All News

Deignan, Tim, & Tom Morton (2022, January). The challenges of English medium instruction for subject lecturers: A shared viewpoint. ELT Journal [online]

(Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab084)

Abstract: English medium instruction (EMI) is seen as a site for improving students’ English language, yet the role of the EMI lecturer in achieving this is contested. Views on what constitutes appropriate training and professional development for EMI lecturers also differ regarding English language skills and EMI-specific methodology. Using Q methodology, this paper explores these issues from a particular perspective, a synthetic viewpoint based on six EMI lecturers with very similar views. Its voice is pro-EMI yet has significant concerns regarding the workload involved, is insecure about its own linguistic performance, fears a loss of subject content depth, and questions the effectiveness of EMI for students learning a subject. The paper highlights the importance of such feelings in relation to perceived language and pedagogy challenges and considers the broader implications for EMI teacher training interventions regarding the practices of disciplinary knowledge-building and the linguistic and communicative resources used to enact them.

Tim Deignan <timdeignan@runbox.com> is an independent consultant and author based in the UK whose work has included various research projects in the tertiary education sector. He consults for various clients including universities, colleges, trusts, and non-governmental organizations, and his work typically involves modelling different values and perspectives on complex issues in order to improve policy and practice. Tom Morton < tom.morton@uam.es> is Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of English Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), where he is a member of the UAM-CLIL Research Group. His research interests include discourse in CLIL and EMI classrooms, and language teacher knowledge and identity.

Duffy, Kevin P. (2021, December). Using photovoice to navigate social-ecological change in coastal Maine: A case study on visibility, visuality, and visual literacy. Doctoral dissertation (Communication), University of Maine. (Open Access: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3495)

Abstract: Media representations of the environment support specific cultures of viewing that can create expectations about how to observe social-ecological interactions in everyday life. While public perceptions may appear, in some cases, to reflect these normative representations, more critical and participatory approaches to environmental research and management have begun to complicate these representations as they are negotiated through intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group communication. Working from a visual cultural approach that interrogates issues of visibility, visuality, and visual literacy, this dissertation theorizes how coastal residents represent their own observations and experiences of environmental change through photography and what impact their views have on the perceived availability, desirability, and feasibility of community responses to change. For this project, I designed and facilitated a multi-stage photovoice project and a Q method evaluation that engaged a small group of residents from the communities surrounding the Bagaduce and Damariscotta Rivers in Maine. Across the three main chapters, I critically and collaboratively analyze the affordances of photography as a research methodology, visual communication practice, and social-ecological assessment tool. In the second chapter, I document the social-ecological changes residents perceived to impact their community and how related interactions were framed as inevitable, manageable, and deconstructive. In the third chapter, I explore how residents used photographs in individual interviews and group discussions and through material and dialogic exchanges to broaden, focus, and shift their meaning-making. In the fourth chapter, I evaluate how the photovoice methodology influenced participants’ perceived development of visual learning and communication skills and discuss implications for photovoice goal attainment. Together, this research indicates that environmental applications of photovoice may inspire resilience thinking through group negotiation of visual meaning and critical reflection on self-other-environment relationships. In turn, this research offers new possibilities for understanding and engaging visual representations of social-ecological change that constitute community experience and influence environmental adaptation.

Kevin P Duffy <kevin.duffy1@maine.edu> is a graduate of the Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Maine, Orono, ME (USA).

Liu, Wenjuan, Datu Buyung Agusdinata, Hallie Eakin, & Hugo Romero (2022, March). Sustainable minerals extraction for electric vehicles: A pilot study of consumers’ perceptions of impacts. Resources Policy, 75(12), art. 102523. (Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102523)

Abstract: Global transitions to electric vehicles (EVs) have triggered a surge in demand for the required minerals, whose extraction impacts raise questions on the overall sustainability of EVs. The impacts of mineral extraction are usually invisible to consumers who are at the relative end of EV-minerals’ life cycle, posing a challenge for the governance of minerals. Due to their increasingly important role in motivating corporate response, understanding consumers’ perceptions is crucial to inform efforts towards sustainable mineral extraction (SME), which encompasses the actions, policies, and practices to minimize environmental and social impacts of minerals extractions. In this study, we applied the telecoupling framework and combined a survey and Q-method to examine how EV consumers perceive the life-cycle developments of EV, impacts of minerals extraction, and potential governance schemes. Our analysis identified and discussed the nuanced categories of perceptions and their implications. Overall, there is a general lack of awareness of impacts among respondents, but most respondents recognized the complexity in the supply chain of EVs and the role of consumers in influencing its governance. Contradictory opinions are widely found, reflecting the tensions and conflicts between the imperative of energy transitions and the reality of adverse mining impacts. Improved SME governance should consider the differences in consumers’ purchase motivations when mobilizing for changes, and not detract from the positive roles of EVs. We also highlight the need for a telecoupling view in mineral governance and suggest a shift in the EV supply chain to include broader sustainable development goals and a global community of consumers, affected communities, and the general public.

