Juliette Wilson

Multiple-choice question tests: a convenient, flexible and effective learning tool? A case study

The research presented in this paper is part of a project investigating assessment practices, funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Using established principles of good assessment and feedback, the use of online formative and summative multiple choice tests (MCT’s) was piloted to support independent and self-directed learning and improve performance in an efficient manner for both students and staff. The paper reviews previous studies that have examined the relevance of MCT’s and presents an evaluation of the students grades and the results of a questionnaire designed to capture their perceptions about the effectiveness of MCT’s. Our findings identify improvements on students’ marks and positive responses from students who found MCT’s to be useful at supporting their learning of basic concepts and building confidence and self-esteem. We also argue that MCT’s work more effectively when used in conjunction with other assessment methods.

The process of embedding a small firm in its industrial context

This article explores the activities involved in embedding a small firm in its industrial context. Inductive analysis of longitudinal, case study data collected from a small firm in the creative industries highlights the use of networks and networking as embedding mechanisms. Key emergent themes include the impacts of pre-embeddedness (defined as the sum of all cultural, social and symbolic capital accessible to the founding team prior to business start-up), the vision and network orientation of the founding team and their strategic use of networking. The interplay between these conditions and activities is revealed as important in building legitimacy, which is critical for embedding a firm in its industrial context. This article extends knowledge of embedding beyond the initial phase of new venture creation and highlights the emergent and evolving dynamics behind this process.

Nostalgia in the twenty-first century

This special issue, “Nostalgia in the Twenty-First Century,” reflects on nostalgia as a shaping cultural force in the contemporary world and makes a unique interdisciplinary contribution to the existing literature on this subject. It builds on the insights of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) seminar series hosted at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, throughout 2010 and 2011. Our initial interest in hosting the series was stimulated by our growing awareness that the range of literatures on nostalgia within our respective disciplines – Marketing and English Studies – had rarely been brought into intellectual exchange. Accordingly, the series of six seminars focused on what we came to identify as key interdisciplinary themes in current engagements with, and representations of, the past: material cultures (retro, print and media), urban nostalgia, diaspora and sustainability. This issue develops these conversations about the functions of nostalgia and brings together the work by scholars and practitioners from a wide range of theoretical perspectives and industry experiences – film, literary criticism, commercial marketing, cultural geography, museum studies – to illuminate twenty-first century dialogues on the uses of nostalgia in contemporary culture.

Do we do the past differently now? An interview with David Lowenthal

The purpose of the interview was to talk to David Lowenthal about the imminent release of his updated version of The Past Is a Foreign Country, a seminal work on history, memory and nostalgia which profoundly influenced debates on heritage culture following its initial publication in 1985. David served in the US Army during World War Two and during his long and distinguished career as a cultural geographer taught at Vassar College and the University of the West Indies. He is now emeritus professor of geography at University College London. His books include West Indian Societies (1972), Landscape Meanings and Values (with Edmund Penning-Rowsell, 1986), The Politics of the Past (with Peter Gathercole, 1989) and The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History (1997). The interview took place in London on 24 September 2012.

How can social enterprises impact health and wellbeing

Purpose -The objective of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focuses on community food initiatives, their impact on the social determinants of health and the influence of structure on their outcomes. Design – Using an interpretive qualitative approach through case studies focused on two community food social enterprises, the research team conducted observations, interviews and ad-hoc conversations. Findings - Researchers found that social enterprises impacted all layers of the social determinants of health model but that there was greater impact on individual lifestyle factors and social and community networks. Impact at the higher socio-economic, cultural and environmental layer was more constrained. There was also evidence of the structural factors both enabling and constraining impact at all levels. Implications – This study helps to facilitate understanding on the role of social enterprises as a key way for individuals and communities to work together to build their capabilities and resilience when facing health inequalities. Building upon previous work, it provides insight into the practices, limitations and challenges of those engaged in encouraging and supporting behavioural changes. Value - The paper contributes to a deeper insight of the use, motivation and understanding of social enterprise as an operating model by community food initiatives. It provides evidence of the impact of such social enterprises on the social determinants of health and uses structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) to explore how structure both influences and constrains the impact of these enterprises.

The paradox of odd-even price in fashion luxury sector: Empirical evidence from an international direct observation of luxury stores

ABSTRACT Price has always had a key role in the luxury fashion market, because high prices are linked to the uniqueness and the prestige of luxury products and brands. Because of this direct contribution of price to the luxury essence, scholars have partially neglected the possible existence of unintuitive and controversial pricing strategies followed by luxury firms. This article deals with this literature gap, particularly analyzing a specific pricing strategy that seems to be in contrast with the nature of luxury pricing: the odd-even price (OEP). With the direct observation of physical and digital store windows of 20 luxury brands, this research investigates the role of OEP in the fashion luxury sector. Particularly, this work examines the relationship between the OEP strategy and the luxury level of fashion brands considering both offline and online channels.

Habitus emerging: the development of hybrid logics and collaborative business models in the Irish craft beer sector

This article analyses data from 25 Irish craft beer entrepreneurs supplemented by associated web and press material, to explore how habitus emerges in a nascent entrepreneurial field. Welter’s frame of entrepreneurial contexts – business, social, spatial and institutional – is combined with Bourdieusian theory to explain the emergence of habitus. Findings show that emerging habitus is enacted through hybridisation of diverse global and local field logics, via the adoption, development and extension of their logics. It is also path-dependent on the life and career histories of a critical mass of habitus members, previously exposed to these fields. The study shows both local and global strategies of collective resource sharing – a novel approach to tackling the resource paucity typically faced by partitioned specialists facing large-scale generalists.