Grey Literature and Professional Knowledge Making

International audienceWhat does grey literature mean? What role does it play in the production and dissemination of practitioner knowledge? How do reports, presentations and communications, working papers and other un-published material contribute to professional, extra-academic knowledge making? The following paper tries to provide some elements for a better understanding of grey literature, with examples from different collections and disciplines. Moreover, it puts the focus on critical issues like standards, identifiers and quality, and it discusses the impact of open science, i.e. the movement to make scientific research, data and dissemination accessible to all levels of an inquiring society, amateur or professional

'This is what democracy looks like' : New Labour's blind spot and peripheral vision

New Labour in government since 1997 has been roundly criticized for not possessing a clear, coherent and consistent democratic vision. The absence of such a grand vision has resulted, from this critical perspective, in an absence of 'joined-up' thinking about democracy in an evolving multi-level state. Tensions have been all too apparent between the government's desire to exert central direction - manifested in its most pathological form as 'control freakery' - and its democratising initiatives derived from 'third-way' obsessions with 'decentralising', 'empowering' and 'enabling'. The purpose of this article is to examine why New Labour displayed such apparently impaired democratic vision and why it appeared incapable of conceiving of democratic reform 'in the round'. This article seeks to explain these apparent paradoxes, however, through utilising the notion of 'macular degeneration'. In this analysis, the perceived democratic blind spot of New Labour at Westminster is connected to a democratic peripheral vision, which has envisaged innovative participatory and decentred initiatives in governance beyond Westminster

Microblogging, constituency service and impression management – UK MPs and the use of Twitter

Twitter, a microblogging site which allows users to deliver statements, thoughts and links in 140 characters to followers as well as a wider Internet audience, is the latest online communications technology adopted by MPs. Assessing the use of early adopters, this article considers which MPs are most likely to use Twitter (e.g. tweeting), and how. Content analysis of tweeting MPs was conducted, and identified personal and political characteristics which may influence use. The data suggested that of the six characteristics tested, gender, party and seniority had most impact on adoption. Applying Jones and Pittman’s (1982) typology there is clear evidence that MPs use Twitter as a tool of impression management. Constituency service is a secondary function of the use of Twitter by MPs. Where MPs use Twitter as part of their constituency role it is to promote their local activity. We note that a small group of MPs use Twitter as a regular communication channel, but most are only occasionally dipping their toe into the microbloggersphere

Against the odds: an investigation into student persistence in UK higher education

© 2019, © 2019 Society for Research into Higher Education. This article focuses on student persistence in Higher Education. It examines qualities that enable students to persist in their studies despite the challenges they face, and key factors interplaying with and affecting these qualities. This study utilised the explanatory mixed-methods approach. It comprised a faculty-wide survey which explained the relationships between and across variables. Focus group interviews explored significant predictors of students’ persistence. Results from this study showed that, among other things, key drivers of student persistence were personal optimism, academic engagement, and positive relationships. Students’ decision to stay on and complete their studies determines their persistence; but there also remains a major role to be played by institutions. Successful student persistence tends to be a result of an intricate interaction between the student’s personal factors and their environment–and the institution is a key component of that environment

‘Connectivity’: Seeking conditions and connections for radical discourses and praxes in health, mental health and social work

This paper begins with reflections on the development and spread of the ideas, discourse and praxis of radical social work in the 1970s and the cross-fertilisation of these discourses and praxes with discourses and praxes within radical health and mental health initiatives. During these years, for many in the fields of health, mental health and social work, their work and their lives were characterised by active involvement in a range of campaigns focused upon health, mental health and social work issues, together with shared values of more transparent and supportive work with users of health, mental health and social work services and a commitment to greater understanding through social and political theorising. This analysis is compared with the present where workplace cultures in health and social work emphasise meeting delivery and performance targets. It is argued that workers currently in health, mental health and social work with children and with adults share many similar experiences. Hegemonic discourses and praxes appear immoveable, but dissatisfaction with the status quo can become a disinhibiting factor. Building from experiences and analysis, exploration is begun into what conditions and connections might be needed now to develop radical discourses and praxes in health, mental health and social work

Offers of assistance in politician–constituent interaction

This paper was accepted in the journal Discourse Studies [© Sage] and the definitive version is available at http:dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445615602376How do politicians engage with and offer to assist their constituents; the people who vote them into power? We address the question by analyzing a corpus of 80 interactions recorded at the office of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom, and comprising telephone calls between constituents and the MP’s clerical ‘caseworkers’ as well as face to face encounters with MPs in their fortnightly ‘surgeries’. The data were transcribed, then analysed using conversation analysis, focusing on the design and placement of offers of assistance. We identified three types of offers within a longer ‘offering’ sequence: 1) ‘proposal offers’, which typically appear first in any offering sequence, in which politicians and caseworkers make proposals to help their constituents using formats that request permission to do so, or check that the constituent does indeed want help (e.g., “do you want me to”; “we could…”); 2) ‘announcement offers’, which appear second, and indicate that something has been decided and confirm the intention to act (e.g., “I will do X”), and 3) ‘request offers’, which appear third, and take for form “let me do X”. Request offers indicate that the offer is available but cannot be completed until the current conversation is closed; they also appear in environments in which the constituent reissues their problems and appears dissatisfied with the offers so far. The paper contributes to what we know about making offers in institutional settings, as well as shedding the first empirical light on the workings of the constituency office: the site of engagement between everyday members of the public and their elected representatives

Backbench and leadership roles in the House of Commons. by Donald D. Searing

A summary of a study of eight political roles in the House of Commons