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The article discusses several studies in palliative care published between January 2010 and March 2012 that combine quantitative and qualitative approaches. It suggests that mixed methods are recommended in the evaluation of complex interventions. Undertaking mixed method research reportedly requires a recognition of the underlying complexities encountered when working with different perspectives of sampling, validity, reliability and rigor, and analysis technique.

Copyright of European Early Childhood Education Research Journal is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Research on urban vulnerability has grown considerably during recent years, yet consists primarily of case studies based on conflicting theories and paradigms. Assessing urban vulnerability is also generally considered to be context-dependent. We argue, however, that it is possible to identify some common patterns of vulnerability across urban centers and research paradigms and these commonalities hold potential for the development of a common set of tools to enhance response capacity within multiple contexts. To test this idea we conduct an analysis of 54 papers on urban vulnerability to temperature-related hazards, covering 222 urban areas in all regions of the world. The originality of this effort is in the combination of a standard metaanalysis with a meta-knowledge approach that allows us not only to integrate and summarize results across many studies, but also to identify trends in the literature and examine differences in methodology, theoretical frameworks and causation narratives and thereby to compare “apples to oranges.” We find that the vast majority of papers examining urban vulnerability to temperature-related hazards come from an urban vulnerability as impact approach, and cities from middle and low income countries are understudied. One of the challenges facing scholarship on urban vulnerability is to supplement the emphasis on disciplinary boxes (e.g., temperature–mortality relationships) with an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to adaptive capacity and structural drivers of differences in vulnerability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article examines research by postgraduate students in education at the University of the South Pacific (USP) between 1968 and 2009. These experienced educators, who later return to their original education sector to influence policy and practice in some way, are producing new knowledge intimately connected to Pacific education systems. The article identifies broad trends in supervision, growth in completed degrees, research area, and national focus, and makes some comparisons with similar research in New Zealand. The article also focuses on how students position their research theoretically, using Lather's research paradigm typology. The analysis indicates that many of these projects are positioned within an interpretivist paradigm, a few within positivist and emancipationist paradigms, and none at all within deconstructivist paradigms. The authors suggest that a Pacific education system underpinned by socially-critical theoretical perspectives, particularly deconstructive ones, can better respond to the twin challenges of creating universal and equitable access to education and arresting the loss of language, culture, identity, and life skills via rapid globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper introduces the logical choices available in research methodologies; which enable the drawing of correct inferences to answer the various research questions that are asked by accounting researchers. It starts with an overview of research paradigms as fundamental beliefs that affect the ways to conduct social research, including the choice of a particular research methodology. The paper then details the elements of case study design, including the justification to choose case organisations. The sections that follow present an overview of the required data and collection methods and discuss the methods used to analyse the collected data. Considerations regarding research quality are also presented. This paper is a useful reference or a starting point for researchers considering qualitative multi-method case study research designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Treaties & Documents / Razprave in Gradivo is the property of Institut za Narodnostna Vprasanja and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we reflect upon and problematize the ways in which 'patient involvement' is interpreted in a substantial proportion of the research literature on involvement and shared decision making. Drawing upon an analysis of this literature we raise concerns about the 'medicalization of involvement' embedded in, and reproduced by, some dominant research lenses, suggesting that this medicalization has powerful discursive and material effects. For example, we suggest that it tends to normalize and arguably trivialize intrinsically problematic and contentious concepts such as 'patient preferences' and, at the same time, to obscure the full range of possibilities for reciprocity in the exchanges between the medical world of the professional and the experiential and narrative world of the patient. We argue that richer conceptualizations of collaboration in clinical work are both possible and very much needed, and we indicate some examples of scholarly resources and perspectives that point towards richer and more defensible accounts of involvement. Overall we call for more attention to the idea of 'epistemic involvement' and much greater cross-fertilization between different epistemological paradigms in this area of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS - The article discusses