tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11247659139217225452024-03-14T10:15:10.245-07:00Sheffield iSchool researchersInformal discussions about research in Sheffield University's iSchoolAndrew Maddenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04302071405602013864noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-15335891778674399702017-01-16T01:19:00.001-08:002017-01-16T01:19:11.527-08:00Academic publishing<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
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This month’s Researcher’s Discussion Group is inspired by Phillip Moriarty’s blog entry on the <span class="gmail-il">LSE</span> <span class="gmail-il">Impact</span> blog: <i><a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/03/14/addicted-to-the-brand-the-hypocrisy-of-a-publishing-academic/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Addicted to the brand: The hypocrisy of a publishing academic</a>, published on the <span class="gmail-il">LSE</span> <span class="gmail-il">Impact</span> blog, as found below:</i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">“I’m going to put this as bluntly as I can; it’s been niggling and nagging at me for quite a while and it’s about time I got it off my chest. When it comes to publishing research, I have to come clean: I’m a hypocrite. I spend quite some time railing about the deficiencies in the traditional publishing system, and all the while I’m bolstering that self-same system by my selection of the “appropriate” journals to target.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Despite bemoaning the<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/08/13/sick-of-impact-factors/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">statistical illiteracy</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>of academia’s reliance on nonsensical metrics like <span class="gmail-il">impact</span> factors, and despite regularly venting my spleen during talks at conferences about the too-slow evolution of academic publishing towards a more open and honest system, I nonetheless continue to contribute to the problem. (And I take little comfort in knowing that I’m not alone in this.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">One of those spleen-venting conferences was a fascinating and important event held in Prague back in December, organized by<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/filvos" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Filip Vostal</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=mark%20carrigan&src=typd" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Mark Carrigan</span></a>: “<a href="http://accelerated.academy/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Power, Acceleration, and Metrics in Academic Life</span></a>”. My presentation,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PhilipMoriarty/the-power-perils-and-pitfalls-of-peer-review-in-public" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: #e00404; text-decoration: none;">The Power, Perils and Pitfalls of Peer Review in Public</span></em></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>– please excuse the<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.spiked-online.com/review_of_books/article/11928" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Partridgian overkill on the alliteration</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>– largely focused on the question of post-publication peer review (PPPR) via online channels such as<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://pubpeer.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">PubPeer</span></a>. I’ve written at length, however, on PPPR previously (<a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/should-post-publication-peer-review-be-anonymous" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">here</span></a>,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://muircheart.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/philip-moriarty-peer-review-cyber-bullies/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">here</span></a>, and<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://muircheart.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/moriarty-post-proposal-peer-review/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">here</span></a>) so I’m not going to rehearse and rehash those arguments. I instead want to explain just why I levelled the accusation of hypocrisy and why I am far from confident that we’ll see a meaningful revolution in academic publishing any time soon.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Let’s start with a few ‘axioms’/principles that, while perhaps not being entirely self-evident in each case, could at least be said to represent some sort of consensus among academics:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">The business model of the traditional academic publishing industry is deeply flawed.</span></strong><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">While some might argue that George Monbiot – or at least the sub-editor who provided the title for<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/2011/08/29/the-lairds-of-learning/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">his article on the subject</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>a few years back (“<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic-publishers-murdoch-socialist" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Academic publishers make Murdoch look like a socialist</span></a>”) – perhaps overstated the problem just a little, it is clear that the<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/academic-publishers-reap-huge-profits-as-libraries-go-broke-1.3111535" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">profit margins and working practices for many publishers</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>are beyond the pale. (A major contribution to those profit margins is, of course, the indirect and substantial public subsidy, via editing and reviewing, too often provided gratis by the academic community).</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">A journal’s <span class="gmail-il">impact</span> factor (JIF) is clearly not a good indicator of the quality of a paper published in that journal.</span></strong><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">The JIF has been skewered many, many times with some of the more memorable and important critiques coming from<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/08/13/sick-of-impact-factors/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Stephen Curry</span></a>,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://deevybee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/journal-impact-factors-and-ref-2014.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Dorothy Bishop</span></a>,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.dcscience.net/colquhoun-nature-impact-2003.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">David Colquhoun</span></a>,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2012/nov/30/1" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">Jenny Rohn</span></a>, and, most recently,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://stuartcantrill.com/2016/01/23/imperfect-impact/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">this illuminating post from Stuart Cantrill</span></a>. Yet its very strong influence tenaciously persists and pervades academia. I regularly receive CVs from potential postdocs where they ‘helpfully’ highlight the JIF for each of the papers in their list of publications. Indeed, some go so far as to rank their publications on the basis of the JIF.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Given that the majority of research is publicly funded, it is important to ensure that open access publication becomes the norm.</span></strong><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">This one is arguably rather more contentious and there are clear differences in the appreciation of open access (OA) publishing between disciplines, with the arts and humanities arguably being rather less welcoming of OA than the sciences. Nonetheless, the key importance of OA has laudably<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/openaccess/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">been recognized by Research Councils UK (RCUK)</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>and all researchers funded by any of the seven UK research councils are mandated to make their papers available via either a green or gold OA route (with the gold OA route,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/open-access-of-the-closed-kind/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">seen by many as a sop to the publishing industry</span></a>, often being prohibitively expensive).</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">With these three “axioms” in place, it now seems rather straight-forward to make a decision as to the journal(s) our research group should choose as the appropriate forum for our work. We should put aside any consideration of <span class="gmail-il">impact</span> factor and aim to select those journals which eschew the traditional for-(large)-profit publishing model and provide cost-effective open access publication, right?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Indeed, we’re particularly fortunate because there’s an exemplar of open access publishing in our research area:<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/home/home.htm" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">The Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology</span></a>. Not only are papers in the Beilstein J. Nanotech free to the reader (and easy to locate and download online), but publishing there is free: no exorbitant gold OA costs nor, indeed, any type of charge to the author(s) for publication. (<a href="http://www.beilstein-institut.de/en/home" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">The Beilstein Foundation</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>has very deep pockets and laudably shoulders all of the costs).</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">But take a look at<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppzstm/publications.php" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">our list of publications</span></a><span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>— although we indeed publish in the Beilstein J. Nanotech., the number of our papers appearing there can be counted on the fingers of (less than) one hand. So, while I espouse the three principles listed above, I hypocritically don’t practice what I preach. What’s my excuse?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">In academia, journal brand is everything. I have sat in many committees, read many CVs, and participated in many discussions where candidates for a postdoctoral position, a fellowship, or other roles at various rungs of the academic career ladder have been compared. And very often, the committee members will say something along the lines of<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><em>“Well, Candidate X has got much better publications than Candidate Y</em>”…without ever having read the papers of either candidate. The judgment of quality is lazily “outsourced” to the brand-name of the journal. If it’s in a Nature journal, it’s obviously of higher quality than something published in one of those, ahem, “lesser” journals.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">If, as principal investigator, I were to advise the PhD students and postdocs in the group here at Nottingham that, in line with the three principles above, they should publish all of their work in the Beilstein J. Nanotech., it would be career suicide for them. To hammer this point home, here’s the advice from one referee of a paper we recently submitted:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">“I recommend re-submission of the manuscript to the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, where works of similar quality can be found. The work is definitively well below the standards of [Journal Name].”</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">There is very clearly a well-established hierarchy here. Journal ‘branding’, and, worse, journal <span class="gmail-il">impact</span> factor, remain exceptionally important in (falsely) establishing the perceived quality of a piece of research, despite many efforts to counter this perception, including, most notably,<span class="gmail-m_6873241779696157525gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Declaration_on_Research_Assessment" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e00404;">DORA</span></a>. My hypocritical approach to publishing research stems directly from this perception. I know that if I want the researchers in my group to stand a chance of competing with their peers, we have to target “those” journals. The same is true for all the other PIs out there. While we all complain bitterly about the <span class="gmail-il">impact</span> factor monkey on our back, we’re locked into the addiction to journal brand.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">And it’s very difficult to see how to break the cycle…”</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-51534996934814166412016-10-18T09:14:00.000-07:002016-10-18T09:14:42.386-07:00How real can VR be?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In Arthur Conan Doyle's story "<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Mazarin_Stone" target="_blank">The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone</a>" (published in 1921), Sherlock Holmes fools some criminals into revealing the whereabouts of a diamond by convincing them that he is playing his violin in the neighbouring room. In fact, he is hiding behind some curtains listening to their conversation while a gramophone record plays the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR1xfaM0n4g" target="_blank">Hoffman 'Barcarole</a>'.<br />
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Some years earlier, in 1895, at the Grand Café in Paris, the Lumière brothers presented film of a train arriving at a station. Legend has it that, as the train loomed large on the screen, the audience panicked and ran away screaming. Almost certainly though, the <a href="http://www.documentary.org/magazine/lumiere-illuminated-moving-image-debunks-myths-surrounding-arrival-train" target="_blank">accounts are as fictional</a> as Holmes' trickery with the gramophone.<br />
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Both technologies record and reproduce aspects of reality. What would it take though, for a virtual reality to be mistaken for a real reality? Should there be a VR version of a <a href="http://www.turing.org.uk/scrapbook/test.html" target="_blank">Turing test</a>? If a listener were placed outside two booths, one containing a real violinist and the other playing a recording of the violinist, would the listener be fooled? Could a projection be displayed beside a closed window in such a way that someone in the room could not tell which showed the outside world?<br />
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Even if a technology could pass such a test when new, could it continue to do so? Cutting edge technology quickly becomes blunt. CGI special effects that, 20 years ago, seemed impressive, now seem clumsy. Arguably, the same question could be asked of the Turing test for artificial intelligence (AI). If the AI did not learn in the same way as humans, then it may not consistently pass the test.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-34990618923834140142016-09-12T13:39:00.000-07:002016-09-12T13:39:07.044-07:00False information on social media platforms (by Wasim Ahmed)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">This month’s
discussion is inspired by the panic that was caused at </span><a href="http://mashable.com/2016/08/29/lax-shooter-social-media/#TBtXq_GJIsqN" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">Los
Angeles International Airport (LAX)</a><span style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> over false claims that there was an
active shooter on the premises. Police did not identify a shooter, and the
reports derived from the police arresting a man who was wearing a mask and wielding a plastic sword. Only weeks before, at JFK airport, there were reports of </span><a href="http://mashable.com/2016/08/15/jfk-shooting-scare/#LduaJhCqI5qO" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">a
shooting at the airport</a><span style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">, which also turned out to be a false alarm. The ‘gunfire’
was in fact Usain Bolt’s cheering fans. </span></div>
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Both these cases
had an element of truth. At LA airport, those
posting to social media genuinely mistook a man wearing a mask for a shooter, and
at JFK they mistook cheering for gunfire. However, there are also cases where
information on social media is posted with the sole intention of deceiving.
