In the Museum of Science and Technology in San Jose, California, there is a display dedicated to advances in biotechnology. Most prominent in the display is a double helix of telephone books stacked in two staggered spirals from the floor to the ceiling twenty-five feet above. The books are said to represent the current state of our knowledge of the eukaryotic genome: the primary sequences of DNA polynucleotides for the gene products which have been discovered so far in the twenty (...) years since cloning and sequencing the genome became possible. (shrink)

Progress in the “theory of mind” debate would be better served at this point by abandoning the search for a perfect “critical experiment” and developing an incremental research program based on a systematic theory of “theory of mind.” Studies using the goggle procedure advocated by Heyes should dissociate the ability to see from possible behavioral artifacts of “blind” trainers.

Ingratiation is an impression management strategy whereby actors try to curry favor with targets, and is one of the more pervasive social activities in a workplace. An assumption in the literature is that a target’s awareness of the tactical purposes behind ingratiation is an ethical concern which triggers suspicions of ulterior motives and casts the actor as distrustful. However, this assumption fails to consider alternative explanations in that ingratiation may also be perceived as occurring for authentic purposes. This alternative view (...) may cause targets to cast the actor differently, and thus presents an intriguing ethical paradox where actors could be recognized by targets as trustful, distrustful, or some level in-between. This research draws on behavioral ethics and attributional models to investigate supervisor trust of employees who engage in ingratiation. We report two studies that examine perceived tactical ingratiation, perceived authentic ingratiation, and their interaction as predictors of supervisor trust using multisource data from two field samples. Across the two studies, we find positive interactions between tactical and authentic ingratiation as predictors of trust and trustworthiness. Study 2 also shows that combined tactical and authentic ingratiation predicts the trustworthiness dimensions of benevolence and integrity, but not ability. The results suggest that ingratiation is portrayed somewhat bleaker than necessary in the literature, and that when actors engage in tactical ingratiation that is also deemed authentic, targets respond with less concern than the literature would suggest. (shrink)

Current research has identified five discrete US negotiation tactics, a traditional one considered to be ethical, and four considered to be ethically questionable. Scholars have independently used culture to explain how the endorsement of these five negotiation tactics varies across nations. They have also independently used interpersonal trust and ethics propensity to explain antecedents of the endorsement of those five negotiation tactics. This research combines all those variables into one model that investigates the influence of (...) horizontal and vertical individualism–collectivism, ethical idealism, and trust propensity on employees’ attitudes toward ethically questionable negotiation tactics in Israel and Kyrgyzstan. A survey questionnaire was translated from English to Hebrew and Kyrgyz, and 615 responses were collected from employees in various industries in the two countries. We empirically confirmed three types of questionable negotiation tactics discovered in previous one-nation studies, namely, pretending, deceiving, and lying. Vertical individualism was found to be positively, and horizontal collectivism was found to be negatively, related to pretending, deceiving, and lying. Ethical idealism was found to be negatively related to the endorsement of the lying tactics, while trust propensity was negatively related to the pretending tactics. Compared with Israel, employees’ endorsement of ethically questionable negotiation tactics was significantly higher in Kyrgyzstan. Contribution to theory and practice is discussed. (shrink)

This essay proposes that subcultural practices such as gossip and fan writing are feminist epistemologies that can form radical archive inquiry and knowledge production, and creative outputs. Drawing on feminist new materialism and archive theory, I develop a set of principles for practice-based research methodologies that incorporate a researcher's intersubjective relationship with archive matter (e.g. records, documents, classification systems, social-material contexts) and consider the production of knowledge from such research as forms of tabulation. Fabulation here is seen as (...) part of a critically transgressive epistemological stance that expands feminist critiques of universalising master narratives and archive orthodoxies. My proposition, formed in part through a residency in the Woman's Art Library in London, is to name such research gestures ‘archive fanfiction’, where experimental and practice-oriented method moves with feminist politics and activism. (shrink)

Research has revealed how inherent self-organizing tendencies in athletes and sports teams can be exploited to facilitate emergence of dynamical patterns in synergy formation in sports teams. Here, we discuss how game models, and associated tactical principles of play, may be implemented to constrain co-existing global-to-local and local-to-global self-organization tendencies in team sports players during training and performance. Understanding how to harness the continuous interplay between these co-existing, bi-directional, and coordination tendencies is key to shaping system behaviors in sports (...) training. Training programs are traditionally dominated by designs, which shape the self-organizing tendencies of players and teams at a global-to-local scale by coaches imposing a tactical/strategical plan with associated tactical principles of play. Nevertheless, recent research suggests that performers also need to be provided with opportunities to explore self-organizing tendencies that emerge at the local-to-global scale in training. This directional tendency in synergy formation can be facilitated by players being given opportunities to actively explore different adaptive and innovative performance solutions, coherent with principles of play circumscribed in an overarching game model. Developing methods (coaching sessions rooted on principles of dynamical systems theory that foment the development of such local-to-global relations) to exploit the continuous interplay between these co-existing tendencies within sports teams may promote more effective and efficient athlete skill training programs, in addition to enhancing performance. (shrink)

This article responds to recent debates in critical algorithm studies about the significance of the term “algorithm.” Where some have suggested that critical scholars should align their use of the term with its common definition in professional computer science, I argue that we should instead approach algorithms as “multiples”—unstable objects that are enacted through the varied practices that people use to engage with them, including the practices of “outsider” researchers. This approach builds on the work of Laura Devendorf, Elizabeth Goodman, (...) and Annemarie Mol. Different ways of enacting algorithms foreground certain issues while occluding others: computer scientists enact algorithms as conceptual objects indifferent to implementation details, while calls for accountability enact algorithms as closed boxes to be opened. I propose that critical researchers might seek to enact algorithms ethnographically, seeing them as heterogeneous and diffuse sociotechnical systems, rather than rigidly constrained and procedural formulas. To do so, I suggest thinking of algorithms not “in” culture, as the event occasioning this essay was titled, but “as” culture: part of broad patterns of meaning and practice that can be engaged with empirically. I offer a set of practical tactics for the ethnographic enactment of algorithmic systems, which do not depend on pinning down a singular “algorithm” or achieving “access,” but which rather work from the partial and mobile position of an outsider. (shrink)

