Birmingham City University Open Access Repository
Not a member yet
8823 research outputs found
Sort by
Understanding Socially Engaged Arts as Discourse and Experience: Discursive structures of inequality, and art as experience
No full textThis thesis used a heuristic-ethnographic methodology to understand socially engaged arts practice. In so doing, the study has identified two distinct paradigms for conceptualising and exploring socially engaged art: as discursive practice in the funded arts sector, and as aesthetic experience in amateur participation. Part One explores socially engaged arts as discursive practice in the funded arts field, revealing structures of power, exclusion and dispossession that serve to produce and reproduce hierarchies of cultural value in the interests of funded institutions and those who dominate them. This phase of the analysis uses Bourdieu’s theorising of The Field of Cultural Production (Bourdieu, 1993) and language as symbolic power (Bourdieu, 1991b) to identify how the endogenous problematisation of inequality and the exogenous pressures of policy attachment construct socially engaged arts as, primarily, a discursive practice that legitimises the inequality of funding distribution, disconnects discursive from realised practice, and marginalises the visibility and social potential of amateur socially engaged arts.
Part Two explores socially engaged arts as aesthetic experience expressed through amateur participation, illuminating forms of creativity that are absent from existing scholarship and cultural policy. This phase of the analysis finds the limitations of Bourdieu’s analytical scheme, and proposes an alternative approach drawn from kinship studies and John Dewey’s conceptualisation of Art as Experience (Dewey, 1958). This alternative theoretical approach is used to probe the complexity and potential of amateur socially engaged arts practice, revealing intrinsic motivations that structure amateur socially engaged activities, and do not conform to the exigencies of competition and status that characterise the funded arts field (where discursive practices function as transmuted forms of economic capital, and are thus available to Bourdieu’s analysis) or to the commonly theorised motivations of sociability and self-interest (Stebbins, 1982; Putnam, 2000). The amateur socially engaged activities examined in this research are structured by, and organised to express, the aesthetic phase of ‘mutuality of being’ (Sahlins, 2011a) through the unity of volunteerism, nurture and creativity.
Taken together, these modes of socially engaged practice reveal that cultural policy, contemporary cultural policy studies, and research exploring amateur participation have issues to address when it comes to the disconnect between discourse and practice in the funded sector, the marginalisation of amateur socially engaged activities (that do not fit with limited, and limiting, notions of what socially engaged arts should be, the forms it can take or how it can be done) and the social value of kinship as aesthetic experience realised through everyday amateur participation
Influence of the Sectoral Composition of Production on Occupational and Sectoral Wage Structures: Evidence from Multiple Economies
No full textThis paper explores the impact of the sectoral composition of production on the evolution of occupational structures and relative wage differentials. We employ a shift-share analysis over three periods to highlight the relevance of sectoral employment in explaining shifts in the occupational employment structure. We introduce the Weighted Occupational Unemployment by Sector (WOUS), to capture the influence of sectoral demand by occupation and the influence of labor supply on relative wage differentials. We also leverage the sectoral share on total value added (VA) as a proxy for the direct impact of sectoral production composition on relative wages. Finally, we explore the determinants of sectoral wage differentials through an econometric panel regression analysis. Our results suggest that the sectoral composition of output influences the labor demand for distinct skills, affecting the occupational composition of employment and, thus, relative wages
An Examination of the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA), Mentoring Script Assessment (MSA), and the Relationship Between Secure Base Script Knowledge and Mentoring Script Knowledge
No full textBackground
There is a need for research underpinned by sound theoretical perspectives to inform research into the improvement of mentoring relationships. This doctoral thesis uses the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA) and Mentoring Script Assessment (MSA) to improve understanding about both assessments and the influence of implicit secure base expectations and previous mentoring engagement on implicit and explicit mentoring expectations.
Methods
Study 1: fifty-four undergraduates were recruited from Birmingham City University, UK. They completed the ASA, MSA, and a questionnaire. Their data was used to examine relationships between their secure base assumptions, mentoring relationship expectations, and mentoring engagement. Study 2a-2c: ASA and MSA transcripts from Study 1 were combined to form a 81,792 word corpus. AntConc and SEANCE were used to examine transcript language features and sentiment content. Study 3: transcripts specific to two ASA stories were compared with secondary data, which consisted of transcripts of the same stories from eighty-nine mothers from a US community sample. Scores, sentiment and language features of the 55,300 word corpus were examined using AntConc and SEANCE.
