Constructing ethnicity statistics in talk-in-interaction: producing the 'White European'

This article ‘looks behind’ official statistics, analysing the social context of their production. It uses conversation analysis to examine how an organization’s ethnic monitoring statistics are constructed in and through interactions between callers and volunteers on its telephone helpline. In particular, it examines how the process of self-categorization is shaped by the response categories on the organization’s monitoring form and by the format in which the ethnic monitoring question is asked. These analyses contribute to developing understandings of the social construction of ‘race’/ethnicity and of organizationally generated statistics

Design

A work of fiction in which, much to the dismay of her band director father, a 13 year old girl is fired from her acolyting position

Anglo-American corporate governance and the employment relationship: a case to answer?

The corporate governance environment in the UK and US is generally thought to be hostile to the emergence of cooperative employment relations of the kind exemplified by labour-management partnerships. We discuss case study evidence from the UK which suggests that, contrary to this widespread perception, enduring and proactive partnerships may develop, in conditions where management can convince shareholders of the long-term gains from this approach, and where other regulatory factors operate to extend the time-horizon for financial returns. We conclude that there is more scope than is commonly allowed for measures which could reconcile liquidity in capital markets with cooperation in labour relations competition rather than EC legislationcorporate governance, labour-management partnerships, stakeholding

A qualitative meta-synthesis of young peoples' experiences of ‘sexting’

Objective: To conduct a meta-synthesis of the qualitative research to explore young people's experiences and use of smart phones to send and receive sexually focused messages and images. Design: A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted on the retrieved papers following a systematic search of PUBMED, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), COCHRANE, Embase, Medline and Psycinfo. The sample included five qualitative studies with a total sample size of 480 participants. Results: The meta-synthesis of the papers resulted in the development of four central themes: gender inequity, popularity with peers, relationship context, and costs and benefits. Conclusions: Drawing the qualitative work together highlights the manner in which ‘sexting’ is more nuanced than traditional ‘cyber-bullying’. The consensual sending of intimate images is a highly gendered activity. The gender issues require work with female students to explore the issue of ‘sexting’ and how it can be harmful. Work with male students around the issues of respect and gender harassment in relation to ‘sexting’ is also required and should contribute to sex and relationships education. The results indicate that school nurses working with young people need to build discussions about the use of technology within relationships into their work with young people

Using conversation analysis in feminist and critical research

Conversation analysis – the study of talk-in-interaction - is proving a valuable tool for politically-engaged inquiry and social critique. This article illustrates the use of conversation analysis in feminist and critical research, drawing on a range of empirical studies. After introducing conversation analysis – its theoretical assumptions, methodological practices, and empirical findings – it highlights projects based on two key conversation analytic domains: turn-taking and turn-design, and sequence organization and preference structure. The final section examines the key contributions of conversation analysis to feminist and critical work in the areas of categories and gender; LGBT issues; women’s labour; and the politics, ethics and design of the research process

Feminists fighting breast cancer: the personal and the political

El artículo indaga en las principales estrategias feministas para luchar por un cambio social en relación con el cáncer de mama. Arranca con un breve repaso de los factores de riesgo de cáncer de mama en el contexto de las estadísticas europeas sobre su incidencia y mortalidad. La parte central, que se apoya principalmente en mi propia investigación mediante grupos de discusión, demuestra lo común y lo diverso de la experiencia vital del cáncer de mama, dentro de su contexto social y político. El artículo termina con un debate sobre otras formas de activismo feminista que incluyen la lucha por mejores servicios y recursos, la oposición a la invisibilidad de las mujeres con cáncer de mama, así como una crítica política de la “industria” del cáncer de mama.This article examines key feminist strategies for pursuing social change in relation to breast cancer. It begins with a brief overview of breast cancerrisk factors in the context of European statistics on breast cancer incidence and mortality. The central section, based primarily on my own focus group research, documents the commonality and diversity of women’s lived experience ofbreast cancer, considered within its social and political context. The article endswith a discussion of other forms of feminist activism, including campaigningfor improved services and resources, challenging the invisibility of womenwith breast cancer, and a political critique of the breast cancer ‘industry’

Intervening with conversation analysis in telephone helpline services: strategies to improve effectiveness

