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Care, management, and statute each mandate restraint-reporting in psychiatric settings in England. PROD-ALERT in this journal ("PA1") correlated log incidence of restraint, log institutional size, and log detention. The period was September 2020 to August 2021. It showed a clear trend among reporters. Restraint correlated with institutional size and use of legal detention. Some large detaining providers reported no restraints per month despite that trend. Inference from size suggested that non-complete reporters restrained 1,774 people per month. This paper "PA2" develops analysis repeating it for September 2021 to August 2022. PA2 shows how to count L-information, i.e., questionable information, added by null reports, by applying an L-test to data sets. PA2 uses illustrative vignettes about human height to ground L-information scores from English restraint reporting. In PA2, reported restraint again correlates with size and detention as in PA1. PA2 shows evolving data. Providers still follow a trend in restraint by size and detention. Providers which newly report restraint are on trend. Inference suggests that non-complete reporters restrained 1,305 people per month (536-3233), 95% CI, a large but reduced number since PA1. English restraint data have an L-test L-information score of increase in information by a factor of L = 145. This is as surprising as claiming that an average English man of 1.72 m is 2.64 m tall. Persons restrained per month is a robust measure continuing to log-correlate with size and legal compulsion. Providers over a certain size who report null restraint probably have some. Restraint remains underreported in England. Imputation of incomplete reporters shows a large shrinking cohort of patients detained by incomplete reporters. Knowledge of this may promote reporting. Improved reporting, and the infrastructure and integrity it demands, may help providers measure and reduce restraint. PA1 remains unrefuted. L-test can measure L-information in intuitively representable ways. The informational effect of nulls on the reliable data set is similar to a claim that an average-heighted man is as tall as people with clinical gigantism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the views of young people attending within-school 'alternative' provision to support their return to mainstream classes. Q-methodology was used to explore pupil views about what helps and inhibits successful on-site 'reintegration'. Eighteen pupils aged 13–16 years with experience of attending school inclusion centres in three high schools participated. Protective factors supporting reintegration and mitigating the risk of further exclusion from school included the need to be seen and heard, and to have somewhere or someone to go to for support. The study highlights the importance of pupil voice and a need for greater clarity in terminology used to describe the shifting terrain of inclusion. Further research is needed on the context and factors driving the rise in in-school alternative provision in England, including blind spots in official data on the extent of pupil moves and subsequent opportunities within mainstream settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we deploy data collected through a Q study with educators in south-west England. The mixed methodology involved the two stages of forced choice statement sorting by educator participants and subsequent factor analysis. Through abductive analyses, four views regarding aspirations and young people in peripheral communities are identified. Of these, only one viewpoint, named 'acknowledge the barriers to finding employment', aligns with taken for granted narratives on encouraging school students to pursue careers in the knowledge economy, with transition to higher education being the acknowledged pathway to flourishing futures. Three further viewpoints are identified and discussed. The paper contributes new insights to understanding educational landscapes in peripheral places through employing a novel approach, that of Q method, to illuminate educators' lived experiences in such communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Within the context of the big data society, new systems of data collection on domestic violence and abuse (DVA) have emerged. One such system is Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DVFR) which captures the various dimensions of gender, violence, and abuse required to form an evidence base for prevention. However, to date, there has been limited dialogue between practitioners and researchers about the 'doing' of DVFRs. Method: As DVFR systems vary by jurisdiction, we conducted a case study of Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) in England and Wales. Applying the Research Integrity Framework (RIF) developed by the four Women's Aid Federations in the United Kingdom (UK), this article examines both the practice of DHR and how it is utilised as data in research. Results: Informed by our situated perspectives as researchers and/or practitioners working in the field, our analysis demonstrates how undertaking DHR as a practitioner parallels collecting, accessing, and analysing data from DHRs as a researcher. Guiding principles are identified to help practitioners and researchers navigate the parallel challenges they confront and, critically, inform dialogue between practice and research. Conclusions: Implications for both professional practice and research are presented. To increase transparency and confidence, we argue that more attention should be afforded to the methodological and ethical issues inherent in both the practice of DHRs, and their utilisation as a source of data in research. While DHRs have differences to DVFRs in other jurisdictions, these findings also have implications for these other systems which will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why you should read this article: • To reflect on how best to recruit and interview participants in a virtual setting • To understand how other team members can assist in recruiting participants • To consider ways in which healthcare researchers should take care of themselves when interviewing virtually Background: The strict restrictions implemented in England during the COVID-19 pandemic meant it was no longer possible to recruit or interview participants in person. However, virtual recruitment and interviews are not without their challenges, particularly when exploring sensitive topics. Aim: To discuss how to overcome some of the challenges involved in recruiting and interviewing participants who have been critically ill with COVID-19. Discussion: An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted involving interviews with 20 people who had been critically ill with COVID-19 and had been discharged from two community-based healthcare settings in London, England. Participants were interviewed at home after being discharged from hospital after at least one month. The sensitivity of the research topic meant strategies for recruiting and interviewing needed to be adapted, including involving patient experience facilitators, using virtual interviews, managing the distress of participants and self-care for the researchers. Conclusion: The adaptations used in this study can be used in research involving people who have been critically ill. Implications for practice: Researchers can explore innovative ways to recruit participants using hospital or community staff who are not usually involved in research. Virtual interviews require additional skills, such as building rapport with participants, so may require additional training. A distress protocol for participants should always be considered when discussing sensitive topics. Self-care and debrief strategies for interviewers are also critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

England and Wales are in the middle of an ambitious court reform programme, a key element of which is the shift to more online hearings in appropriate cases. This raises a series of new questions for the judiciary, not least of which is whether there are circumstances in which a video hearing is unsuitable because a key participant is not able to engage effectively online. This article considers current thinking about the circumstances in which a case should be excluded from the list of online proceedings and compares judicial approaches to what we know of digital disadvantage from the social science literature. The authors draw on emerging judicial statements about threshold competencies, and original research with court staff, regular participants in court hearings and lay users. It is argued that the complex dynamics of digital disadvantage are frequently misunderstood and underestimated. This article makes clear the need for a more in-depth consideration of the multiple ways in which digital disadvantage manifests itself beyond a lack of equipment or skills. In doing so it raises critical questions about what we mean by user perspectives and how the voices of users are being heard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music education in England has been in a state of flux for a number of years due to the complexities and variability of its delivery. Many of the issues surrounding music education in England are associated with policy and practice in schools, and the complexities of funding and deployment of music activities. This creates contextual, structural and political boundaries, especially on partnership work that seeks to join up provision. This paper presents findings from a four-year longitudinal project that aimed to explore the role of partnership work between schools and out-of-school music providers. It also critiques structural issues and limitations of music education in England, offering new insight and resolutions. Methodologically there has been an emerging interest in diffractive approaches and the intra-actions they produce (Barad [2007] Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; Haraway [2008] When Species Meet. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press). An important part of the paper is to outline the importance of these novel methodologies that go beyond reflection and raise important questions regarding the role of diffractive and intra-active processes in education research projects. This is a novel consideration, which is pertinent for music education research internationally. The paper concludes with a reconceptualisation of partnership work, and new theoretical underpinnings for future partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the historical, theological, and philosophical study of Anne Conway and Origen while also proposing a methodology for theologians interested in drawing on their thought constructively. It evaluates Anne Conway's use of the theology of Origen in her treatise, The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, comparing it with her only definitely known printed source of Origen's ideas, A Letter of Resolution concerning Origen. It draws out Conway's little‐known theological thinking, building on and engaging with the extant Conway scholarship (most notably Sarah Hutton's 'Origen and Anne Conway') which tends to be more philosophically‐oriented. The result substantially modifies Hutton's conclusions through a closer theological engagement with both Origen and Conway, making more precise Conway's relationship with the Origenist tradition in England. In the process, foundational commitments and driving concerns in Conway's thought are identified and the method of her engagement with Origen is uncovered. The final section speaks particularly to systematicians, presenting a practical method for engaging with the thought of Origen, or any other 'heterodox' theologian, or one of a different confession from the practicing theologian. Further engagement with Conway's own thought is also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) is an evolving model of healthcare delivery aimed at achieving better patient outcomes at lower costs to the healthcare provider. The practise of VBHC requires efficient information systems with good reporting capability and subsequent outcome measuring. Information systems within the National Health Service (NHS) are often multiple and not necessarily integrated to one another. We therefore developed a systematic approach to collecting, validating and analysing data from multiple sources and information systems, with the aim of designing and endorsing an automatic system to capture health outcomes data in heart failure to support future VBHC models. Methods: A retrospective cohort of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction undergoing Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) or Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) procedures within a limited geographical area in South London were evaluated. A purpose built database was created to integrate, transform and validate health care data from multiple information systems. Results: Validation analysis shows that our implemented methodology has produced a robust dataset. Our limited cohort of 134 patients does not allow for any complex statistical analysis however has identified some important themes related to outcomes and costs. Conclusion: We have created a validated database specific to our Trust that can be upscaled locally with ease and transferred to other health diseases. Due to variations in local procedure from one Trust to another, this methodology now requires implementation across multiple sites to understand differences in transformation of data and outcome measuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Systematic reviews have identified effective strategies for increasing postal response rates to questionnaires; however, most studies have isolated single techniques, testing the effect of each one individually. Despite providing insight into explanatory mechanisms, this approach lacks ecological validity, given that multiple techniques are often combined in routine practice.Methods: We used a two-armed parallel randomised controlled trial (n = 2702), nested within a cross-sectional health survey study, to evaluate whether using a pragmatic combination of behavioural science and evidenced-based techniques (e.g., personalisation, social norms messaging) in a study invitation letter increased response to the survey, when compared with a standard invitation letter. Participants and outcome assessors were blinded to group assignment. We tested this in a sample of women testing positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) at cervical cancer screening in England.Results: Overall, 646 participants responded to the survey (response rate [RR] = 23.9%). Logistic regression revealed higher odds of response in the intervention arm (n = 357/1353, RR = 26.4%) compared with the control arm (n = 289/1349, RR = 21.4%), while adjusting for age, deprivation, clinical site, and clinical test result (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.09-1.55).Conclusion: Applying easy-to-implement behavioural science and evidence-based methods to routine invitation letters improved postal response to a health-related survey, whilst adjusting for demographic characteristics. Our findings provide support for the pragmatic adoption of combined techniques in routine research to increase response to postal surveys.Trial Registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN15113095 . Registered 7 May 2019 - retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article provides a novel insight into how earlycareer scholars in the UK may combine different theoretical tools in their research, and the implications that this may have for the socio-legal discipline. This Article draws upon the author's experience of combining theoretical tools from different schools of thought: Feminist legal theory, Bourdieusian theory, and Actor Network Theory, within the context of recent research into experiences of those representing themselves in family court hearings in England and Wales. Combining these theories for the first time, this Article explores the difficulties, tensions, and benefits of combining tools within socio-legal research and reflects upon the influence of the pedagogical and institutional resources that characterize the socio-legal research environment in the UK. This Article argues that the task of combining different tools provides scholars with the opportunity to work politically, because the process of reconciling tensions between different approaches requires researchers to reflect upon the worldviews that underpin their selected theories. In this sense, it argues that combining different theories within socio-legal research is a political activity, because researchers are required to reflect not only on how theoretical choices may contest, expand, or develop dominant assumptions that characterize socio-legal scholarly traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work education in England will have a new regulator from 2019. According to official sources, this is 'as part of wider reforms to improve confidence in social work and raise the status of the profession'. In the background of any changes to social work education are the reports by Croisdale-Appleby (2014) and Narey (2014). Both reported that the existing regulatory regime was inadequate and made a combined total of 40 recommendations for improvement. Specifically, on the subject of social work teaching in higher education institutions, Narey expressed concern about both the content and quality and recommended that the teaching should be observed. If the incoming regulator were to introduce direct observations of teaching in inspections it would represent a new development. Previous regulators have not adopted this method. This discussion paper reviews selected literature on what teaching observation can and cannot achieve as an inspection method. It reflects on how social work education might gain if inspectors observed teaching. However, it also argues that to be a meaningful and credible process teaching observations need to take heed of a range of interrelated issues which, if not thought through properly, will invalidate the whole exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the results of a survey of prisoners in England and Wales concerning their lifestyles before prison and on offenses they committed in the 18 months before being arrested. It states that the inmates had a low level of education, with the majority of them finishing full-time education before the age of 16, and with widespread drug and alcohol-related problems. It mentions the methodology of conducting a prison survey and on maintaining accuracy and representativeness of the survey while gathering detailed information.