Results
Study 1: implicit secure base assumptions and engagement in mentoring influenced unconscious assumptions about mentoring interactions. Reducing the MSA by one third improved its relationship with explicitly reported variables. Studies 2a-2c: greater script knowledge was associated with longer transcripts, broader vocabulary, mentor name use, and increased levels of sadness and/or joy expressed in ASA transcripts. Study 3: both datasets containing greater script knowledge had longer transcripts and broader vocabulary.
Conclusions
Insights were gained about ASA and MSA population reliability, relationships between secure base and mentoring assumptions, and transcript features. Proposals were made for adaptation of the ASA and MSA for research and applied settings
Financial technology and ESG market: A wavelet-DCC GARCH approach
No full textThis paper examines the co-movement between FinTech and ESG markets from a time-frequency domain perspective. We use an approach suggested by Vacha and Barunik (2012) and include wavelet coherence analysis and dynamic conditional correlation from a multivariate GARCH model (DCC GARCH). We find a significant bi-directional positive relationship between the FinTech and ESG indices. We also find the DCC GARCH process to be mean reverting. The correlations between FinTech and ESG indices, based on both the wavelet coherence and DCC GARCH models, are found to fluctuate over time with the one based on DCC GARCH being higher on the average compared to the one based on wavelet coherence. Finally, we find that the correlations are significant for almost all frequencies except for the 256-day frequency. For the lower frequencies, such as 512-day (approximately 2-year frequency), the correlation increases
The role of tourism in driving economic growth: An asymmetric augmented autoregressive distributed lag analysis of Singapore's experience
No full textTourism has long been recognized as a potential force for economic growth in various parts of the globe. This study revisits this causal relationship to demonstrate the consequences of long-run and short-run effects between tourism development and economic growth in the context of Singapore for the period 1983:1 to 2020:4. We employ an augmented autoregressive distributed lag (AARDL) to prevent degenerative results and ensure the robustness of findings. We also control for variables such as foreign direct investment, net export, gross fixed capital formation, labor, and government expenditure. The overall empirical results provide support for the positive implications of tourism development for economic growth in Singapore in the long run, and its elasticity is 0.14 in increasing and 0.08 in decreasing. This implies that tourism can be one of the important factors for Singapore's economic growth in the long run, but in the short run, the impact is either negative or insignificant. This study provides important policy implications and recommendations
Doctoral Proposal Writing: A guide for international students
No full textDoctoral Proposal Writing is an essential guide for current and prospective international doctoral students wishing to apply and study for a PhD in the UK, and other countries where courses are conducted in English. The book supports students in choosing a suitable research topic and writing an effective proposal for investigating this topic across a range of forms of doctoral research, across several disciplines, with an emphasis on international students and students with English as an additional language. The author offers guidance for prospective doctoral students in their applications to study for a doctorate, in writing their initial proposals once they have been enrolled and, if necessary, in writing subsequent extended proposals. The book also includes content on developing academic writing, including paragraph writing, argumentation, doing literature reviews, constructing methodologies and using evidence and referencing. The book ends by covering giving a proposal presentation, how to get the most out of supervisory relationships and thinking about the next steps in your research. By giving insights into the doctoral journey, and using real-life examples of good-quality doctoral proposals by international students, this is an essential resource for anyone looking to study for a PhD in the UK or anglophone countries
Linking resource mobilization approaches and venture performance in highly resource-constrained environments
No full textDrawing on resource orchestration and social network theories, this study examines the relationships between bricolage, optimization, and new venture performance. We argue that optimization (i.e. standard application of resources acquired from resource markets) increases performance whereas bricolage (i.e. improvisation and unconventional resource applications) causes the opposite effect. We also argue that the effect of these resource mobilization approaches is contingent upon entrepreneurs’ network diversity. Using survey data from agricultural ventures in Nigeria, we found support for our propositions. The findings also show that entrepreneurs’ social capital affects the value of resource orchestration in relationship-based economic systems. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings
Looking to the future : The problematics of determining RE among early career teachers
