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This thesis comprises of three sections including a literature review, research paper, and a critical appraisal. Initially, with the aim of exploring adults' experiences of receiving a diagnosis of ADHD in adulthood, including capturing life pre- and-post diagnosis, a meta-synthesis was conducted of seven qualitative papers. In applying a meta-ethnographic approach, three core concepts emerged: 1) Living with the 'unknown' and trying to survive; 2) Receiving a diagnosis of ADHD: a blessing and a curse; and 3) Adjusting to the diagnosis and re-evaluating life. The findings highlight the challenges adults encountered, pre- and post-diagnosis and their responses to this, before moving to a position of self-acceptance. The research paper focused on exploring adults' prior experiences of living with undiagnosed ASD, including the process of pursuing, receiving, and adjusting to a diagnosis in adulthood. IPA was used to explore adults' lived experiences and identified four superordinate themes: 1) 'Lost in space': Feeling different and like an outsider; 2) The process of pursuing an explanation for the difference; 3) Shock, disappointment, and relief: the emotional responses to receiving a diagnosis; and 4) Adjusting to the diagnosis: rediscovering myself and learning to accept the difference. These findings captured the journey adults embarked on in attempting to make sense of themselves in a 'neurotypical' world, including the barriers they had to overcome in the process. Both experiences of living without a diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental 'disorder' and receiving one later in life, represented a 'trauma' which stemmed from an awareness of being 'different' and not 'fitting-in' to a 'neurotypical' world. In response to this, adults defaulted to a 'fight or flight' position, with the ultimate aim of surviving. These findings illustrate the importance of providing support to the 'neuro-diverse' community and raising awareness of their unique attributes to alleviate feelings of 'difference'.

‘Accounting has come to occupy an ever more significant position in the functioning of modern industrial societies’ (Burchell et al 1980: 5). Almost 40 years have elapsed since this comment was made and during that time the UK accounting profession has secured a fundamental presence in the neoliberal global economy, wielding great power. However, the scale and scope of accounting’s success has been gender asymmetrical; women accountants have not achieved commensurate success with men either in terms of ICAEW membership or Big 4 partner numbers. This thesis charts the role and performance of women in the UK accounting profession from 1870 to 2013, critically assessing the reasons why women fail to do as well as men.

Background: Sexual risk-taking (SRT) is a primary contributor to the transmission of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, and therefore poses a significant public health concern. Evidence suggests that the propensity to engage in SRT may be influenced by negative affective states (i.e. anxiety and depression symptoms), and individually varying characteristics (i.e. mood-related sexual desire (MRSD), and impulsivity). Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the association between negative affect and five SRT behaviours. In addition it sought to explore the association between SRT and two key individual characteristics, MRSD and impulsivity. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by a convenience sample of 120 participants (median age 25.5; 78 female) recruited from an inner-city sexual health clinic. The survey comprised 5 questionnaires relating to each of the key variables being explored. Results: Non-parametric analysis provided evidence of the existence of an association between various forms of SRT and negative affect; however, the nature of the association differed according to the type of SRT. In addition, MRSD and impulsivity demonstrated mainly positive associations with SRT. Conclusion: The findings support emerging evidence of increased engagement in certain forms of SRT when experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms. Moreover, the association with MRSD and impulsivity suggest these factors need further exploration in explaining the link between SRT and negative affect. This has implications for the development and implementation of prevention and intervention practices relating to SRT and mental health.

Using data from the 2008 Formula One motor racing World Championship, this thesis theorises live, televised sports events as discursively constructed "spectacles". The two key aims of the study are; (1) to contribute to our understanding of the organising principles and broadcast values in televisual representations of sports; and (2) to demonstrate how "spectacle‟ is created as a textual accomplishment. Data includes verbal commentaries, interviews, video footage, and onscreen graphics. The analysis is primarily informed by the notion of the „activity types‟ concept (Levinson, 1979), "recontextualisation‟ (Linell, 1998), and follows broadly the principles of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1998) and multimodal discourse analysis (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006; Machin, 2007). The broadcasts are shown to be constructed as a sports-magazine that consists of a variety of mediatised activities and the study examines the mediatised event in relation to the organising principles of these activities. The study also explores three intrinsic elements found in live televised broadcasts, namely "liveness‟, "domain‟ and "bimodality‟. These refer to the interplay between the „live‟ and "non-live‟ segments of the coverage; shifts across the "physical‟ and "mediatised‟ domains; and the relationship between the "visual‟ and "verbal‟ tracks respectively. Overall the thesis demonstrates how the sports-magazine format allows the programmes to introduce thematic diversity, while retaining coherence. Furthermore, the centrality of liveness is found to be problematic in the broadcasts due to live motor sport‟s potential to turn into tragedy, should a life-threatening or fatal crash occur. However, the analysis reveals that the broadcasters manage moments of great tension by foregrounding the notion of "safe-danger‟ throughout the programmes, and when an accident does take place; they use a number of reporting strategies to compensate for the lack of information during the live event.

Theories of high commitment management (HCM) ascribe a central role to high trust relationships between management and labour if organisations are to achieve high performance (Legge, 2005; Appelbaum et al, 2000). However, such relations are difficult to achieve within the capitalist employment relationship, particularly so within liberal market economies such as the UK (Godard, 2002; Hall and Soskice, 2001). Employee involvement (EI) and participation initiatives potentially constitute a principal mechanism through which trust may be achieved, although wider evidence suggests that desired performance improvements may only accrue where participation is'meaningful' (Delbridge and Whitfield, 2001). Conversely, EI can be used to intensify the work process and achieve tighter control, although whether this is done through managerial 'commission' or 'omission' remains open to debate. This study sought to explore these questions. The critical realist paradigm was deemed to be the most appropriate methodological approach, and a'firm-insector' approach was applied. This facilitated investigation of meso-level, as well as macro-level, effects on enterpriselevel processes and outcomes. Four manufacturing plants, drawn from the pharmaceuticals and automotive components sectors, constituted the units of analysis. It was postulated that the pharmaceuticals sector might constitute a more conducive environment in which to cultivate trust. Conversely, it was averred that the encroachment of the 'customer' into the management of the employment relationship within the components supply business might encourage a control orientation. In keeping with a general predilection of British management, it was found that 'genuine' trust existed in none of the organisations at the time of the fieldwork (Thompson, 2003; Claydon, 1998). Management sought to (or had done so) substitute 'meaningless' EI for collective organisation. However, at two of the plants, employees reported previous instances where trust had existed. Significantly, this was not confined to the pharmaceutical sector. This facilitated identification of the antecedent conditions necessary for trust to develop, namely a value orientation on the part of senior management, strong organisational performance, effective trade unionism and participative, 'informal' management styles.