and compares two European studies that investigate young recipients of commercial messages on alcohol. The studies spring out of very different science philosophical paradigms, Their comparison therefore brings certain ontological, epistemological and methodological questions to a head. DATA AND METHODS - A large amount of existing research and theorizing has been reviewed in order to frame the studies concerning the following aspects: their goals (genesis. purposes etc.): their view on the nature of reality (ontology): their view on how knowledge is created and expanded (epistemology) and. their view on the role of values in research and theory building (axiology). RESULTS - It is suggested that although the studies work in separate paradigms and are concerned with different phenomena, they could gain from a consolidation for complementary purposes. CONCLUSIONS - The task of studying alcohol marketing audiences puts the alcohol research field's methodological capacities to the test. The field needs more interactive collaboration between different research traditions in order to produce credible research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the growing academic and practitioner's interest in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility, there is a need to do a comprehensive assessment and synthesis of research activities. This article addresses this need and examines the academic literature on Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance using a paradigmatic and methodological lens. The objective of this article is fourfold. First, it examines the status of CSR research from its beginning especially after 1970 to year 2008 in leading academic journals and reports to assess the focus areas of research on CSR so far. Second, it analyzes the research paradigms adopted in these research articles using the Operations Research Paradigm framework. Third, it compares and contrasts various kinds of research articles, methodologies, and research designs used in various researches in literature. Finally, it uncovers the implications of this study and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper identifies the need for a deliberate approach to theory building in the context of researching cognitive and learning style differences in human performance. A case for paradigm shift and a focus upon research epistemology is presented, building upon a recent critique of style research. A proposal for creating paradigm shift is made, utilising theories of distributed cognition and the frameworking of a model for pragmatic research methodology. The proposition entails setting up a series of Research Interest Groups (RIGs) to operate within and beyond the European Learning Styles Information Network (ELSIN). The approach is aimed at realising further integration and application of theories of knowledge management, educational and organisational psychology in a pragmatic research methodology for use in style research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested analysis, recently presented by the American political scientist Evan S. Lieberman, and praxeological knowledge, inspired by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. These strategies address two different epistemological problems, namely, the problem of causal inference and the problem of double hermeneutics. Consequently, the research designs as well as the understandings of the “qualitative component” differ noticeably. Realizing such differences at the ontological, epistemological, and methodological level contributes to discussions on how to move forward MMR, embracing differences instead of imposing homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article argues that greater attention should be paid to contextual factors in educational research and international development cooperation. The analysis draws upon principles that underpin socio-cultural approaches to comparative education, a critical analysis of the political economy of contemporary educational research, and recent research experience in small states worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Encounters on Education is the property of Queen's University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this paper is to offer a review of past literature relating to ways in which the 'tourist experience' has been conceptualized. The paper includes theories of importance-evaluation, confirmation-disconfirmation, flow and involvement, among others. The implications of these different approaches for the adoption of any research method are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes a critical realist perspective to understand the research-practice gap in the field of business and management. To investigate issues surrounding the rigour versus relevance debate, we examine how the divergent perspectives of scholars and practitioners can be bridged by a critical realist approach in relation to: (1) the research paradigm: instead of confining their research within methodological purism, scholars may need to deploy any research paradigm to investigate a phenomenon in its context, (2) context and causality: critical realism provides an ontological grounding for interpretivist research reaffirming the importance of a focus on context, meaning and interpretation as causal influences, (3) methodological rigidity: multiple research methods will be more important when addressing research-practice gaps since they are more receptive to interdisciplinary functions and contexts in time and space than traditional methodologies, and (4) ethical aspects of business research highlighting the need to engage with the knowledge agenda of not only the university but also society overall. The critical nature of management studies we contend