Football Fitness - a figurational study of a new type of leisure football as a meaningful activity for men

This article offers a nuanced exploration of Football Fitness (FF), a newer ‘sport for all' concept carried out in associative sport clubs in Denmark. The aim of the study was to examine FF as a meaningful leisure activity for men. Seven focus group interviews were conducted with 26 heterogeneous male FF players aged 24 to 76. Data were analysed by means of thematic network analysis within the interpretive tradition. Drawing on figurational sociology, more specifically Elias and Dunning’s perspective on leisure sport as a quest for excitement, and Connell’s theory of masculinities, we present three elements of the empirical material all highlighting the social significance of the FF concept. 1: The men’s fight for recognition in the club, 2: Competition as a play element and 3: Social bonding and sport as a male preserve. The findings of the study demonstrate a hegemony of multiple masculinities in football clubs. The play-pleasure values associated with the FF concept does not receive much recognition compared to traditional competitive football. Consequently, the FF players feel like the strange newcomers, experiencing being regarded as outsiders compared to the established players in the clubs. Our study indicates that organisational change do not automatically generate cultural change when implementing health-promotion initiatives such as FF.

“Suck It Up, Buttercup”: Understanding and Overcoming Gender Disparities in Policing

Women police officers report elevated symptoms of mental disorders when compared to men police officers. Researchers have indicated that the occupational experience of policing differs greatly among men and women. Indeed, police culture is characterized by hegemonic masculinity, which appears to negatively impact both men and women. The current study examined the contrast between the experiences of men and women police officers. Police officers (n = 17; 9 women) in Saskatchewan participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic network analysis identified themes related to the experience of policing for both men and women police officers. There were six organizing themes identified in relation to the global theme of Gendered Experiences: (1) Discrimination; (2) Sexual Harassment; (3) Motherhood and Parental Leave; (4) Identity; (5) Stereotypically Feminine Attributes; and (6) Hegemonic Masculinity. Pervasive gender norms appear detrimental for both men and women police officers, as well as the communities they serve. The current results, coupled with the emerging disposition for progress expressed by police services, offer opportunities to develop tailored and focused interventions and policies to support police officers.

“I can Just Get all the Bits That I Need”: Practitioners’ Use of Open-Access Sport Science Podcasts

The aim of the current investigation was to explore practitioners’ attitudes toward and reasons for listening to open-access podcasts. It is well accepted within the literature that sport and exercise practitioners, such as coaches and sport scientists, perceive several barriers to access of scientific and academic research. Open-access podcasts may provide an alternative platform for developing esoteric knowledge. Nine sport and exercise practitioners (including gym owners, nutritionists, and sport coaches) participated in the investigation. A single-semi structured interview was conducted, and data were analyzed using a thematic network analysis approach. Three themes were constructed from the data—flexibility of podcast listening, convenience of podcast listening, practitioners’ need for authentic and novel information.

Designing and validating an evaluation inventory for assessing teachers’ professional accountability

Research has already established the boundless potential of teachers in assisting effective learning processes, and there is still a need to expand research to illustrate interrelation and connection between the construct of teachers’ professional accountability which moderates and directs student learning. To this end, a comprehensive review of the literature was conducted by the researchers to explore and extract relevant theoretical constructs to teacher accountability. A literature review was followed by structured interviews with 20 administrators, teachers, students, and parents to record perceived concepts related to teacher accountability. Content analysis of recorded interviews and thematic network analysis of literature resulted in a 30-item Likert scale. The researcher-made questionnaire was subject to reliability and validity issues. Thus, in the second phase, the questionnaire was piloted with 142 male and female EFL in-service teachers selected on the basis of the convenient sampling method. Factor analysis on data collected through this reduced the items to 29 and indicated that data on teacher accountability loaded on five components including accountability towards students (N: 7 items), parents (N: 5 items), school leadership (N: 5 items), society (N: 7 items), and the profession (N: 5 items). The results also indicated that the questionnaire enjoys sound psychometric properties of reliability (α: 0.88 ˂0.5). The upshots of this study could provide a better understanding of the concept and lead teachers to be more coherent and accountable.

Barriers and facilitators to exclusive breastfeeding practices in a disadvantaged community in southern Zimbabwe: A maternal perspective

Background: Despite the well-documented significance of EBF in developing countries, many poor communities still present with the highest percentage of disease burden resulting from suboptimal breastfeeding. Objectives: To identify the maternal perception on barriers and facilitators to EBF in Gwanda District, Zimbabwe. Methods: Five focused group discussions were conducted using 40 purposively-selected mothers while eight in-depth key informant interviews were also conducted. The qualitative data collected were analyzed using thematic network analysis. The themes were used in interpreting the perceived barriers and facilitators of EBF. Results: The study identified individual, socio-cultural, health service-related and environmental factors as the basic themes influencing maternal infant feeding choice. These were grouped into two organizing themes, namely, barriers and facilitators of EBF which were summarized into one global theme: EBF intention. Facilitating factors were maternal autonomy, self-efficacy, knowledge of EBF definition, maternal diet, support and sourcing information from healthcare workers. Poor infant feeding practices, affordability of alternative infant feeding options, ritualistic/symbolic infant preparations, family conflicts, increased workload and hot climate were barriers to EBF. Conclusion: To increase in uptake of EBF in the study area required comprehensive multiple stakeholder interventions incorporating the mothers, influential family members, religion and traditional advisors, and healthcare workers.

