The main parties’ race to the top on local devolution promises much – but will it deliver?

The Conservatives’ proposals for ‘Northern powerhouses’ and Labour’s Adonis report illustrate the promising nature of the emerging consensus on delivering meaningful devolution of powers from central to local and regional government. Here, the Chief Executive of the Centre for Cities think tank Alexandra Jones argues that we should encourage these developments, but also keep the pressure on politicians both national and local, and be wary of the some of the challenges that may be faced along the way

Media & Trust: Exploring the Differences Between Traditional and New Media Forms

This research seeks to explore how news media, traditional versus new, influences public trust, as well as, what types of consumers use traditional versus new media. My hypotheses are that (A) that those who use primarily new media to access news will have less trust in the news they are consuming and (B) those who have at least a college degree, are below 30 in age, and use, daily, a computer in the course of their work, will use primarily new media to access news. Using an online survey administered through the platform Qualtrics, distributed through Amazon Mechanical Turk, I surveyed over 1,000 American citizens and was able to conclude that my hypothesis (A) was true, those who use new media are less trusting; and that my hypothesis (B) was false in totality, but that those who do use a computer daily use new media and when age is not categorized, it is true that as people get older, they are less likely to use new media

Auditory interfaces: Using sound to improve the HSL metro ticketing interface for the visually impaired

Around 252 million trips by public transport are taken in Helsinki every year, and about 122 million passengers travel by Helsinki City Transport (tram, metro and ferry) in and around Finland's capitol. Given these numbers, it is important that the system be as wholly efficient, inclusive, and as easy to use as possible. In my master's thesis, I examine Helsinki Region Transport's ticketing and information system. I pay special attention to their new touch screen card readers, framing them in the context of increasing usability and accessibility through the use of sound design. I look at what design decisions have been made and compare these with a variety of available technology that exists today, as well as what solutions are being used in other cities. Throughout my research, I've placed an emphasis on sonic cues and sound design, as this is my area of study. Everything is assessed against the requirements and perspective of Helsinki's public transportation end users who are blind and visually impaired. I have used desk research, field research, user testing and stakeholder interviews in my methodology. I have put forth suggestions on how to improve the current system, taking into account the learnings from my research. I have looked at key points around people with disabilities and how sound can be used to improve accessibility and general functionality for all. I also hope to share this thesis with HSL and HKL, whom may use it to inform future optimization of their systems

Ethiopian objects at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Publisher PDFNon peer reviewe

“What if you don't feel ‘disadvantaged’ and you’re being called that?”: an exploration of young people’s perspectives on the ‘disadvantaged’ label in an English secondary school

In education policy, the term ‘disadvantaged’ is used to label young people who face socio-economic inequity and thus, in schools where policy is enacted. This thesis argues that the ‘disadvantaged’ label is problematic as it implies that young people are the problem to be fixed in an otherwise well-functioning education system and fails to acknowledge the role wider social inequalities play in their socio-economic disadvancement – a construct and alternative term to ‘disadvantaged’ that the thesis proposes to use as a lens through which to view the reality of the setbacks young people face. Using a socially critical approach, the study seeks to develop understandings of how being labelled in education policy as ‘disadvantaged’ is perceived by the young people who are labelled as such. Based on qualitative research in an English secondary school utilising semi-structured interviews and participatory tools, this study explores how the ‘disadvantaged’ label is understood from the perspectives of young people who are very often the subjects of ‘disadvantaged’ policy rather than valued agents. The voices of the young people involved offer important insights into how the ‘disadvantaged’ label may confer shame and stigma on to them, including implying that they are to blame for their own marginalisation through deficit narratives. The study proposes that opportunities should be created for young people to have agency in how they are described and also offers understanding on the implications the ‘disadvantaged’ label has for schools that are enacting policy

Masculinity, femininity, & androgyny : the interaction of college students with preschoolers

The rel ationshi p between sex-typing and the interacti on of col l ege students with 2- to 4-year-ol d male and female children was examined. Seventy-one Introductory Psychol ogy students were admini stered the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), which was scored in terms of the 7 factors introduced by Walker & Preston (1979). Small groups of 3 and 4 individuals were randomly selected to spend 20 minutes in the Child Development Lab, where they had the opportunity to interact with the children, to play with the toys, to observe, and to inter­ act with each other. The behavior of each individual within the groups of students was recorded by trained raters observing through a 1 -way mirror. Although it was predicted that the factors of Nurturance and Autonomy would account for the majority of the variance, a canonical correlation failed to indicate significant results. Results are discussed in terms of the behavioral observation technique employed, the predicting value of the BSRI, and implications for future research

Welsh Women's Industrial Fiction 1880–1910

From the beginning of the genre, women writers have made a major contribution to the development of industrial writing. Although prevented from gaining first-hand experience of the coalface, Welsh women writers were amongst the first to try to fictionalize those heavy industries—coal and metal in the south, and slate in the north—which dominated the lives of the majority of the late nineteenth-century Welsh population. Treatment of industrial matter is generally fragmentary in this early women’s writing; industrial imagery and metaphor may be used in novels that are not primarily “about” industry at all. Yet from c. 1880–1910, Welsh women writers made a significant—and hitherto critically neglected—attempt to make sense in literature of contemporary industrial Wales in powerful and innovative ways. This essay maps their contribution and considers anglophone Welsh women writers’ adaptations and innovations of form (particularly romance) as they try to find a way of representing industrial landscapes, communities and the daily realities of industrial labour. It identifies the genesis in women’s writing of tropes that would become central to later industrial fiction, including depictions of industrial accident, injury, death and disability. And it explores the representation of social relations (class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality) and conflict on this tumultuous, dangerous new stage

Improving Data Collection to Reduce Maternal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity in Malawi: Evaluating Chimwemwe mu\u27bereki, a Community Based Intervention

Maternal and infant death rates in Malawi are among the highest in the world. Over 17 million people live in this small country in sub-Saharan Africa, where the country’s life expectancy is just 60.6 years (World Bank, 2015). These deaths can be attributed to many complex factors, including cultural practices, lack of adequate medical equipment, long travel distances to health facilities, low staffing at hospitals and clinics, extreme poverty, and malnutrition. Without government support and intervention, community groups must fill in the gaps to make needed improvements to maternal and infant health outcomes. African Mothers Health Initiative (AMHI) enrolls high risk mothers and infants in the capital Lilongwe District to provide home-based clinical care in the remote villages of Malawi. During a needs assessment conducted in the summer of 2016, it was determined AMHI currently lacks robust and ample data to ensure the sustainability of this necessary program through grant funding and evaluation. With more efficient collection and comprehensive data, AMHI can better serve program participants and villages, and identify areas to more efficiently and effectively reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in Malawi. The lives of women and their infant children depend on it