Interviewing Women Again: Power, Time and the Gift

The starting point for this article is a contribution to qualitative research methodology published in 1981 called ‘Interviewing women: A contradiction in terms?’ This was based on the experience of interviewing women in a longitudinal study of the transition to motherhood – the Becoming a Mother (BAM) study (1974–79) – and was subsequently much cited as helping to establish a new paradigm of feminist research. This article re-appraises the arguments put forward in ‘Interviewing women’, discusses its incorporation into a narrative about feminist methodology and presents and comments on new data collected in a follow-up to the BAM study conducted 37 years later. It argues that the complex political and social relationship between researcher and researched cannot easily be fitted into a paradigm of ‘feminist’ research, and that the concepts of a gift and of friendship as components in this relationship deserve more attention

Health and cancer prevention: knowledge and beliefs of children and young people

Objective: To collect information from children and young people about their knowledge of and attitudes towards cancer and their understanding of health and health related behaviours to inform future health promotion work. Design: Questionnaire survey of 15-16 year olds, and interviews with play materials with 9-10 year old children. Setting: Six inner city, suburban, and rural schools. Subjects: 226 children aged 15-16 years and 100 aged 9-10 years. Main outcome measures: Knowledge about different types of cancer; beliefs about health; sources of information; quality of research data obtainable from young children about cancer and health. Results: Both samples knew most about lung cancer, but there was also some knowledge of breast and skin cancer and leukaemia. Smoking, together with pollution and other environmental factors, were seen as the dominant causes of cancer. Environmental factors were mentioned more often by the inner city samples. Television and the media were the most important sources of information. Young people were more worried about unemployment than about ill health. More than half the young people did not describe their health as good, and most said they did not have a healthy lifestyle. Children were able to provide detailed information about their knowledge and understanding by using drawings as well as interviews. Conclusions: Children and young people possess considerable knowledge about cancer, especially about lung cancer and smoking, and show considerable awareness of predominant health education messages. Despite this knowledge, many lead less than healthy lifestyles. Health is not seen as the most important goal in life by many young people; the circumstances in which many children and young people live are not experienced as health promoting

A small sociology of maternal memory

Memory is an enormously important resource for the social sciences. This paper takes the subject of maternal memory to examine a corpus of work in the sociology of childbirth concerned with how women remember the experience of childbirth. It suggests that the sociology of memory has been more concerned with collective than individual experiences, and that women's memories of childbirth have generally been treated as a special case, rather than as a route to enhanced understandings of how memory works in relation to the all-important topics of time, identity and social change. Drawing on data from a 37-year follow-up to a study of childbirth conducted in the 1970s, it argues that maternal memory shares key characteristics with other kinds of memory, but can be significant in allowing women to reposition themselves as active social selves in a process that is remembered as not allowing much agency or autonomy

Fact, fiction and method in the early history of social research: Clementina Black and Margaret Harkness as case-studies

The development of social science research methods by women reformers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is a largely buried history. This article examines the work of Clementina Black and Margaret Harkness, two British reformers who conducted many social investigations using a wide range of research methods. They also crossed genres in writing fiction, which was an accepted method at the time for putting forward new ideas about social conditions. Black and Harness were part of a vibrant network of women activists, thinkers and writers in late nineteenth century London, who together contributed much to the growing discipline of social science and to imaginative forms of writing about social issues

Women, the Early Development of Sociological Research Methods in Britain and the London School of Economics: A (Partially) Retrieved History

Histories of sociology have concentrated on the development of theory rather than methods. This article examines the work of five women researchers associated with the London School of Economics in the early 20th century to highlight an aspect of this neglected history: the development of research methods. Mildred Bulkley, Maud Davies, Amy Harrison, Bessie Hutchins and Varvara De Vesselitsky all carried out empirical research on the sociology of work, women and the household deploying multiple research methods, including surveys, interviews, observations, covert ethnography and diaries and schedules for recording household diets and finances. Their work combined a sensitivity to social context and lived experience within a framework integrating the drive to social reform with a focus on scientific sociology. Very little of this work is known today. An awareness of it changes our understanding of disciplinary history, particularly with respect to the provenance of research methods, and their role in establishing academic sociology

Profiling first-year university students in an academic transition course.

