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Julia Brannen is very much a pioneer of mixed methods research having organised one of the first conferences on the subject in June 1989. In this paper, I assess her contribution to the field of mixed methods research. I examine both her methodological writings on the principles of doing mixed methods research and some of her research which derives from the approach. Through this examination of the two strands of her mixed methods work, I tease out the distinctiveness of her approach to the field and the contribution she has made. In so doing, I address quality issues in mixed methods research, something Julia Brannen touched on in her early writings, how these might be developed, and how they relate to her work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports some findings from an investigation of social policy researchers in the UK. The findings relate to the quality criteria that social policy researchers deem to be appropriate to quantitative research, qualitative research and mixed methods research. The data derive from an e-survey of researchers which was followed up by semi-structured interviews with a purposively selected sample from among those e-survey respondents who agreed to be interviewed. The article emphasises the findings that relate to quality criteria for mixed methods research, since this is an area that has not attracted a great deal of attention. Greater agreement was found regarding the criteria that should be employed for assessing quantitative than qualitative research. The findings relating to mixed methods research point to a preference for using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research criteria and for employing different criteria for the quantitative and the qualitative components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a review of the literature concerned with leadership effectiveness in higher education at departmental level. The literature derives from publications from three countries: the UK, the USA and Australia. Surprisingly little systematic research has been conducted on the question of which forms of leadership are associated with departmental effectiveness. The analysis of the studies selected resulted in the identification of 13 forms of leader behaviour that are associated with departmental effectiveness. The findings are considered in relation to the notion of competency frameworks and, in the conclusion, their general implications are explored in relation to the notion of substitutes for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the role of the research question in social research. It outlines what is taken to be the conventional view in many methodological discussions, namely, that research questions guide decisions about research design and research methods. This position is taken to imply that social researchers typically take the view that research methods need to be tailored to the research questions that guide an investigation. The paper questions how far this position pertains to actual research practice. Drawing on interviews with researchers about their practices in relation to mixed-method research, two discourses were found in the transcripts. A particularistic discourse that reflects the traditional view, whereby mixed-method research is viewed as only appropriate when research questions warrant it, was uncovered. In addition, a universalistic discourse, which sees mixed-method research as more generally superior, was also uncovered. The implications of these viewpoints for understanding the role of research questions are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article it is shown that the paradigm wars that raged concerning the incompatibility of quantitative and qualitative research have largely subsided. In the process, discussions of epistemological and ontological issues have become less prominent. The peace that has broken out has proved to be more favourable to research combining quantitative and qualitative research than was the case during the paradigm wars. Drawing on interviews with social researchers who employ a mixed‐methods approach and on the literature, it is shown that a spirit of pragmatism with regard to combining quantitative and qualitative research prevails which encourages researchers to consider using mixed‐methods research when the research question is suited to it. However, the issue of which quality criteria should be employed in investigations combining quantitative and qualitative research has not been given a great deal of consideration. The author argues for a contingency approach, in which issues to do with quality are decided in relation to the nature of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a wide range of human and organizational factors have been found to be important in the operation of projects, those determined by cultural variables are less well defined. One such influence concerns the notion of ‘project affinity’, the commitment and attachment by stakeholders and participants to projects and their outcomes. The temporal nature and transient involvement context provided by construction projects arguably presents a climate in which many participants are less likely to display commitment to its goals. This note is concerned with the issue of whether an attachment to a project's goals or to the completed product can lead to improved commitment among those involved. The concept of project affinity was developed in the course of a case study investigation in which operatives' attitudes towards the construction of a cancer research facility were explored. Because of the contribution of the facility to the future care of cancer sufferers, the concept of project affinity proved helpful in understanding a factor that appeared to be influencing the commitment of those involved. The results suggest a complementary concept to that of ‘project chemistry’ (c.f. Nicolini, 2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to discern, by means of an experimental design, whether implicit leadership theories, which have been found to be potent forces in answering questionnaires on leader behavior in the United States, operate in the same degree and to the same effect in Britain. The data provide strong support for the operation of implicit leadership theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a research evidence concerning the introduction of performance appraisal in United Kingdom's universities. Purpose of proposing the notion of `procedural compliance'; Findings derive from a study of appraisal in four universities; How the procedural compliance is useful in illuminating the reactions of respondents to appraisal; Conclusions.

Examines the drug prevention efforts and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in Great Britain. Five approaches of drug prevention programs; Background information on DARE; Features of resistance programs, particulary of DARE.