also helps to explain why at least certain research-practice gaps can be treated as natural because of divergent preferences of scholars and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There can be no doubt that the politics of “Russification” in the late 19th-century Russian empire were a failure. Especially in the western borderlands, any attempt to promote the empire’s titular language or the Orthodox faith, or to unify its administrative structure, only aggravated nationalism among non- Russians. Yet the term “Russification” continues to be used even in serious scholarship largely due to Edward C. Thaden’s widely read book Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland published in 1981. However, Gert von Pistohlkors and Robert Schweitzer argued thirty years ago that the term is not appropriate for scholarly analysis due to its ideological character. The use of this term was complex already in late 19th century. On the one hand, for many non-Russians “Russification” usually meant the central government’s alleged desire to make all citizens of the empire “Russian”. Thus, virtually everything St. Petersburg decreed concerning the non-Russian borderlands could be denounced that way. In this respect we might even speak about the mythical justification of a victim discourse. On the other hand, in the world view of Russian right-wing nationalists, no imperial government ever pursued real “Russification” in the borderlands. If for the government Russification never ever got off the ground, non-Russians understood virtually every decision of the central government as following a direct path to forced assimilation. Thus, if we speak about Russification we simply have to explain explicitly what we mean. This term does not stand for itself. An ambivalent term like Russification should not be taken for granted as a central concept of a given period of time in Russian imperial history. Even Konstantin Pobedonostsev once remarked that much confusion and error would be eliminated if the word were not used at all. In fact, there were debates on this issue in the Russian media at that time. While proponents of a more effective strategy to make non- Russians loyal claimed Catherine II as historical role model, the historian Vasilii Bilbasov argued in 1895 that the Empress’s vision of Russification in the Baltic Provinces was usually misinterpreted in order to demonstrate the imperial tradition of making these borderlands more Russian. In contrast, the Empress always wanted to raise the Russian gubernii, in terms of administration and culture, to the level of those provinces that belonged rather to the German world. Thus the very concept of Russification was contested in contemporary Russian society as well. Any one-sided emphasis on Russification neglects the impact of the quite similar concept of an alleged Germanization taking place, for instance, in the Baltic Provinces. Quite often in Russian imperial history, active government policies were caused by a conviction for the need to pursue measures of legitimate self-defence. In this respect, every measure to introduce “Russian principles” (…) into non-Russian provinces served only the integrity of the state. In the broader European context, moreover, all multinational empires faced the same challenge of local nationalisms threatening the integrity of the state. Also in Russia the dominant security discourse suggested that the central government should not entrust non-Russians with security issues in the Western borderlands. Consequently, the state had to increase its presence in these allegedly contested border regions. While the perspective of the provinces concerned suggests that the empire indeed increased its presence especially during the reign of Alexander III, we have to consider, in the case of the Baltic Provinces, that these eventually faced gradual Estonization and Latvization. What did change, however, was the perception of the region in Russia proper. In this regard it is quite fair to speak of a sort of mental Russification of the Baltic Provinces in Russian eyes. The discourse of the Russian Baltic Provinces initially emerged during the conversion movement of Estonian and Latvian peasants to Orthodoxy in the 1840s when Iurii Samarin argued that the region historically formed a part of Russia not least because of the alleged traditional disposition of the local inhabitants towards Russian religion and culture. While this vision, propagated during the debates on the “Baltic question” during the 1860s, definitively supported the widespread ideal of “merger” (…) of non- Russian regions with Russia, we still do not know exactly how Russian officials dispatched to Reval, Riga or Mitau intended to realize this mental, rather than political concept. However, in discussing Russian bureaucratic practices in the Baltic Provinces we must not underestimate the influence this mental appropriation of the region in fact had on provincial administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent can social psychology study individuals within social contexts without strengthening theories and methods appropriate for the analysis of individual development within changing societies? Theoretical and epistemological arguments stressing the centrality of a temporal dimension are reviewed. In order to generate an objective picture of the current research practices, a standardized content analysis was carried out on 699 empirical studies published around 2000 in the European Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP), the British Journal of Social Psychology (BJSP), the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP), the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology (JCASP) and Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ). This