Datu B Agusdinata <bagusdin@asu.edu> is in the School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.

Tinch, Rob, Isaac Ankamah-Yeboah, & Claire Armstrong (2022, January). Exploring perspectives of the validity, legitimacy and acceptability of environmental valuation using Q methodology. Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics, 8(2), art. 12. (Link: https://doi.org/10.15351/2373-8456.1151)

Abstract: The extension of market systems and economic appraisal methods to the natural world and allocation of scarce resources is highly controversial and viewed by some as unethical. This has resulted in questions about the appropriate role of valuation and appraisal methods in informing policy and decision-making. We address this issue by assessing the different points of view that exist in marine research, management and policy communities regarding the estimation of monetary values for marine ecosystems and services and their use in appraisal and policy settings. The principal perspectives emerging from a Q-sort survey of respondents reveal a clear distinction between a group that is highly sceptical of the framing of human-environment relations in terms of ecosystem services and of the use of economic appraisal and valuation tools in this context, and two or three other groups that are broadly favourable towards that paradigm and its methods, but with slightly different reasons for supporting valuation in practice. Despite the distinguishing features, areas of consensus emerge, including a strong shared perspective that places avoiding damage to marine biodiversity and ecosystems as a fundamental obligation. Furthermore, it is shown that the sceptics do not entirely reject valuation out of hand, but rather express understandable concerns about applicability and appropriate uses that are to some extent recognised by the pro-valuation groups.

Rob Tinch <rob@eftec.co.uk> is an environmental economist and Brussels representative with eftec Ltd. (www.eftec.co.uk), a British environmental economics consultantcy. Isaac Ankamah-Yeboah <iay@ku.dk> is at the Institute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Claire Armstrong <claire.armstrong@uit.no> is in the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

Everson, Kimberlee (2022). Returning from atheism during the college years. Pastoral Psychology. (ePub in advance of print) (Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-021-00990-1)

Abstract: Young adults are increasingly rejecting religion in favor of various forms of disbelief, including atheism and agnosticism. Many religious leaders hope to bring these young adults back to belief. This study examined the experiences of 10 college students who self-described as becoming believers after a phase of disbelief. Using Q methodology, this group of students was found to come, or return, to a belief in God for one of three reasons: (1) looking for truth, (2), wanting life to mean more, or (3) suffering because of life crises.

Kimberlee Everson <kimberlee.everson@wku.edu> is in the Department of Educational Administration, Leadership, and Research, School of Leadership and Professional Studies, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY (USA).

Hensel, Desirée, & Coleen Toronto (2022). Reading a Q methodology research article. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 53(1), 10-12. (Link: https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20211210-05)

Abstract: Health care studies that use Q methodology have increased dramatically in recent years, but most nurses have not learned about this mixed methods approach in their research classes. This teaching column will help readers understand some of the unique terms and characteristics of Q methodology. Understanding this method can help nurses performing evidence-based practice and education.

Desirée Hensel <henselnursinged@gmail.com> is Chief Executive Officer, Hensel Nursing Education Consulting, Dorset, VT (USA).

Takshe, Aseel A., Jon C. Lovett, Paul Stenner, Davide Contu, & Noelia Weber (2022, January). Prioritising climate change actions post COVID-19 amongst university students: A Q methodology perspective in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Global Warming, 26(1), 120-139. (Link: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGW.2022.10043632)

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caused strict regulations to lower transmission rates. Industries were shut down, people were in lockdown, and travel was curtailed. Restrictions were in effect for an enough period for people’s behaviour to change. For example, online meetings rather than needing to travel. This opens the possibility for alterations to the perception that it is possible to commit to effective climate change actions. A Q methodology study was conducted to analyse how 33 university environmental students across the United Arab Emirates perceive the importance of prioritising climate change actions post-pandemic. Statistical analysis yielded four discourses. The first emphasises the need to learn lessons about climate sustainability and sustain them post-pandemic. The second, more pessimistic but advocates preventing a return to pre-pandemic norms by implementing post-pandemic climate change regulations. The third expects economic recovery to take priority over reducing emissions. The fourth raises opportunities and challenges for environmental sustainability post-COVID-19.

