Narrative vignettes and online enquiry in researching therapist accounts of practice with children in schools : an analysis of the methodology

This article reviews a research methodology which uses a qualitative, narrative approach to online, in-depth analysis of vignettes. The research sought to investigate the ways in which dramatherapists, based in different countries, understood the nature of therapeutic change in their work with children. The article describes the approach to the generation of data through the internet by a combination of vignettes, aMSN messenger and email. It reports on the approach taken to the analysis of data with samples from the findings. Participants kept a diary of their response to the research and the article draws on this within its analysis of the methodology

A study’s got to know its limitations

Background: All research has room for improvement, but authors do not always clearly acknowledge the limitations of their work. In this brief report, we sought to identify the prevalence of limitations statements in the medRxiv COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 dataset. Methods: We combined automated methods with manual review to analyse manuscripts for the presence, or absence, either of a defined limitations section in the text, or as part of the general discussion. Results: We identified a structured limitations statement in 28% of the manuscripts, and overall 52% contained at least one mention of a study limitation. Over one-third of manuscripts contained none of the terms that might typically be associated with reporting of limitations. Overall our method performed with precision of 0.97 and recall of 0.91. Conclusion: The presence or absence of limitations statements can be identified with reasonable confidence using automated tools. We suggest that it might be beneficial to require a defined, structured statement about study limitations, either as part of the submission process, or clearly delineated within the manuscript

Sustainable Urban Future in Southern Europe - What About the Heat Island Effect?

In general cities, and especially cities in hot zones, as the Mediterranean, suffer from raised temperatures in the city core, generally known as the heat island effect. Raised temperatures, especially in summer, may turn city centres into unwelcome hot areas, with direct effects on energy consumption for cooling buildings and morbidity and mortality risks for the population. These raised temperatures in the city centre derive from the altered thermal balances in urban spaces, mainly due to the materials and activities taking place in cities, by far different to those in rural areas. The notably raised thermal capacity of urban materials, their low albedo and their lack of porosity are of the main characteristics of urban materials, responsible for the formation of raised urban temperatures. The general lack of vegetation is a strong characteristic of the formation of the heat island effect. If building surfaces, which are greatly responsible for the formation of raised urban temperatures are covered with vegetation (roofs with grasses and walls with ivies), it is expected that urban temperatures could lower significantly. With the case study of the city of Athens, this paper explores quantitatively how raised urban temperatures could reduce in the hot and dry Mediterranean summer, when the building envelope is covered with vegetation. With the use of a prognostic, two-dimensional, micro-scale heat and mass transfer model, the effect of vegetation in urban canyons with different geometries and orientations is explored and how this could be applied at an urban scale. The effect of vegetation on the building envelope is examined on the outdoors thermal comfort and the energy consumption for cooling. Conclusions are drawn about the relationship of the effect of diverse amounts of vegetation with the urban geometry and orientation and whether such a proposal could prove beneficial for cities in the South of Europe.

Health and well-being implications surrounding the use of wearable GPS devices in professional rugby league: A Foucauldian disciplinary analysis of the normalised use of a common surveillance aid

Wearable GPS tracking devices have become commonplace coaching aids across professional field sports to enhance sports performances and reduce injury rates, despite the implications of the technology being poorly understood. This study looked at how GPS devices are used and the impact constant surveillance has upon the physical, psychological, and emotional health of rugby football workers. The disciplinary analysis of Michel Foucault was used to investigate how British Super League teams use wearable GPS technology, to investigate the dominant 'truth' that promotes surveillance technologies as 'universally beneficial' to athlete sports performance, health and well-being. Data was drawn from semi-structured interviews with three performance analysts/strength and conditioning coaches at three different Super League clubs across the North of England. Participants confessed data generated from wearable GPS is often totally ignored, despite being specifically produced to protect athlete health and wellbeing. When used, GPS data can become a 'disciplinary tool' to normalise and coerce players to comply with potentially unhealthy physical and psychological demands of a professional playing career. Importantly, regardless of how GPS data was used, the employment of wearable GPS devices was constantly and rigorously implemented. The constant surveillance experience by working players, when mismanaged or adopted as a coercive disciplinary tool, magnifies the uncertainty and fear of failure central to the predominant challenges that arise during a working football career. This leads to the acceptance of problematic norms damaging to physical, psychological, and emotional health. If GPS or other surveillance based performance analysis technologies are to be used in sport, coaches need to regulate or re-think their day-to-day use to avoid creating new harms to athlete health and well-being