This paper draws on research undertaken by the authors in community well woman clinics and hospital settings. Discussion focuses on issues around informed consent and participant observation. The authors are concerned to highlight the complexity of decision-making where researchers hold dual or multiple agendas, which are sometimes in conflict. Further situational factors which affect decision-making in research settings are explored. In particular, the complexity of gaining informed consent throughout the research process is addressed. The intention is not (...) to point to definitive resolutions to the problems posed, but rather to prompt debate about the often taken for granted meaning of 'informed' consent in relationship to participant observation. Cet article est basé sur les recherches que les auteurs avaient entrepris dans des polycliniques de santé de femmes et des hôpitaux. La discussion est concentré sur les thèmes du consentement informé et l'observation participante. Les auteurs sont inquiets de montrer la complexité du processus de se décider quant les chercheurs ont un rôle double ou multiple qui peut être en conflit. D'autres éléments qui influencent la prise de décisions dans des cadres de recherche sont aussi étudiés. En particulier, la compléxité de l'acquisition du consentement informé est adressée. L'intention n'est pas d'amener à une résolution définitive du problème posé, mais plutôt d'inviter á une discussion sur le sens (trop souvent pris pour réalité) du consentment 'informé' quant il s'agit de l'observation participante. Dieser Artikel stützt auf Forschungen, die die Autoren in Frauengesundheits-Kliniken und Spitälern unternommen hatten. Die Diskussion ist hier über die Themen Informierte Zustimmung und Mitteilende Beobachtung. Die Autoren befassen sich mit der Vielschichtigkeit der Entscheidungskräfte wenn die Forscher doppelte oder mehrfache Rollen haben, die manchmal im Konflikt sein können. Andere Faktoren, die die Entscheidungsmöglichkeit beeinflussen, sind auch untersucht. Besonders wird hier die Komplexität des erhalten von informierter Zustimmungung während des Forschungsprozesses angesprochen. Die Absicht ist nicht, eine definitive Lösung des Problems zu finden, sondern eher zu einer Debatte einzuladen über die zu oft als selbstverständlich betrachtete Bedeutung der 'informierten' Zustimmung auf der Ebene der mitteilenden Beobachtung. (shrink)

This paper examines gender aspects of tactics of the alter-globalization movement. Focusing mainly on two transnational collective actions in Prague in 2000 and in Genoa in 2001, the research draws on participant observation, interviews with activists and analysis of the movement's alternative media. The feminist activism within the movement, the gendered tactics and their representation in the alternative media are analysed using the concept of diffusion. Although feminists are involved in the protests, and local Czech feminist activism (...) was incited by the international mobilizations in Prague in 2000, they are often marginalized because of the emphasis on masculine confrontational and violent tactics used in demonstrations. The movement's alternative media further reproduce gender stereotypes. The visual representations of the tactics are traditionally gendered – women are depicted as fairies, men as fighters; this is because the movement does not want to appear weak and feminine, and seeks to be effective. (shrink)

The main objective of this study was to analyze the influence of tactical and situational variables on offensive sequences during elite European handball matches. A sample of 55 games and 5.857 offensive sequences from the European Handball Federation Champions League, the selected teams were classified as the top eight teams in the league, were analyzed using X2 and logistic regression analyses. Results indicated that positional attacks [odds ratio = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.28–0.42; p < 0.001] and fast attacks decreased the (...) probability of success for an offensive sequence by 66% and 54% when compared with counterattacks. Offensive sequences that start in the attacking zone seem to be less effective than those that start from a situation of “ball in center.” Additionally, offensive sequences that finished in the defensive zone of the observed team were 3.19 times more effective than those that ended before the 9 m zone. We concluded that compared with offensive sequences where the shot is performed from the 9 m zone, the chances of an offensive sequence ending successfully are 3.65, 3.60, and 2.21 times higher, for offensive sequences where the shot is performed from 9 m, 6 m, and the defensive zone, respectively. On the other hand, many variables seem to impact the performance of handball teams. Nevertheless, a significant challenge remains, and more research needs to be conducted to analyze the obstacles that teams need to overcome while attacking in the most effective way possible. (shrink)

In “Willpower with and without effort”, G. Ainslie advances our understanding of selfcontrol by theoretically unifying multiple forms of willpower. But one crucial question remains unanswered: How do agents pick the right forms of willpower in each situation? I argue that willpower requires tactical skill, which detects willpower-demanding contexts, selects context-appropriate tactics, and monitors their implementation. Research on tactical skill will significantly advance our understanding of willpower.