Aseel A Takshe <aseel.takshe@cud.ac.ae> is in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences, Canadian University Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Marhraoui, Mohamed Amine, Mohammed Abdou Janati Idrissi, & Abdellah El Manouar (2022). Critical success factors for organizational agility: Q-study and the place of IT. In Hakikur Rahman (Ed.), Achieving organizational agility, intelligence, and resilience through information systems (pp. 269-298, Chap 10). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. (Chapter link: http://doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-4799-1.ch010)

Abstract: Companies are facing important challenges related to markets’ internationalization, regulatory restrictions, and fierce competition especially during the COVID-19 context. Environment is thus characterized by rapid and volatile changes. Organizational agility is the key capability allowing firms to adapt continuously by sensing changes in their environment and responding in an efficient and rapid manner. Previous work has addressed organizational agility enablers, including IT ones, allowing the firm to be more agile. In this chapter, the authors first extend their organizational agility enablers list through an in-depth analysis of consulting firms and governmental agencies reports on agility during the COVID-19 context. The final list contains 28 organizational agility enablers belonging to 10 groups. Then, the authors conduct a Q-study in order to identify what factors are critical for a successful journey towards agility and to analyze the results from an IT perspective.

Mohamed Amine Marhraoui <mohamed-amine_marhraoui1@um5.ac.ma> is in ENSIAS Engineering School, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco.

Gannon, Kate Elizabeth, Laetitia Pettinotti , Declan Conway , Swenja Surminski, Edward Ndilanha, & Tobias Nyumba (2022 March,). Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through development corridors in East Africa: A Q-methodology approach to imagining development futures. Environmental Science and Policy, 129, 56-67. (Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.12.013)

Abstract: In this paper we advance a novel approach to integrated assessment of the ways in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are likely to manifest and interact within a given development context, using Q methodology and the conceptual framing of imaginaries. We apply this to development corridors and identify three qualitatively distinct imaginaries of SDG futures that exist among stakeholders across five development corridors in East Africa. These imaginaries articulate shared understandings of the ways in which corridors are likely to support, or limit, achievement of the SDGs and construct explanatory logics around the ways in which SDG trade-offs and synergies are likely to manifest within corridors. Our analysis suggests that SDG goals and targets are mostly synergistic in corridor landscapes, but that interactions can be multi-dimensional. We also (1) identify specific clusters of goals and targets that may be directly mutually reinforcing and which, strengthened in parallel, could upscale development within corridors, and (2) identify ways in which, following current corridor trajectories, progress towards some SDGs is likely to threaten progress towards other goals and targets. Particularly, the analysis identifies biodiversity conservation (SDG14/SDG15), sustainability (SDG11, SDG12, SDG13), secure and equal access to land (SDG2.3) and inequality reduction (SDG10) to be likely trade-offs to other development gains in current corridor trajectories. The research emphasises the need for more integrated corridor governance to achieve the SDGs efficiently, as a whole and for all. The method is flexible and could be applied to enable rapid assessment of SDG trajectories within other development contexts.

Kate Elizabeth Gannon <k.e.gannon@lse.ac.uk> is in the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Doygun, Hakan, Dilay Zülkadiroğlu, & Ilgaz Ekşi (2021, December). Başkonuş Mesire Yeri’nden (Kahramanmaraş) Sağlanan Ekosistem Hizmetlerine Yönelik Algının İncelenmesi [Investigation of perception towards ecosystem services provided from Başkonuş Recreation Area (Kahramanmaraş)]. Çukurova Journal of Agricultural and Food Sciences, 36(2), 219-230. (Turkish) (Link: https://doi.org/10.36846/CJAFS.2021.50)

Abstract (via Google Translate): With this study, it is aimed to examine the perception of ecosystem services provided from Başkonuş recreational area (Kahramanmaraş) with the help of Q methodology. As a result of the evaluations made by the participants, two perspectives emerged, one focused on conservation and the other focused on naturalness. The majority of the participants mentioned the positive effects of the promenade on the comfort of life, but they also stated that recreational activities, which can sometimes intensify, negatively affect the tranquility and natural environment. In this regard, It is recommended to avoid structural arrangements as much as possible in order to calculate the visitor carrying capacity of the promenade, to limit recreational uses and to keep the area in its natural shape. It is expected that the results obtained from the study will contribute to the practices to be carried out at the promenade and to the literature on Q methodology and ecosystem services.

Hakan Doygun <hakan.doygun@idu.edu.tr> is a member of the Faculty of Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, Izmir Democracy University, Izmir, Turkey.