corpus was completed by a four-point longitudinal analysis—1972/1986/1993/2000—of BJSP, EJSP and JPSP publications. Findings reveal that most empirical studies are carried out on student samples and do not include time- or age-related explanatory variables, particularly in European mainstream publications. Structural analyses taking into account research methods, research topics, journals, and countries of the first authors suggest two oppositions that organize the field of research: a laboratory versus contextualized approach and a developmental versus monographic approach of social psychology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, data triangulation is used as a means of verifying, and further exploring, paradigm challenging data that emerged unexpectedly in a research project. The field of this study is Australian migration sociology. The discovery of data which suggested contradictions to the accepted notion that the Australian population was historically "98 percent" British origin, has also lead to what can be seen as a return to the traditional, but seemingly forgotten (in English speaking countries), relationship that existed between ethnography, history and sociology. The rediscovery of connections between these now separate disciplines, and the strengths and critiques that can be made of the now unfamiliar (in sociological but not anthropological/ethnographic research) tools of marriage records and family genealogy is the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Salud Uninorte is the property of Fundacion Universidad del Norte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Is there anything coherently ‘European’ about a European archaeology – or rather, about the ‘archaeology of Europe’ – or is it simply a modern political construct with no meaning in the ancient past? This paper analyses European archaeology through a historical perspective, tracing developments in the areas of archaeological conservation (heritage), thinking (theory/interpretations) and publication and teaching. It critically examines a perceived trend in archaeology from a national towards a European framework, and concludes instead that local and regional frameworks have become stronger in all three areas. To move forward, we should use our understanding of the relationship between ideology, politics and archaeology to promote a research agenda that actively contributes to the formation of critical knowledge about the conditions for heritage and research in contemporary society. There is scope for an archaeology that addresses fundamental historical problems and long-term histories of the various geographically and culturally interlinked regions of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Cadernos de Pesquisa is the property of Fundacao Carlos Chagas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to the growing academic and practitioner interest in the field of outsourcing, there is a need to do a comprehensive assessment and synthesis of research activities to date. This article addresses this need and examines the academic literature on information systems outsourcing and business process outsourcing using a paradigmatic and methodological lens. The objective of this article is fourfold. Firstly, it examines the status of outsourcing research from 1995 to 2005 in eight leading academic journals, to compare the current research trends with past research directions in terms of methodologies applied. Secondly, it analyzes the research paradigms adopted in these research papers using the Operations Research Paradigm framework Thirdly, it compares and contrasts the outsourcing research work published in three leading European journals with the work published in three leading American journals. Finally, it uncovers the implications of this study and the directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since the completion of the Human Genome Project a new biological paradigm has emerged, namely systems biology. This paradigm is advancing the view that biology is essentially an information science with information operating on multiple hierarchical levels and in complex networks. A new hierarchical framework for biological knowledge is being constructed to understand the relationships between the various levels of information. Although the goal of finding new medicinal entities is central to drug discovery, the search itself has been dramatically altered in the post Human Genome era. It is our view that systems biology is a disruptive biopharmaceutical research paradigm. Biopharmaceutical knowledge production processes, knowledge dissemination processes, and even knowledge appropriation mechanisms are rapidly evolving to maximize value creation during drug discovery and development. A knowledge framework is used in this paper for conceptualizing and enabling the efficient management of these new complexities in systems biology. Fundamentally important to medical progress is ensuring that multiple innovators can equitably exploit the technological opportunities presented by systems biology. We evaluate the role of academia, government, and industry in preserving these technological opportunities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over the last three decades, a methodological pluralism has developed within information systems (IS) research. Various disciplines and many research communities as well, contribute to this discussion. However, working on the same research topic or studying the same phenomenon does not necessarily ensure mutual understanding. Especially within this multidisciplinary and international context, the epistemological assumptions made by different researchers may vary fundamentally. These assumptions exert a substantial impact on how concepts like