Introduction: More than 30,000 emergency laparotomies take place annually in England and Wales (Symons et al. in Br J Surg 100(10):1318-1325, 2013; Shapter et al. in Anaesthesia 67(5):474-478, 2012). They are associated with high morbidity and an average inpatient 30-day mortality rate of 11%. Inextricably linked to outcomes is the decision-making process of whether or not to operate (NELA Project Team First patient report of the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit. RCoA, London, 2015; Crebbin et al. in Aust N Z J Surg 83(6):422-428, 2013). A mixed-methods study was undertaken to investigate decision-making in the emergency laparotomy and influencing factors.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken amongst general surgeons, exploring the decision-making process. Results helped guide design of an online survey, consisting of vignettes and subsequent questions. Respondents were asked to decide whether or not they would perform a laparotomy for each vignette and the results compared to grade, risk attitudes and reflective practice. Responses were analysed for effect of previous positive and negative experiences and for consistency.Results: Interviews revealed multiple important factors when considering whether or not to perform an emergency laparotomy, broadly categorised into patient-related, surgeon-related and external factors. A total of 116 general surgeons completed the survey: 12 SHOs, 79 registrars and 25 consultants. Non-consultants were 10.4% (95% CI ±9.7%) more likely to perform an emergency laparotomy than consultants (p = 0.036) on multivariate analysis. No association was observed between operative practices and risk attitudes (p = 0.22), reflective practice (p = 0.7) or previous positive or negative experiences in univariate (p = 0.67) or multivariate analysis. Surgeons were not proven to be either consistent nor inconsistent in their decision-making.Conclusion: The decision to operate or not in an emergency laparotomy directly effects patient outcome. This study demonstrates a difference in decision-making and risk attitudes between consultants and their juniors. To address this, formal teaching of models of decision-making, influencing factors and vignette-based consultant-led discussions should be introduced into surgical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we describe and critique a methodological exercise that brings together multimodality, ethnography and walking in order to investigate the city. Drawing on the experience of enacting our methodology in central London, we describe how an openness to the full range of meaning-making phenomena encountered during an unscripted excursion through the city provided ways of thinking critically about our relationship with the city. This research is undertaken against a backdrop of a growing critical interest in the complex and shifting nature of the urban environment, reflected in the range of approaches that investigate how we understand and experience our surroundings. Central to this methodological approach is the intersection of ethnography and multimodality which, when brought together within the device of an unscripted walk, provides valuable opportunities for thinking critically about our surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vying with each other in terms of conceptual frameworks and methodologies, recent studies on popular culture in early modern England have sought to shed light on people's values, customs, beliefs and behaviour by recourse to what the Annales School has termed "anecdotal history". Viewed from this angle, popular culture no longer appears to be the cultural pariah that was either ostracised or ridiculed as barbarian and primitive by the elite. The present article elaborates on the interaction between the two opposite categories and presents a few methodological approaches that have had the merit of digging up valuable information about ordinary people and their lived experience in early modern England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much public health research considers interventions that influence and are influenced by both individuals’ health and the society around them; this can be described as a complex system. We consider the role of explanation alongside statistical inference as crucial to obtaining credible and useful insights, particularly in light of concerns about a ‘crisis of replication’, and reflect on the difficulty in researching complex systems. In this paper, we make a connection with Lipton’s philosophy of inference to the best explanation, and offer some tentative practical recommendations, extending suggestions from different fields. An extended hypothetical example is given on introducing ‘sugar tax’ in England. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For many new academics, coming to a decision about which research methodology to employ for their doctoral studies can be daunting. Faced with numerous options, sometimes contradictory advice from experienced scholars and a desire to find the perfect match for a research question, one can find the decision to opt for a particular methodological path a huge step, and it can be hindered by nagging concerns and a lack of academic experience. This article draws together two short pieces of writing from PhD students at Lancaster University, who attended and were inspired by a workshop on narrative methods, led by Professor Catherine Kohler Riessman. The first piece is a reflective account of why the author was drawn to narrative methods for her research. It explores the impact of charities and how this is articulated qualitatively, within the context of a mixed market approach to welfare and health service provision in the UK. It discusses what she observes to be the parallels between a narrative research approach and her practice as a social worker and details her experience of completing her first narrative interview. The second is about how the author was inspired by the workshop to produce a pilot study on attitudes of male offenders towards violence against women using the narrative approach and including excerpts from his research data. Finally, it draws together their thoughts about the workshop and how they intend to continue working with narratives in their future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, 'policy experiments' are largely synonymous with the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to test whether one policy 'works' better than another. While advocacy of the use of RCTs in public policy presents this as relatively straightforward, even common sense, the reality is different, as shown through analysis of three high profile policy pilots and their evaluations undertaken in health and social care in England in the mid/late 2000s. The RCTs were expected to confirm the direction of policy by resolving any remaining uncertainty about the effectiveness of the chosen path and their existence was used largely as instruments of persuasion. The findings from the analysis of the three pilots confirm the continuing relevance of Campbell's 1969 insight that governments struggle to experiment in the scientific sense and explain the limited effect of these policy experiments on policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper examines knowledge exchange dynamics in a specialist integrated intellectual (learning) disability service, comprising specialist healthcare provision with social care commissioning and management, and considers their significance in terms of integrated service delivery. Methods A qualitative study focusing on knowledge exchange and integrated services. Semi-structured interviews ( n = 25) were conducted with members of an integrated intellectual disability service in England regarding their perceptions of knowledge exchange within the