Fear and Safety: Students use qualitiative methods to explore the meaning of fear and safety among the University of Pennsylvania community

Each student in the Qualitative Methods Research Class (SW781), Spring 2015, recruited a study participant (n=25) (undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, and faculty from across the University) and trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of this method. Study participants were asked to define and explore the meaning of “fear” and “safety” in their daily lives and were instructed to use their phones to document their exploration over the course of one week. Using the participant-generated photographs to guide conversation, each member of the research team conducted an interview with a participant. The topic for this project was determined using nominal group technique (NGT). NGT is a structured small-group discussion approach used to reach consensus. A moderator (in this case the professor) asks the group a question and gathers the responses (in this case potential project topics) from each group member. Once all potential topics are shared with the entire group, each member of the group prioritizes the topics. This process prevents one person from dominating the discussion, encourages all group members to participate, and results in a set of prioritized topics that represents the group’s preferences. The class, by way of NGT, decided to investigate how the University of Pennsylvania community perceives fear and safety.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_posters/1025/thumbnail.jp

Life with Technology Among University of Pennsylvania Students

Each student in the Qualitative Methods Research Class (SW781), Fall 2015, recruited a study participant (n=26) (undergraduate and graduate students from across the University) and trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of this method. Study participants were asked to define and explore the meaning of “life with technology” over the course of one week using their phones to document their exploration. Using the participant generated photographs to guide conversation, each member of the research team conducted an interview with a participant. The topic for this project was determined using nominal group technique (NGT). NGT is a structured small-group discussion approach used to reach consensus. A moderator (in this case the professor) asks the group a question and gathers the responses (in this case potential project topics) from each group member. Once all potential topics are shared with the entire group, each member of the group prioritizes the topics. This process prevents one person from dominating the discussion, encourages all group members to participate, and results in a set of prioritized topics that represents the group’s preferences. The class, by way of NGT, decided to investigate how University of Pennsylvania students perceive life with technology.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_posters/1027/thumbnail.jp

Pressure: Students use qualitative methods to explore the meaning of pressure among graduate students here at the University of Pennsylvania

Each student investigator (n=14) in Qualitative Methods Research Class (SW781), 2014, recruited a study participant (graduate students from across the university) and trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of photography in this context. Study participants were asked to define and explore the concept of pressure in their daily lives and were instructed to use their smart phones or digital cameras to document their exploration over one week. Using participant-generated photographs each member of the research team conducted a photo-elicitation interview with a participant. Additionally each student investigator recruited between 3 and 5 members of the Penn community (n=75) and asked them to answer 2 freelisting questions designed to help us explore the meaning of pressure. Preliminary review of the audio recordings from the interviews resulted in the identification of several themes. Examples include time, health, money, depression, sleep, and self-care. Here, we share with you a sample of these themes through participant generated photos and associated quotes. Additionally, we share the preliminary analysis of freelist data.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_posters/1026/thumbnail.jp

Penn and The Surrounding Community

Photo-elicitation was first named in a paper published by the photographer and researcher John Collier (1957). It involves a qualitative interview stimulated and guided by participant-generated photographs. This method can help break down barriers between researchers and participants and can promote rich and collaborative discussions (Harper, 1994). Each student in the Fall 2016 Qualitative Methods Research Class recruited one study participant (n=25) (undergraduate and graduate students) and trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of this method. Study participants were asked to explore the meaning of “Penn’s relationship with the surrounding community” over the course of one week using their phones to document their exploration. Using the participant-generated photographs to guide conversation, each member of the research team conducted an interview with a participant. Additionally, each student investigator recruited five members of the Penn community (n=125) and asked them to answer a free-listing question designed to help us explore perceptions of Penn’s relationship with the surrounding community.https://repository.upenn.edu/showcase_posters/1028/thumbnail.jp

The ‘Possible’. Enriching communities through thinking

We live in an age where thinking for the common good is often overshadowed by alienation and discontent due to the impact of human behaviour on the planet. Fast paced lifestyles are leading to unsustainable environments that may not be conducive to the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of citizens. In the wake of the wish for a more serene post-Anthropocene life, applications of how we may get to this phase are being actively sought. There has never been a better time to rekindle notions in relation to creative cognition in search for new opportunities. This paper aims to expand on the concept of ‘the possible’ by focusing on the potential to enrich human experience by exploring alternatives while engaging with the what lies beyond the ‘here and now’ and to engage with the ‘not [yet] here’. Firstly, the possible is defined in the context of post-Anthropocene futures. The presentation moves on to explore how using cognitive processes novel ideas may be extracted with the potential to pave the way for strategies that may lead to a more sustainable approach to how we humans impact our own lifestyles and the planet. This concept invites us to aspire, to think ahead, fantasize, and to wonder. It is time for us to deliberately break free from what we know and what we take for granted and to think of the ‘possible’. Secondly, adopting a sociocultural position, this paper aims to explore how the possible may be approached through its embeddedness within human agency and world. A salient factor in this process is the need to reconsider our approach to thinking and to go beyond the actual by exploring the future. Understanding and accepting that nonhuman activity is present at all levels creates a further need to engage with the possible. This could potentially enhance the coexistence with new technological developments, and the subsequent ethical implications that these pose while enhancing civic engagement and nurturing of communities. In the light of need to rethink our future to engage with the possible, we depart from the idea that creative thinking is a skill that can be learned and that it can be used to design new prospects. Creative thinking is a tool that may facilitate our creative cognitive processes to imagine the possible both at an individual level and within, communities. Through the possible, aspirations may become realities. If humans develop the ability to break free with old concepts and engage with the possible a generative mindset could be created leading to engaged communities. These new opportunities that might emerge could lead us to the post-Anthropocene.peer-reviewe

The Range of Qualitative Methods

Faciltators Guide for Workshop Number 4 ESRC Workshops for Qualitative Research in Managemen

Reflexivity

Faciltators Guide for Workshop Number 3 ESRC Workshops for Qualitative Research in Managemen

Quotes obtained from staff who worked in job centres for a regional public employment service.

Handout for Analysis Workshop 1 ESRC Workshops for Qualitative Research in Managemen

Skills of the Qualitative Researcher: The Facilitator's Guide

Faciltators Guide for Workshop Number 1 ESRC Workshops for Qualitative Research in Managemen

Intelligence sharing and preemptive war in the fight against terrorism

Terrorism is the biggest threat to international security, therefore the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) established different strategies to combat this issue. Given the circumstances aforementioned, this capstone project will analyze how the US use preemptive war and how the EU use intelligence sharing to counter terrorism...El terrorismo es la amenaza más grande a la seguridad internacional, de tal manera los Estados Unidos (EEUU) y la Unión Europea (UE) han establecido estrategias diferentes para combatir este tema. De acuerdo a lo mencionado anteriormente, este trabajo de titulación analizará como EEUU aplica guerra preemptiva y como la UE comparte inteligencia para combatir el terrorismo..