During the 2011 London riots for example, several <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/interactive/2011/dec/07/london-riots-twitter">unsubstantiated
claims</a> which were spread on Twitter. These included the following:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Rioters attack London and release animals<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Rioters cook their own food in McDonald’s<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Police beat a 16-year-old girl<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->London Eye set on fire.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 38.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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During Hurricane
Sandy in 2012 certain false
tweets were <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/31/tech/social-media/sandy-twitter-hoax/" target="_blank">picked up by the mainstream media and reported as fact</a>. <span style="line-height: 150%;">More generally, regular
users of social media platforms will encounter highly shared false content on Twitter and Facebook. Some such content may simply be a practical joke. </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">A recent article, for example, reported that sixty Facebook profiles had been created for </span><a href="http://houston.eater.com/2016/8/9/12412236/fake-houston-restaurant-facebook-pages" style="line-height: 24px;">non-existent Houston restaurants</a><span style="line-height: 24px;">. Often though, the misinformation is malicious. S<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/29/sorry-bigots-your-facebook-memes-are-wrong.html" target="_blank">everal falses rumour</a></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/29/sorry-bigots-your-facebook-memes-are-wrong.html" target="_blank"> about transgender people </a>have been spreading on Facebook (eg,</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> the rumour that a company was installing urinals in women’s
restrooms). </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 150%;">Public figures are often the subject of dishonest postings. Facebook
recently apologized for promoting </span><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebooks-trending-fail-news-section-reportedly-highlights-fake-news-on-megyn-kelly/" style="line-height: 150%;">a
false story about Fox News broadcaster Megyn Kelly</a><span style="line-height: 150%;"> in their </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">#trending</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">
section, </span><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-facebook-fell-into-a-fake-news-trap-of-its-own-making?utm_content=buffer22e7f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&utm_term=.kiADoRMa2#.grBelP0Yg" style="line-height: 150%;">According to Craig Silverman </a>(founding editor of Buzzfeed),<span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">Facebook’s algorithms contribute significantly to the spreading of such hoaxes.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 24px;">China takes the issue of false news from social media very seriously, and has recently </span><a href="http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/07/china-clamps-online-false-news/http:/chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/07/china-clamps-online-false-news/" style="line-height: 24px;">clamped down</a><span style="line-height: 24px;">. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">A case could be made for a system where
users are prosecuted for posting malicious information during disasters; but</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> the issue of more casual false
information is difficult to solve.: educational solutions such as educating
users and highlighting the importance of basic fact checking would help ease the
trend though. Craig Silverman has collated several </span><a href="http://www.poynter.org/2012/8-must-reads-that-detail-how-to-verify-content-from-twitter-other-social-media/171713/" style="line-height: 150%;">must-read
sources</a><span style="line-height: 150%;"> on how to verify information from social media users in real time, and I would highly recommend looking at some of these resources before the discussion
group. There is also</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> the </span><a href="http://journalistsresource.org/tip-sheets/reporting/tools-verify-assess-validity-social-media-user-generated-content" style="line-height: 24px;">Verification Handbook</a>,<span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">a guide to verifying digital content for emergency
services</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> authored by journalists from the BBC, Storyful, ABC, Digital
First Media, and others.</span></div>
</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-8573513791656720722016-08-17T06:00:00.001-07:002016-08-17T12:31:41.427-07:00Writing badly - the key to academic success?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There are few academic works that I would actually claim to have enjoyed reading. <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/billig-michael.html" target="_blank">Michael Billig</a>'s book "<i>Learn to write badly: How to succeed in the social sciences</i>" proved to be one of the exceptions.<br />
<br />
The iSchool researchers' discussion group has talked about academic writing <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/notes-for-discussion-on-academic.html" target="_blank">before</a>. However, armed with new perspectives from Prof Billig, I thought I would raise the subject again.<br />
<br />
Of the various points that Michael Billig made in his book, one was particularly relevant to the iSchool, i.e., the argument that much of writing in the social sciences requires information to be removed. He discusses at length the passivisation that occurs in the process of writing for academic publication. <br />
<br />
As someone who has spent many years working in the social sciences, that last sentence came naturally. It is however, exactly the sort of sentence that Prof Billig criticises. When I converted a process to a noun (the process of turning active verbs into passive ones), I stripped out a lot of information (about who was doing what, to which verbs) to produce an academic-sounding word (passivisation). By such means, social scientists bring things into being (Massification, Normatization, plus other ...izations, ...and ...ications), A social scientist whose new thing is discussed and analysed has the makings of a good career. However, the people who do the ...izing or ...ify-ing are all too often removed from the discussion. The focus tends to be on hypothetical processes rather than real people. Perhaps the social sciences are at risk of being de-societalized. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-1848990114745148232016-04-21T05:43:00.000-07:002016-04-21T05:43:46.684-07:00Staying private while searching the Internet (by Alessandro Checco)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</xml><![endif]-->One of my interests in online data privacy: how can users access custom content without being tracked individually? Can we break this vicious circle in which advertisers spy on users and, as a reaction, users hide even more?<br /><br />My idea is to allow a milder form of identification than the classic way in which a use is uniquely identified. Instead, users would automatically be hidden within a crowd of similar users.<br /><br />The challenges of this approach is to combat spam and <a href="http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/what-is-a-sybil-attack-.html" target="_blank">Sybil attacks</a>, but it turns out it can be easily done through cryptographic tokens such as e-cash.<br /><br />Another topic I am exploring is: how to detect Search Engines ‘learning’ about sensitive topics during a searching session? Interestingly, the advertisements that appear during searches provide evidence of tracking on sensitive topics. Google doesn't seem to track our entire search histories for the purpose of advertising, but just the last 4-5 queries.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-87463899765724297792016-03-31T03:46:00.003-07:002016-03-31T03:49:49.571-07:00Uses and Risks of Microblogging in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (by Soureh Latif Shabgahi)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Microblogs, such as <a href="https://twitter.com/?lang=en-gb" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="https://www.yammer.com/" target="_blank">Yammer,</a> have become very popular for both personal and professional pursuits. Some authors have claimed that social media can radically transform organisations. However, there is a lack of empirical research that evaluates that claim. My thesis investigated the uses and perceptions of risks of microblogging in UK based <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition/index_en.htm" target="_blank">Small and Medium-sized Enterprises</a> (SMEs).<br />
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The research adopted a qualitative methodology because of the intention to explore how participants understand microblogging. Twenty one semi-structured interviews (either face-to-face or on the phone) were conducted with participants in SMEs based in<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/South+Yorkshire/@53.4814713,-1.6241397,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4878e2a8b277ed2f:0x3a10679c640c8f99" target="_blank"> South Yorkshire, UK</a>. A thematic approach was taken to analysing the interview data.<br />
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Most of the organisations approached adopted microblogs by a process of trial and error. Smaller organisations did not make much use of the platforms for direct advertising i.e. selling products to others. The participants focused more on other uses. Internally, microblogs were chiefly used by individuals to collaborate remotely with their co-workers and to ask or respond to questions. Externally, microblogging was mainly used to enable users to exchange information, to communicate more with customers and to build relationships with clients. A visual representation was developed to illustrate the uses of microblogging in SMEs. Participants in the study particularly valued microblogging for its limited functionality, its cost effectiveness and because it could be used via mobile phones.<br />
<br />
Most participants perceived microblogs to be highly risky, i.e. to expose the organisation and employees to danger. The commonest type of risk was seen to be the danger of damaging the reputation of the business. The majority of participants talked about controlling what types of information should be shared on the platforms and controlling who should engage with microblogging. To illustrate such feelings around risks, two visual representations were developed.<br />
<br />
This research is the first in-depth study about the uses of microblogging in UK based SMEs. It was found that microblogging did not radically transform organisations. It was seen as a useful form of communication for SMEs, but no more than that. The limited financial resources and professional expertise that SMEs have, was key to how they adopted the technology. As regards practical implications, something could be done to address the trial and error approach to using microblogs found to be typical of smaller organisations. For example, managers could be given training courses on how to best use microblogging. To improve management of risks, more concrete expert advice could be developed and organisations would benefit from sharing of model policies.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-35251191906605360122016-03-15T06:30:00.000-07:002016-03-15T06:30:17.796-07:00Factors that lead to ERP replacement in Higher Education Institutions in Saudi Arabia: A case study (by Arwa Mohammed J Aljohani)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The use of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has increased substantially over the last few decades. A review of literature relating to Information Systems (IS) and ERPs has confirmed that few research studies have considered ERP in Higher Education: most have focused on their use in business. In addition, the literature tends to concentrate on issues relating to the adoption of ERP, with a particular emphasis on success stories. Consequently, studies that focus on problems and difficulties associated with the replacement of ERPs, particularly in HEIs, are rare.<br />
