Methodological bricolage: What does it tell us about design?

This paper explores an approach to design research that is becoming more prevalent in practice-based doctoral studies and examines what it tells us about the current state of design research. A previous examination of design PhD case studies has shown that the bricolage approach is evident in a majority of contemporary practice-based design PhDs [1]. The usual academic norm of using an established method or methodology is often discarded in favour of a ‘pick and mix’ approach to select and apply the most appropriate methods. Does it suggest a discipline in crisis, where existing methods are unfit for purpose? Or does this suggest that design as a discipline is maturing and developing a distinct research model? Is design undisciplined? The paper answers these questions by proposing that design researchers navigate a complex, indeterminate and temporal framework where the bricoleur is the best operative

The Rise of the Supreme Court Reporter: An Institutional Perspective on Marshall Court Ascendancy

This Article will first explore the antecedents to, and beginnings of, the reporter system under Alexander J. Dallas and William Cranch. Next, the Article will examine the transformation of the system under the Court\u27s first official Reporter, the scholarly Henry Wheaton. Finally, the Article will recount the struggle between Wheaton and his more practical successor, Richard Peters, Jr., that culminated in 1834 in the Court\u27s declaration that its decisions are the property of the people of the United States, and not of the Court\u27s Reporters

Reach Out and Touch Someone: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co.

2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., one of the Court’s landmark opinions in copyright law, and one that continues to define the standard of originality for copyrighted works in general and compilations of data in particular. The Feist case, however, was an unlikely candidate for landmark status. Only a handful of court opinions and academic authors had expressed dissatisfaction with the existing state of the law concerning originality and data compilations.scure sources which have enhanced greatly the pages that follow. Further, the Tenth Circuit’s opinion in Feist was a two-page, unpublished decision that could not be cited as precedent. The Supreme Court nonetheless granted certiorari and resolved a circuit split by rejecting decisively the “sweat of the brow” doctrine. In doing so, and in unexpectedly grounding its opinion in the Constitution’s Copyright Clause, the Court firmly reinvigorated a standard for originality that has proven durable, flexible, and occasionally controversial in meeting the challenges of copyright law in the 21st century

Getting around in a large nomenclature file: browsing SNOMED international

pre-printWe have developed a means whereby we can easily browse a very large (s 30 MB) file of a nomenclature vocabulary. "SNOMED International - A Vocabulary of Human and Veterinary Medicine" is such a file and has been proposed to serve as the basis for controlled vocabularies. The College of American Pathologists developed the nomenclature and the American Veterinary Medical Association has adopted it as a coding and interchange system for diagnoses, problems, procedures, etc. The nomenclature is also being brought into the Universal Medical Language System (UMLS) project of the National Library of Medicine

Exploring teachers’ beliefs, values and attitudes towards radicalisation, extremism and the implementation of anti-radicalisation strategies.

The issue of radicalisation and extremism is not necessarily a ‘new’ occurrence but is one that is increasingly prevalent in both political and social agendas (Sewell & Hulusi, 2016). Research indicates a worrying rise in the prevalence of radicalised children and young people over the past few decades (e.g. Home Office, 2011a; Kundani, 2012). Given the adverse negative outcomes that are associated with such forms of radicalisation, researchers and policy makers have been keen to focus on identifying causal routes and find ways of implementing preventative anti-radicalisation measures. School-based anti-radicalisation training (Prevent) has been identified as one potentially effective means of preventing the above problems (e.g. Home Office, 2011a). Whilst there is seemingly more research available on the ‘factors’ that influence the radicalisation process in children and young people (e.g. Bartlett & Miller, 2012) there is very little research available on the role of teachers in attempting to address this. As part of the government’s Prevent programme, teachers are now expected to play a central role in highlighting children and young people that are at risk of being radicalised. How this is achieved, however, is something of a contentious issue. The aim of the current study was to explore teachers’ values and beliefs towards radicalisation and extremism, as well as their perceptions of and attitudes towards the implementation of current anti-radicalisation strategies (Prevent). The role of the Educational Psychologist in supporting teachers was also addressed. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to explore the issue of radicalisation and extremism in as rich a sample as possible through maximum variation sampling. A total of 38 teachers were included in the analyses. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. There were ten focus teachers in the qualitative strand with teachers’ interview data analysed thematically. There were a number of implications for researchers, practitioners, and programme developers as a result of the findings from the study. Specifically, the need for the core components of the Prevent programme to be far clearer and for teachers to be better supported in their efforts to implement anti-radicalisation strategies, both in training and with the ongoing support they receive. There were also some significant implications for how Prevent is being disseminated in schools, with teachers reporting that they felt it is important that children, young people, and their families are included in the process

Reducing sickness absence in Scotland - applying the lessons from a pilot NHS intervention

In May 2008 NHS Lanarkshire (NHSL) implemented a unique sickness absence management service called ‘Early Access to Support to You’ (EASY) service. The EASY service supplements existing absence policies and enables communication between the absentee and their line manager from Day 1 of absence and referral to occupational health at day 10. We analysed three sources of data and showed that the EASY service was effective in reducing sickness absence and NHSL moved from the worst performing Scottish mainland Health Board to the best in terms of sickness absence management. The service was also cost effective; the value of the hours saved comfortably exceeded the cost of the intervention