Journal of Research Practice - JRP (Athabasca University Press)
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Realist Review: Current Practice and Future Prospects
Full text linkRealist review has emerged as a specific literature review approach that is concerned with explaining the outcomes of complex intervention programs. We undertook a systematic scoping review to examine the current practice of realist review. A systematic scoping review is a process of mapping the existing evidence base on a particular topic. We identified a growing body of literature using the realist review approach. We selected 54 reviews for our study. These reviews covered a range of topics, including health care, education, management, and public safety. We found that the initial process of exploratory scoping of the literature was described in only 58 per cent of the reviews. The approaches regarding appraisal, analysis, and synthesis of the selected studies were poorly described in most reviews. Overall, there was little uniformity and transparency regarding many methodological issues. Specific methodological guidance may need to be developed if realist reviews are to have a more uniform and transparent approach
Lessons for Research Policy and Practice: The Case of Co-enquiry Research With Rural Communities
Full text linkThis article explores the relationship between institutional funding for research and community-based or co-enquiry research practice. It examines the implementation of co-enquiry research in the COMBIOSERVE project, which was funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme for research and innovation, between the years 2012 and 2015. Research partnerships between Latin American and European civil society organisations, research institutions, and Latin American rural communities are analysed. Challenges for effective collaboration in co-enquiry and lessons learned for research policy and practice are outlined. Based on our case study we suggest that: (1) the established values and practices of academia seem largely unfavourable towards alternative forms of research, such as co-enquiry; (2) the policies and administrative practices of this European Commission funding are unsuitable for adopting participatory forms of enquiry; and (3) the approach to research funding supports short engagements with communities whereas long-term collaborations are more desirable. Based on our case study, we propose more flexible funding models that support face-to-face meetings between researchers and communities from the time of proposal drafting, adaptation of research processes to local dynamics, adaptation of administrative processes to the capacities of all participants, and potential for long-term collaborations. Large-scale funding bodies such as European Commission research programmes are leaders in the evolution of research policy and practice. They have the power and the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the value of partnerships with civil society organisations and communities, actively support co-enquiry, and foment interest in innovative forms of research
On Understanding Expertise, Connoisseurship, and Experiential Knowledge in Professional Practice
Full text linkExpertise, connoisseurship, and experiential knowledge have been discussed as integral to professional practice by professionals and scholars inside and outside their professional domains. However, the notions of expertise, connoisseurship, and experiential knowledge have not been discussed explicitly in relation to practical activities. This special issue, “Experiential Knowledge, Expertise, and Connoisseurship,” explores the nature of experiential knowledge as relating to expertise and connoisseurship in practical activities within design and other professional domains. This editorial article discusses how the two types of specialist knowledge—contributory and interactional expertise, and connoisseurship—gained from experience, can be utilized to judge practice and outputs within the framework of research inquiry. The nine articles included in the special issue serve as examples, demonstrating ways in which these forms of knowledge are understood in research relating to professional practice
Shadow Scholars and the Rise of the Dissertation Service Industry: Can We Maintain Academic Integrity?
Full text linkNotable interest was generated when Dave Tomar’s book, The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat, was first published. While ghostwriters and paper mills have long been part of the academic landscape, a far more ominous enterprise has appeared that targets master’s and doctoral students seeking assistance with their theses and dissertations. This essay proffers a number of questions for consideration about the services these consulting companies are marketing on the Internet to students across the globe. The article illuminates a rising phenomenon and the potential effects on scholarship, faculty, and universities. It will be of interest to anyone interested in the implications for research education
Aesthetic Responses Made Visible Through Voices of Experts
Full text linkProfessional expertise used to play an important role in the field of environmental aesthetics: expert judgements of landscapes and urban scenes were driving forces behind the decision-making process for urban planners. Today however, research in this area is dominated by studies of public opinion and statistical analysis of anonymous data. This article examines the development of professional expertise in environmental aesthetics and proposes to rethink the role of experts and their contribution to the field by addressing tacit processes behind their judgements. Following an interdisciplinary literature review, an approach that relies on active engagement and reflection-on-action is presented. The application of the approach is studied in two empirical cases, demonstrating the possibility of generating insights into the nature of aesthetic experience. The article suggests reconsidering and widening the profile of the expert in environmental aesthetics to blur the divide between experts and lay public as well as between the users and producers of knowledge
Forms and Levels of Expertness: Interpreting Accounts of Typeface Design
Full text linkThis article responds to problems arising from defining the notion of “expert” with respect to the subject of text typeface design. What and who is a type design expert? The author has identified that in both contemporary and historical contexts, paucity exists in relation to recorded knowledge regarding the processes of designing text typefaces. Accounts of knowledge of the practice of text typeface design differ in their perspectives relating to what may be deemed expertness. In attempting to explain or rationalize differences in perspectives of such accounts of practice, the problem of describing expertness arose. In terms of degrees of expertise relative to accounts of subject knowledge in text typeface design, the author developed the concept of “vicinage” in order to explore how we render expertness within research enquiry. This concept has the potential to focus future research in the area of defining expertise in typeface design and more generally beyond this field
Sensitive Research and the Collision of Advocacy and Research: Consequences for the Researcher
Full text linkDoing sensitive research presents particular problems over and above other social science research because of the nature of the issues being asked about and their potential impact on both the participant and the researcher. In some instances, the factors that engage the researcher in the project may also be of interest to advocates who are working for the benefit of the participants in the research. In the current instance, the researcher was interested in understanding the impact of “life without” the possibility of parole on the lives of women convicted of killing their abusers, as well as the impact of their imprisonment and clemency on their families. At the same time, a powerful advocacy group was devoted to gaining clemency for the women. The resulting clash between the goals and purposes of these two entities resulted in a significant impasse and unanticipated consequences for the research agenda as well as the researcher. Analysis of one specific research project and the problems resulting from the clash between researcher and advocates can contribute to the literature on sensitive research as well as on the clashes between advocacy and social science research
Challenges of T3 and T4 Translational Research
Full text linkTranslational research is a new and important way of thinking about research. It is a major priority of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. NIH has created the Clinical and Translational Science Awards to promote this priority. NIH has defined T1 and T2 phases of translational research in the medical field, in order to bring the benefits of scientific results into communities. Current discussions focus on clarifying the subsequent phases of translational research necessary to achieve the intended social impact of research. This article suggests that T3 translational research could aim at getting research out of the highly controlled environment of the academic health center and into the real world. Likewise, it suggests T4 translational research could aim at policy development through policy analysis and evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, and surveillance studies. Translational research has challenges beyond definitions. Translational research is incomplete at any level unless appropriate steps are taken to communicate the results to relevant stakeholders. It appears that communication is currently suboptimal at all levels of translation. Translational research also faced challenges in research funding and training of researchers. Translational thinking should be a key part of research policy and research practice at all levels
Anthropologist-Parents as Researchers: A Critical Appreciation of 'Doing Fieldwork in China . . . With Kids!' by Cornet and Blumenfield
Full text linkThis article is a review of a book that contains reflective accounts by western anthropologists who were accompanied by their children when they were conducting their anthropological fieldwork in rural China. The presence of the children resulted in unplanned interactions, leading to new data for their research. It also triggered new questions on the researchers’ cultural assumptions. Although set in the specific context of anthropological fieldwork, the reflective accounts can serve as useful learning material for early-stage researchers in many other fields