service and the way in which knowledge exchange impinges on the operation of the integrated service. Results Exchange of 'explicit' (codifiable) knowledge between health and care management components of the service is problematic because of a lack of integrated clinical governance and related factors such as IT and care record systems and office arrangements. Team meetings and workplace interactions allowed for informal exchange of explicit and 'tacit' (non-codifiable) knowledge, but presented challenges in terms of knowledge exchange completeness and sustainability. Conclusions Knowledge exchange processes play an important role in the functioning of integrated services incorporating health and care management components. Managers need to ensure that knowledge exchange processes facilitate both explicit and tacit knowledge exchange and do not rely excessively on informal, ' ad hoc' interactions. Research on integrated services should take account of micro-scale knowledge exchange dynamics and relationships between social dynamics and physical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the role of fieldwork in folklore studies and anthropology. By speculating on the fieldwork experience of Ernesto de Martino in Lucania, we consider the figure of the Gramscian Fieldworker commenting on Stephen Olbrys Gencarellas proposal for a critical folklore studies. An imaginary de Martino, one that never existed, is seen as the precursor for such a figure, built around the scenario of the "end" as depicted by Heidegger and embodying the Gramscian proposition of the Organic Intellectual. The second part of the article grounds such a figure in the authors ethnographic experience of London, offering an examination of the current state of British multiculturalism through the case of an East London singer-songwriter. A practical example of how to interpret the fieldwork tactic pioneered by an imaginary de Martino in Lucania is presented as a way for social sciences and the humanities to overcome the predilection for text analysis of deconstructionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Interactive workshops are often the default mechanism for sharing knowledge across professional and sector boundaries; yet we understand little about if, and how, they work. Between 2009 and 2011, the Research to Reality programme in North East England ran eight stand-alone facilitated multi-agency workshops focused on priority public health issues. Local authorities, the health service, and academe collaborated on the programme to share latest evidence and best practice Methods: A realist evaluation asked the overarching question 'what worked where, for whom, and under what conditions' regarding the knowledge exchange (KE) mechanisms underpinning any changes. Data were collected from fifty-one interviews, six observations, and analysis of programme documentation. Results: 191 delegates attended (local authority 46%, NHS 24%, academia 22%, third sector 6%, other 2%). The programme theory was that awareness raising and critical discussion would facilitate ownership and evidence uptake. KE activity included: research digests, academic and senior practitioner presentations, and facilitated round-table discussions. Joint action planning was used to prompt informed follow-up action. Participants valued the digests, expert input, opportunities for discussion, networking and 'space to think'. However, within a few months, sustainability was lost. There was no evidence of direct changes to practice. Multiple barriers to research utilization emerged. Discussion: The findings suggest that in pressured contexts exacerbated by structural reform providing evidence summaries, input from academic and practice experts, conversational spaces and personal action planning are necessary to create enthusiasm on the day, but are insufficient to prompt practice change in the medium term. The findings question makes assumptions about the instrumental, linear use of knowledge and of change focused on individuals as a driver for organizational change. Delegates' views of 'what would work' are shared. Mechanisms that would enhance interactive formats are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the discovery of prehistoric flint mines across Europe during the nineteenth century, mining has been recognized as a central component of the Neolithic 'package'. In the south of Britain a small group of mines date to the early fourth millennium BC, posing a problem for traditional interpretations of the Early Neolithic, as they appear a significant period of time before other Neolithic monuments. This paper will look at evidence preserved in the mines of southern England, examining whether these sites demonstrate flint-mining techniques already practised in Continental Europe. Central to the research is a notion that complex activities, such as mining, involve long periods of trial and error before evolving into an accomplished working methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education reform in England is increasingly portrayed as a quest to create ‘world class’ schools through the transfer of features of ‘high performing’ school systems. The demand for evidence to support policy borrowing has been serviced by an influential intermediary network, which uses international data banks to compare education systems, and to identify and promote evidence of ‘what works’. The approach to comparisons has been portrayed as a ‘New Paradigm’ by its advocates, and whilst the network has been extensively critiqued, this has largely focused on its deviation from the norms of academic comparative education. This article explores how the ‘New Paradigm’ operates, identifying its inherent features and the strategies used to overcome the methodological issues associated with policy borrowing. This is pursued through an analysis of the rationale; assumptions; underlying ideology; methodology; omissions and silences; dealing with critics; and language and presentation of four of its influential publications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introducing continental European approaches to UK child welfare practice raises a problem of comparison: to what extent are the problems and issues similar to or different from one country compared to another. Social pedagogues trained in continental Europe and working in English residential care services often encountered the phrase ‘our young people are worse’ from their English colleagues, with the implication that the social pedagogic approach was not suitable for the client group. This paper examines two propositions: (1) that in the context of introducing the continental European approach of social pedagogy into children's residential care services in England, young people are ‘different’ in England compared to other European countries and (2) that the placement options and practices for young people living away from their birth parents in continental European countries differ from those in England. Using data from a five nation study of young people from public care backgrounds, the paper argues that while family backgrounds are remarkably similar there are marked differences in the child welfare systems that might account for the perception that young people in care are ‘worse’ in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the use of a psychosocial approach to researching drugs, race and ethnicity. It produces an analysis of interviews with Bobby, a mixed-race man in recovery from addiction. Sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives are brought to bear on the data in order to consider the character of Bobby's opportunities, identifications, crises and resolutions. Despite the affective components of the wider discourse on drugs and race, the majority of previous research on the subject has focused on the production of rational explanations produced within objectivist epistemological frames. In contrast, the methods used in this project seek an explicit engagement with the irrational and unconscious aspects of researching these subjects. The paper concludes by reflecting on the value of psychosocially oriented narrative methods in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Changes in healthcare and ageing populations have led to an increasing emphasis on the provision of healthcare in the community. Quality initiatives in healthcare have led to a focus upon pressure ulcer rates. However, published data on pressure ulcer prevalence in a community setting is currently very limited. Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional observational study was to determine the prevalence of patients with pressure ulcers in a community setting in the United Kingdom. Design: A cross-sectional observational study. Setting: Two community settings in the North of England. Participants: Patients in the community who were aged 18 years or older at the time of the pressure ulcer prevalence audit were included. There were no exclusion criteria and consent was not a requirement. Methods: Each site used a different method to collect the data as per their usual method of prevalence data collection. Site 1 assessed all patients on the community nursing caseload: patients in residential homes, rehabilitation units, specialist palliative care units and all nursing homes in the locality, whether they were known to have a pressure ulcer or not. Site 2 assessed only those on the community nursing caseload who were known to have a pressure ulcer. Site 1 collected data between 8th February and 2nd April 2010 and site 2 between 12th April and 7th May 2010. Results: In site 1, 185 patients were assessed as having a pressure ulcer Grade ≥1, a prevalence rate of 0.77 per 1000 adults. In Site 2 102 patients were assessed as having a Grade ≥1 pressure ulcer, a prevalence rate of 0.40 per 1000 adults. Removing patients in nursing homes from the calculation gives a prevalence of 0.38 per 1000 adults for site 1 and 0.39 per 1000 adults for site 2. Conclusions: This study provides prevalence data in a community setting which can be used to assess resource allocation and staff training. This study has highlighted that differences in methodology can affect prevalence results, and this should be taken into account in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We contribute to existing knowledge translation (KT) literature by developing the notion of 'enactment' and illustrate this through an interpretative, comparative case-study analysis of three Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) initiatives. We argue for a focus on the way in which the CLAHRC model has been 'enacted' as central to the different KT challenges and capabilities encountered. Methods: A comparative, mixed method study created a typology of enactments (Classical, Home-grown and Imported) using qualitative analysis and social network analysis. Results: We identify systematic differences in the enactment of the CLAHRC model. The sources of these different enactments are subsequently related to variation in formative interpretations and leadership styles, the implementation of different governance structures, and the relative epistemic differences between the professional groups involved. Conclusions: Enactment concerns the creative agency of individuals and groups in constituting a particular context for their work through their local interpretation of a particular KT model. Our theory of enactment goes beyond high-lighting variation between CLAHRCs, to explore the mechanisms that influence the way a particular model is interpreted and acted upon. We thus encourage less focus on conceptual models and more on the formative role played by leaders of KT initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought science to the fore of public discourse and, considering the complexity of the issues involved, with it also the challenge of effective and informative science communication. This is a particularly contentious topic, in that it is both highly emotional in and of itself; sits at the nexus of the decision-making process regarding the handling of the pandemic, which has effected lockdowns, social behaviour measures, business closures, and others; and concerns the recording and reporting of disease mortality. To clarify a point that has caused much controversy and anger in the public debate, the first part of the present article discusses the very fundamentals underlying the issue of causative attribution with regards to mortality, lays out the foundations of the statistical means of mortality estimation, and concretizes these by analysing the recording and reporting practices adopted in England and their widespread misrepresentations. The second part of the article is empirical in nature. I present data and an analysis of how COVID-19 mortality has been reported in the mainstream media in the UK and the USA, including a comparative analysis both across the two countries as well as across different media outlets. The findings clearly demonstrate a uniform and worrying lack of understanding of the relevant technical subject matter by the media in both countries. Of particular interest is the finding that with a remarkable regularity ( ρ > 0.998 ), the greater the number of articles a media outlet has published on COVID-19 mortality, the greater the proportion of its articles misrepresented the disease mortality figures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the experiences of two researchers working to develop critical accounts of fatness with very different research participants – town planners and English Channel swimmers. Drawing across our encounters with these different participants, we explore the ‘doing’ of critical research through attending to the embodied encounters which take place in the ‘field’. In so doing, we reflect on moments where we have both, as part of the research encounter, not only found ourselves simply in fat-phobic contexts, but also effectively complicit in those contexts in our roles as interlocutors. In this paper, we explore the tensions inherent in those encounters for us (in all our multiple social, professional and embodied subjectivities), and ask what attending to these embodied confrontations (or the avoidance of confrontation) might mean for the critical research process – both in terms of the impact on practice and outputs of research for individual researchers and the participants with whom they are working. In doing so, we focus on what attention to the research encounter adds to debates about ‘impact’ in social science, about the doing of scholar-activism and about the role of the researcher’s body in the research encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background The evidence on public health interventions has traditionally focussed on a limited number of costs and benefits, adopted inconsistent methods and is not always relevant to the UK context. This paper develops a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach to overcome these challenges. Methods A document review and stakeholder consultation was used to identify interventions and the criteria against which they should be assessed. The interventions were measured against these criteria using literature reviews and decision models. Criteria weights were generated using a discrete choice experiment. Results Fourteen interventions were included in the final ranking. Taxation was ranked as the highest priority. Mass-media campaigns and brief interventions ranked in the top half of interventions. School-based educational interventions, statins and interventions to address mental health problems ranked in the bottom half of interventions. Conclusions This