<br />
Knowledge of the decision making processes associated with ERP replacement is clearly of value to those who have to make the decisions, yet little is known about how and why such decision are made, or about the factors that influence them. This study aims to fill some of these gaps. The researcher seeks to investigate the causes and consequences of ERP replacement in a Saudi Arabian HEI. Data relating to the case study at the heart of this project comes from 17 semi-structured interviews analysed using a Grounded Theory (GT) approach.<br />
<br />
The study aspires to make both theoretical and practical contributions to the field. In particular, it will increase understanding of decision-making processes in HEIs by helping to identify why and when they should consider replacing their ERP systems. A framework is being developed that will help identify factors and issues that should be considered before the decision to replace is made. The study therefore has clear practical value to decision-makers in HEIs and will help to ensure efficient use and exploitation of current systems, and safe adoption of new ones. The research should also be of relevance to system vendors, who have a clear interest in the use of ERP in higher education. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-72477319246948671742016-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:002016-02-17T07:53:41.395-08:00 Post viva questionnaire - responses from Halima St Egberongbe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Post-viva questionnaire - responses</b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>What is the title of your thesis?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An
investigation of quality management (QM)
approaches in university libraries in south western Nigeria</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Can you provide an abstract (for inclusion in
this blog)?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This
exploratory research project used a case study of university libraries in
south western Nigeria, </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">to explore the QM techniques applied by
university libraries in managing their procedures as well as the types of
approaches used to ensure service quality.
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">A mixed- methods two-phase case study design was
used to address both research questions and objectives of the study. Three methods of data collection are
described: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">An
initial online quantitative survey with heads of 24 university libraries; second
qualitative face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15
university librarians and 10 focus group sessions (73 participants). F</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">indings suggest that
respondents were aware of QM practices, service delivery and its impact on
the mission and vision of respective host institutions. There</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> were no quality management
tools in place for use in Nigerian university libraries. Application of QM principles in the
university libraries was not in line with any best practice to shape QM and
as such could not lead to consistent/systematic QM implementation. Two proposed models of QM implementation
are described: A proposed QM
framework for university libraries in south western Nigeria; and a </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">maturity
model to help in post-implementation assessment of QM maturity levels of the libraries. This study demonstrates that the concept of
QM is quite germane to the development of the university library system
though a number of factors (internal and external) have inhibited the process
of its implementation, for which government intervention is recommended to
aid its realisation. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <b><i>How long did you spend preparing for your viva?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I read
through my thesis over the Christmas break
and tried to identify possible areas of </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">interrogation,
for which I made notes. Then I re-read my literature review, methodology
discussion and conclusion chapters during the week before the viva. During the same week , I met with my
supervisors, had a presentation with my research group and discussion with a
few colleagues, all of which were indeed very helpful. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>How long did your viva take?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1 hour
40 minutes.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Did the examiners concentrate on any particular
section of your thesis? If so, which?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Apart
from the initial interrogation, the remaining session was mainly discussion
that bordered on policy issues and the feasibility of the study.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Can you describe any part of your viva where you
were pleased with your performance?</i></b><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was
very pleased with my response on what motivated me to embark on the study;
methodology; and sampling of participants for the study.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>What was it you did that pleased you?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My
responses generated interesting discussions on the study which gave me
opportunity to provide further
explanations on the study.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Can you describe any part of your viva where you
were dissatisfied with your performance?</i></b><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I was
asked to provide a further explanation of a specific word while defining a concept.
I struggled a bit and gave up because I did not want to goof. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>What was it you did that dissatisfied you?</i></b><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My
inability to answer that bit of the question on the spur of that moment. Though
it was early into the interview, I did not allow that to affect my posture,
because my earlier responses had received positive nods from my examiners.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Please give an example of a question that you
found hard</i></b><i>.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My
examiners wanted to know why my contributions and recommendations were not
strong enough.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Why was it hard?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I was
asked to restate my contributions and recommendations and could not, at that
moment go beyond what I already have in the thesis</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>What was the outcome of your viva?</i></b><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
passed, subject to minor corrections.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Please give some examples of the sort of
corrections you need to make (if any).</i></b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Strengthening
the conclusion chapter, particularly in terms of contribution and future
research.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some
issues with referencing.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Corrections
to typos and errors that required further proof reading.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Do you have any tips for looking and feeling
confident in front of the examiners?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Try to
take a good rest the day before, dress decently and be well composed </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Can you think of any good advice that you would
give to students who are preparing for their viva?</i></b><b></b></span></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Seek guidance from your supervisors for
clarification on any issues prior to your viva</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Try to ensure adequate revision of your work, by not
leaving preparation too close to your viva </span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-5248514543089825722016-01-19T23:24:00.003-08:002016-01-21T04:38:15.113-08:00Is that ethical? Exploring ethical challenges facing social media researchers (by Aimi Ladesco)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>
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This blog explores some of the challenges, issues and grey areas that can arise when researching user-generated content (eg, social media and web forums).</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is important to distinguish
between situations that relate to the researcher’s role as an individual, and
to those that relate to her role as an associate of her employing institution.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As an individual, the researcher
may take a utilitarian view and argue that there is value in capturing and
analysing user-generated content at an aggregate level, in order to monitor trends
associated with events of public interest, <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/using-twitter-data-to-provide-insights.html" target="_blank">such as infectious disease outbreaks.</a> Such an analysis could clearly
be of value and, as the utilitarian philosopher <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/who">Jeremy Bentham</a> might have
observed, would produce more utility than <i>bad</i>. If, by contrast, the researcher took an
ethical stance such as that of <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/">Immanuel
Kant</a>, which was based on duty rather than utility (deontological), she may object
to the use of such content without informed consent. Not to do so, she might argue, could lead to
all kinds of personal data being accessed on the grounds that doing so could be for the
greater good.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As an associate of an employing
institution, there are additional ethical considerations. The researcher will,
for example, be expected to help her employer fulfil legal duties in regards to
the data protection act and the safeguarding of participants. She will also be, to some extent, morally
obliged to protect the image of her employer.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The ethical policies that arise
from such considerations can sometimes delay research or halt potential
collaborations. One of the values of
social media research is that it allows the capture and rapid analysis of data
relating to emerging news stories. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Research institutions often have
different ethical polices, with some being stricter than others possibly
because, like the individual researcher, the ethics of different institutions are
differently affected by utilitarian and deontological considerations. The loss of opportunity to analyse and react
to change caused by some of the stricter policies may, ironically, be a cause
of harm as well as a means of preventing it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There are instances where a
researcher in a crisis situation may, through appropriate use of social media
data (such as Twitter), be able to map locations of particular concern and
offer refuge points in a crisis situation: the work of digital humanitarians,
such as <a href="https://twitter.com/patrickmeier">Patrick Meier</a> provides a
good example. The <a href="http://blog.standbytaskforce.com/">Standby Task-Force</a>
is a global network of volunteers who assist crisis-affected communities.