As the suspect interview is one of the key elements of a police investigation, it has received a great deal of merited attention from the scientific community. However, suspect interviews in child sexual abuse (CSA) investigations is an understudied research area. In the present mixed-methods study, we examine Swedish (n= 126) and Norwegian (n= 52) police interviewers' self-reported goals, tactics, and emotional experiences when conducting interviews with suspected CSA offenders. The quantitative analyses found associations between the interviewers' self-reported (...) goals, tactics, and emotions during these types of suspect interviews. Interviewers who reported experiencing more negative emotions were more likely to employ confrontational tactics. Specifically, anger was positively associated with the goal of obtaining a confession and with aggressive tactics like raising one's voice and emphasizing the seriousness of the crime. Frustration and disgust displayed similar patterns. Somewhat contrasting these quantitative results, the thematic analysis identified a strong consensus that emotions should not and do not affect the police interviewers' work. Furthermore, the police interviewers described a range of strategies for managing emotions during the interview and for processing their emotional reactions afterwards. The present findings highlight the relevance of emotional processes in CSA suspect interviews and provide an initial exploration of the potentially complex relationship between the goals, tactics, and emotional experiences of police interviewers who question CSA suspects. (shrink)

Research in sport pedagogy and its applied recommendations are still characterized by a contrast between the different learning theories from psychology. Traditional theories and their corresponding approaches to the specific case of teaching and learning “how to play [team sports like soccer]” are subject to compatibilities and incompatibilities. We discuss how behaviorism as an approach to teaching the game shows more incompatibilities with the nature of tactical actions when compared to constructivism. As coaches strive to teach the game and (...) make their players and team perform, we argue that teaching the game requires teaching approaches that will help develop their way to play without taking away their autonomy and adaptiveness. The teaching-learning-training process for playing the game should then be conducted to harmonize the characteristics of the contents, the context, and the individual at hand. We provide two illustrated examples and portray how the recommended approaches fit key contents of the game that are observed in the tactical behavior. We finally argue that the coherent design of games provides minimal conditions to teaching approaches, and that such a design should be a priority when elaborating the learning activities along the player development process. As a conclusion, the interactionist theory is the one that best serves the teaching of the game and the development of tactical behavior. We therefore defend that its principles can help coaches tailor their own strategy to teach the game with the many tools. (shrink)

Technical and tactical actions are decisive in terms of badminton player competitive performance. The main objective of this research was to design, validate, and estimate the reliability of an observational instrument for the analysis of the tactical and technical actions in individual badminton. The process was carried out in four different steps: first, there was a review of the scientific literature and a preliminary list of variables was made; second, a qualitative and quantitative assessment was completed by 10 badminton (...) expert judges; in the third step, the content validity was estimated using Aiken’s V coefficient; finally, intra-observer reliability and interobserver reliability were tested by two observers specialized in badminton using the Cohen’s Kappa coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Strokes were used as the unit of measure by our observational instrument; every time badminton players hit the shuttlecock, 22 variables are observed. The minimum Aiken’s value was 0.58, and reliability was 0.63. In spite of these values, none of the variables had to be removed, but there were modifications in terms of drafting in some of them. The main findings confirmed the validity and the usefulness of this instrument. (shrink)

The ArgumentSoon after finishing his studies in 1900, Einstein makes a tactical retreat to the Patent Office in Bern where he develops a plan for returning to the academic fold. He is assisted in this by a central figure in the Zurich establishment, Alfred Kleiner, who grooms him for the return. More generally, I argue that Einstein's role in the emergence of theoretical physics as a discipline results from the interaction of two developments, one external and institutional, the other internal (...) and personal. Certain institutional constraints influence Einstein's early academic career by providing a professional opportunity to which he can adjust his career plans. The existence of this professional context for Einstein's early work in physics plays a role in encouraging him to pursue the speculative work in physics that became his distinctive hallmark. The other side of the coin is that Einstein's personal legitimation as professor of theoretical physics in 1909 also confers legitimacy on his speculative research, which in turn infuses the term “theoretical physics” with new meaning. The key factor uniting Einstein's personal development with institutional opportunities is the special relationship that he enjoys with Kleiner, who serves as the focus of interactions between the external and internal developments described in the paper. (shrink)

Shared governance in hospitals promotes the inclusion of nurses' expertise, knowledge and skills in organisational processes, and nurses increasingly fulfil positions in organisational hierarchies. However, incorporating nursing expertise in strategic governance structures might be complicated, as these structures are primarily linked to managerial and biomedical expertise. Drawing on a Foucauldian perspective on knowledge and power, intertwined and embedded in everyday (inter)actions, we study how newly appointed directors of nursing challenge these dominant ‘modes of knowing’. By focusing on a (Dutch) healthcare (...) organisation, a large academic medical centre, we gained insight into how the history of director of nursing roles relates to how nursing expertise is valued. We gathered qualitative data (from multiple sources) to get close to the daily practices of these directors. In this way, we were able to highlight three tactics that enable directors to relate to new ‘knowledge‐power knots’: (1) positioning, by creating more unity; (2) profiling, by showing significance and (3) powering, by being alert and intervening. With these tactics, the directors of nursing try to embed themselves and their expertise in hospital governance. This study contributes to an everyday understanding of power and the tactics that directors of nursing employ as an ongoing practice. This provides practical starting points for embedding nursing in governance and decision‐making. (shrink)

Many of the same fundamental principles and regulations that govern civilian biomedical research also apply to research conducted by the US Military. Despite these similarities, the conduct of research by the US Military has additional requirements designed to preserve service members’ informed consent rights, ethical standards and information that may be deemed classified. Furthermore, there are also additional rules and regulations associated with potential research to be done in a combat setting. Before conducting battlefield research, (...) many unique circumstances must be considered to include: (1) the current legal and regulatory requirements for advanced informed consent (2) the tactical situations, and the ability to adequately document in the “austere” environment (3) the need to provide improved drugs and devices for combat casualty care and (4) the special nature of the superior-subordinate relationship. This paper discusses historical background, regulatory oversight, ethical implications and release of information as it pertains to research conducted by the US Military. (shrink)

