Individual differences in adaptability to shiftwork : an exploration of models of shiftwork tolerance

In order to refine models of shiftwork tolerance, the purported relationships between outcomes and modifiers of the adaptation process were explored. A series of empirical studies amongst shiftworkers, across a variety of work patterns and industries, examined the efficacy of demographic, circadian, personality and work-related variables as predictors of shiftwork tolerance. Trends were shown to be attenuated by shift type, industry type and length of exposure to the shift system.Using a phenomenological approach, Study 1 conducted a series of semi-structured interviews, investigating the aetiology and management of effects through the eyes of shiftworkers themselves. Analysis of recurrent themes supported established trends in the literature and showed some fit with a number of models, highlighting both outcome, and to a lesser extent, modifier variables. New relationships were also identified. Study 2 used this information to design a questionnaire for the collection of more objective data from the same site. Outcomes were capable of being meaningfully reduced into major problem domains. The number and predictive validity of modifiers varied according to the outcome under investigation, with similarities emerging between outcomes that correlated strongly with one another. Using the same approach, Study 3 examined the effect of the type of shift worked. Extent of problems and patterns of prediction showed a strong shift-dependent effect, with reliable trends emerging between those groups involved in nightwork and those not. Study’s 4 and 5 explored the effect of short- (5 weeks) and long-term (12 months) exposure. Longer exposure benefited certain attitude measures and enabled better adjustment of psychological health and sleep quality. Social and domestic disruption and physical health were affected to a similar degree in both studies and therefore, did not benefit from greater exposure. Despite predictive relationships being stronger at follow-up, they were inconsistent over time, suggesting that such interactions are an evolving process.Regardless of the shift type, industry type or length of exposure, attitudes toward shiftwork were most strongly predicted by work-related modifiers, health outcomes by circadian/personality modifiers, and sleep duration by demographic modifiers, suggesting that specific domains are differentially mediated

Challenging “a man’s game”: women’s interruption of the habitus in football

This research investigates the ways in which women football players construct their body experiences and negotiate discourses within a traditionally male-dominated sport. It presents qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with women active in recreational football in the south-east UK. Football remains constructed around such physical attributes as strength, aggressive behaviour, and forceful actions, associated with the social construction of masculinity. In this paper, Bourdieu’s (1990, 1993) notion of the habitus is used to theorise women’s embodiment in the context of football and to reconceptualise the ways that women (re)construct their body experiences while making sense of conventional gendered practices. Two major themes were identified in the data analysis. Firstly, the participants challenged social constructions of football and made sense of the game in alternative ways. Secondly, football can be an empowering location for women to challenge conventional femininity, gender divisions, and to disrupt the gendered habitus. Crucially, the contexts or environments where the participants played football were experienced as inclusive and positive spaces for expressing fluid and non-constraining identities. The potential for the notion of inclusive spaces and interrupting the gendered habitus in physical education contexts can thus be explored

Rejecting the weak Asian body: boys visualising strong masculinities

Rejecting the weak Asian body: boys visualising strong masculinitie

Young people negotiating embodied subjectivities through (dis)engagement in physical education

The purpose of this study was to engage with a group of students from a diverse school environment about how they construct value or status in their own and others bodies in physical education (PE) and sport. This study was premised on the notion that young people s constructions of bodies that have value affect both their sense of self and their (dis)engagement with physical activity in and out of school. Sport, physical activity and education are not value-free in their purpose or practices, and constitute arenas in which young people learn about what those values are and how they apply to their own bodies. Learning more about how young people make embodied decisions to engage in physical activity can aid in understanding how best to create inclusive, positive experiences within PE and youth sport. The feminist / poststructuralist theoretical framework that this research draws upon focuses attention on the constructions of embodied subjectivities through an individual s subject positions amongst multiple discourses. These discourses are (re)produced but shift as individuals take up and negotiate positions through the multiple narratives available to them. By linking these notions to that of physical capital, this study explores how individuals practices affect how they might be seen as valued. This study pays particular attention to gendered and racialised constructions of bodies in PE and sport, as literature identifies concerns about equity in participation and representation. Data were generated over one school year with a cohort of students in Year 9 of an ethnically diverse secondary school in the East Midlands, UK. Fourteen boys and eleven girls volunteered to take part in a collaborative visual ethnographic project consisting of a fortnight s photo diary and the sharing of participant-produced images in group interviews. Taped group interviews, participants photographs, field notes from observations of the participants PE lessons and researcher s photographs of the school notice boards were collated and analysed using a combination of thematic, discourse and content analyses. Findings indicated that the participants constructed as valued bodies those that are good at PE : meaning competency, strength and a desire and ability to win. Alongside this, students also valued fit, not fat bodies, and the display of effort or trying one s best. These constructions were often tied to their potential to perform convincingly. The students took up positions in relation to these notions of status, sometimes investing in practices that would develop their bodies in these ways. Participants fluid subjectivities as they negotiated different activities, physical cultures, and assumptions about gendered and racialised bodies affected their choices not just whether to engage but in what ways they would engage in physical activity