However, initiatives such as this may be stifled by some of the ethical policies
associated with research involving human participants.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This leads to another distinct,
but related concern: should such ethics policies apply to research conducted in
a researcher’s own time, using her own equipment, rather than research carried
out in accord with her role as employee of a research establishment? For
example certain voluntary activities (such as the Standby Task-Force) may be classed
as research. If they are classed in this
way and are, according to the employing institution, deemed unethical, who
should carry out such potentially life-saving activities?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Resources for
further reading:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.ipsos-mori.com/ourexpertise/digitalresearch/sociallistening/wisdomofthecrowd/publications.aspx">Unlocking
the value of social media – a review of research ethics</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/282288/p0639-research-using-social-media-report-final-190214.pdf">Research
using Social Media; Users’ Views</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://aoir.org/">Association of Internet
Researchers</a><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-27322483397397124082016-01-17T10:44:00.000-08:002016-01-17T10:44:43.631-08:00Santa Claus: The truth! (And the usefulness)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's a nice feeling to get a paper accepted. Then comes the crunch moment when you realize that you said something silly and it's now preserved in print. <br />
<br />
In 2014, I had a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259704317_Interpreting_the_world_across_a_boundary_The_evolution_of_information_from_life%27s_first_decisions_to_the_information_society" target="_blank">paper published in J.Doc</a> about the evolution of information. In it I argued that:<br />
"<i>the beliefs of any culture lead to practices that can be fitted into one of three categories. There will be some that are useful for all people for all time; some that were useful for some people at some time; and some that were never useful for anyone at any time</i>."<br />
<br />
I was being cautious. Originally I had meant to write that beliefs were true for all time, for some time or for no time, but was daunted by the philosophical baggage associated with the word truth so I chose instead, to refer to usefulness. That was a big mistake. Last month's discussion was an example of why. <br />
<br />
The topic was: "<i>When did you stop believing in Santa? Why? If you still believe in Santa, please come prepared to present evidence. If your culture is a Santa-free zone, who or what is the equivalent in your culture?</i>"<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, none of those who attended believed in Santa. Sadly, we didn't have anyone from another culture who was prepared to nominate a Santa equivalent. What emerged from discussion though, was the fact that Santa Claus is a very creepy individual. An old man who spends 364 days of the year monitoring the behaviour of children and who is capable of sneaking unseen into their bedrooms at night would, in most other circumstances, be an object of fear rather than affection. As it turned out, we weren't the first people to have that thought, and Santa Claus has featured in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401143/" target="_blank">at least one horror film</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, Santa Claus is an example of where utility and truth diverge. His myth is, I'm fairly certain, one that few adults have ever believed. However, like many myths without truth, it is useful. A point that was made by more than one person at the discussion was the role that Santa Claus plays in coercing excitable children to go to bed quietly on Christmas Eve. He is a metaphysical protection racket: <i>Behave - Or else!</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
Santa Claus is an example of why, in all probability, there have been no beliefs that have been useful for nobody at any time. Even ones that are clearly and demonstrably untrue can be put to use by someone.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-91415897779226452692015-12-15T05:04:00.002-08:002015-12-15T05:04:11.596-08:00Research hits and misses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
“<i>Come prepared to nominate the author of that paper that has shaped your thinking and helped to focus your research. Or - for the more negatively inclined - come and name the author who everyone cites and you cannot understand why</i>.”<br />
<br />
That was the topic for November’s discussion group. Those who suggested authors tended to nominate positive influences, though a few did identify some people whose work was a source of frustration.<br />
<br />
Generally, the authors considered helpful were thought to be so because they clearly described approaches or techniques which were helpful to those recommending them. <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/using-twitter-data-to-provide-insights.html" target="_blank">Wasim</a>, for example, referred to the research of Gunther Eisenbach, whose content analysis of Tweets during the 2009 swine flu outbreak has shaped his own research. Similarly, <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/title-educational-computer-games-and.html" target="_blank">Marc</a>’s work has relied on the research of Richard Suinn, who, in 1972, developed the first maths anxiety questionnaire. <br />
<br />
Other people recommended authors who helped them to see things in a new light. <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/using-network-and-graph-theory-to.html" target="_blank">James Wallace</a> referred to the work of Stephen Roughley, which gives an insight into how chemists actually do their research. Not surprisingly, rather than beginning their explorations from scratch every time, they keep referring to a few familiar reactions which act as a starting point, and work from there. Roughley describes these reactions as the researchers’ toolboxes and argues that there is generally little incentive to expend the time and effort required to set off in wholly unfamiliar directions. Such behaviour is familiar to information scientists from work on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stuart_Card/publication/229101074_Information_foraging/links/09e41508383bc5a245000000.pdf" target="_blank">information foraging</a>. <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/narrative-as-element-of-communication.html" target="_blank">Paula</a> dicussed the writings of Lev Manovich, who, in his writings on new media theory, argues that the Internet is killing culture by decontextualizing ideas. <br />
<br />
Authors whose work is a source of frustration included the ubiquitous, the presumptive and the lucky. Authors who had the ability to turn anything, however trivial, into a publication, were criticised. James mentioned one author for example, who latches onto whatever is current in organic chemistry and manages to recycles core experiments in numerous publications, without actually saying much new.<br />
<br />
Other authors who caused annoyance did so by reducing complex concepts to simple measurements and glossing over any assumptions that were made in the process. <br />
<br />
Lucky authors were those whose work was poor, but who were first in their field and therefore were widely cited.<br />
<br />
Chew, C., & Eysenbach, G. (2010). Pandemics in the age of Twitter: content analysis of Tweets during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak. <i>PloS One</i>, 5(11), e14118.<br />
<br />
Jordan, A. M., & Roughley, S. D. (2009). Drug discovery chemistry: a primer for the non-specialist. <i>Drug Discovery Today</i>, 14(15), 731-744.<br />
<br />
Roughley, S. D., & Jordan, A. M. (2011). The medicinal chemist's toolbox: an analysis of reactions used in the pursuit of drug candidates. <i>Journal of Medicinal Chemistry</i>, 54(10), 3451-79.<br />
<br />
Richardson, F. C., & Suinn, R. M. (1972). The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale: Psychometric data. <i>Journal of Counseling Psychology</i>, 19(6), 551-554.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-5303402969209095382015-10-02T04:39:00.000-07:002015-10-02T04:39:04.629-07:00Using Twitter data to provide insights into health conditions and health-related events (by Wasim Ahmed)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My research examines social media data, such as data derived from Twitter, to provide insights into health conditions and health related events.<br />
<br />Twitter has <a href="http://316 million monthly active users and there are 500 million tweets per day" target="_blank">316 million monthly active users and there are 500 million tweets per day</a>. It can be used as a source of data for social science research both current and historical in and of itself, but it can also be used to complement more traditional data sources, such as surveys and interviews. I lead the <a href="http://nsmnss.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">New Social Media New Social Science Network</a> (NSMNSS) <a href="https://twitter.com/NSMNSS" target="_blank">Twitter account</a>, which has members from across academia and industry who explore the methodological implications of social media research.<br />
<br />One of my case studies focuses on the Ebola outbreak of 2014, where I have amassed at least 26 million tweets. Examining tweets allows the real-time monitoring of public views and opinions. These can be monitored by people from the health sector who can then disseminate accurate information appropriately. In some instances, data derived from Twitter allows geographical surveillance, and has the potential to be used to identify locations of possible infectious disease outbreaks. Twitter has proved useful in <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2014/helping-jakarta-track-flooding-in-real-time-to-save-more-lives" target="_blank">emergency and crisis situations</a>.<br />
<br />There are often specific methodological, ethical, privacy, and copyright issues which require careful consideration, and my PhD research also critically <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/09/28/challenges-of-using-twitter-as-a-data-source-resources/" target="_blank">considers these</a>. I am also aiming to <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/07/10/social-media-research-tools-overview/" target="_blank">identify and evaluate</a> the software that can be used by social scientists or those from the health sector, to analyse Twitter. This is very important, as it allows non-computer scientists or non-programmers to retrieve Twitter data in order to ask social science research questions.<br />
<br />Since the start of my PhD I have been disseminating thoughts and findings. I am an active tweeter, and my <a href="https://wasimahmed1.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">research blog</a> has proven to be very popular. Some posts have appeared in Google Scholar and others have been picked up by the mainstream media. My research has been mentioned on the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/was3210/presentation-52152221?ref=http://www.slideshare.net/was3210/slideshelf" target="_blank">British Medical Journal’s (BMJ) blog</a>, <a href="http://ihawkes.academicblogs.co.uk/2015/07/01/what-twitter-can-tell-you-about-our-health-some-insights-from-the-17th-international-symposium-for-health-information-management-research-2015-ishimr2015/" target="_blank">ihawkes blog</a>, <a href="http://discovertext.com/2015/01/20/historical-twitter-prize-winners/" target="_blank">DiscoverText blogs</a> (for a historical data prize). I receive regular invitations to academic and industry events and have recorded an audio lecture for a group of Masters students at Western Sydney University on how to retrieve data from Twitter, and on the methodological implications of social media research.<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-6631023554144821732015-08-18T03:06:00.002-07:002015-08-18T03:45:38.209-07:00What is Chemical Similarity, and how is it Useful? (by Edmund Duesbury)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the final year of my PhD, I have been investigating different forms of alignment of chemicals, and seeing which method is best at predicting whether a chemical will be active against a particular drugtarget.<br />