The growth in international trade in recent years necessitates a better understanding of customs and expectations in cross-cultural negotiations. While several researchers have sought to examine and detail the similarities and differences between select countries, their data have generally been obtained under neutral or unspecified negotiating conditions. However, issue importance, opponent (prowess, ethical reputation), and context (location, confederate awareness, urgency) can play a significant role in the use of negotiating tactics. This paper describes a study comparing the perceptions of (...) one hundred and forty-two current and future business professionals from two emerging trade partners, Brazil and the United States, regarding the appropriateness and likely use of five categories of negotiation tactics under seven challenging or unfavorable negotiating conditions commonly faced by negotiators. The results indicate an overall conditional effect for both attitudes (perceived appropriateness) and intentions (likelihood of use). In addition, while no significant difference in perceived appropriateness was found due to country, there were differences in likely use due to country for six conditions-behaviors. (shrink)

Rape of women by men might be generated either by a specialized rape adaptation or as a by-product of other psychological adaptations. Although increasing number of sexual partners is a proposed benefit of rape according to the “rape as an adaptation” and the “rape as a by-product” hypotheses, neither hypothesis addresses directly why some men rape their long-term partners, to whom they already have sexual access. In two studies we tested specific hypotheses derived from the general hypothesis that sexual coercion (...) in the context of an intimate relationship may function as a sperm competition tactic. We hypothesized that men’s sexual coercion in the context of an intimate relationship is related positively to his partner’s perceived infidelities and that men’s sexual coercion is related positively to their mate retention behaviors (behaviors designed to prevent a partner’s infidelity). The results from Study 1 (self-reports from 246 men) and Study 2 (partner-reports from 276 women) supported the hypotheses. The Discussion section addresses limitations of this research and highlights future directions for research on sexual coercion in intimate relationships. (shrink)

Gangestad & Simpson's arguments may be rendered more substantial and precise by capitalizing on research and theory on choice between reinforced response alternatives. An analysis in terms of feedback functions shows that the effects of individual differences in attractiveness may be understood as constraints on optimality and may be reconciled with the previous research and theory that the authors criticize.

Background: The United Kingdom has the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe. It is known that women in prison are a vulnerable female population who are at risk of mental ill-health due to disadvantaged and chaotic life experiences. Accurate numbers of pregnant women held in UK prisons are not recorded, yet it is estimated that 6%–7% of the female prison population are at varying stages of pregnancy and around 100 babies are born to incarcerated women each year. There are limited (...) published papers that document the departure of the researcher following closure of fieldwork with women in prison. This article identifies the dilemmas and challenges associated with the closure of prison fieldwork through the interwoven reflections of the researcher. Departure scenarios are presented which illuminate moments of closure talk with five women, supported by participant reflections regarding abandonment and loss, making pledges for the future, self-affirmation, incidental add-ons at the end of an interview and red flags, alerting the researcher to potential participant harm through ill health or self-injury. Objectives: The primary intention of the study was to observe the pregnant woman’s experience with the English prison system through interviews with pregnant women and field observations of the environment. Research design: Ethnographic design enabled the researcher, a practising midwife, to engage with the prisoners’ pregnancy experiences in three English prisons, which took place over 10 months during 2015–2016. Data collection involved semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews with 28 female prisoners in England who were pregnant or had recently given birth while imprisoned, 10 members of staff and a period of non-participant observation. Follow-up interviews with 5 women were undertaken as their pregnancies progressed. Computerised qualitative data analysis software was used to generate and analyse pregnancy-related themes. Ethical considerations: Favourable ethical opinion was granted by National Offender Management Services through the Health Research Authority Integrated Research Application System and permission to proceed was granted by the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Findings: Thematic analysis enabled the identification of themes associated with the experience of prison pregnancy illuminating how prison life continues with little consideration for their unique physical needs, coping tactics adopted and the way women negotiate entitlements. On researcher departure from the field, the complex feelings of loss and sadness were experienced by both participants and researcher. Discussion: To leave the participant with a sense of abandonment following closure of fieldwork, due to the very nature of the closed environment, risks re-enactment of previous emotional pain of separation. Although not an ethical requirement, the researcher sought out psychotherapeutic supervision during the fieldwork phase with ‘Janet’, a forensic psychotherapist, which helped to highlight the need for careful closure of research/participant relationships with a vulnerable population. This article brings to the consciousness of prison researchers the need to minimise potential harm by carefully negotiating how to exit the field. Reflections of the researcher are interlinked with utterances from some participants to illustrate the types of departure behaviours. Conclusion: Closure of fieldwork and subsequent researcher departure involving pregnant women in prison requires careful handling to uphold the ethical research principle ‘do no harm’. (shrink)

Large amounts of personal data are generated through young people’s engagements with mobile media, with these data increasingly used by advertisers, content developers and other third parties to profile, predict and position individuals. This has prompted growing concerns over the ability of mobile media users to develop informed stances towards how and why their data is being used, i.e. to build ‘conscious’ and/or ‘resistant’ forms of ‘data agency’. This paper explores ways of developing the critical consciousness and resistant practices of (...) young mobile media users towards personal data. Drawing on research with 27 young people, the paper describes efforts to make representations of third party use of personal data openly available as a basis from which to develop data-savvy tactics and strategies. The results of these interventions – while only partially successful – offer valuable insights into the technical, social and cultural issues that shape young people’s engagement with personal data. The paper concludes by considering how concerns over data agency might be better aligned with the realities of young people’s mobile media use. (shrink)

Misleading information pervades marketing communications, and is a long-standing issue in business ethics. Regulators place a heavy burden on consumers to detect misleading information, and a number of studies have shown training can improve their ability to do so. However, the possible side effects have largely gone unexamined. We provide evidence for one such side-effect, whereby training consumers to detect a specific tactic (illegitimate endorsers), leaves them more vulnerable to a second tactic included in the same ad (a restrictive qualifying (...) footnote), relative to untrained controls. We update standard notions of persuasion knowledge using a goal systems approach that allows for multiple vigilance goals to explain such side-effects in terms of goal shielding, which is a generally adaptive process by which activation and/or fulfillment of a low-level goal inhibits alternative detection goals. Furthermore, the same goal systems logic is used to develop a more general form of training that activates a higher-level goal (general skepticism). This more general training improved detection of a broader set of tactics without the negative goal shielding side effect. (shrink)

