12508 research outputs found
Sort by
A registered report survey of open research practices in psychology departments in the UK and Ireland
Get PDFYesOpen research practices seek to enhance the transparency and reproducibility of research. Whilst there is evidence of increased uptake in these practices, such as study preregistration and open data, facilitated by new infrastructure and policies, little research has assessed general uptake of such practices across psychology university researchers. The current study estimates psychologists’ level of engagement in open research practices across universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while also assessing possible explanatory factors that may impact their engagement. Data were collected from 602 psychology researchers in the UK and Ireland on the extent to which they have implemented various practices (e.g., use of preprints, preregistration, open data, open materials). Here we present the summarised descriptive results, as well as considering differences between various categories of researcher (e.g., career stage, subdiscipline, methodology), and examining the relationship between researcher’s practices and their self-reported capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM-B) to engage in open research practices. Results show that while there is considerable variability in engagement of open research practices, differences across career stage and subdiscipline of psychology are small by comparison. We observed consistent differences according to respondent’s research methodology and based on the presence of institutional support for open research. COM-B dimensions were collectively significant predictors of engagement in open research, with automatic motivation emerging as a consistently strong predictor. We discuss these findings, outline some of the challenges experienced in this study, and offer suggestions and recommendations for future research. Estimating the prevalence of responsible research practices is important to assess sustained behaviour change in research reform, tailor educational training initiatives, and to understand potential factors that might impact engagement.Aston Universit
A 'New Gambia'? Managing political crisis and change in an African small state
No full textYesThe Gambia has experienced three significant political crises in its history: the attempted coup of 1981, the successful coup of 1994, and the latest events in 2016-17 when President Yahya Jammeh, having exercised semi-authoritarian power since 1994, was defeated at the ballot box but refused to step down until he was finally forced to do so. Using academic, media, social media and interview material, this article examines all three processes and their aftermaths, in particular the latter, through the lens of ‘small state’ politics. The article demonstrates that the small size of the population, elite, and landmass indeed matters in driving Gambian political processes. In 2023, several post-2017 processes, including constitutional change, transitional justice and elections, are playing out within the confines of the small state. This article then assesses to what extent a ‘New Gambia’, to use current President Adama Barrow’s phrase, has emerged
A process evaluation of the NIDUS-Professional dementia training intervention for UK homecare workers
No full textYesIntroduction
This process evaluation was conducted in parallel to the randomised controlled feasibility trial of NIDUS-Professional, a manualised remote dementia training intervention for homecare workers (HCWs), delivered alongside an individualised intervention for clients living with dementia and their family carers (NIDUS-Family). The process evaluation reports on: (i) intervention reach, dose and fidelity; (ii) contexts influencing agency engagement and (iii) alignment of findings with theoretical assumptions about how the intervention might produce change.
Methods
We report proportions of eligible HCWs receiving any intervention (reach), number of sessions attended (dose; attending ≥4/6 main sessions was predefined as adhering), intervention fidelity and adherence of clients and carers to NIDUS-Family (attending all 6–8 planned sessions). We interviewed HCWs, managers, family carers and facilitators. We integrated and thematically analysed, at the homecare agency level, qualitative interview and intervention recording data.
Results
32/141 (23%) of eligible HCWs and 7/42 (17%) of family carers received any intervention; most who did adhered to the intervention (89% and 71%). Intervention fidelity was high. We analysed interviews with 20/44 HCWs, 3/4 managers and 3/7 family carers, as well as intervention recordings involving 32/44 HCWs. All agencies reported structural challenges in supporting intervention delivery. Agencies with greater management buy-in had higher dose and reach. HCWs valued NIDUS-Professional for enabling group reflection and peer support, providing practical, actionable care strategies and increasing their confidence as practitioners.