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Similarity is subjective to a particular problem domain. As an example, which two most objects are most similar – an apple, a pumpkin or a basketball? All three are more or less spherical, but the pumpkin and apple have the similarity of being fruit, while the pumpkin and basketball are a similar size.<br />
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The same subjectivity exists in chemistry. A common goal when searching for similarity in chemicals is to predict whether one compound will act in the same way as another compound, known to have useful pharmaceutical properties. The desired “similarity” in this case, is a similarity of biological activity: something which, at present, is impossible to predict. However, we can attempt to infer such a property from aspects of structural similarity.<br />
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Serotonin reuptake inhibitors is a group of chemicals that includes many useful antidepressants. Consider the examples below, of compounds that act as serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In the first case (Figure 1), similarity is based on the largest common fragment (highlighted in bold).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kObwpP5OHvM/VdMCBsYvF2I/AAAAAAAAAPY/LIN6flnd2EE/s1600/ED%2BBlog%2B170815%2BFig%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kObwpP5OHvM/VdMCBsYvF2I/AAAAAAAAAPY/LIN6flnd2EE/s320/ED%2BBlog%2B170815%2BFig%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Figure 1<br />
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The similarity here is obvious, the only difference being the Br atom. However, the same technique fails to show the biological similarity between the two inhibitors in Figure 2.<br />
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Figure 2.<br />
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In this case, the approach of finding the largest fragment has failed to highlight the “similarity” between the two compounds. A technique based on finding the maximum possible overlap of edges however, is more successful (Figure 3).<br />
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Figure 3.<br />
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This method, which seeks to find a set of common fragments emphasises a different “similarity” between these compounds.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-25961116357521309692015-08-12T03:34:00.004-07:002015-08-12T03:48:35.859-07:00Perish by peer review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Many thanks to <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/staff/webber" target="_blank">Sheila Webber</a> for her <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/peer-review-or-perish.html" target="_blank">entry on this blog</a> regarding the recent <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/the-worst-piece-of-peer-review-ive-ever-received?nopaging=1" target="_blank">Times Higher Article (THE) on peer review</a>. The article is well worth reading and makes several valid points.<br />
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However, a distinction should be made between peer review and <i>anonymous</i> peer review. Peer review (both formally and informally) is a widespread practice in many professions (including academia). Anonymous peer review used to be the preserve of academics, but (thanks to Web 2.0) is now a feature of 21st century life. Anyone who has selected a restaurant on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/" target="_blank">TripAdvisor</a> is likely to be reading an anonymous review by a peer from the dining community. <br />
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One key difference is that a bad review on TripAdvisor can be countered by the business owner, and is not likely (on its own) to bring down the business. The nascent careers of academics are more fragile.<br />
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Another key difference is that, on TripAdvisor, I can visit the restaurant and read the reviews, then assess how representative the review is of my interests and my tastes. In other words, how much of a peer was the reviewer?<br />
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<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242344156_Comment_When_did_peer_review_become_anonymous" target="_blank">When academic peer review began, it was not anonymous</a>. At some time after WWII, arrangements by which journal editors informally contacted academics for advice on submitted articles appear to have been formalised in the system of anonymous peer review. Prior to that, the interests, characters and prejudices of reviewers would have been known, resulting in greater openness and (occasionally) unrestrained unpleasantness. However, the reviewer's credentials could be assessed and (if necessary) questioned.<br />
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One contributor to the THE article notes that, in his discipline alone (economics), there are 20,000 new journal articles every year. The pool of reviewers must therefore be very large, prompting the question: to what extent is a reviewer a peer of the author?<br />
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The THE article ends with a contribution from an anonymous author who is is establishing a website for particularly bad examples of anonymous peer review. I would certainly applaud such an exercise but I hope that, as well as giving the opportunity to read the poor reviews, the site also publishes the articles that attracted them. It will be interesting to see how many suffer from poor writing, poor research and poor analysis, and how many suffer from being unorthodox and innovative.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-7307087338952902712015-08-07T14:52:00.003-07:002015-08-07T14:52:26.937-07:00Peer review or perishA couple of years ago, Andrew wrote an interesting piece on peer review, which you can find here <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/peer-review-failure-and-benefits-of.html" target="_blank">http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/peer-review-failure-and-benefits-of.html</a> Published yesterday in the <i>Times Higher</i> is a piece in which 6 academics (mostly full professors, I note) quote the worst peer reviews they ever got, and give their opinion on whether peer review should be jettisoned. The reviewer comment “What is this muck?” is one of the most arresting (in response to a paper by Prof Susan Bassnett). The last contributor chooses to remain anonymous, but is calling for examples of bad peer review to put on a website...<br />
Times Higher Education. (2015, 6 August). The worst piece of peer review I’ve ever received. <i>Times Higher Education</i>. <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/the-worst-piece-of-peer-review-ive-ever-received?nopaging=1" target="_blank">https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/the-worst-piece-of-peer-review-ive-ever-received?nopaging=1</a>Sheila Webberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09929764583069948543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-7813257155006619352015-07-16T02:51:00.000-07:002015-07-16T02:51:22.753-07:00Maths, nuclear explosions and other recreational activities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's always nice to get a comment from someone who isn't trying to sell something. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/13091432173433800480" target="_blank">Zoe Chen</a>'s comment not only displayed cultural awareness (math / maths) but also touched on points that were raised during the discussion with Marc. <br />
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The three games Marc is hoping to get feedback on are:<br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/ma17frac-game-ordering-fractions" target="_blank">Ordering Fractions Game</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/ma09subt-game-change-no-timer" target="_blank">Giving Change Game</a> by the BBC and<br />
<a href="https://www.mangahigh.com/en-gb/games/algebrameltdown" target="_blank">Algebra Meltdown</a> by <a href="https://www.mangahigh.com/" target="_blank">Manga High</a>. <br />
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"What's that last one about?" someone asked<br />
"It teaches maths by getting people to solve algebraic equations in order to prevent a nuclear explosion" answered Marc.<br />
"Er... so people who are nervous about maths are told 'If you get these equations wrong, there'll be a nuclear disaster.' That's very homoeopathic!"<br />
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Marc made the point that storytelling could be a factor in the success of a game; and actually the Algebra Meltdown game (despite its name) isn't that scary. The only things that explode (metaphorically) in the event of algebraic error are nuclear scientists. I suppose it's difficult to get the balance of punishment and reward right in such things. If you make the game too stressful, students give up on maths and seek therapy*. However, if the consequences of making a mistake are comical, students deliberately make mistakes.<br />
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*I met a New York based therapist recently. He charges $200 per hour. I guess they rely on people not being able to add up. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-73865240010432324732015-06-15T09:14:00.001-07:002015-06-15T09:14:10.160-07:00Title: Educational computer games and their impact on maths anxiety in University social science students (by Marc Bonne)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">Educational computer games are already known to help motivate university students to learn maths. However, few studies have measured the impact of such games on maths anxiety: a significant factor contributing to underperformance in maths-based studies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">This project aims to assess the degree to which educational computer games affect maths anxiety in university social science students. Maths anxiety is prevalent amongst such students because many lack a maths-oriented background, but are often being exposed to statistics and other maths subjects during their courses.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">The study consists of a systematic literature review of educational games and maths anxiety (currently underway). When this is completed, students from the Faculty of Social Science in the University of Sheffield will be invited to complete the <a href="http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.2003.92.1.167?journalCode=pr0" target="_blank">Maths Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) brief scale</a> in order to assess the scale of their maths anxiety. Participants will then put into a control group and an experimental group. The control group will carry on their course as normal, while the experimental group will play an online maths game.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">The experimental group will be observed as they play the game. Data collected will include think-aloud data; records of keyboard and mouse strokes; and video recordings of gameplay and body language.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">A sample of participants from the experimental group will be interviewed in order to gauge how they felt while playing the game. This, in conjunction with the video data, will help identify which aspects of the game provoke an emotional response .</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">A post-session maths anxiety scale will be given to both the control group and the experimental group in order to measure any difference in maths anxiety levels before and after the session. Furthermore, the average maths anxiety levels of each group are to be compared and analysed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">Several online maths games have been identified as possible choices to be used for data collection. A pre-pilot study is to take place where potential participants play each of the three online games and decide which one to use for the main study based on the games’ usability.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">Following the pre-pilot study, a pilot study will take place involving the same procedures as the main study but with smaller sample sizes.</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-16798892412418081342015-05-19T06:04:00.000-07:002015-05-19T06:04:31.797-07:00An exploration of the information literacy experiences of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners (by Jess Elmore)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My research explores information literacy in the context of
