusiones sobre la homosexualidad en contexto deportivo están mediadas por matices emocionales, sobre todo en el mundo del fútbol que exige a sus jugadores atributos como la fuerza, la virilidad y los jugadores. En este estudio, los investigadores utilizaron la metodología de la historia de vida, con la participación de tres atletas adolescentes, con 14, 15 y 16 años, y tres ex atletas con 26, 28 y 45 años, que llamamos ‘oradores’. Basado en la recogida y análisis de testimonios de participantes en la investigación, se encontró que las relaciones homosexuales que se han producido entre los atletas y entrenadores, o entre atletas y otros miembros del equipo de gestión, son como parte de un “contrato social” que está vinculado exclusivamente a sus objetivos profesionales. Estas relaciones parecen ser solamente como un objeto; porque a veces no hay vínculos afectivos auténticos, debido aparentemente a la naturaleza transitoria de los atletas en estos grupos. Demasiado, este contexto es generalmente marcado por la vulnerabilidad física y emocional del deportista, y los acuerdos que hace dentro de este contexto se acompañan con dilemas morales, debido a que tales adolescentes idealizan el entrenador como un arquetipo paterno. la agresividad. Por lo tanto, este estudio tuvo como objetivo diagnosticar la existencia de relaciones homosexuales entre adolescentes atletas de fútbol y sus entrenadores y la representación simbólica de estas relaciones. También comprender la intencionalidad de las relaciones homoafetivas que se intercambian entre algunos componentes del equipo directivo y(undefined