‘Trying to pin down jelly’ - exploring intuitive processes in quality assessment for meta-ethnography

Background: Studies that systematically search for and synthesise qualitative research are becoming more evident in health care, and they can make an important contribution to patient care. However, there is still no agreement as to whether, or how we should appraise studies for inclusion. We aimed to explore the intuitive processes that determined the ‘quality’ of qualitative research for inclusion in qualitative research syntheses. We were particularly interested to explore the way that knowledge was constructed. Methods: We used qualitative methods to explore the process of quality appraisal within a team of seven qualitative researchers funded to undertake a meta-ethnography of chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain. Team discussions took place monthly between October 2010 and June 2012 and were recorded and transcribed. Data was coded and organised using constant comparative method. The development of our conceptual analysis was both iterative and collaborative. The strength of this team approach to quality came from open and honest discussion, where team members felt free to agree, disagree, or change their position within the safety of the group. Results: We suggest two core facets of quality for inclusion in meta-ethnography - (1) Conceptual clarity; how clearly has the author articulated a concept that facilitates theoretical insight. (2) Interpretive rigour; fundamentally, can the interpretation ‘be trusted?’ Our findings showed that three important categories help the reader to judge interpretive rigour: (ii) What is the context of the interpretation? (ii) How inductive is the interpretation? (iii) Has the researcher challenged their interpretation? Conclusions: We highlight that methods alone do not determine the quality of research for inclusion into a meta-ethnography. The strength of a concept and its capacity to facilitate theoretical insight is integral to meta-ethnography, and arguably to the quality of research. However, we suggest that to be judged ‘good enough’ there also needs to be some assurance that qualitative findings are more than simply anecdotal. Although our conceptual model was developed specifically for meta-ethnography, it may be transferable to other research methodologies

The difference that tenure makes

This paper argues that housing tenures cannot be reduced to either production relations or consumption relations. Instead, they need to be understood as modes of housing distribution, and as having complex and dynamic relations with social classes. Building on a critique of both the productionist and the consumptionist literature, as well as of formalist accounts of the relations between tenure and class, the paper attempts to lay the foundations for a new theory of housing tenure. In order to do this, a new theory of class is articulated, which is then used to throw new light on the nature of class-tenure relations

Constituting monetary conservatives via the 'savings habit': New Labour and the British housing market bubble

The ongoing world credit crunch might well kill off the most recent bubble dynamics in the British housing market by driving prices systematically downwards from their 2007 peak. Nonetheless, the experience of that bubble still warrants analytical attention. The Labour Government might not have been responsible for consciously creating it, but it has certainly grasped the opportunities the bubble has provided in an attempt to enforce a process of agential change at the heart of the British economy. The key issue in this respect is the way in which the Government has challenged the legitimacy of passive welfare receipts in favour of establishing a welfare system based on incorporating the individual into an active asset-holding society. The housing market has taken on new political significance as a means for individuals first to acquire assets and then to accumulate wealth on the back of asset ownership. The ensuing integration of the housing market into an increasingly reconfigured welfare system has permeated into the politics of everyday life. It has been consistent with individuals remaking their political subjectivities in line with preferences for the type of conservative monetary policies that typically keep house price bubbles inflated

Managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka: gaps versus recommendations

Addressing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction leads to successful housing reconstruction. As part of a study of investigating how the housing needs can be effectively addressed in post conflict housing reconstruction, this paper identifies the gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction within the context of Sri Lanka and presents the recommendations to minimise such gaps. Data was collected through un-structured interviews conducted with 37 participants, comprising policy makers, practitioners, academics and beneficiaries who engaged in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Gaps were mainly found in conflict sensitivity, measures related to physical housing, performance of implementing agencies, policy and practice issues. On the job training, application of ‘do no harm’ principles, enhanced beneficiary participation, enhanced accountability, effective monitoring, enhanced knowledge sharing, adequate drinking water facilities, irrigation development and initiatives for material manufacturing were suggested as recommendations to minimise these gaps. Identification of gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction and recommendations to minimise them inform policy makers to address the housing needs effectively through incorporating these aspects into the related policies. This in turn enhances the sustainability in housing development after conflicts