Higher Education: A New Framework is the new White Paper for Higher Education and was issued simultaneously with another White Paper, Education and Training for the 21st Century: The Challenge to Colleges. Together, they represent the direction of future policy for post‐16 education and training. The White Paper is a White Paper in name only: it comes in the form of a lavish, multi‐coloured brochure and at £6#lb60 for 41 pages, it cannot be considered a snip. What it says about the future of higher education, however, is of great significance. This article has two major sections: a general summary of the chief provisions of HE, and a commentary on them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The British bus industry, outside London, was deregulated in October 1986. For the first time since the 1930s bus operators were able to compete within local markets and experiment with service delivery. As a consequence, it was contended that deregulation would arrest the long term decline in bus patronage. This paper begins by documenting the key trends within the industry which have emerged since 1986. It then considers the implications of deregulation and privatization from an organizational perspective, at the level of the individual bus company. Findings from a study of nine British bus companies are presented and discussed. Their three principal strategic responses to the deregulated operating environment are identified and discussed. The evidence suggests that the ability of an individual bus company to innovate in ways which will guarantee its survival is heavily circumscribed. As a consequence, the capacity of an individual bus company to achieve the requisite level of internal stability to face competition, to become more sensitive to changing market conditions, and to grow, has not been eased significantly in the seven years since deregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The past few years have seen the voluntary transport sector grow and diversify, despite the uncertainty faced over funding. Statutory involvement in voluntary transport provision has increased, with passenger transport authorities creating community transport policies and budgets and local councils undertaking authority-wide reviews of special needs transport service provision. This article examines the voluntary-statutory sector relationship and comments on the increasing involvement of the public sector in voluntary transport provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities have had to respond to the Government's requirement for greater accountability and efficiency in the use of public resources. This has resulted in a movement to more commercial or executive styles of management, and with this the introduction of systematic staff appraisal. Funded by the Department of Education and Science (DES), the authors are conducting an evaluation of university staff appraisal schemes as they begin to operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the concepts of leadership and cultural change, both of which are central to the recognition of the people dimension in the public sector. There has been a considerable growth of interest in leadership and organisational, or often called corporate culture, by organisational researchers in recent years. These topics have been emphasised, in large part, because they have been viewed as areas in which the performance of organisations can be substantially enhanced. As this discussion will highlight, there is a link between the two themes in that leaders are often depicted in the emerging literature as playing a key role in the creation of oganisational culture. However, whereas leadership has been of interest to social scientists and others for around a century, thereby engendering a voluminous literature. In this discussion, the two areas will be briefly reviewed and their points of affinity identified. The bulk of the literature on the linkage between leadership and culture has been grounded in a preoccupation with private business and commerce. However, some conjectural thoughts about the implications for management in the public sector will be proffered.

Following a discussion of recent literature concerned with leadership, the authors note that there is a tendency for many writers to marginalize contextual issues when examining the impact of leaders on organizations. Taking a study of three community transport organizations in the UK, the authors seek to apply some of the currently popular themes in the leadership literature to the coordinators of these organizations. It is shown that one can usefully be described as a transactional leader, another as a transformational leader, while the third is characterized as a 'frustrated transformational leader'. The application of the adjective 'frustrated' serves as a focus for the consideration of contextual factors that inhibited this leader, who can legitimately be described as transformational, and which thwarted his capacity to see through his vision. A number of different contextual features are noted and it is shown how these severely constrained and in the end frustrated the aspirations of this coordinator. Some implications of these findings for the literature on leadership and on organizational transformation are spelled out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned to demonstrate the utility of the notion of culture at the industry level. A multiple-case study of nine British bus companies highlights the way in which entrenched views and practices which were common among the nine companies restricted the range of strategic thinking among them. Many of these views and practices are emblematic of traditional bus company perspectives and are common throughout the industry. The reasons for the “hold” that the industry culture has on managers are examined. These include such factors as the impact of leadership and the inheritance of pre-deregulation features. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years there has been a growth of interest in breaking down the divisions between qualitative and quantitative research. However, although examples of multi-method studies now abound, there has been little discussion within the literature about the empirical and theoretical challenges that such eclecticism can pose. This article provides an example of a multi-method investigation into social scientists and their media relations wherein qualitative and quantitative findings appeared to contradict each other, and describes how the authors sought to explain and accommodate these discrepancies. Using this case study, they argue that it is incumbent on all researchers committed to the integration of research methods to deal with any differences that may emerge, rather than to resort to selective, epistemic prioritization as a get-out clause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the controversy over plans to lay off some administrative staff members of the British National Health Service as part of cost-cutting measures. Factors which brought about the increase in clerical staff; Controversy over performance indicators; Effects of improved throughput on the proportion of professional and technical staff.