the ESOL classroom. I am interested in
finding out about the relationship between language learning and information
literacy, and about how changes to learners' information literacy practice
impact on their lives. My working
definition of information literacy is that it is a sociocultural practice; a
set of shared activities rather than just individual skills that constitutes
the ability to find, use and share information in a particular context or
information landscape.</div>
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ESOL learners are typically people who have come to the UK for
work, for family reasons, or to claim asylum; and are learning English as part
of adult basic skills provision. They are a very diverse group but can be seen
as disadvantaged by several measures; they are immigrants, they are less likely
to be employed, they are generally female, and they often come from BME (black,
minority and ethnic) communities. Information literacy and ESOL can be seen to
have similar goals in terms of providing individuals with the ability to
participate fully in society (however you choose to interpret this) but the
relationship between the two has not been explored in detail.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am planning a longitudinal case study of three community
ESOL classes. My research is multi-method; I will use observation, one to one
interviews, focus groups, group interviews and visual methods. My research is
participatory and emergent so I will negotiate with participants what methods
to use and hope to involve them in the research as far as possible. The
multi-method approach is used because I am interested in rich, holistic
information experiences, but also to help overcome the language barriers present
when working with participants who have limited English.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have completed a pilot study consisting of one observation
of an ESOL and Art workshop and two focus groups which were held in existing
ESOL conversation classes. The findings
from the pilot were local and limited, but suggested several areas for further
exploration: in particular, the diversity of ESOL learners' information
experiences, their use of digital technologies, the significance of religion,
and the importance of place and people. However
the methodological findings were more interesting. The pilot identified the
language level of ESOL learners who could talk meaningfully about their
information experiences, but also raised important questions about my position
as a researcher, the process of analysis and the need for sustained research
relationships rather than single encounters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-62954872568690184482015-03-18T11:09:00.000-07:002015-08-12T03:51:53.751-07:00Translation and coding of interviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Back in January Syeda discussed
her project (<a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/information-literacy-in-primary-school.html" target="_blank">Exploring information literacy practices in primary schools: APakistani case study</a>). Unfortunately I
couldn’t attend, but when I talked to her about it afterwards, she mentioned
that, at one point, the discussion had taken an interesting turn, but that
there had not been time to explore it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The unexplored turn
revolved around questions of when, where, and what to translate.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Many of Syeda’s interviews were in Urdu, but
she translated them into English, and then coded.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Apparently her decision raised questions
about whether or not she should have coded her interviews before translation.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We continued the
discussion in the February meeting.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Translation proved to be an issue in more ways than one, since those
researchers with a programming background understood coding in a different way
from the qualitative researchers attending.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">However, it emerged that the qualitative researchers who interviewed in
a language other than English had a range of views.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Their positions, it appears, depend on the
nature of their research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The clearest difference
was between Syeda and Kondwani, whose project (<a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/experiencing-hiv-and-aids-information.html" target="_blank">Experiencing HIV and AIDS information: a phenomenological study of serodiscordant couples in Malawi</a>) was
discussed last November.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Kondwani codes
first, and then translates.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">However, as
he pointed out, a key difference between his research and Syeda’s is that his
study, being phenomenological, focusses on meaning, while hers focusses on
processes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Many of Kondwani’s
interviews use metaphors and euphemisms that don’t readily translate into
English, while Syeda’s involve descriptions of materials and practices.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For her therefore, there was far less chance
of important findings getting lost in translation.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-86120573914638944382015-01-13T07:35:00.000-08:002015-08-12T03:48:07.192-07:00Exploring information literacy practices in primary schools: A Pakistani case study - by Syeda Hina Shahid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
Information literacy (IL) provides opportunities to
those who want to be independent learners. The rapid growth in the availability
of information has made it impossible to search relevant information sources
without IL skills. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
IL has been defined differently by different
authors as: a set of skills and abilities, a process, and the adoption of
appropriate information behaviour. Research supports introducing students to IL
at an early age to make them independent learners while still young. IL
literature has focused mostly on high school and university level students.
Although there has been much development of IL models at school level, only a
few are research based and their emphasis is on school education above the
primary level. There is a lack of local
research, or even descriptive studies, at primary school level. Therefore, this
study aims to explore IL practices in the primary schools of Lahore, Pakistan. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
After considering different research approaches,
the qualitative sequential multiple case studies approach was adopted. Data
were collected from primary school teachers (interviews), children (focus
groups), librarians (interviews).
Related documents (curricula, teacher guides, activity sheets etc.) were
also collected. Children were also asked to fill in some sheets (designed or
adapted) to measure their IL skills. Initial findings showed that private
schools are doing better in terms of basic IL practice. However, in both
sectors teachers were unaware of the concept. The analysis of the most recent
school practice curriculum showed that IL can be practised mainly in English
language and General Knowledge courses at primary level. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
This study will propose a research-based IL model
for the selected primary schools of Lahore, Pakistan. This baseline study will
be a valuable contribution to local knowledge and an overall addition to school
sector IL literature. The findings of the PhD will provide directions for policy makers and identify concerns regarding
the development and improvement of IL programs at primary school level in
Pakistan.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-43253046641791197202014-11-20T01:14:00.000-08:002015-08-12T03:47:30.249-07:00Experiencing HIV and AIDS information: a phenomenological study of serodiscordant couples in Malawi - by K. Wella<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: UniversLTStd-LightObl; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the
absence of an HIV vaccine, <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/understanding-complexities-of-hivaids.html" target="_blank">information has played a pivotal role</a> in influencing
behaviour change in people. The ability to design successful HIV and AIDS
information campaigns is highly dependent on knowledge of people’s information behaviour. Accordingly,
there is a need for a clear understanding of the information behaviour of
groups of people affected and infected by HIV. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: UniversLTStd-LightObl; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Serodiscordant
couples are couples where only one partner is HIV positive. My PhD project aims
to investigate how such couples experience HIV and AIDS information in Malawi. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: UniversLTStd-LightObl; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Data were
collected between September and October 2013. Twenty four interviews were conducted
in two districts of Malawi and I am currently in the later stages of analysing
the transcribed data. I am using <a href="http://www.maxvanmanen.com/" target="_blank">Van Manen</a>’s phenomenological approach to help
generate descriptions and interpretations of the experiences of HIV and AIDS
information. Phenomenology is a research approach that seeks to understand how
people experience phenomena. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
Although policy makers and practitioners in Malawi
are aware that HIV information is an indispensable component of the fight
against the HIV pandemic, their focus seems to be more on getting information
to the people than on understanding the information related dynamics that drive
behavioural change. According to the <a href="http://www.aidsmalawi.org.mw/" target="_blank">National AIDS Commission (Malawi)</a>, Eighty percent of
new HIV infections occur among serodiscordant couples. A better understanding
how such couples experience HIV and AIDS information would therefore be of
considerable valuable in helping to combat the HIV pandemic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This study
is significant for two main reasons. Firstly, HIV and AIDS have an impact on
the development of Malawi and Africa. Therefore, it is important to develop
knowledge of how to control their spread. Secondly, </span>to the
best of the researcher’s knowledge, there has not been any study of HIV and
AIDS related information behaviour conducted in Malawi. This study therefore,
contributes not only to our understanding of the information behaviour of
serodiscordant couples but also, more generally, to our knowledge and
understanding of the information behaviour of people living with HIV.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
Emerging results of the study suggest that the
life-world is the overarching framework in which HIV and AIDS information is
experienced. In addition, the experiencing of HIV and AIDS information is found
to occur at four levels: while anticipating, interacting with, acting on, and
reflecting on the information. The results of the study also indicate that, at
all these levels, HIV and AIDS information is experienced with emotions.<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: UniversLTStd-LightObl; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-52758382923616935692014-11-18T04:35:00.003-08:002014-11-18T04:35:22.163-08:00How to write a bad thesis and to spend years of misery doing so<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The discussion group took a break in
August and I've only just got round to blogging about the July session.