High density heterogenisation of molecular electrocatalysts in a rigid intrinsically microporous polymer host

A water-insoluble Polymer with Intrinsic Microporosity (or PIM, here for the particular case of the Tröger Base system PIM-EA-TB, BET area ca. 103 m2 g−1) is demonstrated to act as a rigid host environment for highly water-insoluble molecular catalysts, here tetraphenylporphyrinato-iron (FeTPP), surrounded by aqueous solution-filled micropores. A PIM-EA-TB film containing catalyst is deposited onto the electrode and immersed for voltammetry (i) with 4-(3-phenyl-propyl)-pyridine to give an organogel, or (ii) bare directly into aqueous solution. The porous host allows processes to be optimised as a function of solution phase, composition, and catalyst loading. Effective electron transfer as well as effective electrocatalysis is reported for aqueous oxygen and peroxide reduction. Given the use of completely water-insoluble catalyst systems, the methodology offers potential for application with a wide range of hitherto unexplored molecular electrocatalysts and catalyst combinations in aqueous media. Keywords: Electrocatalysis, Ion transfer, Peroxide, Oxygen, Fuel cell, Sensin

The 1930s as black mirror: Visions of historical repetition in the global financial press, 2007-2009

Media coverage of the recent financial crisis has referred extensively to various past crises, and in particular to the events of the 1930s. This article suggests that the idea of the Great Depression has effectively come to function as a kind of historical ‘black mirror’ – a quasi-object within which conjuncture and historical representation interact to produce an image of capitalist history itself. Focusing on the journalistic output of four key financial publications, I trace how portrayals of the 1930s have evolved over the course of the crisis. I find that while the 1930s are frequently and consistently invoked in ways that purport to reveal the historicity of the crisis, these representations produce an oscillation between different visions of historical repetition, which in turn underpin competing interpretations of the crisis as it unfolds. In so doing, I argue, appeals to the 1930s have simultaneously served to conceal and disclose the constitutive relation of historical imagination to historical process – a double move that has had the paradoxical effect of both securing and undermining the reproduction of finance capitalism as we have come to know it

Intrinsically porous polymer protects catalytic gold particles for enzymeless glucose oxidation

The enzymeless glucose oxidation process readily occurs on nano-gold electrocatalyst at pH 7, but it is highly susceptible to poisoning (competitive binding), for example from protein or chloride. Is it shown here that gold nanoparticle catalyst can be protected against poisoning by a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-EA-TB with BET surface area 1027 m2 g−1). This PIM material when protonated, achieves a triple catalyst protection effect by (i) size selective repulsion of larger protein molecules (albumins) and (ii) membrane ion selection effects, and (iii) membrane ion activity effects. PIM materials allow “environmental control” to be introduced in electrocatalytic processes

Culture shapes how we look at faces

Background: Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance: These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures

Trouble at the top: The construction of a tenant identity in the governance of social housing organizations

The project of citizen governance has transformed the social housing sector in England where 20,000 tenants now sit as directors on the boards of housing associations, but the entrance of social housing tenants to the boardroom has aroused opposition from the chief executives of housing companies and triggered regulatory intervention from government inspectors. This paper investigates the cause of these tensions through a theoretical framework drawn from the work of feminist philosopher Judith Butler. It interprets housing governance as an identificatory project with the power to constitute tenant directors as regulated subjects, and presents evidence to suggest that this project of identity fails to completely enclose its subject, allowing tenant directors to engage in ‘identity work’ that threatens the supposed unity of the board. The paper charts the development of antagonism and political tension in the board rooms of housing companies to present an innovative account of the construction and contestation of identities in housing governance