paper demonstrates that it is possible to incorporate criteria other than cost-effectiveness in the prioritization of public health investment using an MCDA approach. There are numerous approaches available that adopt the MCDA framework. Further research is required to determine the most appropriate approach in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the three principal sources for recording archaeological fieldwork in England: the National Monuments Record (NMR) Excavation Index, the Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP), and Online AccesS to the Index of archaeological investigationS (OASIS), comparing the holdings for each system covering the period 1990 to 2007. The study finds that the Excavation Index currently records significantly more information, but is underused and unheralded by the research sector. In addition, all systems are compared to the event database of Staffordshire's Historic Environment Record (HER); despite inconsistencies in recording methodology the Excavation Index can be seen to record the most events when compared to this resource. The study concludes that, despite admirable work, the AIP has significant gaps in coverage based on methodology, and OASIS has gaps through uptake and consistent use of the system. The Excavation Index therefore acts as an overarching aggregator, but still has lacunae. The need to broach these gaps via an integrated system and recording standards is recommended. Furthermore, the need for reflective meta-analyses of data sources is encouraged in order to promote understanding of the limitations, as well as the opportunities, for data management and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, health inequalities policy shifted during the Labour term (1997–2010) from initially strong commitments to tackling the ‘upstream’ social determinants of health to a technically-driven emphasis on lifestyle risk factors and healthcare access. This multi-sited study, based in and around Westminster (2006–2007), extends our understanding of how political context influences policy-making by drawing from anthropological studies of policy. Qualitative material from central government is put into conversation with theory concerning policy as zones of practices. The paper explores the bristly process through which public health, healthcare and corporate interests vied to shape the political agenda for health inequalities; the selective use of evidence by civil servants in accordance with their perceptions of what politicians conceive to be electorally palatable; the silencing of critique of the dominant narrative about evidence-based policy; and how technical aids developed a life of their own – as a result of which, health inequalities policy ended up being depoliticised. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article the issue is the development of a methodology for comparative studies in RE. The atuhor presents a suggested methodology from her PhD at the University of Warwick. Making comparison sharper, through a more differentiated terminology, and the question of representivity when qualitative empirical methods are included in comparative research design are especially focused. In her study she was looking to find a way of conducting a comparative study of religious education in England and Norway. After having searched in the fields of comparative education, comparative religion and pioneering works in religious education, she suggested a 3-dimensions and 4-levels methodology. This is a combination of 2 sets of ideas: firstly that there are 3 dimensions in comparative education: supranational, national, and subnational processes. The second set of ideas is of levels of curriculum: societal, institutional, instructional, and experiential. Combined, these ideas capture some of the complexities of what goes on in one country while also considering the impact of supranational processes, such as globalization. This methodology should be of interest to others who want to engage in international and comparative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper, through the vignette of a three-year old boy''s case, examines how child welfare workers in three countries, Norway, England and the United States (California), decide whether to recommend forced adoption. Legislation and policy recommendations for the termination of parental rights and adoption vary among these three countries, but they all regard permanency for the child as the overarching goal for children in care. We find that a majority of the workers suggest forced adoption, and their main justifications were related to parental behaviour and their failure to fulfil visitation arrangements, followed by arguments about how adoption would provide both permanency and solid attachment for the child. It was Norwegian workers (41%) that decided against forced adoption, and their main objections were the lack of parental consent and the fact that forced adoption is uncommon in Norway. The findings of this study show that the reasoning of child welfare workers clearly reflects the policies and guidelines of their respective countries, which demonstrates the impact of each country''s policy instruments. The workers'' reasoning also reflects their knowledge of the basic premises for promoting adoption and permanency for children in care. As such, the state power that child welfare workers exercise rests on a rationale that is evidence oriented and extends beyond a mere reflection of policy guidelines and instructions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Fire prevention initiatives are increasingly being viewed as an effective approach to fire and rescue service improvement. In this paper we examine a research project aimed at investigating the use of a novel multi-paradigm systemic approach to fire prevention support involving the use of interpretivist soft systems approaches combined with experimental scientific statistical modelling. The research project is based upon a 2 year case study in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in the UK. The soft systems approach was beneficial for understanding the nature of fire prevention, and the causal factors associated with unintentional dwelling fires. When combined with a statistical modelling approach and a hard systems approach to developing a geographical information system, the result was a useful tool for analysis of unintentional dwelling fires that assisted in targeting fire prevention activities to those most at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Health and Social Care Bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 19 January 2011. On 27 March 2012, the Health and Social Care Bill gained Royal Assent and became the Health and Social Care Act 2012. In implementing this Act, it will be important to ask what leadership will be required to deliver this Act at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of the NHS in England. In addition, is the current approach of 'distributed' leadership actually suited to the NHS, or is it, perhaps, a current trend which is culturally not tried, tested, or appropriate in a UK context? The British Armed Forces - a large, sophisticated, and most complex public sector organisation - employ the leadership philosophy of Mission Command. One does wonder if this philosophy would be appropriate to the NHS in England in implementing the Health and Social Care Act 2012. To try to answer this question, this paper will: outline briefly the Health and Social Care Act 2012; interpret how the Act will be operationalised; consider briefly current leadership thinking and culture in the NHS in England; introduce and define Mission Command; and suggest its benefits to the NHS in England. Finally, a suggested 'way forward' will be offered. It is hoped that this analysis will help researchers and practitioners alike further appreciate the philosophy of Mission Command and appreciate its potential applicability to the NHS in England in implementing the Health and Social Care Act 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

