The Self in Research and Other Matters: A Study of Doctoral Students' Conceptions

This study uses metaphor analysis to examine doctoral students’ conceptions obtained from their responses to an on-line survey. The conceptions examined were the conception of self in research, the conception of the PhD, the conception of knowledge, and the conception of the outcomes of research. The conceptions found were allocated to the categories of ‘organic’, ‘spatial’, explorative’ and ‘constructive’, the same categories as were used in a previous study of the students’ conceptions of research. A number of interesting relationships were found and are discussed, including the relationship of the conceptions to each other and to the demographic data obtained in the survey. Some tentative conclusions are discussed and some speculation indulged in

Transcranial magnetic stimulation disrupts the perception and embodiment of facial expressions

Copyright © 2008 Society for Neuroscience and the authors. The The Journal of Neuroscience uses a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.Theories of embodied cognition propose that recognizing facial expressions requires visual processing followed by simulation of the somatovisceral responses associated with the perceived expression. To test this proposal, we targeted the right occipital face area (rOFA) and the face region of right somatosensory cortex (rSC) with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) while participants discriminated facial expressions. rTMS selectively impaired discrimination of facial expressions at both sites but had no effect on a matched face identity task. Site specificity within the rSC was demonstrated by targeting rTMS at the face and finger regions while participants performed the expression discrimination task. rTMS targeted at the face region impaired task performance relative to rTMS targeted at the finger region. To establish the temporal course of visual and somatosensory contributions to expression processing, double-pulse TMS was delivered at different times to rOFA and rSC during expression discrimination. Accuracy dropped when pulses were delivered at 60–100 ms at rOFA and at 100–140 and 130–170 ms at rSC. These sequential impairments at rOFA and rSC support embodied accounts of expression recognition as well as hierarchical models of face processing. The results also demonstrate that nonvisual cortical areas contribute during early stages of expression processing.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counci

Cardiovascular MRI in clinical trials: expanded applications through novel surrogate endpoints

Recent advances in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) now allow the accurate and reproducible measurement of many aspects of cardiac and vascular structure and function, with prognostic data emerging for several key imaging biomarkers. These biomarkers are increasingly used in the evaluation of new drugs, devices and lifestyle modifications for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. This review outlines a conceptual framework for the application of imaging biomarkers to clinical trials, highlights several important CMR techniques which are in use in randomised studies, and reviews certain aspects of trial design, conduct and interpretation in relation to the use of CMR

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVOCACY IN THE RURAL CONTEXT AND DISCOURSES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS

This project explores domestic violence advocacy in a rural setting, using a critical feminist-informed social constructionist approach. Analysis considers how the rural context specifically affects advocacy work, victims’ experiences, and perceptions of domestic violence victims and ultimately aims to give voice to the experiences of advocates and domestic violence victims located within the cultural and social context of a rural area. Analysis also focuses on discourses that arise within the interviews related to gender and sexuality, most often surrounding the victims but also related to abusers. Results indicate that the rural context affects advocacy and the experiences of domestic violence victims through its characteristics of small, overlapping social networks, a dearth of privacy, and traditional ideologies surrounding gender and sexuality

The Metaphors That Research Students Live By

In this paper I report a study of the ways in which research students think about their research. I took a unique approach by using metaphor analysis to study the students’ conceptions. The research students in this study were recruited for an on - line survey at an Australian research - intensive university in which they answered questions relating to their conceptions of research. Five categories of metaphors for research were arrived at which I have labelled metaphors of space, metaphors of travel, metaphors of action, metaphors of the body and metaphors of ordeal. These metaphors provide useful information about the ways that the students visualise their research and their conceptions of what it entails