No full textThe landscape of RE continues to evolve, in part, due to the academisation programme in England which is disrupting long-standing historical local structures. Following the National Plan by the Commission on RE, as a contribution to the ongoing debates, this study explores the perceptions of early career teachers about the future determination of RE. To examine such views, an online survey gathered quantitative data from PGCE and Year 3 students and a questionnaire gathered qualitative data from two groups in Year 1 of the BA Honours in Primary Education course at a university in the West Midlands, England. The findings are based on 149 survey responses and 52 completed questionnaires. This article reports the results about the membership and duties of Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) and the proposed Local Advisory Network for Religion and Worldviews (LANRW) from the Year 1 groups. The open-ended questionnaire data were analysed by thematic analysis. The results reveal that a small majority of the Year 1 groups were unhappy with the current membership setup of SACREs. However, a larger majority were happy with the current duties of SACREs. More than half of the responses received for the question about the creation of LANRWs agreed with this proposal. All responses received for the question about the representativeness of LANRWs agreed that the five groups proposed would make a LANRWs representative. A majority of the responses received for the question about the proposed roles designated for LANRWs also expressed their satisfaction with the roles. Based on these, further research is recommended
Living in and through the body: new principles and possibilities for the impact of somatic practices for pain relief
No full textThis thesis is an autoethnographic, practice research investigation, offering further knowledge to the field of somatic practice, pain, and discomfort. As this thesis is a practice research inquiry, I offer practice to the field that is further supported by my autoethnographic positions. Embodied research and the lived experience are therefore central, exploring how somatic practice can impact the sensations of pain and discomfort. Whilst practice is at the forefront of this investigation, theoretical frameworks from the emerging field of somatic practice and pain, practical offerings from other practitioners, therapists, and researchers, and already established somatic ideologies have informed the research process and have offered an integrated approach to supporting the understanding of how practice can impact pain and discomfort. Both the practical and theoretical elements of this research emphasise the importance of improvisatory movement and relationships with the self to engage with a sense of freedom and self-expression. By adopting different somatic principles within practice, together with a theoretical understanding of the applications of somatic practice to the body, this research explores movement and wellbeing from a practical perspective, whilst drawing upon key ideas from the emerging somatic field of research. The refined set of principles that this thesis contributes to the field are: The Breath, Movement Economy, The Skeleton, Rotation and Flow, Embodied Rhythm, Stretch, Extension and Elongation, Dynamic and Light Self-Touch, Noticing and Addressing Habits, and Rest and Active Stillness. Each somatic principle was explored practically throughout this investigation, resulting in in- depth, subjective approach to analysing data through the lived experience and the narratives of others involved in the research process. This research investigation contributes to the emerging field of somatic practice and chronic pain, which differs from the general field of dance and somatics
Blockchain-based traceability framework for agri-food supply chain: A proof-of-concept
No full textThis paper outlines the integration of blockchain technology (BCT) into agri-food supply chains (AFSC) and provides a comprehensive framework for organisations interested in adopting Blockchain (BC)-enabled traceability. Collaborating with an agri-food-based use-case organisation and a technology provider, the authors present a use case for the deployment of BCT in honey and coriander powder supply chains. The proof-of-concept (POC) for the BC-based traceability framework was developed with inputs from both the use-case organisation and the technology provider. The findings suggest that the demand for improved traceability may incentivise adoption within specific operations of the agri-food business despite existing challenges. Additionally, the pilot study introduces a cost framework, delving into the developmental and operational costs associated with the developed POC. Furthermore, the paper discusses stakeholders' perspectives by exploring challenges faced during the implementation phase and highlighting the perceived benefits of adoption. Positioned at the intersection of the agri-food sector, digitalisation, and the growing demand for information and product integrity, this research emphasises the unique potential of BCT. In practical terms, this study can serve as a valuable step-by-step guide for managers seeking to understand the process of BCT implementation in AFSC, offering insights into the operational and strategic aspects of adopting BCT