Exploring Existential Anxiety among Indian Youth: Prevalence and Gender Differences

Background: Existential anxiety (EA) refers to the feeling of uncertainty regarding life and its meaning. It is gaining increasing attention on social media in the form of existential humour. The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of EA among Indian youth and gender differences among those experiencing EA. Method: The sample consisted of 30 males and 39 females (N = 69) falling in the age range of 17-29 years. The quantitative tool used was the Existential Concerns Questionnaire. For the qualitative aspect, three open-ended questions were given at the end of the scale. Result: Upon analysing the quantitative data, it was found that there existed no significant differences (p = 0.24) between the EA levels of males (M = 52.53, SD = 16.73; moderate) and females (M = 56.97, SD = 14.20; moderate). Thematic network analysis of the qualitative data revealed common themes amongst the genders (uncertainty, negative emotions, competition/ success, meaning-making, social media, and life events). The only theme that was present among females was that of social pressures. Conclusion: There is a medium-low EA prevalence rate among the participants. Furthermore, major gender differences don’t seem to exist in the experience of such anxiety, barring the theme of social pressures which affects the females.

Migrants’ Narratives on Urban Governance: A Case from Kolkata, a City of the Global South

The paper aims to reveal the politics of urban governance and the associated impact on the lives of disenfranchised migrants. It critically explores the urban governance structure and the nature of practices involved in the cycle of settlement, eviction, resistance and resettlement. The case of Nonadanga, located at the urban margin of Kolkata, India, was explored for this purpose. An ethnographic methodology comprising observation, semi-structured interviews and oral history was adopted for the research. Twelve squatter dwellers and four experts working in Nonadanga and Kolkata were interviewed for this purpose. A three-step data analysis comprising a narrative approach, thematic network analysis and validation was adopted. A critical review of inclusive practices, together with ethnographic survey findings, demonstrates that migrants live in a condition the paper calls “partial rights”, which is a manifestation of the dialectics of inclusiveness practiced by the urban governance structure and derived from the interaction between urban governance structure and migrants’ agency. By analyzing past development trends, the paper outlines possible future scenarios for migrants’ living conditions and discusses their impact on achieving the targeted Sustainable Development Goal 11 for inclusive cities by 2030.

Exploring the emotional experience of lean

PurposeThis research aims to contribute to the literature on Lean implementation in healthcare by studying the emotional experiences of the relevant actors related to a Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW) in a UK healthcare context. The purpose of this study was to go beyond what people think about Lean and towards an exploration of their subjective, emotional and “feeling” experience and whether that emotional experience influenced Lean implementation.Design/methodology/approachA phenomenological and symbolic interactionist qualitative case study was undertaken. Data related to participants' emotional experience were collected through non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic network analysis.FindingsThis paper provides novel insights into the emotional experience of Lean as experienced through an RPIW. The findings reveal that participation in an RPIW is much more than a technical process. It influences how people feel about themselves, is based on relationships with others, and requires mental, physical and emotional effort. All of these factors influence engagement with, initiation of and sustainability of the RPIW.Research limitations/implicationsA new conceptual framework for the planning and implementation of RPIWs has been developed. However, because of the chosen research approach, the results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the framework and proposed practice implications.Originality/valueDespite emotions being an integral part of individual and social everyday life, emotional experience has not been studied in relation to Lean. This study is the first to explore emotions in relation to Lean, with implications for practice as to how RPIWs are managed with a new framework for implementation being proposed.

Experiencing Grace: A Thematic Network Analysis of Person-Level Narratives

The aim of the present study is to clarify the lay experience of grace through person-level narratives. This empirical qualitative study follows a bottom-up approach, not restricted by specific theoretical assumptions, and includes a large and heterogeneous group of Belgian participants. The sample (recruited online) was composed of 456 participants (64% women, mean age = 50.04, age range from 18 to 93 years). Data consisted of 456 written narratives describing the experience of grace. They were analysed using a thematic analysis and thematic network approach with the help of a qualitative data management package Nvivo 12 pro. The resulting thematic network visualizes the experience of grace in the flow of time with (a) antecedents, grace can happen anywhere and anytime, but difficulties often precede grace; (b) the core experience is one of receiving an unmerited free gift in response to failure or brokenness or as an encounter with goodness and beauty, and this can be given by the divine or by other people and lastly (c) consequences entails a transformation at the intrapersonal, interpersonal and/or situational level. Our approach allows for an ecological and bottom-up understanding of grace as experienced nowadays in a secularized country and can empirically inform future studies about the connection between grace and psychological flourishing.