Shame on me!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Duration of a PhD</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Elaine Toms volunteered to be interrogated on the subject of theses and began by referring us to an article from the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. The article "Caught in Thesis Purgatory" described the trials of a Canadian Masters student trapped in a cycle of revisions and rewrites. The system in Canada is clearly different from the UK, but one thing was clearly the same: writing a thesis usually takes longer than expected. According to most UK universities, a full-time PhD normally takes three years. </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">Prof Toms observed that this is very much an exception - a point reinforced by the fact that </span><a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2013/news82785.html" style="font-size: 18px;" target="_blank">HEFCE assesses PhD completion rates</a><span style="font-size: 18px;"> by the percentage of students who finish within seven years and the percentage who finish within 25 years!</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The University Handbook</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">This offers some generic guidelines about PhD theses, and departmental student handbooks offer more specific guidelines (such as on formatting and thesis length) but these are often out of date and should be verified. Elaine also gave a reference to an article on How to write consistently boring scientific literature, to aid the surprisingly few academics who aren't naturally gifted in this field.</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Doctoral Development Programme</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">The DDP offers courses to help students develop the skills needed to complete a PhD, and to equip them for the job market. However, Elaine noted courses should be selected strategically. Students should not go for "every spice in the cupboard". Also - although a long list of training is offered, not all courses are available all the time.</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Upgrade Report vs Final Thesis</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Upgrade reports are now called Confirmation reports. They should answer the questions "Is it likely that the student is good enough?" "Is the research idea good enough?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">In other words, they should shows promise, which isnot the same as saying that the ideas are fixed and crystallized. Another question that a confirmation report should answer is "Why is this problem important?". In answering that question, it show demonstrate a clear understanding of the problem and a grasp of the literature.</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Methodology and Methods</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Methodology</i> - What is the research philosophy? How and why were the methods chosen? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Methods</i> - A good methods chapter is like a recipe - it should be follow-able. eg, Why is focus group more appropriate than interviews? What questions will be asked?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">(Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.)</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Research questions</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">A good research question should be concise, answerable, focussed. More specifically it should be:</span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">Pragmatic, so it can be answered in the time available;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">Novel (so literature must be well covered in order to demonstrate novelty). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">Appliable - Will it help to discover things not already known? Does it have practical implications?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">Answerable - Eg, it must be ethical and it should be practical (eg no problems with privacy or security).</span></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Objectives and Research Quetions</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">A Thesis should have 3-5 aims with a set of RQs for each one. Answers to RQs should be clearly mapped onto Objectives.</span><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Results and Discussion</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Give data in a results chapter and interpretation in the discussion This allows the reader to draw conclusions, then compare them with the author's.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-11573871012954936622014-10-30T04:43:00.002-07:002014-10-30T04:43:25.168-07:00Post-viva questionnaire - responses from Alexander Schauer (part 2: the viva)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the title of your
thesis?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Developing a holistic framework of key categories of
influences that shape knowledge sharing from an individual perspective.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you provide an abstract
(for inclusion in this blog)?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite a large volume of literature in regards to knowledge
sharing, the field has not yet arrived at a consensus as to the key categories
of influences, defined at a high level, that shape individuals’ knowledge
sharing perceptions. Yet incrementally moving toward consensus
is important in order to create a shared understanding (Smylie, 2011, p. 182)
so a rigorous debate (Beesley & Cooper, 2008, p. 50) about the phenomenon
can occur and guidance for knowledge sharing practices can be created
(Wickramasinghe & Widyaratne, 2012, p. 216). In addition, studies to
date have either omitted how context can influence key categories or focused on
categories within a single context. However exploring contextual differences is
important so synergies (West & King 1996) and divergences as well as
different knowledge sharing situations can be mapped out (Chow, Deng & Ho,
2000). To explore this, a qualitative case study strategy was executed.
Empirical data were gathered from a total of 24 interviewees that were based in
four different country branches (i.e. China, the Netherlands, the UK and the
US) of a single IT services organisation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using constant comparison, findings point towards a holistic
framework that depicts four key categories of influences that shape knowledge
sharing from an individual perspective. The first key influence revolves around
institutions which act as a united entity .The second key influence
fundamentally different in nature concentrates on relations between
individuals. The third key influence focuses on the individuals themselves
(called sharers) and how their attitudes and characteristics can shape their
knowledge sharing perceptions. The fourth and final key influence centres on
knowledge itself. In addition, findings suggest that the four key influences
not only shape knowledge sharing independently but that all four key influences
are intertwined and together form a holistic framework. Furthermore, and based
on the findings, the institution, sharer and knowledge key categories are not
influenced by varying contexts while the relations key category is susceptible
to contextual differences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How long did you spend
preparing for your viva?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve
been keeping a daily diary since starting my PhD so I can say that I’ve
prepared for exactly 76 hours. That may sound a lot but this was over a two
months period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How long did your viva take?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It felt really fast. In fact it was one hour and 45 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there anything you wish you
had done differently?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be honest no. I’ve listened to Angharad’s advice in a
previous <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/post-viva-questionnaire-responses-from.html">blog
post</a> and only focused on the most likely questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the examiners concentrate
on any particular section of your thesis? If so, which?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They went through it methodically from page 1 to 199. We
discussed the literature review in more detail and then spent most of the time
on the methodology chapter. Surprisingly we had a good 30 minute discussion on
philosophy (i.e. epistemology, ontology and rhetoric) and how I viewed it
versus my supervisors versus my interviewees. The findings chapter was covered
with a single question and the discussion and conclusion with another couple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you describe any part of
your viva where you were pleased with your performance?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
first question, where I was asked on why I was interested in this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What was it you did that
pleased you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
was prepared for this question so I gave both a pragmatic and theoretical
answer. For the latter I reiterated key statements of authors and their
respective years they said that. This demonstrated that I could reiterate
specific authors and their key messages and I think that set a good tone for
the rest of the viva.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Can you describe any part of
your viva where you were dissatisfied with your performance?</b><br />
I couldn't recall my interview guide and the questions I asked within
it. That made me look a bit silly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please give an example of a
question that you found hard.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I managed to weave my way through most of the philosophical questions but for
that one I had to have a good think: You write that you've taken on an
interpretive epistemological world view yet your analysis points towards a
post-positivist one. Would you say that you've given your interviewees an
interpretive world view but yourself a more post-positivist one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why was it hard?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because
I had to convince my examiners that I had in fact taken on an interpretive worldview.