The close ties between modes of governing, subjectivities and critique in contemporary societies challenge the role of critical social research. The classical normative ethos of the unmasking researcher unravelling various oppressive structures of dominant vs. dominated groups in society is inadequate when it comes to understand de-politicizing mechanisms and the struggles they bring about. This article argues that only a non-normative position can stay attentive to the constant and complex evolution of modes of governing and the critical operations actors (...) themselves engage in. The article outlines a non-normative but critical programme based on an ethos of re-politicizing contemporary pervasive modes of governing. The analytical advantages and limitations of such a programme are demonstrated by readings of both Foucauldian studies and the works of and debates regarding the French pragmatic sociology of Boltanski and Thévenot. (shrink)

Employee counterproductive work behavior is costly to organizations and those who work within them. Evidence suggests that employees are motivated to engage in CWB because they believe that these behaviors will make them feel better in response to negative workplace events. However, research has yet to consider the situational and individual factors that shape the extent to which employees view CWB in such a manner. In order to provide insight into the decision-making process surrounding the use of CWB as (...) a coping strategy, this study leverages coping theory to examine the factors that contribute to employees’ beliefs that CWBs will be instrumental for emotion regulation aims in response to workplace stressors. In a repeated measures scenario-based study of 297 employees, we found that individuals’ perceived coping instrumentalities for CWBs are a function of the controllability and source of the stressor as well as a more stable learned response to stressful situations at work. (shrink)

In this paper, I examine how advocates seek to improve the well-being of recipients who reside in organizations or systems of care in which factors influencing risk and jeopardy prevail. I use data from multiple action research projects to frame what I call ‘the advocate's compromise’: in systems and organizations regulating people who are considered vulnerable or dependent the advocate must advance collaborative relationships with care providers and supervisors so they become allies in advancing the well being of their (...) charges. I place the advocate's compromise in context by amplifying a theory of diminished status, which offers a rationale for advocacy in social work. By identifying variation in its forms I illuminate the richness of advocacy practice in which the compromise is readily observable. In considering the context influencing the practice of advocacy in social work, I elaborate central aspects of the compromise, and reveal some of its ethical demands. Finally, I delineate principal strategies and tactics I have observed advocates employ to make the compromise a useful tool, particularly in total institutions, so incremental and limited advancements can make marginal improvements to a recipient's well-being without threatening the regulatory regime of care or supervision. (shrink)

This research examines the relationships among the types of self-serving political messages sent in organizations, the channels through which they are sent, and the targets to whom they are sent. Two theoretical streams converge in this study: Communication as Political Behavior and Media Usage Theory. A review and synthesis of these two bodies of literature yielded three hypotheses, each of which received strong statistical support. The data suggest that the process of encoding and transmitting self-serving messages is strongly related (...) to the specific target to whom they are sent (boss, subordinate, or peer) and the channel through which they are sent (face-to-face, telephone, memo, or e-mail). (shrink)

SummaryThe problems of operations research, optimized at the tactical and strategic level, have a domain of interest much broader than many of its earlier suboptimization problems. Its appeal to scientific method requires the construction of a model from which predictions can be made. This model must have the comprehensive character of those proposed by philosophy and the sciences. Such a model is available in the form of war gaming, a traditional military training vehicle transformed in such a way as (...) to make it a research tool of great power and flexibility and which can assume a multitude of forms. The war game as a new research tool, when applied to the important problems at a high level of optimization, carries with it the excitement of a pioneering venture and the promise of contributions of greatly increased importance to the development of military science. (shrink)

Multi-method research is any research that uses more than one research technique or strategy to study one or several closely related phenomena. This method is described by triangulation. This article examines the multi-method tradition in empirical legal research, defines basic concepts, discusses when and why multi-method research is useful, and how the different actions of research can provide unique approaches to the same questions. It explores examples of projects to demonstrate how research that (...) employs multiple tactics for observing and understanding is more reliable than a single study if the studies are of comparable quality. At the same time, multi-method research comes with great costs and risks that must be considered at the outset of such a project as well as during the project itself. However, it is speculated that multi-method research is perhaps the most effective way to understand the relationship between law and society. (shrink)

The analysis of courtroom trials has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, studies performing SFL analysis of legal texts and speeches are rare. The up-to-date published studies handled criminal cases; yet, there is a lack of SFL studies examining civil cases like divorce and defamation. The present qualitative study utilized systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA) of the 2022 defamation trial sued by Johnny Depp’s lawyer (the plaintiff) against Amber Heard (the defendant). The SF-MDA of the transitivity system aimed to examine (...) and compare the experiential meaning in the speeches of the plaintiff and the defendant. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) what are the differences in the plaintiff’s and defendant’s use of experiential meanings? (2) how can transitivity and multimodality aid in the experiential communicative meanings and the arrival of the final verdict in the courtroom? and (3) what were the language tactics that were manifested throughout the analysis? The plaintiff utilized material processes with the highest frequency, followed by relational and mental processes. However, the defendant made excessive use of the relational processes followed by mental and material processes. The speech of the plaintiff included more circumstances than the defendant. Some of the language techniques, used by the plaintiff and the defendant were detected. (shrink)