Conclusion
NIDUS-Professional was valued by HCWs. Agency management, culture and priorities were key barriers to implementation; we discuss how to address these in a future trial.Alzheimer's Society (Centre of Excellence grant 330), Dementia and Neurodegenerative Disease Policy Research Unit - Queen Mary (NIHR206110 and NIHR206110), NIHR Senior Investigator Award (NIHR205009
Investigating Drivers of Customer Experience with Virtual Conversational Agents
Get PDFYesBuilding on the perspectives of the uses & gratification (U&G) theory and stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this article develops and tests an integrative framework to examine the underlying factors influencing customers’ experiences with chatbots as a form of virtual conversational agent (VCA) in the UK and Vietnam. In addition to utilitarian and hedonic factors, anthropomorphism and social presence are also investigated, which are considered important experiential dimensions in a customer-machine relationship. We also explore how stimuli such as functionality, communication style similarity, and aesthetics indirectly affect outcomes like customer satisfaction and reuse intention, mediated by four types of customer experiences. Data collected from a sample of 417 and 359 participants in the UK and Vietnam respectively revealed that, in general, perceived informativeness, credibility, enjoyment, functionality, and communication style similarity are crucial for customer satisfaction in both countries. Interesting differences in the effects of customer experience between developed and developing countries were observed. For instance, the effects of anthropomorphism and social presence on satisfaction are only effective for customers from developed country, while those from developing country only need information provided by chatbots be transparent. Our findings offer a novel way to understand customer experience with chatbots and provide important theoretical and managerial implications
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Victim assistance and environmental remediation in the Pacific
No full textYesThis report provides insight into the benefits and challenges pertaining to victim assistance and environmental remediation in the wake of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. Nuclear weapons were tested by the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), and France across historical colonial and occupied commonwealth lands in the Pacific Ocean from 1946 until 1996.1 Australia, Republic of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and French Polynesia were directly affected and experienced significant humanitarian and environmental consequences. Other nearby Pacific Island states, including Cook Islands, Fiji, and Solomon Islands were also impacted by the tests. While evidence of environmental and health effects exists, the total long-term consequences remain unknown. Nuclear weapons possessor states are reluctant to accept responsibility for harms and are unwilling to provide transparency around historical nuclear military activity. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) offers a path forward to understand the impacts of Pacific nuclear weapons testing and to support nation-states affected by these activities. Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty provide a framework for addressing the humanitarian and environmental consequences and an avenue for international collaboration towards these ends. This report highlights the potential local and grassroots benefits of the Treaty to Pacific nations and recommends that Pasifika people are supported to engage with the decision-making process at every stage of its development and implementation. We recommend that mechanisms and safeguards are in place, including long-term support, monitoring, auditing, and education, to ensure access to support is equitable and fair. We recommend that Articles 6 and 7 are implemented through a lens of epistemic justice, which is justice of knowledge, and frameworks must be established to ensure parity of understanding among relevant Pacific communities, through translation of key materials into noncolonial languages and establishing community networks and mentors.Ploughshares Fun
RP-HPLC analysis of two raw propolis samples from Turkey [Abstract]
No full textYesGhaida Mustafa is supported for her PhD by Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Program
Teaching the Teachers: Reflections from two Graduate Teaching Assistants
Get PDFYesThis paper offers a critical reflection on the experience of two former Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) - the authors - who were tasked with creating a digital learning program during the first UK national lockdown in 2020. The program drew from an emerging body of literature that seeks to employ Freirian pedagogies in the digital classroom and was designed to equip both new and established members of faculty with the skills needed for online teaching. While taking on this challenge, however, the experienced GTAs found that their pedagogical instincts and practices were challenged by their positionalities as young Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from underrepresented groups in British Academia. The aim of this paper is thus to scrutinise the potential for online learning to democratise and shift perceived hierarchies within academia, not only for students, but for ECRs navigating the structures of university teaching in the current employment climate
A study on big data analytics and innovation: From technological and business cycle perspectives
Get PDFYesIn today’s rapidly changing business landscape, organizations increasingly invest in different technologies to enhance their innovation capabilities. Among the technological investment, a notable development is the applications of big data analytics (BDA), which plays a pivotal role in supporting firms’ decision-making processes. Big data technologies are important factors that could help both exploratory and exploitative innovation, which could affect the efforts to combat climate change and ease the shift to green energy. However, studies that comprehensively examine BDA’s impact on innovation capability and technological cycle remain scarce. This study therefore investigates the impact of BDA on innovation capability, technological cycle, and firm performance. It develops a conceptual model, validated using CB-SEM, through responses from 356 firms. It is found that both innovation capability and firm performance are significantly influenced by big data technology. This study highlights that BDA helps to address the pressing challenges of climate change mitigation and the transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. However, our results are based on managerial perceptions in a single country. To enhance generalizability, future studies could employ a more objective approach and explore different contexts. Multidimensional constructs, moderating factors, and rival models could also be considered in future studies
The impact of Chinese airport infrastructure on airline pollutant emissions: A hybrid stochastic-neural network approach based on utility functions
Get PDFYesWith China being the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and its aviation sector burgeoning, the environmental performance of Chinese airlines has global significance. Amidst rising demands for eco-friendly
practices from both customers and regulators, the interplay between airport infrastructure and environmental
performance becomes pivotal. This research offers an innovative methodology to gauge the environmental
performance of Chinese airlines, emphasizing the distance traveled between airports using weighted additive
utility functions. Leveraging neural networks, the study investigates the impact of various airport infrastructural
characteristics on environmental performance. Noteworthy findings indicate that ground control measures,
automatic information services at origin airports, surface concrete on runways at both ends, and a centerline
lighting system in destination airports positively influence environmental performance. In contrast, longer and
wider runways at origin airports, increased distances to control towers, and asphalt runways at destination
airports adversely affect it. These insights not only underscore the importance of strategic infrastructure enhancements for reducing carbon footprints but also hold profound policy implications. As global climate change
remains at the forefront, fostering sustainable airport infrastructure in China can significantly contribute to
worldwide mitigation efforts