validity, reliability, quality and rigour of research are understood. Thus, the extensive publication of epistemological assumptions is, in effect, almost mandatory. Hence, the aim of this paper is to develop an epistemological framework which can be used for systematically analysing the epistemological assumptions in IS research. Rather than attempting to identify and classify IS research paradigms, this research aims at a comprehensive discussion of epistemology within the context of IS. It seeks to contribute to building the basis for identifying similarities as well as differences between distinct IS approaches and methods. In order to demonstrate the epistemological framework, the consensus-oriented interpretivist approach to conceptual modelling is used as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within organizational research, the subject of insider academic research has received relatively little consideration. By insider research, we mean research by complete members of organizational systems in and on their own organizations. Insider research can be undertaken within any of the three major research paradigms—positivism, hermeneutics, and action research—selected and presented in this article. First, we revisit some of the established research paradigms to see what position they might have on insider research. Second, we explore the dynamics of insider research under the headings of access, preunderstanding, role duality, and managing organizational politics. Our conclusion is that within each of the main streams of research, there is no inherent reason why being native is an issue and that the value of insider research is worth reaffirming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, publication in the top US business research journals is being accepted as an indicator of excellence in research by management schools around the world. This is problematic for research on Asian business. The US management journals, most highly valued in evaluating academic success, have developed a very narrow focus. These journals are most receptive to articles that rely on theory that was developed in a US context, and thus may not be easily applicable to Asian business. They tend to define rigor in terms of the use of quantitative methods, and thus require the use of variables that are easily quantifiable (and data that is readily available). As a consequence, they limit the sorts of exploratory research that still may be most productive in helping us understand Asian business and management. Ironically, just as non-American institutions are increasingly relying on American management journals in evaluating the research performance of their faculty, there are growing qualms within the United States about the legitimacy of US management research enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many have argued that educational research does little to change (and may actually reproduce) the social-structural inequalities shaping the quality of high-poverty urban schools. Building from this premise, this paper asks: How can university-based scholars of urban education do research that encourages, produces, or informs change in urban schools and the conditions that shape them? I examine two broad aspects of urban educational research: the questions we ask and the methods we use. In both cases, I critique the dominant paradigm of technical rationality—one in which school failure is approached as a localized technical problem unveiled through neutral, objective, and experimental research methods. In contrast, I propose a paradigm of “political rationality” (Klees, Rizzini, & Dewees, , Children on the streets of the Americas: homelessness, education and globalization in the United States, Brazil and Cuba. New York: Routledge) that approaches school failure and research practice as political issues situated within and shaped by social relations of power. Innovations in urban education research that reflect the logic of political rationality include: more contextualized and politicized analyses of urban schools, and the expanded use of engaged, collaborative, and participatory research methods. Drawing on this work and my experience implementing a participatory research project, I propose a framework for activist research in urban education, and critically evaluate the limits and possibilities of such work to effect change in urban schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore how different underlying worldviews in marketing affect the perception of the environment and how these impact the choice between transactional or relational offerings. Furthermore, we aim to show that not only positivistic and interpretivist paradigms are present in all of the management disciplines, in strategy, in organizational theory, in marketing, etc., but also that managerial disciplines seem to be moving from the reign of the positivistic schools, through the emergence of the interpretativist schools, and now towards a pluralistic approach. The analysis of the underlying worldviews is important for relationship marketing in practice because it may provide another, deeper-level explanation for the choices that managers make regarding transactional, relational and pluralistic offerings. At the theoretical level, it may help explain how and why the new RM paradigm developed in the marketing discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the field of Social Sciences, and particularly in the field of education, it is not simple to approach research models or paradigms because there are frequent discussions raised around this topic in dichotomy terms, sometimes antagonistic. It is possible to meet different stances in relation to the generation of scientific knowledge, that is, in relation to the way of «producing