This study takes its point of departure in an oft‐voiced critique that the French philosopher Michel Foucault gives discourse priority over practice, thereby being deterministic and leaving little space for the individual to act as an agent. Based on an interpretation of the latter part of Foucault's oeuvre, we argue against this critique and provide a methodological discussion of the perception that Foucault's method constitutes, primarily, discourse analysis. We argue that it is possible to overcome this critique of Foucault's work (...) by the application of methodological tools adapted from Foucault's later writings and his diagnosis of his own work as studies of forms of problematization. To shed light on the possibilities that this approach offers to the researcher, we present a reading of aspects of Foucault's work, with a focus on his notion of forms of problematization. Furthermore, we elaborate on concepts from his so‐called genealogical period, namely ‘the dispositive’, strategy and tactics. Our interpretation is supported by examples from a study of the emergence of Danish nursing education, which is based on an analytical framework that we developed in the light of an interpretation of aspects of Foucault's work. (shrink)

Interdisciplinarity is often framed as crucial for addressing the complex problems of contemporary society and for achieving new levels of innovation. But while science policy and institutions have provided a variety of incentives for stimulating interdisciplinary work throughout Europe, there is also growing evidence that some aspects of the academic system do not necessarily reward interdisciplinary work. In this study, we explore how mid-career researchers in an environmental science research center in Sweden relate to and handle the distinct forms (...) of uncertainty that arise from conflicting institutional and policy impulses. Our material suggests that interdisciplinary academics are often confronted with and at times themselves operate with a surprisingly dichotomous, value-laden view of their research practice. Disciplinarity is primarily associated with the ideals of scientific rigor, while interdisciplinarity becomes conflated with application-oriented work and a lack of ‘theory.’ We also draw attention to the underlying practical dynamics that reproduce this tension and entangle it with the very process of academic socialization. Specifically, we analyze the ambivalent consequences of the various work-arounds that researchers rely on to carve out opportunities for ongoing interdisciplinary research within heterogeneous funding landscapes. These tactics turn out to be undermined by the overriding normative power of formal career incentives at universities, which continue to emphasize the ideals of the individual high-performing academic who publishes in disciplinary journals and attracts the most selective grants. Under such circumstances, the work-arounds themselves become an insidious mechanism that allows researchers to stay in academia but systematically marginalizes their voices and epistemic ambitions in the process. (shrink)

This study examines how consumers react to a Facebook post that is completely, moderately or not at all in conflict with a brand-typical TV clip. It thus analyzes the need for congruity between the offline and online advertising activities of a brand and draws on the literature of integrated communication, schema incongruity theory and advertising effectiveness. Results of an online experiment with 131 participants and a 2 (content: congruent vs. incongruent) by 2 (stylistic devices: congruent vs. incongruent) between-subjects design provide (...) first insights into the modeling of (in)congruity based on integrated communication. Thus, the article presents a first attempt to conceptualize (in)congruity in advertising through a combination of content and stylistic devices. In addition to this research agenda, the manuscript offers implications for advertising practice. (shrink)

Modern Thai art and its historical development are not a symbol of modernism restricted to preconceived Western notion. But modern Thai art has its own genealogy whose complexity and system of meaning signify an expression of an ethical need to embody the denseness, structure and complexity of moral experience. Believing in this conviction causes Modern Thai artists to dig deep into materiality of their medium to find forms combining of matter or signs of solid substance. Accordingly, it becomes a yearning (...) process of heroic aspiration to secure Thai artists’ identity, and, somehow, the identity and ethical structure of the nation. Therefore works of art in Thailand have been produced not for the sake of aesthetic pleasure, but for moralistic contemplation within very established institutional domains. In turn, Thai contemporary artistic movement after 1990s has been inclined to suggest some emerging alternative of creative competency quite differently from artistic progress in the prior periods. This creates a political dialogue that can be critically understood in terms of the process of cultural hybridity that gives rise to something different, something new, transitional and unrecognizable – a new area of negotiation of meaning and representation taking place - in a third space. This kind of space is politically practical because it is a productive space of the construction of culture as different, in the spirit of alteration or otherness embedded in everyday idioms of artistic practices in various fashions. From this perspective, artistic practices in this period become a new terrain of practice as a site of contestation. Furthermore, in my study, the research methodology will encourage epistemological overlapping terrains for interrogating that of foundational dualism, which implicitly underpins the study of the social constitution of reality rigidly bounded on cultural identities of Thai nation state. (shrink)

As researchers we often find ourselves grappling with social media platforms and data ‘at close quarters’. Although social media platforms were created for purposes other than academic research – which are apparent in their architecture and temporalities – they offer opportunities for researchers to repurpose them for the collection, generation and analysis of rich datasets. At the same time, this repurposing raises an evolving range of practical and methodological challenges at the small and large scale. We draw on our (...) experiences and empirical data from two research projects, one using Facebook Community Pages and the other repurposing Facebook Activity Logs. This article reflects critically on the specific challenges we faced using these platform features, on their common roots, and the tactics we adopted in response. De Certeau’s distinction between strategy and tactics provides a useful framework for exploring these struggles as located in the practice of doing social research – which often ends up being tactical. This article argues that we have to collectively discuss, demystify and devise tactics to mitigate the strategies and temporalities deeply embedded in platforms, corresponding as far as possible to the temporalities and the aims of our research. Although combat at close quarters is inevitable in social media research, dialogue between researchers is more than ever needed to tip the scales in our favour. (shrink)

In the internet era spam has become a big problem. Researchers are troubled with unsolicited or bulk spam emails inviting them to publish. However, this strategy has helped predatory journals hunt their prey and earn money. These journals have grown tremendously during the past few years despite serious efforts by researchers and scholarly organizations to hinder their growth. Predatory journals and publishers are often based in developing countries, and they potentially target researchers from these counties by using different tactics (...) identified in previous research. In response to the spread of predatory publishing, scientists are trying to develop criteria and guidelines to help avoid them—for example, the recently reported “predatory rate”. This article attempts to highlight the strategies used by predatory journals to convince researchers to publish with them, report their article processing charges, note their presence in Jeffrey Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers, rank them based on the predatory rate, and put forward suggestions for junior researchers, who are the most likely targets of predatory journals. (shrink)