This article overviews the way conversation analytic work on telephone helplines can make an impact in practical situations. It takes three illustrative themes in helpline research: (a) the giving, receiving, and resisting of advice; (b) the expression of strong emotion and its identification, management, and then coordination with helpline goals; and (c) how helplines' policies and practices shape the interactions between caller and call taker. For each of these themes, we show how conversation analysis research insights have been applied to improve helpline effectiveness. This has been done through a variety of practice-based reports, consultancy exercises, and training initiatives, including workshops where we aim to identify and facilitate good practice. Intervention studies of this type are at the forefront of interactional research on telephone helplines. Data are in Australian and British English

The crystal structure of superoxide dismutase from Plasmodium falciparum

Background: Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are important enzymes in defence against oxidative stress. In Plasmodium falciparum, they may be expected to have special significance since part of the parasite life cycle is spent in red blood cells where the formation of reactive oxygen species is likely to be promoted by the products of haemoglobin breakdown. Thus, inhibitors of P. falciparum SODs have potential as anti-malarial compounds. As a step towards their development we have determined the crystal structure of the parasite's cytosolic iron superoxide dismutase. Results: The cytosolic iron superoxide dismutase from P. falciparum (PfFeSOD) has been overexpressed in E. coli in a catalytically active form. Its crystal structure has been solved by molecular replacement and refined against data extending to 2.5 angstrom resolution. The structure reveals a two-domain organisation and an iron centre in which the metal is coordinated by three histidines, an aspartate and a solvent molecule. Consistent with ultracentrifugation analysis the enzyme is a dimer in which a hydrogen bonding lattice links the two active centres. Conclusion: The tertiary structure of PfFeSOD is very similar to those of a number of other iron-and manganese-dependent superoxide dismutases, moreover the active site residues are conserved suggesting a common mechanism of action. Comparison of the dimer interfaces of PfFeSOD with the human manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase reveals a number of differences, which may underpin the design of parasite-selective superoxide dismutase inhibitors

Co-operation in production, the organisation of industry and productive systems: a critical survey of the "District" form of industrial organisation and development

Liberal economics has traditionally put strong emphasis on individualisation and specialisation – and has struggled with the notion of co-operation. Thus, Alfred Marshall's pioneering work on the English industrial districts of his day posed a significant challenge to the conventional wisdom, which embraced laissez-faire markets and Adam Smith's claim that improvements in efficiency depend upon the increased division of labour within firms competing in them. Marshall found that an important determinant of the competitive success of industrial districts was effective co-operation within and between firms, supported by a dense network of institutions, and markets regulated by agreed rules, norms and standards. He theorised that these generate external economies of scale and scope that enable the district and its constituent small firms to successfully compete with large, vertically integrated firms. From the mid1920s, however, with the emergence and growth of very large, highly successful firms, the conventional wisdom shifted to suppose that the historical tendency in capitalist development was towards large firm dominance; and the small firm sector was progressively reduced to a residuum. However, the rediscovery of the industrial district by Italian scholars during the 1960s revived interest in Marshall’s notion of localised productive systems and attracted considerable attention to this form of industrial organisation. This paper traces themes within this literature, from the earliest theorising by the Classical Political Economists to the present, focusing on the role of co-operation in production, the relationship between the organisation of production and markets, and the nature and functioning of productive systems

Pursuing a response by repairing an indexical reference

Prior conversation analytic research has demonstrated that when, following a sequence-initiating action, a response is relevantly missing (or is forthcoming but is apparently inadequate), speakers may use a range of practices for pursuing a response (or a more adequate response). These practices—- such as response prompts, preference reversals, or turn extensions—treat the missing (or inadequate) response as indicative of some problem, and they may either expose or mask the response pursuit and the problem they attempt to remediate. This article extends this prior research by showing that speakers can also use repair technology—specifically, repair of an indexical reference—as a resource for pursuing a response. It demonstrates that speakers can use repair of indexicals, particularly when no uncertainty as to the referent seems possible, in order to pursue a response while obscuring some other possible source of trouble. Initiating repair on an indexical reference in transition space claims that a missing response is due to a problem of understanding or of recognizing the reference, and by repairing it, the speaker makes available another opportunity for a response without exposing recipient disinclination as the possible source of the trouble. Likewise, repairing an indexical reference in the third turn can pursue a more adequate response, while avoiding going on record as doing so, by treating the sequence-initiating turn as the source of the trouble. We show that, by ostensibly dealing with problems of reference, repairs on indexicals manage (covertly) other more interactionally charged issues, such as upcoming disagreement or misalignment between interlocutors