science,» which implies thinking of models or paradigms that support the different research logics. The objective of this paper is to characterize the main research models or paradigms in education with the purpose of carrying out a methodological analysis of the Research Project: «Professional Socialization Referents in Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto teachers» (Argentina). In the first part a characterization of the models or paradigms is developed; in the second part, a synthesis of the mentioned Project is presented, and in the third part both an analysis and justification of the project is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an investigation of Regional Tourist Organisations (RTOs) in New Zealand the role and nature of research has been considered with reference to underlying epistemologies and paradigms. RTOs are not simple functional organisations with their sole aim being the promotion of tourism; they are subject to political processes, uncertainty and the influences of key personalities or the lack thereof. Consequently the researcher begins to exercise power as a conduit of information and as a source of knowledge, which factors in themselves require reflection about the multi-paradigmatic nature of such social science research. This paper examines approaches to tourism research within the context of a study of RTOs to illustrate the complexities of tourism research. It will be argued that no one research methodology or paradigm will accommodate the research phenomena and thus a multi-paradigmatic and bricoleur approach is preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article chronicles the rapid expansion since 1990 of research within archival science and characterizes contemporary archival research culture. It examines the role and state of key factors that have led to the development of the existing research infrastructure, such as growth in doctoral education, forums for presenting and publishing research, the numbers and size of graduate archival education programs, availability of diverse funding for research, transdisciplinary and international research collaborations, and application of innovative research methods and tools appropriate for investigating increasingly complex and wide-ranging research questions. An Appendix articulates and names archival research methods, including those derived and adapted from other disciplines, with a view to adding to the ‘literary warrant’ for archival research methods, promoting the rigorous application of research design and methods, and providing sources for the teaching of research methods for professional and research careers. The article concludes with recommendations about how to sustain and extend the emerging research front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article throws light on the role of Stewart Clegg, a scholar, on literature. One of the most admirable attributes of Clegg's thinking over many years now has been its suppleness, especially his ability to embrace with apparent ease emerging theoretical and philosophical developments, usually well in advance of the herd desperate to prove that they are au caurant with the latest Continental philosopher. No doubt this receptiveness to new ideas is in part due to his original schooling in the postwar European sociological tradition where there was a degree of tolerance toward intellectual dissent and apparently heretical thinking, be it of a liberal or radical ilk. To reiterate, the ability to grasp the nub of concepts developed in the rarefied atmosphere of social theory and then present them to a wider audience in a form that does not turn the concepts into blunt instruments has always been one of Clegg's most commendable qualities. With respect to the focus of this essay, however, this facility is particularly important because the author shall go on to consider what communications scholars with a more practical bent can learn from Clegg's work.

Quantitative and qualitative methods in UK health research: then, now and . . . ? This paper examines the current status of qualitative and quantitative research in the context of UK (public) health research in cancer. It is proposed that barren competition between qualitative and quantitative methods is inevitable, but that effective synergy between them continues to be essential to research excellence. The perceived methodological utility, with respect to understanding residual uncertainties, can account for the status accorded various research techniques and these will help to explain shifts witnessed in recent years and contribute towards an understanding of what can be realistically expected in terms of future progress. It is argued that the methodological debate, though familiar to many, is worthy of rearticulation in the context of cancer research where the psychosocial aspects of living with a cancer and the related complexity of providing appropriate cancer care are being addressed across Europe, as evidenced in recent directions in policy and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an excursion into various scheduling problems arising in the manufacturing environment and possible approaches that can be taken to solve them. It reviews the research in production scheduling from the perspective of designing and operating a production system and examines the research strategies adopted to find the solution of the practical problems. This review is in the form of the paradigms that evolved during the twentieth century and shows the transition in theory and practice of each paradigm. It covers the fundamental frameworks of scheduling theory, outlining various approaches that can be taken to solve (optimally or approximately) such problems, and the difficulties arising in their practical