Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research

The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is reconsidered in the qualitative research paradigm. Since reliability and validity are rooted in positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach. Like reliability and validity as used in quantitative research are providing springboard to examine what these two terms mean in the qualitative research paradigm, triangulation as used in quantitative research to test the reliability and validity can also illuminate some ways to test or maximize the validity and reliability of a qualitative study. Therefore, reliability, validity and triangulation, if they are relevant research concepts, particularly from a qualitative point of view, have to be redefined in order to reflect the multiple ways of establishing truth

Food Figures at the Forks: The Intersection of Feminist and (Post)Colonial Politics of Food Imagery in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss

In Culinary Fictions: Food in South Asian Diasporic Culture, Anita Mannur argues that food offers ‘an alternative register through which to theorize gender, sexuality, class, and race’ in literature by and about the South Asian diaspora. The use of food in these texts is not merely a figurative flourish, but rather an ‘important vector of critical analysis in negotiating the gendered, racialized, and classed bases of collective and individual identity’ of South Asian bodies. Food is always already political; it must not merely be tasted, but must be read in terms of how it (re)presents and (re)produces intersecting power differentials. Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss, winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize, impels this kind of reading as injustice and violence consistently situate themselves around food: members of the Gorkhaland National Liberation Front demand an afternoon tea after robbing the judge, and Biju is continuously mistreated as an illegal Indian immigrant working in New York City’s food industry, for example. By reading how food imagery and food politics function in these circumstances one can unpack how violence is enacted at the intersections of colonialism, classism, racism, and sexism. Yet the literature has largely neglected anything more than a simple recognition of the presence of violence in the relationship between Jemubhai (a Cambridge-educated judge working in India) and his wife, Nimi (who has never left India). An analysis of food, however, enables a more thorough and nuanced reading of the violence enacted upon Nimi, situating it at the intersection of (post)colonialism, racism, and patriarchy

A Feasibility Study of BBP for predicting shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams without stirrups.

yesShear failure of concrete elements reinforced with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars is generally brittle, requiring accurate predictions to avoid it. In the last decade, a variety of artificial intelligence based approaches have been successfully applied to predict the shear capacity of FRP Reinforced Concrete (FRP-RC). In this paper, a new approach, namely, biogeography-based programming (BBP) is introduced for predicting the shear capacity of FRP-RC beams based on test results available in the literature. The performance of the BBP model is compared with several shear design equations, two previously developed artificial intelligence models and experimental results. It was found that the proposed model provides the most accurate results in calculating the shear capacity of FRP-RC beams among the considered shear capacity models. The proposed BBP model can also correctly predict the trend of different influencing variables on the shear capacity of FRP-RC beams

The Effect of Intellectual Capital on Knowledge Management with the Mediating Role of Organizational Commitment

Abstract: For many years, at the competitive examination, Yazd province students have the highest acceptance rate to enter university. The attention to knowledge management and its impact in the creation of an intangible capital type (but vital) called intellectual investment among employees and institutional managers responsible to educate are an indispensable necessity in the education department of Yazd province. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of intellectual capital on knowledge management with the interceding role of organizational commitment in the General Office of Education in Yazd province, Iran. The results showed that intellectual capital affects knowledge management and intellectual capital is imperative for organizational commitment. Organizational commitment influences knowledge management. Organizational commitment has a significant positive mediation effect in the influencing of intellectual capital on knowledge management.Key Words: intellectual capital, knowledge management, organizational commitment, knowledge creation, knowledge sharingAbstrak: Bertahun-tahun, pada ujian kompetitif, siswa provinsi Yazd memiliki tingkat penerimaan tertinggi untuk masuk ke universitas. Perhatian terhadap manajemen pengetahuan dan dampaknya dalam penciptaan modal tidak berwujud (tetapi vital) yang disebut investasi intelektual di antara karyawan dan manajer institusional yang bertanggung jawab untuk mendidik adalah kebutuhan yang sangat diperlukan di departemen pendidikan provinsi Yazd. Penelitian dilakukan dengan tujuan menyelidiki efek modal intelektual pada manajemen pengetahuan dengan peran menjadi perantara komitmen organisasi di Departemen Pendidikan provinsi Yazd, Iran. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa modal intelektual mempengaruhi manajemen pengetahuan dan modal intelektual sangat penting untuk komitmen organisasi. Komitmen organisasi mempengaruhi manajemen pengetahuan. Komitmen organisasi memiliki efek mediasi positif yang signifikan dalam mempengaruhi modal intelektual pada manajemen pengetahuan.Kata kunci: modal intelektual, manajemen pengetahuan, komitmen organisasi, penciptaan pengetahuan, penyebaran pengetahua