Using Metaphor Analysis: MIP and Beyond

Metaphor analysis is a way of obtaining understanding of a text by identifying and analysing the metaphors used in it. Metaphor analysis, as usually described, uses the researcher’s intuition as a means of identifying the metaphors. MIP, the Metaphor Identification Procedure, uses a more valid and repeatable way of finding the metaphors. MIP may be applied in a way that will produce a quantitative or qualitative result. As a result, the application of MIP links quantitative and qualitative research and their results through one method of identifying the metaphors

Does seeking legitimacy through collaboration influence quality assurance practices? A case study of a private sector collaboration in the UK higher education sector

The past two decades have seen an increase in the incidence of private sector providers entering the higher education sector in the UK, which has raised concerns over the quality of provision and whether the quality assurance regime is rigorous enough to ensure the quality of private provision. Collaboration between universities and private providers is one of the ways in which private for-profit organisations contribute to higher education provision in the UK. For a private sector organisation to operate successfully in the sector it needs to gain legitimacy. This paper, therefore investigates the case of a private for -profit organisation that has a collaboration with three UK universities. The lens of institutional theory and legitimacy has been utilised to explain the influence that the collaboration had on the shaping of the quality assurance practices in the private provider

Race, Debt and the Welfare State

In this article I explore how the figure of debt illuminates the racial politics of welfare in neoliberal Britain. I begin by giving a reading of the simultaneous unfolding of post-war race politics and the Beveridgean welfare state, and then turn to consider the interpellative appeal of neoliberal debt to minoritiSed subjects who have, in certain respects, been de facto excluded from prevailing models of welfare citizenship. In particular, this article considers the ways in which household debt might, even as it increases social inequality, simultaneously produce ideas about equality and futurity, as well as gesture towards the possibility of post-national forms of identity and belonging. If we are to challenge the lowest-common-denominator logics of ‘capitalist realism’ it is necessary to develop orientations to the economic that are as convincing as the popular stories that circulate about the operations of the neoliberal marketplace, and which are as meaningful as the social relations they play a part in constituting. Rather than reproduce the racialized model of welfare citizenship that is implicit to the ‘defence’ of the postwar welfare state, I suggest that there are elements of prevailing neoliberal market relations that might themselves serve as a more substantial basis for expressions of racial equality. There is, in other words, something that we can learn from neoliberal debt regimes in order to develop a more egalitarian future-oriented politics of social welfare and economic redistribution

Customer profitability analysis in support of strategic decisions

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore the extent to which the management accounting technique of customer profitability analysis can be utilised to support strategic decision making within organisations. Method The analysis is based on participative observations supported by key informant interviews within four separate organisations. The use of multiple case studies enables a range of customer relationships to be explored. Findings A variety of measures are used in practice to ascertain the relative profitability of customers. There is evidence that customer profitability analysis supports strategic decisions. There is a strong link to marketing strategy and customer development and as a consequence customer profitability analysis can provide insight into resource allocation and long term planning. Limitations The four cases selected were based on existing contacts of the author and were selected because of the knowledge of their use of customer profitability analysis. Practical implications The findings highlight areas where customer profitability analysis can provide valuable insight. However, the development of customer profitability analysis as a regular reporting tool has implications for the design of management information systems to ensure that it can be undertaken cost effectively. Originality The use of multiple case studies covering a range of customer relationships indicates the variety of analysis that can be deployed to support strategic decision making

Management accounting in support of strategy - a strategy as practice perspective

The term Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) was coined in the 1980's to both describe and encourage the development of accounting techniques that addressed strategic decision-making. This prompted the production of books and research papers into SMA techniques. However, there is very little research into how management accounting supports strategy making. Adopting the lens of strategy-as-practice and utilising a narrative research approach this developmental paper addresses the question: How does management accounting support the strategic management process? Although the term strategic management accounting may not be appropriate, there is evidence that management accounting supports the practice and praxis associated with the strategic management process via a range of activities and artifacts, that could be described as the 'stuff' of strategizing, with accountants contributing as practitioners involved in analysing, evaluating, interpreting, educating, and generally supporting the activity of strategizing