A growing body of research highlights that adults with autism spectrum disorder have poor health outcomes, yet effective health interventions are lacking for this population. While mobile health applications demonstrate potential for promoting physical activity in adults with ASD, scientific evidence for supporting this tool’s long-term effectiveness on PA behavior change remains inconclusive. This study aimed to provide the latest information on PA research and the prospective role of mobile health applications for promoting PA in adults with ASD. (...) A literature review demonstrated that a few available studies show contradictory results regarding PA levels in adults with ASD, and behavior change techniques and gamification-guided mobile health applications can be promising tactics to leverage autism’s strengths and increase PA in these individuals. Optimizing design decisions based on needs analysis and user feedback is crucial to identifying and developing a sustainable mobile health intervention for PA promotion in adults with ASD. (shrink)

This study aims to examine how interdisciplinary urban interventions within architectural education can effectively address social justice issues. Motivated by the growing need for inclusive and equitable urban spaces, this research explores the potential of collaborative design and participatory research methods to foster social awareness and community engagement. Focusing on student-led projects in cities such as Houston, San Diego, and Amsterdam, this study addresses social justice challenges across themes like Art Activism, Tactical Urbanism, environmental justice, and gender equity. (...) Using case study analysis, digital mapping, and poster creation as core methodologies, the research demonstrates the value of multi-scalar, interdisciplinary approaches in tackling complex urban problems. The key findings highlight that integrating these approaches into architectural education promotes critical engagement with social justice issues, equipping students with practical skills for future professional challenges. The implications suggest that expanding this framework to diverse urban contexts could enhance its impact, offering a foundation for further studies on interdisciplinary design as a tool for urban equity. (shrink)

This article deals with the role of the political print media popular with communists in Mexico when anti-fascism became the code for the behaviour of democratic forces in the face of the provocation of Hitler’s fascism. Under the facade of anti-fascist unity, the German-speaking communist exiles established a publishing culture, from which Hannes Meyer and Lena Meyer-Bergner, who had come to Mexico from Soviet exile and who committed themselves to proletarian internationalism, soon separated or were excluded. Independent of the group, (...) they developed strategies in accord ance with their anti-imperialist mission, from propaganda media for the Soviet state to the implementation of a sign language that would enable communication across borders: the International System of Typographic Picture Education (Isotype). The goal of my analysis is to provide a starting point for classifying Meyer and Meyer-Bergner’s work in print media, beyond the extensively researched Taller de Gráfica Popular context, but within the polarization of international opposition to fascism and totalitarian regimes during the Second World War. (shrink)

How do Eastern and Western perceptions of “tricky” or ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics differ? We address this question by comparing 161 Chinese and 146 Australian participants’ ratings of the appropriateness of different types of negotiation tactics. We predict that their differing cultural values (e.g., individualism/collectivism, importance of face) as well as their different implicit theories of how negotiation ought to be conducted (i.e., mental models, such as captured in The Secret Art of War: The 36 Stratagems) will be (...) salient in their perceptions of tactics. Examining 24 tactics falling into eight categories, we found that overall the Chinese respondents saw these tactics as more appropriate than did the Australian respondents. There were, however, differences across categories of tactics. Chinese participants rated tactics related to the 36 stratagems as significantly more appropriate than did Australian participants, including diverting attention, misrepresenting information and making false promises. In some cases, the Chinese also saw feigning positive feelings/emotions as more appropriate than did the Australian participants, while an Australian preference for feigning negative feelings/emotions was partially supported. The implications of these findings for practitioners are discussed, along with opportunities for future research. (shrink)

Through the continuous investigation of humans in organizations, we have learned much about motivation, attitudes, and performance. For example, Yukl and others have helped increase our understanding of influence tactics and the effect they have on the performance of subordinates, supervisors, and peers. Some tactics (and combinations of tactics) lead to resistance, some lead to compliance, and some lead to commitment. In this study, we raise the question of whether or not we incorporate our knowledge of these (...) research findings into the design, implementation, and interpretation of our own research studies that require the participation of human subjects. In a survey of 134 subjects from a previous social science study, we found that performance varied across the sample, consistent with the concepts of resistance, compliance, and commitment. In addition, the variance in performance could be explained, in part, by task interest and perceived task demands. Implications are discussed. (shrink)

Research on sustainable consumer behavior has recently gained stream. An increasing number of academic articles seem to be focused on this subject. This study aims to identify and analyze the scientific literature using bibliometric analysis to identify the most cited articles, authors, and countries in the literature on consumer behavior in sustainable fashion. This study comprehensively investigates the topic by scrutinizing 759 publications between 1992 and 2024 sourced from the Scopus database. The study applied the VOSviewer to visualize and (...) interpret the data. The study's findings are presented in a quantitative analysis with tables and maps. We analyzed an exponential increase in papers or research published on consumer behavior in sustainable fashion from 2012 to 2024. In addition to offering recommendations for future research directions, this paper provides significant insights that could influence firms' and regulators' policies and tactics targeted at encouraging sustainable fashion among consumers. (shrink)