use. Subsequently, an iterative scheduling process is suggested as an extension of existing paradigms to solve practical production scheduling problems and to bridge the gap between theory and practice in production scheduling and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limitations of the classical or traditional paradigm of decision research are increasingly apparent, even though there has been a substantial body of empirical research on medical decision-making over the past 40 years. As decision-support technology continues to proliferate in medical settings, it is imperative that “basic science” decision research develop a broader-based and more valid foundation for the study of medical decision-making as it occurs in the natural setting. This paper critically reviews both traditional and recent approaches to medical decision making, considering the integration of problem-solving and decision-making research paradigms, the role of conceptual knowledge in decision-making, and the emerging paradigm of naturalistic decision-making. We also provide an examination of technology-mediated decision-making. Expanding the scope of decision research will better enable us to understand optimal decision processes, suitable coping mechanisms under suboptimal conditions, the development of expertise in decision-making, and ways in which decision-support technology can successfully mediate decision processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In his comment on Seymour, D.E., Crook, D.J. and Rook; J.A. (1997) Construction Management and Economics, 15, 117-19 (Construction Management and Economics, 15, 299-302) argues that positivism provides the best insurance against bad research in construction management studies. He claims that positivist methods of theory building have been modified sufficiently to cope with the demands of management research. He accuses Seymour et al. of being anti-scientific in questioning the viability of these methods. In this short reply, we refute these assertions, pointing out some remaining obstacles to the application of positivist methods to management research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raftery, J., McGeorge, D. and Walters, M. (1977) Construction Management and Economics, 15(3), 291-297, criticise Seymour, D.E. and Rooke, J.A. (1995) Construction Management and Economics 13(6), 511-523 for setting out battle lines in their use of the terms rationalist and interpretive paradigms and argue that such dichotomies lead to a degeneration in research standards. Sharing their concern for research standards, in reply, we argue that Raftery et al.'s plea for methodological liberalism will itself undermine standards. Different research methods are required for different research purposes and are to be evaluated according to different criteria. These criteria must be made explicit. We state our own research purposes and make an initial attempt to set out some criteria against which we would wish our own research to be judged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture is increasingly cited as being in need of change if the UK construction industry is to improve its efficiency and productivity. The paper argues that the concept of culture is amenable to radically different treatments and that the research community must recognize the consequences of this choice if it is to make a useful contribution to bringing about the desired change. The dominant research paradigm in construction management is examined and compared to an alternative approach. The consequences attendant upon the choice between these two are explored with reference to four phenomena: a study of quality in the construction industry, Japanese innovation in management, Deming's concept of total quality management and the situation of the site engineer. It is concluded that the dominant rationalist paradigm tacitly endorses existing attitudes and that if researchers are to have a role in changing the culture of the industry, then the culture of research must change also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently there is a clear trend towards questioning the traditional sovereign human self which for two hundred years has had an undisputed central status within European culture and philosophy. This challenges the tradition of anthropocentrism which in a Scandinavian computer science context has had two theoretical foundations: the workoriented design theory represented by the Scandinavian participatory design philosophy, and the idea of the computer to a rather passive medium for human communication. The process, reducing the computer to a rather passive medium for human communication. The paper firstly examines these two theoretical anthropocentric positions. Secondly it outlines the trend towards challenging the status of the human self within different research contexts. This trend represents a challenge for Human-centred systems design. Finally, it discusses the new demands for conceptualising basic IT research phenomena created by this development, with particular focus on the issue of human-centredness as a systems design strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the French origins and multiple meanings of the term `social exclusion' and the light that those differences shed on distinct political cultures. Three main conceptions of integration; Elucidation of other forms of exclusion and marginalization.

Highlights: [•] 200 Articles from 12 peer reviewed journals were content analyzed. [•] Prominent trends and paradigms in international public relations research were examined. [•] Topics and regions that have been understudied are identified. [•] Future avenues for theory development in the field are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]