Frank Sligo

Crossing fields: the case of a multi-disciplinary research team:

There are increasing opportunities for researchers to work in multi-disciplinary research teams; however, the extensive literature on research practice barely refers to the challenges inherent in this approach. The article describes the experience of a multi-disciplinary team which was engaged in investigating the nature of technological learning in relation to productivity improvement in the dairy farming industry in New Zealand. The largely qualitative, multi-method approach taken to the project by the team is described, and the description supplemented by reflection on the factors that led to the key decisions in the research design process, and the consequences of these decisions.

Does Hindsight Bias Change Perceptions of Business Ethics

Ethical decision theory may not be sufficiently well developed to furnish reliable guidelines to people involved in complex decision making that involves conflict between ethical considerations and business imperatives such as making a profit. In conditions of ethical uncertainty hindsight bias may occur, and this study reports on an exploration of hindsight bias effects among participants in continuing education in business programmes. Perceptions of business ethics were found to differ among groups within the sample depending on what they thought had been the outcome of the ethical decision concerned.

OBSERVE, RECORD, THEN BEYOND: FACILITATING PARTICIPANT REFLECTION VIA RESEARCH DIARIES

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of the diary‐interview method in the context of research on technological learning in the New Zealand dairy industry. Design/methodology/approach – The diary‐interview method was used to collect data from 8 farmers operating small or medium sized farms. The data gathered supplemented that collected through other means and was an important component of the case studies. Findings – The diary‐interview method was found to be highly appropriate for this project context because it allowed the researchers access to data that would not otherwise have been available (due to project constraints) and to a deeper degree of reflection from the interviewees. Research limitations/implications – The use of the diary interview method is time consuming and can result in complex data to be analysed. The method was only applied to 8 cases and while the experiences in each were positive there may be instances where its application would be inappropriate. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on effective qualitative research and provides a detailed guide to the use of the method, as well as its limitations.

Barriers to Pacific women's use of cervical screening services

Objective: The present study explored barriers to the use of cervical screening information and services from the perspective of Pacific women.

Disseminating knowledge to build a learning organization

In recent years the learning organization has become popular in the management literature but the extent to which staff typically obtain access to the information they need for enhanced learning is not well understood. This paper examines the access to information experienced by staff within a New Zealand company in terms of the topics on which information is received and the sources from which information comes. The results show significant divisions within the company on status grounds for information that is currently received. Nevertheless, no such divisions were found for the information that is sought. Limitations appeared more obviously with regard to formal information sources (for which the company is responsible) than for the informal sources (which the individual finds it easier to access). Implications for companies aspiring to strengthen their capacity to learn are briefly discussed.

When words fail us: using visual composites in research reporting

This article describes a use of visual imagery in research reporting that helps to emphasize the human and social dimensions of research issues and encourage different ways of thinking about the findings and implications. During the literature review, in order to establish the authors’ longitudinal research into adult literacy, they observed that research participants’ own perspectives and rich life-worlds were usually invisible in final reports and articles, submerged under layers of governmental or scholarly discourse. An irony was that, while literacy theory was moving towards acknowledging multi-literacies, reporting of literacy research remained heavily mono-modal. The authors of this research wanted to differ from this trend by giving people who were affected by adult literacy policy a vivid presence within their reports. They were intrigued by the use of visual means to foreground interviewees’ own words both as a way to register their importance to readers and to try to signal the multi-modal nature of literacy. They depicted their interviewees’ words as language spoken by imagined individuals typical of the interviewees, grounded within photographs of their research site. In this article, the authors describe their intentions and methods in making their reports visual and artistic composites rather than more traditional densely worded policy reports; they deconstruct some of the key images contained in their report in order to critique their efficacy in achieving their aims.

Information Loss Revisited How Different Levels of Staff Perceive Their Access to Work-related Knowledge

This paper reports on a study of reactions by different levels of staff within an organization to the information provided to them by their company. The levels of staff assessed were middle managers, supervisors, and non-supervising staff. The research took into account the information with which staff are provided, and the information they would like to receive. The literature on downward communication suggests a model of progressive loss of information as it filters down hierarchical layers. The present study, however, provided little support for this view. Instead, it was found that supervisors perceived deficiencies in information supply to a greater extent than did any other ranking, including non-supervising staff. Staff of various organizational rankings reported sig nificantly different amounts of information currently received. However, there was considerable commonality of preference for information, regardless of organizational ranking.

Do apprentices' communities of practice block unwelcome knowledge?

Purpose – This study aims to examine how well print‐literacy support being provided to New Zealand Modern Apprentices (MAs) is supporting their study and practical work.Design/methodology/approach – The authors undertook a qualitative analysis of a database of 191 MAs in the literacy programme, then in 14 case studies completed 46 interviews with MAs, their employers, industry coordinators and adult literacy tutors to obtain triangulated insights into each MAs learning.Findings – A strong sense of disjunction appeared between the work culture and the norms of being print literate which adult literacy tutors worked to draw apprentices into. Interviewees perceived a divide between practice and theory, or “doing the job” and “doing bookwork”, so that MAs were faced with trying to be two different kinds of people to succeed in their apprenticeship.Research limitations/implications – Future research may explore the ways in which differing value‐sets that apprentices encounter can compete with and undermine cr...

New Zealand Polynesian women’s access to information about cervical screening

Immigration by Pacific Island people into New Zealand has raised issues of equal access to a range of government and social services, including health information. This study reports on an investigation of access to information by women in Pacific Island cultures resident in Palmerston North. The New Zealand health environment is quickly changing and features market-style reforms, greater accent on privately-funded health schemes and an ideological shift in the direction of individual responsibility for ones health. We describe what we found to be the major impediments to quality of health information accessible by Pacific Island women and conclude with proposals for changes and developments in public health communications.

Unforeseen outcomes: Does poorly‐resourced literacy tutoring reinforce apprentices’ low literacy?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges faced by tutors who were providing remedial literacy support to New Zealand apprentices. Design/methodology/approach – As part of a wider, triangulated study of employers, tutors, apprentices, and industry training coordinators, the author undertook a qualitative analysis of ten in‐depth interviews with apprentices’ literacy tutors. Findings – It was found that three issues strongly affected what tutors could achieve for their students. First, tutors experienced substantial role ambiguity; second, apprentices were working in oral and experiential modes more than in print‐literate modes; and third, tutors found they had to employ an instrumental approach to their teaching in response to the situation they encountered. For example, this often meant serving as a scribe for their student rather than being able to focus on building the apprentices print literacy. Research limitations/implications – It is possible that the difficult situation faced by these literacy tutors may be replicated in similar situations where funding is insufficient to build competence in literacy. Practical implications – The constraints on what the tutors could actually achieve within tight funding limits meant that most students, while on track to successfully complete their apprenticeship, still remained of low print literacy. Originality/value – The study reveals how tutors’ instrumental approach ran counter to their traditional ethical stance associated with building empowered, competent citizens who could participate fully in their civic, social and economic settings. It also shows how this literacy support enhanced the apprentices’ confidence, yet they probably became further reinforced in their little‐changed, oral work culture.