In the end though they were satisfied with my answer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What was the outcome of your
viva?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Passed
subject to minor corrections.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please give some examples of
the sort of corrections you need to make (if any).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is the list I’ve received:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">- Literature sub headings: These need to be changed from
author to the topic of their research<br />
- Methodology: Please add more detail around how you selected the organisations
(stock market, 1000 employees etc), selected the employees and the potential
bias in this method. Please also specify that you always intended to select one
company and the reasoning behind this. Please add the timelines between
interviews and the process you went through in between.<br />
- Section 4.5 - please add a few more pages to this section where you present
the (holistic) framework (to include a graphic representation).<br />
- Limitations: Please add further detail to show to the reader that you are
referring to the literature review and not the documentation within the
organisations.<br />
- Please go through all the tables in the thesis and re-work them so they don't
have vast areas with blank space e.g. by removing sharer this would remove the
vast blank area. Then sharer could be put in the caption.<br />
- Consider giving the reader an idea of the scale/effort involved in the
analysis e.g. by mentioning the number of codes (concepts/categories) that led
to the 4 key categories.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you have any tips for
looking and feeling confident in front of the examiners?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
I met them I both gave them a solid handshake and smile. Once settled I kept an
open body language. I memorised the most important authors and years they
published that piece of work in question to illustrate I can not only discuss
my own thesis but also that of other authors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Can you think of any good
advice that you would give to students who are preparing for their viva?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did the following and it worked for me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I watched the videos relating to vivas on the <a href="http://vgs.group.shef.ac.uk/cms/">Virtual Graduate School</a> and wrote down
any potential questions they covered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I went to a seminar called ‘preparing for viva’ and
wrote down any potential questions covered there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Then I read through my thesis answering the
questions obtained in Steps 1 and 2. At the same time I highlighted terms I’ve
used and should be able to define and give examples of e.g. knowledge
management, knowledge sharing, axiology, validity, reliability. Simultaneously,
I highlighted important authors that have shaped my thesis and memorised their
key statements, name of the authors and year the document was published<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Following this I researched the examiners, their
background, study focus and articles related to my thesis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The day before the viva I skim read my thesis
again and revised the potential questions and my answers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My list of potential questions can be found <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">here</span> (no guarantee given
that they will be asked of course by your examiners).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>After the viva</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me being me I had a 15 minute lunch, then five minute
discussion with my supervisors and then went to the Information Common
(library) for 3.5 hours to video and audio record a PowerPoint presentation of
my thesis (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD__XEoX1D4" target="_blank">part 1</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kr_GGENz88" target="_blank">part 2</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I went for a four day holiday to celebrate the
outcome.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-66468075111614831672014-10-30T04:33:00.004-07:002014-10-30T04:33:48.072-07:00Post viva questionnaire - responses from Alex Schauer (pt 1 - Viva preparation and potential questions)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hi Andrew,</span></i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><u></u></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i>Having been a keen reader of the previous post viva questionnaires on your blog-post, I’ve decided to return something to the community by adding my own....</i>"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white;">
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Alex Schauer emailed me a couple of weeks ago after he successfully defended his thesis and kindly provided some inputs based on his experiences of defending his thesis. The delay in posting them is entirely my fault! Apologies Alex, and congratulations once again.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Viva
preparation and potential questions</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Background</b></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ul style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To test the candidate's
knowledge of his/her research and subject area;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To allow examiners to
clarify any queries that may have arisen when reading the dissertation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To judge whether the
candidate has developed research skills appropriate to doctoral level</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To give the candidate
the opportunity to defend their dissertation in person</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To establish whether
candidates fully understands the implications of their work</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To test if the thesis in
whole/parts can be published</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Key purposes of the Viva
(usually set out in University regulations) include:</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">During the viva<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This is mainly taken
from a <a href="http://tarabrabazon.libsyn.com/tara-s-ten-tips-for-a-ph-d-oral-examination" target="_blank">podcast</a> by Tara Brabazon:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ul style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Breathe, speak slowly,
concentrate, drink water.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Most importantly, listen to the opening remarks in the Viva because they can give you clear insights into what that examiners feel about your thesis.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Listen to the real question
(don't turn it into a question you want to hear).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Consider writing down
the question, so you don’t forget it and it gives you time to think.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Pause before
answering the question (5-20 sec is OK). Breathe, smile, look at the examiners, and
consider your answer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If done appropriately, admitting weaknesses can show that you’re able to critique your
piece of work and thus be a good academic.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Re-phrase your answers with an emphasis on the word "focus" rather than "weakness"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Formatting your answer:
intro, body, conclusion picking up on question</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The written thesis
should act as the foundation and source of your oral answers (Murray, 2003,
page 89) so you should have it to hand and look for your answers ‘therein’.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Don't think of your thesis as earth shattering; rather you might lay claim to a ‘fresh approach’ or
a 'new perspective'.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Think about your viva as a first experience in engaging with the academic community and locating your ideas
amongst this community</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Don’t say ‘Well I’ve written
that’ as examiners can’t read everything.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ask for a break if needed (5 min).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If anything weird happens, log it! Occasionally examiners do strange or unfair things. A record can help you to defend yourself if necessary.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3 style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Potential questions</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">General</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">What m<i>ade you do this piece of research?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Why did you choose this topic?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Why did this topic interest you?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What drew you to this study?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Why this topic?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What led you to this particular study?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Why do think it is important?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What surprised you most in doing this study?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Tell us about your thesis, tell us about what you have done here.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Please could you summarise your thesis?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>How would you explain to someone not involved in academia what your thesis is about?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Is there anything that you wish you could added or delete from your thesis?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Is there anything in it that you wish to comment on?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Have you enjoyed your PhD?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Has the thesis contributed to your professional life in any way?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What would you say has been an important learning experience for you in undertaking this work?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What did you learn from doing it?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Would you do anything differently next time?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Can you give one example of your thesis contribution to the development of knowledge and understanding in this area?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What original contribution to knowledge do you feel that you have made?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>If somebody from this field read your thesis, what would they </i></span><i style="color: #222222; font-size: small;">learn </i><i style="color: #222222; font-size: small;">that they don’t already know?</i></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What does your study propose that is different from other studies in this area?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What is your own position (professional or personal) in relation to this field and these research questions?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What is your positionality in relation to the research project?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What prior conceptions and / or experiences did you bring to this study?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>How did your own position/ background/ bias affect your data collection and your data analysis?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What are the main findings of your research?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Tell me what you think the most important findings are from your particular study?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Which elements of your work do you feel are worthy of publication and/or presentation at a conference?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What plans do you have for publication and dissemination?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Have you been thinking about publishing any of your PhD? if yes which parts?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Has any of the work been published or presented already?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Is there any reason why you haven’t published a paper yet?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What implications do you think your study has got for future research practice policy?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What is your hypothesis?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Why was your research worth three years of study?</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Theories And Theoretical Frameworks</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Please talk us through the main research questions that you were trying to address in your work. What was the origin of these questions?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>What theories/ theoretical frameworks/ perspectives have you drawn upon in your research?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><i>Which theories did your study illuminate, if any?</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1124765913921722545.post-52430543688603592032014-07-15T09:25:00.002-07:002014-07-16T07:04:56.429-07:00Vivas - examiners' perspectives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Back in May, we drew up a list of questions to be put to Professor Elaine Toms when she attended the discussion group in June. By a stroke of good fortune, the iSchool was being visited by <a href="http://www.ils.unc.edu/~wildem/wildemuth.html" target="_blank">Professor Wildemuth</a>, Associate Dean of the iSchool at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She was able to bring another perspective to the questions<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<i>What training is available at the iSchool to help students prepare for their vivas?</i><br />
<div>
Currently the iSchool does not offer formal training, though there have been discussions about introducing more formal training.</div>
<div>
<br />
<i>How does an upgrade viva compare with a PhD viva?</i></div>
<div>
<div>
The two are very similar and both provide an opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of their chosen research topic.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Candidates should provide evidence of systematic study, and.should satisfy examiners that they have made an addition to knowledge. This is important at both upgrade and PhD level. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<i>What sort of scene setting is there at the start of a viva?</i></div>
<div>
Both Elaine and Barbara agreed that it was important for students to set the scene by giving the background to their research. In some places this is done through a formal presentation, though this is not general practice in Sheffield. <br />
<br />
To help with scene setting candidates were recommended to take a well labelled copy of the thesis so that they could quickly and easily find parts they wished to refer to.</div>
<div>
<br />
<i>How long should a viva last?</i><br />
Recent experiences from <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/post-viva-questionnaire-responses-from.html" target="_blank">Angharad Roberts</a>, <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/post-viva-questionnaire-responses-from.html" target="_blank">Joanne Bates</a>, <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/post-viva-questionnaire-responses-from.html" target="_blank">Rita Wan-chik</a> and <a href="http://sheffieldischoolresearchers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/post-viva-questionnaire-responses-from.html" target="_blank">Robinah Namuleme</a> all took around two hours, but all of these were relatively trouble free. If there are serious issues, vivas may last longer.<br />
<br />
<i>Who sits on a viva panel? What are their roles?</i><br />
A PhD viva has an external and an internal examiner on the panel. Both are vetted by the university. A key part of their job is to make sure the student is comfortable: they are not there to catch him/her out. The two examiners should reach agreement, but it is the job of the internal examiner to ensure that university rules are followed. The supervisor may sit on the panel but should not say anything<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
An upgrade viva also has a chairman to keep the process on track and to ensure that the student’s knowledge has been properly tested.</div>
<br />
<i>What are the possible outcomes of a viva?</i><br />
PhD viva - Possible results are:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No amendments (rare);</li>
<li>Minor amendments, no resubmission needed - 3 months;</li>
<li>Resubmission without viva - 12 months;</li>
<li>Resubmission with viva - 12 months;</li>
<li>Re-examination without amendment to the thesis (very rare - only where the thesis is AOK but the performance at viva was unsatisfactory.);</li>
<li>Award of MPhil without amendments or re-examination (very rare);</li>
<li>Degree not awarded - re-submit for MPhil with/without re-examination;</li>
<li>Degree not awarded.</li>
</ul>
Upgrade viva - Possible results are :<br />
<div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Confirmation of PhD status</li>
<li>Deferral (6 months to resubmit)</li>
<li>2nd attempt (pass / fail)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<i>How often do people fail their viva? What sort of things cause them to fail?</i><br />
Very rarely. Failure may be for the following reasons:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Poor time management</li>
<li>Not taking advice from supervisor</li>
<li>Not enough evidence of reading</li>
<li>Poor organisation of information (eg, bibliography).</li>
</ul>
<i>Can you give an example of something that impressed you in a viva?</i><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Clearly expressed research questions, well explored.</li>
<li>Enthusiams</li>
</ul>
<div>
Elaine and Barbara suggested some questions to prepare for:</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>What is your hypothesis?</li>
<li>You say your main finding was X. So what?</li>
<li>Why was your research worth the money?</li>
<li>Why didn’t you use a particular research method? (Often the examiner's favourite method!)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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