Drama For Life Keynote: Trauma and Dramatherapy - play, space, language and relationships

The article explores the ways in which the therapeutic potentials of drama can connect to individuals and groups who have experienced ‘trauma’. Three questions are used to structure the enquiry: ‘Are dreams and Dramatherapy related to trauma, and if so how?’, ‘Can we see trauma as socially constructed ?’ and ‘Can play help to resolve people’s experiences of trauma?’ The relationship between dreams and dramatherapy is, firstly, discussed as a way of illuminating some of the processes which can occur in work involving those who have experienced trauma. This is followed by a review of the relationships between the concept that trauma is socially constructed and dramatherapy. The third section explores how play features in dramatherapy’s engagement with clients who have experienced traum

In states with more competitive elections, voters are more likely to know how their senators have represented them and to hold them accountable

In recent months, much has been written about the level of political polarization in America, and the lack of political competition in many states. By surveying over 24,000 voters, Phil Jones gives further reason why political competition is important – states with greater political competition have greater levels of voter knowledge of, and responsiveness to, congressional representation. He also finds that unrepresented voters will only tend to desert the incumbent in competitive races, giving legislators in uncompetitive districts greater leeway to shirk from public opinion in making policy decisions

Do your Projects Support your Strategy? Applying Benefits Realization Management

In this webinar, foundational concepts of Benefits Realization Management will be presented and discussed. Benefits Realization Management (BRM) is a both a discipline and a process used to align projects undertaken by an organization with the organization’s strategy and culture

An evaluation tool for design quality: PFI sheltered housing

The complex procurement process entailed by the private finance initiative (PFI) means that clients need new capacities to manage their relationships with bidders and to assess project proposals if the desired level of design quality is to be achieved. To assist local authorities in their client role, a new Architectural Design Quality Evaluation Tool was developed. The aim was to improve the quality of design in residential sheltered housing, procured through the PFI. The tool was developed for and applied to a programme that will see the replacement of a local authority's entire sheltered housing stock. The tool has two functions: (1) to inform the client's assessment process and assist with the selection of the preferred bidding consortium through a series of stages in the PFI process; and (2) to improve the quality of all the submitted designs through an iterative process. Although several existing mechanisms are available for evaluating the performance attributes of buildings, few also tackle the less tangible amenity attributes, which are vital to the feeling of home. The new tool emphasizes the amenity attributes without neglecting performance

Architectural Design Quality in Local Authority Private Finance Initiative Projects

Since the 1990s, when the Private Finance Initiative was developed as the primary method for delivering major public capital projects, there has been concern about the quality of many of the products. Initially, it was the architectural community that raised doubts, but it has subsequently been joined by user groups. As the contractual period is over 30 years, there are issues such as ongoing maintenance, facilities management and operational factors, that need to be balanced with design quality. This paper will report on a research project being carried out with a metropolitan local authority in England, which is replacing its entire sheltered housing stock in one Private Finance Initiative project. The principal aim of the local authority is that it should receive these buildings as assets, rather than liabilities at the end of the 30 year period. The research work to date has been based on two stages of a three stage selection of the preferred bidder from the original six consortia. The aims of this paper are to review the Private Finance Initiative management processes in relation to architectural design quality at each of the selection stages, including the generation and application of the design assessment criteria, and the role of user groups; and evaluate the outcomes against the objectives of maximising design quality within workable financial models. The methodology is that the researcher is based in the local authority project team, and has therefore been able to use participant observation techniques in the management processes, which include competitive dialogue and user consultation. The design assessment criteria were developed from the academic literature and refined at each selection stage. A comparative analysis of the design assessment criteria with intermediate and final designs, will assist in identifying the status of design quality in the selection of the preferred bidder