Rethinking the factuality of “contextual” factors in an ethnomethodological mode: Towards a reflexive understanding of action-context dynamism in the theorisation of coaching

In this paper, an argument is made for the revisitation of Harold Garfinkel's classic body of ethnomethodological research in order to further develop and refine models of the action-context relationship in coaching science. It is observed that, like some contemporary phenomenological and post-structural approaches to coaching, an ethnomethodological perspective stands in opposition to dominant understandings of contexts as semi-static causal ‘variables’ in coaching activity. It is further observed, however, that unlike such approaches – which are often focused upon the capture of authentic individual experience – ethnomethodology operates in the intersubjective domain, granting analytic primacy to the coordinative accomplishment of meaningful action in naturally-occurring situations. Focusing particularly on Garfinkel's conceptualization of action and context as transformable and, above all, reflexively-configured, it is centrally argued that greater engagement with the ethnomethodological corpus of research has much to offer coaching scholarship both theoretically and methodologically

The influence of multiaxial states of stress on the hydrogen embrittlement of zirconium alloy sheet

The ductility of ZIRCALOY *-2 sheets containing 21-615 wt ppm hydrogen has been investigated at room temperature over a range of stress states from uniaxial to equibiaxial tension. Data based on locally determined fracture strains show a decrease in ductility with both increasing hydrogen content and increasing degree of biaxiality of the stress state. Metallographic and fractographic examinations indicate that the embrittlement is a consequence of void nucleation (due to hydride fracture), void growth, and void link-up. The influence of hydrogen content and stress state on each of the sequential stages of ductile fracture is determined. These results indicate that the primary cause for the influence of stress state on the hydrogen embrittlement of the ZIRCALOY sheet is that void link-up is initiated at a much lower critical void density in equibiaxial tension than in uniaxial tension. This appears to be a result of equibiaxial deformation enhancing (a) direct participation of previously unfractured hydrides in providing a fracture path linking up voids and (b) a localized shear instability process which is triggered by the nucleation of voids. © 1985 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society - ASM International - The Materials Information Society