cook c. (2012) Email interviewing: generating data with a vulnerable population. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(6), 1330-1339. Abstract Aims. This paper describes online recruitment and the email interviewing data collection method with women diagnosed with a viral sexually transmitted infection. The paper highlights the advantages of the method to researchers and participants when conducting research where face-to-face participation may difficult. Background. Online recruitment and in-depth email interviewing have been used by only a small number of nurses internationally. The method enables inclusion of people who might otherwise be excluded from research, for reasons such as geographical distance, incompatible time frames, clinicians''gate-keeping' and participants' desire for anonymity for physical or emotional reasons. Methods. In-depth email interviews were conducted with 26 women in New Zealand, United States of America, Canada and England who had a diagnosis of either human papilloma virus or genital herpes simplex virus. Data were collected during 2007-2008 and analysed using a poststructuralist, feminist thematic analysis. Results. Participant retention was high. Women emphasized satisfaction with the process. Asynchronous interviews allowed for additional reflexivity in the researcher's responses and rich data generation. Conclusion. This method has the potential to enable nurses to include vulnerable and relatively inaccessible participants in 'sensitive' research. In-depth email interviews may generate rich data through a process participants deem to be of personal value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives Little is known about the quality of occupational health care provided to National Health Service (NHS) staff. We designed the first national clinical audits of occupational health care in England. We chose to audit depression and back pain as health care workers have high levels of both conditions compared with other employment sectors. The aim of the audits was to drive up quality of care for staff with these conditions. The object of this paper is to describe how we developed an audit methodology and overcame challenges presented by the organization and delivery of occupational health care for NHS staff. Methods We designed two retrospective case note audits which ran simultaneously. Sites submitted up to 40 cases for each audit. We used duplicate case entry to test inter-rater reliability and performed selection bias checks. Participants received their site's audit results, benchmarked against the national average, within 4 months of the end of the data entry period. We used electronic voting at a results dissemination conference to inform implementation activities. Results Occupational Health departments providing services to 278 (83%) trusts in England participated in one or both audits. Median kappa scores were above 0.7 for both pilot and full audits, indicating 'good' levels of inter-rater reliability. In total, 79% of participants at a dissemination conference said that they had changed their clinical practice either during data collection (52%) or following receipt of their audit results (27%). Conclusions Clinical audit can be conducted successfully in the occupational health setting. We obtained meaningful data that have stimulated local and national quality improvement activities. Our methodology would be transferable to occupational health settings outside the NHS and in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systematic review undertaken for the Group Analytic Community by Sheffield University is an excellent piece of work ‘of its time’, but it may not speak to everybody in the field. Some of the reasons for this are the precise methodology of such reviews, concerned with an exclusively rationalist model for selecting and appraising evidence in a framework, which excludes other schools of thought (particularly the social sciences, including critical theory, anthropology and economics). As many of those who work in group analysis have backgrounds in these and allied disciplines, rather than biomedical science, there is a risk of excluding much useful and scholarly collaboration with adjacent disciplines unless we hold an open mind about such methodologies. As group analysts, we are in a strong position to observe and criticize the ‘evidence-based hegemony’ when it becomes closer to dogma than science.This article is based on a talk given to a Group Analytic Society conference entitled ‘Can Group Therapy Survive NICE?’ held in London on 29 January 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to the body of work within the social studies of childhood on creative visual methods and the emerging critique on the participatory assumptions of child-centred creative visual methodology. Drawing on ethnographically informed research with a group of children aged 8–12 years which utilised a range of creative methods including child-led video and photography, the paper provides a methodological focus on the children’s interactions with the adult research team, each other and with the children whom they filmed, interviewed and photographed. The paper suggests that attention to the dynamics between children as researchers and participants is essential for understanding how children’s voices are made (and diminished) in child-led creative visual methods. Methodological attention to the ways in which children’s voices are differently (and unequally) heard in the research encounter is essential for evaluating what such methods bring to research with children and challenges theorisations of a singular children’s voice suggested in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although scientific literatures by British American colonists have not traditionally been included in studies of early American literature, recent work has begun to pay closer attention to the literary elements of natural, medical, and cartographic texts produced in the long 18th century. New approaches have expanded Eurocentric and nation-based paradigms by positioning colonial science in an imperial and Atlantic World context that focuses upon transatlantic exchanges between the British Americas and England. These studies have investigated colonists' efforts to obtain credit for their scientific contributions in England and the strategies with which colonists resisted metropolitan biases regarding their knowledge. Studies of the literature of place show how natural histories, cartographies, and nature writing rendered the New World familiar, even while establishing colonists' relationship to and possession of the land. Meanwhile, an emerging focus on anxieties regarding mental and physical degeneration, spurred by theories of America's degrading influences, offers new directions for investigating colonial subjectivity and racial theories of difference. Finally, examining the various roles that Native Americans and New World Africans played in colonial encounters may facilitate new approaches to non-European contributions to colonial science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examines the differing interests of leaders within the alcohol industry in England, the cleavages between them, and the impact on their organization behavior on industry policies. It details the methodology used using public documents and semi-structured interviews from players including wine retailers, producers, and trade associations. The findings indicate that corporations and trade associations collaborate and share common interests on specific issues.