Evaluation of the Welsh School-based Counselling Strategy : Final Report

The Welsh Government's School-based Counselling Strategy (the Strategy), implemented from April 2008 in secondary schools across Wales and a pilot selection of primary schools, was evaluated. A range of research tools were used, including desk research, analysis of client outcomes, qualitative interviews and surveys of key stakeholders' views. Implementation of the Strategy and its counselling services was generally perceived as successful by all stakeholders, including counselling clients, with evidence that all key recommendations for its development were implemented. Across six terms, 11,043 episodes of counselling were attended. Participation in counselling was associated with large reductions in psychological distress; with levels of improvement that, on average, were somewhat greater than those found in previous evaluations of UK school-based counselling. Key recommendations are that permanent funding mechanisms should be established to embed counselling in the Welsh secondary school sector, with consideration given to its roll-out into primary schools. Service managers and schools should also look to ensuring equal opportunities of participation in school-based counselling from all sectors of the community, that adequate accommodation is available in schools for the delivery of counselling, and that a system of regular outcome monitoring is established

Probing Needs Assessment Data in Depth to Target Programs More Effectively

Extension professionals often assess community needs to determine programs and target audiences. Data can be collected through surveys, focus group and individual interviews, meta-analysis, systematic observation, and other methods. Knowledge gaps are identified, and programs are designed to resolve the deficiencies. However, do Extension professionals look deeply enough into the data to identify subgroups that will allow more targeted programs, or are programs based on only superficial analysis? Cluster analysis allows data to reveal demographic patterns and relationships involving survey respondents. It allows Extension professionals to more precisely target program audiences and thus effectively achieve program impacts

Representación del género, la edad y la actividad física en libros para colorear infantiles

[EN] Despite publishing houses recognizing the importance of ensuring equal representation of all people in curricular materials and scholars also noting their importance in teaching children gendered behaviours, it is still common to find stereotypically gendered non-coeducational curriculum materials in the international market. The aim of this study is to determine the representation of female and male characters in the illustrations of six colouring books published in the United Kingdom entitled “Books for Girls” and “Books for Boys”. A quantitative content analysis, and a supporting qualitative discourse analysis were carried out. This paper examines the effect of constructing gender difference in children’s colouring books. Gender bias in early childhood education poses the risk of perpetuating a manifestation of inequality.[ES] A pesar de que las editoriales reconocen la importancia de asegurar la representación igualitaria de todas las personas en los materiales curriculares y los académicos también señalan su importancia en la enseñanza de comportamientos de género a los niños, todavía es común encontrar en el mercado internacional materiales curriculares no coeducativos con estereotipos de género. El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la representación de los personajes femeninos y masculinos en las ilustraciones de seis libros para colorear publicados en el Reino Unido titulados “Books for Girls” y “Books for Boys”. Se llevó a cabo un análisis cuantitativo de contenido y de apoyo un análisis cualitativo del discurso. En el presente documento se examina el efecto de la construcción de la diferencia de género en los libros para colorear para la infancia. El sesgo de género en la educación infantil plantea el riesgo de perpetuar una manifestación de desigualdad