Identifying sporting talent remains a difficult task due to the complex nature of sport. Technical skill assessments are used throughout the talent pathway to monitor athletes in an attempt to more effectively predict future performance. These assessments however, largely focus on the isolated execution of key skills devoid of any game context. When assessments are representative of match-play and applied in a setting where all four components of competition (i.e., technical, tactical, physiological and psychological) are assessed within an integrated approach, (...) prediction of talent is more likely to be successful. This article explores the current talent identification technical skill assessments, with a particular focus on Australian Football, and proposes a 5-level performance assessment model for athlete assessment. The model separates technical game skill on a continuum from Level-1 (i.e., laboratory analysis) to Level-5 (i.e., match-play). These levels, using the assumptions of the expert performance model and representative learning design theory, incorporate a step-wise progression of performance demands to more closely represent match-play conditions. The proposed model will provide researchers and practitioners with a structured framework to consider when assessing, or developing, new assessments of technical game-based skill. (shrink)

In the last couple of years, serious controversies have raised doubts over the reliability of research supporting the efficacy and safety of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, popular drugs used for the treatment of depression and a variety of related conditions. These controversies have also evoked concerns over the promotional tactics used by industry to promote these drugs. In another article in this volume, David Healy argues that the tactics highlighted by these and some other recent controversies in (...) psychiatry have brought medical research itself to the level of commercial publicity. In the following article, I provide some additional first-hand information about controversies in which David Healy was involved. I then situate these controversies within the context of the increasing commercialization of medical research. I discuss how the controversies highlight the failure of existing regulatory regimes in curbing inappropriate industry influence over research. I critically analyse some of the measures recently promoted by the medical research community, such as the introduction of a clinical trial registry, and I indicate why these measures are insufficient. In conclusion, I highlight how a more radical reform of the clinical trials scene is needed. (shrink)

Multi-method research is any research that uses more than one research technique or strategy to study one or several closely related phenomena. This method is described by triangulation. This article examines the multi-method tradition in empirical legal research, defines basic concepts, discusses when and why multi-method research is useful, and how the different actions of research can provide unique approaches to the same questions. It explores examples of projects to demonstrate how research that (...) employs multiple tactics for observing and understanding is more reliable than a single study if the studies are of comparable quality. At the same time, multi-method research comes with great costs and risks that must be considered at the outset of such a project as well as during the project itself. However, it is speculated that multi-method research is perhaps the most effective way to understand the relationship between law and society. (shrink)

This article discusses foundations and particularities of the complex approach to researches of processes and phenomena of reception of inogenetic cultural and religious elements. Based on the conception of "comprehending questioning", which, according to Martin Heidegger, is a "ground" for understanding, the author builds a methodologic scheme of the complex approach, which serves to provide a sufficient heuristical minimum in perception of referred subject of research by searching for the answers to the basic issues of scientific philosophical interest. Emphasizing (...) the role of the subject as an efficient cause in processes of cultural-religious syncretism the author focuses on importance of research of his intentions which is expressed verbally, graphically or actively. This task necessitates to differentiate exterior and interior aspects of process or phenomenon being studied. Representing a subjective world as an original place for implementation of syncretization the author gives reasons for expediency of the research of worldview paradigms and dominating idea of subject of reception using not only motivational-targeted analysis but also existential one. A complex research of subject's world relationship, his ontological, epistemological, axiological and praxeological affirmations and social, economic, political and cultural environment enhances the understanding of exogenous and endogenous factors which develop his extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Based on the interpretation of cultural norms, principles and imperatives, various degrees of subjects' readiness to accomplish or maintain receptions of inogenic elements allow to identify an analytical category of subjective "bounds of inclusivity" and make it possible to develop three-part classification of receptions, highlighting its separational, alternation and fusional types. Taking into consideration that receptions often operate as no final goal but as an implementer of more extensive plans of achieving one or another goal, the author also offers to distinguish strategy and tactics of receptions. Therefore, a process of reception is presenting as consisting of a range of aspects or steps, the consideration of which constitutes the content of suggested methodological "algorithm" for researching the processes and phenomena of reception of inogenic cultural or religious elements within the framework of the complex approach to research. (shrink)

The underdevelopment of a pedagogical culture for research methods education and the lack of a body of knowledge with the potential to influence practice have been highlighted by previous studies. This systematic review explores the pedagogic approaches and strategies evident in recent literature (2014–2020) on teaching social science research methods in higher education. It synthesises 55 papers offering a detailed rationale for the approach and strategies employed in doctoral/post-doctoral education. While dispersed across journals, there is a plethora of (...) case studies and reflective accounts about teaching approach, strategy, tactics and tasks in research methods education. Most studies reviewed report on teaching qualitative methods and represent authors’ own teaching practices. Consistent with previous studies, experiential, active learning and student-centred approaches are predominantly discussed, often overlapping or combined with other approaches. This paper illustrates a growing pedagogic culture, represented by an increased volume of papers and theoretical discussion of practices, rationale and reflection on how research methods are taught and learnt. It is concluded that clear intention to engage in dialogue and contribute to evidence-based practice and knowledge in research methods education is evident, and that the ‘how to’ element is richly articulated and justified. (shrink)

This article starts with an overview of the author’s personal involvement—as an Operations Research consultant—in several engineering case-studies that may raise ethical questions; e.g., case-studies on nuclear waste, water management, sustainable ecology, military tactics, and animal welfare. All these case studies employ computer simulation models. In general, models are meant to solve practical problems, which may have ethical implications for the various stakeholders; namely, the modelers, the clients, and the public at large. The article further presents an overview (...) of codes of ethics in a variety of disciples. It discusses the role of mathematical models, focusing on the validation of these models’ assumptions. Documentation of these model assumptions needs special attention. Some ethical norms and values may be quantified through the model’s multiple performance measures, which might be optimized. The uncertainty about the validity of the model leads to risk or uncertainty analysis and to a search for robust models. Ethical questions may be pressing in military models, including war games. However, computer games and the related experimental economics may also provide a special tool to study ethical issues. Finally, the article briefly discusses whistleblowing. Its many references to publications and websites enable further study of ethical issues in modeling. (shrink)