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Supporting digital key workers: addressing the challenges faced by content moderators during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFContent moderators (CMs) are private or state sector professionals responsible for inspecting user-generated content and applying policies to decide whether contentious content should remain online or be removed. CMs were required to review an unprecedented increase of illegal content during the COVID-19 pandemic. The existing evidence, although mostly anecdotal, suggests that frequent exposure to such content affects CM’s well-being, mental health, and quality of life, as well as their work competence, satisfaction, and productivity. This study utilises (N = 9) in-depth qualitative interviews with CMs which explored the impact of this work in the exceptional and challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper is to critically explore what lessons can be learned from CM’s experiences at work and how they coped with the difficulties created by COVID-19. This research will in turn assist organisations to identify what is needed to improve conditions and mental well-being in the workplace
M.R.James and Nigel Kneale
No full textIn 1973, the Folio Society published its collection of Ghost Stories of M.R.James. In keeping with the publisher's practice of commissioning new introductions from then-active academics or authors, the stories were introduced by the television playwright Nigel Kneale (1922-2006) best know as the creator of the three Quatermass series - The Quatermass Experiment (1953), Quatermass II (1955), Quatermass and the Pit (1957), and the stand-alone play The Stone Tape (1972) which, like James' stories, was specifically written for Christmas.
Together with H.G. Wells and John Wyndham, M.R.James is the author most frequently mentioned as influencing Kneale's style - the four can be grouped together as a tradition of horror based on realism and detail. It's. a very English tradition - although that's a slightly contentious word when applied to the Manxsman Kneale - that carries on in works such as both the classic and revived Dr Who. In his introduction, Kneale notes this quality, with what reads to me like a slight note of weariness that he's having to explain it again: 'The verisimilitude performs its usual trick in such tales, conditioning us to accept the unbelievable and doubling the shock when it does hit us.' (ix)
In both Quatermass and the Pit and The Stone Tape, Kneale nods towards the earlier author, including clerical antiquarians of the sort that James tended to make into his protagonists. In this respect, Kneale's world is far larger than James' - these characters are functionaries, rather than the central figures they would have been in James. My paper will examine how James' influence plays out in Kneale's work, and how both the similarities and the differences between them tell us something about both writers
Exploring possibilities for gender to become otherwise: what do child-snail relations make possible?
No full textThrough a series of tentacular provocations this chapter contemplates how gender might be reimagined from child-snail relationalities. Further, it invites attunement to how else gender coalesces through a young child’s non-verbal, not-quite-literate, bodily encounters with the everyday. Whilst dominant ideas about how children are and become in the world tend to be framed by linear, anthropocentric logic characterised by certainty and knowability, how might odd-kin relationalities (Haraway, 2016) complicate such logic and open possibilities for gender to e/merge in surprising ways? Tracing the slime trails of a four-year-old child’s encounters with snails, this chapter wonders whether making-odd-kin might hold the potential to dwell upon often unnoticed and unappreciated capacities for deep immersion in now-time, and with that a persistent refusal to be contained and bound by normative ideas about what it is to be(come) gendered. Making odd-kin refuses the limits, codifications and meanings about gender and childhood that are imposed by adults on the developing child bodymind. Ultimately, with the help of Haraway’s SF praxis, this chapter explores the capacious possibilities inherent in being open to un/re-learning how to be in the world – always in relation
Technical performance differences amongst international netball teams at the Commonwealth Games 2022
Get PDFTeam and opposition quality are factors that can influence netball performance. Although these effects are present within domestic netball, there is currently no assessment of these at the international level. The aim of this study was to assess performance differences between teams during all competition stages and matches at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Thirty-six fixtures from all 12 teams were analysed, with performance indicators (PIs) relating to centre passes, turnovers and goal scoring assessed. Teams were split into three groups based on their finishing position in the competition (top 4, middle 4, bottom 4). When assessing team quality differences, significant differences were revealed for all but three PIs between groups (total number of restart and live turnovers and the total number of these combined). The quality of the opponent was also found to affect teams differently, with top-quality teams performing more consistently than lower-quality teams and being able to beat these teams by large winning margins (average of 55 goals and 26 goals versus bottom-quality and middle-quality teams respectively). Therefore, lower-quality teams should focus on implementing clear and effective tactical plans prior to matches, and performance analysis tools should be created for these teams to raise the quality of international netball
Justificative conformity in ontologically ring-fenced fields: problematizing the scholarly nomenclature in qualitative studies
Get PDFOntology is implicitly or explicitly the impetus of any study. However, what are the implications of a scholarly field whose prevailing ontological assumptions and resultant epistemological commitments impede more nuanced theorizing? In this paper, we caution against theorizing norms in fields characterized by a non-diverse and non-inclusive set of ontological assumptions. We contend that editorial practices therein create a certain kind of methodological conformity and conduct, that is, an undue justification and explanatory overtones related to methods that are set against the predominant grain. Through a thematic review of qualitative papers in international marketing as a case in point, we argue against narrow onto-epistemological arsenals, we discuss the value of critical theorizing and put forward two modest proposals to address this kind of scholarly conformity in the future
Standardization and adaptation as a coconstituted process: the pursuit of relational fit in international markets
Get PDFMarketing products/services internationally entails a bold decision that has high-cost implications and significant performance consequences: Should the firm standardize or adapt its marketing strategy across borders? The dilemma is a seminal issue, and perhaps the most enduring in international marketing scholarship. However, despite the voluminous work on the topic, an ontological assumption induces inconclusive conceptualizations and impedes theoretical advancement. The author contends that a self-contained, atomistic representation of the standardization/adaptation decision is such an impediment. This work problematizes a portrayal of the decision as if it is taken following a detached, own judgment of broad environmental contingencies. In turn, the study builds on fit literature and promotes an alternative perspective that acknowledges relational imperatives for requisite theorizing. Hence, standardization/adaptation is framed as a coconstituted process toward relational fit, with international marketing strategies being contingent on the role of significant “others.