This article is based on a small-scale study evaluating the work of an emotional literacy project in the North West of England. It focuses on the research process and the challenging experience of involving children as peer researchers. The author draws on theoretical and epistemological insights from feminism and the sociology of childhood to explore some of the enduring tensions and contradictions facing adults involved in children's research. The primary intention is to use post-research reflections to raise questions and stimulate debate amongst children's researchers rather than offer solutions. © 2010 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2010 National Children's Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated zone-design methods are increasingly being used to create zoning systems for a range of purposes, such as the release of census statistics or the investigation of neighbourhood effects on health, Inevitably, the characteristics originally underpinning the design of a zoning system (eg, population size or homogeneity of the built environment) change through time. Rather than designing a completely new system every time substantive change occurs, or retaining an existing system which will become increasingly unfit for purpose, an alternative is to modify the existing system such that zones which still meet the design criteria are retained, but those which are no longer fit for purpose are split or merged. This paper defines the first generic methodology for the automated maintenance of existing zoning systems. Using bespoke, publicly available, software (AZTo0I), the methodology is employed to modify the 2001 Census output geographies within six local authority districts in England and Wales in order to make them suitable for the release of contemporary population-related data. Automated maintenance of an existing system is found to be a more iterative and constrained problem than designing a completely new system; design constraints frequently have to be relaxed and manual intervention is occasionally required. Nonetheless, existing zone-design techniques can be successfully adapted and implemented to automatically maintain an existing system. The findings of this paper are of direct relevance both to the Office for National Statistics in their design of the 2011 Census output geographies for England and Wales and to any other countries or organisations seeking to maintain an existing zoning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how the role of botanical gardens has evolved from open public spaces in which plants were labeled to places that offer research and educational programs to citizens and botanists alike. The author notes the importance of botanical gardens in ensuring plant biodiversity via the long-term preservation of plant species that will eventually vanish from their natural habitats. A historical overview of botanical gardens is presented, which includes examples of some well known botanical gardens, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in London, England, the expanding role of botanical gardens in plant species biodiversity conservation, and conservation methods used by botanical gardens, which includes in situ and ex situ methods. INSETS: Box 1. A stroll through global gardens;Box 2. Peril and progress;Box 3. How do you go about growing a botanical garden from the gr.

Abstract: In this study, a novel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based methodology has been developed to interpret long-term averaged measurements of pollutant concentrations collected at roadside locations. The methodology is applied to the analysis of pollutant dispersion in Stratford Road (SR), a busy street canyon in Birmingham (UK), where a one-year sampling campaign was carried out between August 2005 and July 2006. Firstly, a number of dispersion scenarios are defined by combining sets of synoptic wind velocity and direction. Assuming neutral atmospheric stability, CFD simulations are conducted for all the scenarios, by applying the standard k-ɛ turbulence model, with the aim of creating a database of normalised pollutant concentrations at specific locations within the street. Modelled concentration for all wind scenarios were compared with hourly observed NOx data. In order to compare with long-term averaged measurements, a weighted average of the CFD-calculated concentration fields was derived, with the weighting coefficients being proportional to the frequency of each scenario observed during the examined period (either monthly or annually). In summary the methodology consists of (i) identifying the main dispersion scenarios for the street based on wind speed and directions data, (ii) creating a database of CFD-calculated concentration fields for the identified dispersion scenarios, and (iii) combining the CFD results based on the frequency of occurrence of each dispersion scenario during the examined period. The methodology has been applied to calculate monthly and annually averaged benzene concentration at several locations within the street canyon so that a direct comparison with observations could be made. The results of this study indicate that, within the simplifying assumption of non-buoyant flow, CFD modelling can aid understanding of long-term air quality measurements, and help assessing the representativeness of monitoring locations for population exposure studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: Shifting the focus of health-care systems towards prevention has proved difficult to achieve. Governance structures are complex, incentives may conflict and there are many competing priorities. We explored the influence of governance and incentive arrangements on commissioning for health and wellbeing in the English National Health Service (NHS) and the governance paradoxes which emerge. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed. We carried out one national and two regional focus groups; a national online survey of primary care trusts (PCTs); and 99 semi-structured interviews in 10 purposively selected case study sites across England. Interviewees included decision-makers in PCTs, practice-based commissioners, Chairs of Local Involvement Networks (LINks) and of Overview and Scrutiny committees (OSCs) and Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) members of local health and wellbeing partnerships. Results: Case study sites differed in the extent to which they reflected a public health ethos throughout the commissioning cycle, incentivized preventive services through contractual flexibilities or prioritized investment in health and wellbeing. Practice-based commissioners were tangentially involved in the commissioning cycle, public health partnerships or local health needs assessment. While commissioning for health and wellbeing involves working through partnerships, performance management regimes favoured single organizational success. Preventive services were considered at increased risk in times of financial stringency. Conclusions: As the NHS in England undergoes further reorganization, it is important to ensure that a systematic, strategic and population-based approach to commissioning is not lost. Governance and incentive arrangements should be critically assessed for their impact on population health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the creation of a model to forecast the demand for, and revenue from, travel on the Heathrow Express services between London Heathrow and central London. The construction of the model, based on a survey of passengers at Heathrow and statistical analysis of these survey data, is described, including the data collection and analytical methodology. The paper concludes with insights from the survey data and the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the early 1990s, it became clear that tunnelling as Dutch engineers knew was about to change fundamentally. Local governments, pressure groups and individuals had become aware of the added value that underground space technology (tunnelling) could bring, giving rise to the next generation of multifunctional road and rail tunnel projects. This article reports on the outcome of a landmark study that focused on the new opportunities that multifunctional tunnels for motorways offer: RingRing. The RingRing study includes a concise state-of-the-art exploration of path-finding projects, delivers a solid methodology for dealing with the many design decisions during the conceptual phase of the multidisciplinary project, proposes a set of generic concepts that respond to the four key challenges faced by multifunctional tunnels, conducts two showcase design study projects, and provides an overall analysis of the applicability of multifunctional tunnels for integrating orbital motorways in large cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Eight years after the publication of the RingRing study, the first projects it identified are built. Others projects have not yet made it off the drawing board. This article looks back to assess what has been accomplished and draws lessons learned in order to be able to improve future projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]