Critical Interventions in the Medical Humanities

This thesis makes three novel critical theoretical interventions in the medical humanities. The first uses Benjamin’s critical theory of art in the age of its technological reproducibility to reveal that the evidence-based biomedical model’s primary function is not to cure patients, but to prescribe politics. The technological reproducibility of evidence-based biomedicine transforms medicine so it can no longer perceive—or encounter—patients as unique, whole, and above all situated beings. The second intervention uses Sara Ahmed’s feminist phenomenology to theorize ethical encounters between medicine and its “others”—patients and literature—in such a way that particularizes the encounter, not the other itself. This theoretical maneuver re-accounts for unique, situated patients without essentializing them. The third intervention proposes a medical inhumanities that recognizes what conditions produce inhumanity in medicine’s encounters with others, like the encounter between a mentally ill refugee and evidence-based biomedicine in Rawi Hage’s novel Cockroach

Exploring the Elements of Visionary Leadership: A Case Study of Faculty Members in Macro Universities of Medical Sciences in Region 1 in Iran

The purpose of this study is to investigate the components that make up visionary leadership among faculty members in medical science universities across Iran’s Region 1. In this study, a descriptive survey was conducted to gather information on faculty members from universities of medical sciences in Region 1. A total of 320 participants completed a questionnaire containing 91 questions. The collected data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis tests. The findings indicated that Visionary Leadership consisted of two dimensions - individual and organizational - each with three components. The individual dimension pertained to the characteristics, skills, and behaviors of visionary leaders, while the organizational dimension included the thematic role, schematic role, and matric role of visionary leadership within the organization. The highest standard coefficient was related to the component of characteristics of visionary leaders for the individual dimension and the schematic role of visionary leaders in the organization for the organizational dimension. These findings can help managers and authorities of medical education institutions to train high-powered executives who are committed and motivated to implement the Strategic Declaration of the Supreme Leader. It is necessary to establish a national resolve in this field to improve the quality of medical education in Iran

Supporting patients self-managing respiratory health: a qualitative study on the impact of the Breathe Easy voluntary group network

Self-management strategies are designed to improve lung and respiratory health through structured self-management plans with regular practitioner reviews. Strategies have not however focused upon how patient support groups and advocacy networks can help with the management of these conditions, therefore it is unknown what impact they may have on patient self-management. A qualitative study was designed to help understand what impact the British Lung Foundation’s (BLF) Breathe Easy (BE) groups have with patients managing their lung and respiratory conditions. A semi-structured telephone interview schedule was developed to study the network. Topics covered included: perceptions about the BE groups; current referrals systems and integration pathways; benefits of attending the BE groups; and integration of the BE groups into the respiratory pathway. Key themes explored included: shared patient experience and peer-support; patient self-management and self-education, attendance of healthcare professionals, and the impact of integrating BE groups into the respiratory pathway. BE networks were shown to support self-care initiatives for people attending the groups and members expressed a social and educational benefit. BE networks were working with the local NHS to become an integral part of the respiratory pathway, yet, there was evidence of resistance from the health service in incorporating the networks

Hemodialysis Patients and Nurses’ Perspective: What Is a Qualified Nursing Care?

Background: With the high prevalence of chronic diseases such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) and consequently, the increasing number of hemodialysis (HD) patients, providing high-quality care has become a health concern in many countries. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the concept of “qualified care” from HD patients’ and nurses’ points of view. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using a content analysis approach. A total of 48 patients and nurses in the HD wards were selected through purposive and snowball sampling methods. Sampling continued until data saturation. Finally, a total of 54 interviews were conducted with the participants. The interviews were recorded with the participants’ permission and analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman approach. Results: In this study, 16.7% of the nurses were male, and their mean age was 35.4 ± 7.47 years. Moreover, 50% of the HD patients were male, and their mean age was 53.1 ± 8.6 years. The results of the analysis of the interviews in response to the main question were classified into four main themes including (a) physical care, (b) psychological care, (c) ethical care, and (d) extensive skills and knowledge of the nurse. Conclusion: From the patients’ and nurses’ perspective, empathy and companionship in sessions, fulfilling daily needs, social support, and high-quality dialysis are the components of the concept of care. Therefore, these concepts should be considered in the care programs for HD patients designed by the healthcare team