Developing academic skills for nursing associates
No full textThis book is designed to support students enrolled on the nursing associate programme, particularly those new to higher education, to support the development of their academic skills
Development, validation and reliability of a questionnaire to evaluate coaches' and players' perceptions, learning, and resources regarding the ruck in rugby union
Get PDFBackground: The absence of a valid and reliable research tool for evaluating the attitudes, behaviours, and learning resources of rugby coaches and players concerning the ruck event presents a critical gap in the current rugby research landscape.
Objectives: The objective of this study was twofold: firstly, to adapt an existing questionnaire that focussed on the tackle event, and secondly, to validate and establish the reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire is designed to explore the attitudes, behaviours, and learning resources of rugby coaches and players, with a particular emphasis on the ruck event and its potential impact on the field of rugby coach development, coaching practices, and player development.
Methods: To assess content, construct, clarity, and relevance validation, a seven-step design process was followed, resulting in a high-quality questionnaire evaluated by a panel of 12 experts. Subsequently, a test-retest procedure involving 15 coaches and 16 players highlights the effectiveness of this questionnaire, emphasising its potential to generate data that can impact the field of rugby coaching and player development.
Results: The validity and reliability assessment revealed that the expert panel found the questionnaire to be appropriate, and clear, and the mean time for completion was approximately 22 minutes. The ICC Agreement scores of 0.71 for players and 0.88 for coaches indicate moderate and good agreement respectively, further corroborated by narrow 95% Confidence Intervals. ICC Consistency scores (0.71 for players and 0.87 for coaches) affirmed high response consistency. In Kendall’s W scores, players achieved 0.85, while coaches reached 0.93, with significant F-statistics (p < 0.01) supporting strong agreement.
Conclusion: This study introduces a methodically developed questionnaire, recognised for its clarity, reliability, and consistency. It serves as a valuable resource for future research in rugby, possessing the potential to influence coach development, coaching practices, and player development. Therefore, it makes an important contribution to the field
Spaceways and Byways
No full text'Spaceways and Byways' is a speculative poem by A J Dalton that appeared in issue 96 (Oct 2024) of Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, an Australian science fiction magazine. The poem provides a map to the stars, and helps us understand how we might access the corridors “between” spaces and places: it’s only once we stop thinking in traditionally human and Newtonian ways that we will truly free ourselves. Ultimately, then, the poem has transhumanist ambitions...but is haunted by the impression that we’ve already begun to leave things a little too late
Working with the tensions of transdisciplinary research: a review and agenda for the future of knowledge co-production in the Anthropocene
Get PDFNon-technical summary
Transdisciplinary approaches for sustainability brings natural and social science researchers together with non researchers to fill gaps in scientific knowledge and catalyze change. By connecting diverse academic fields and sectors, it addresses complex problems and enables learning for problem solving. However, institutional barriers, funding constraints, time limitations, and evaluation criteria hinder collaborative progress. Our review reveals tensions at institutional and individual levels. Our findings underscore the significance of soft skills in assembling effective transdisciplinary teams. Embracing transdisciplinary science, as suggested by our review, can enhance problem-solving, and foster transformations for sustainability and resilience.
Technical summary
Sustainability challenges in the age of the Anthropocene require researchers and practitioners to collaborate across multiple academic disciplines and multiple professions outside of universities. In this paper we draw on theories of institutional logics to explore how those involved in transdisciplinary environmental research and practice draw on particular sets of values and norms but encounter challenges to collaboration. These institutional logics include (among others) seeking societal/environmental impact, commercial objectives, and academic knowledge generation. In this paper we review the growing literature on the research experience of transdisciplinarity in sustainability; discuss the processes of managing such research; and present a framework that outlines the challenges and tensions at each stage of the innovation/research process. We set out an agenda for managing tension that calls for recognizing the challenges, learning how to work with tensions, and building capabilities for future careers involving transdisciplinary research. The paper shows a key competence or skill for transdisciplinarians is the ability to develop complex collaborative relationships for sustainability drawing together different institutional logics, approaches, methods, goals, and values.
Social media summary
Transdisciplinary science: bridging disciplines, solving challenges. Soft skills and collaboration key to success