First-year student characteristics relating to demographics (age, gender, major, etc.) were examined. Specifically, characteristics were examined relating to students\u27 desire to attend university, their academic preparedness, perceived level of skills, use of campus resources, perception about social support, time spent on various activities and use of time management strategies. Age differences, interaction effects and responses at Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2) were examined. Responses to key questions with regard to expectations of university and actual experiences were examined along with students\u27 end of first-year grade point average (GPA). Key findings included differences in responses by Age with regard to note taking skills, end of first year GPA, and the likelihood of seeking academic counselling. Differences in responses between Time 1 and Time 2 were noted with regard to expected GPA, expected time spent on preparatory work, use of campus resources and activities, achievement, involvement and confidence levels. Based on the findings of this research, implications and recommendations include the need for universities to conduct ongoing research to obtain an accurate profile of first-year students, especially with regard to the potential for different levels of maturity. Furthermore, universities require a better understanding about the support programs that would most benefit first-year students and the need to provide transition programming throughout their entire first year of university. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .O25. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-01, page: 0057. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005

Mixed methods Analysis of Undergraduate Quantum Mechanics: An Exploratory Case Study

One key goal of Physics Education Research is providing research-based instructional techniques and tools to help assess the complex learning goals associated with a mature understanding of physics. Characterizing faculty expectations is important to produce a comprehensive understanding of knowledge students should acquire before and during a quantum mechanics course (QMC). Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with faculty members and students entering a QMC in the Physics Program at a Large Public Research University (LPRU) in the Southeast. The interviews examine perspectives of different evaluation techniques, ideal preparation, course content, and expected conceptual models of students. A post-course survey was offered to the students that took the QMC in the Fall of 2012 and to those who completed the course in the past three years. The survey addressed similar questions on evaluation, course content, and preparation. Using Classical Content Analysis and Key-Words-In-Context coding methods, contradictions and similarities within and between faculty and student populations are presented. These results are presented in an effort to highlight predictors for success in the QMC, identify “common-core” perceptions, and strengthen course evaluation. In all data, findings suggest that student perceptions shift towards those of faculty over the course of the QMC. Evaluation data indicate that on average the faculty members, like students, are open to a varied array of evaluation techniques, if it is within the goals of the course and does not interfere with other faculty responsibilities. In perceptions of preparation and course content, faculty have a uniform perspective of what should be prerequisite, and the student survey data strongly recommend that the second semester of Linear Algebra offered at the LPRU will help with the mathematical complexities of the QMC. Through triangulation of qualitative and quantitative results contradictions of preparation and content are exhibited through multiple media for the use course content such as the Hamiltonian

Chemistry and Apparent Quality of Surface Water and Ground Water Associated with Coal Basins

Personnel of the Arkansas Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute conducted preliminary investigations on the chemistry and quality of surface and ground water associated with 12 coal-bearing sub-basins in the Arkansas Valley coal field. The coal field is approximately 60 miles long and 33 miles wide but only in 12 areas coal is thick enough and has proper quality to be termed commercial. Both surface and underground sample sites were established in each of the sub-basins with some minor variations in four areas where not all types of sites could be located. Water was collected from 19 surface points and 19 underground points in the established areas. Both field and laboratory analyses were made and elemental contents are reported herein. In the main, the chemistry and water quality suggests that all water is suitable for agricultural and industrial uses. To obtain potable water, treatment must be made to reduce calcium, magnesium, sodium sulfate and iron. The mineral content of the water is due to its contact with coal-bearing zones and, as such, reflects the mineral content of the coal. However, it is recommended that additional studies on the petrography and geochemistry of the coal, overburden and underburden is in order. Also, it is recommended that at least one detailed study be made of one of the coal sub-basins where geologic parameters can be completely established with regard to hydrogeology. This report is an important first step in determining the character and quality of Arkansas coal which must be fully understood to fully utilize this important mineral resource

Holistic hamstring health: not just the Nordic hamstring exercise

This was an editorial piece discussing the importance of a more holistic approach to hamstring conditioning