Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Check out the May e-newsletter.
All ‘monthly update for researcher development, culture and community’ e-newsletters are available in a dedicated content area on the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme Brightspace unit.
If you have any questions about the e-newsletter or would like to feature content, please contact Natalie [Doctoral College Programme Manager].
Yesterday FHSS graduate Dr. Shaqaieq Ashrafi Dost heard from Razi International Medical Journal the the paper from her Ph.D. study had been accepted for publication. Her paper ‘Management capacity in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) Afghanistan: Political and socio-cultural issues’ is based on a mixed-methods case-study was conducted with staff at the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. The Ph.D. study explores MoPH’s management capacity. Interviews were conducted with 12 senior staff and qualitative data were analysed thematically. A quantitative survey, covering directors of 30 departments, was analysed using descriptive statistics.
The paper reports that management capacity was generally weak. Key appointments including directors were subject to political interference and many directors appointed by politicians lacked the skills to manage well. Consequently, those directors were not able to support employees appropriately or to create a healthy work environment. The respondents reported that there were strong socio-cultural influences such as nepotism and favouritism. Often employees believed they were not treated consistently or fairly. This was compounded by overly complex administrative systems. The authors concluded that the Afghan government needs to appoint competent and committed staff who can recognize/address the gaps in the functioning of the Ministry, especially the negative political and socio-cultural practices that undermine effectiveness.The reader needs to bear in mind that this Ph.D. study was conducted prior to the 2021 takeover by the Taliban. Putting the paper’s conclusion in perspective.
Razi International Medical Journal founded in 2021 is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal from Afghanistan that aims to impact public health and global health and distributed internationally. The journal is Open Access and published in electronic and paper-based format twice a year, and there is no article publishing charge (APCs).
Check out the April e-newsletter.
All ‘monthly update for researcher development, culture and community’ e-newsletters are available in a dedicated content area on the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme Brightspace unit.
If you have any questions about the e-newsletter or would like to feature content, please contact Natalie [Doctoral College Programme Manager].
Rabeea is a 2nd year PhD student who is based in the Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, her systematic review on the association between traumatic Injuries and HRV has recently been published as an open access research in PloS One.
It is the first systematic review to provide evidence on the relationship between non-acute traumatic injuries and Heart Rate Variability (RMSSD, SDNN and LF/HF) ratio. This also highlights paucity of evidence and calls for further research in the field, especially in the Military research- the focus of Rabeea’s PhD.
The co-authors on this paper are Rabeea’ supervisors: Prof. Ahmed Khattab (MSPH, BU), Prof. Christopher Boos (Department of Cardiology, UHD), and Prof. Alex N Bennett (DMRC, Stanford Hall).
Late last week I had the pleasure of conducting my 50th Ph.D. viva as an external examiner. The first Ph.D. viva as external examiner was in 2004 at the University of Durham. Over the years most have been at universities in the UK, but I have also had the pleasure of conducting viva in Ireland, the Netherlands, Nepal, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Denmark and New Zealand. Technically three of these were not a traditional Ph.D. viva, as it included one Doctorate in Professional Practice (at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen), a D. Phil. at the University of Oxford and acting as pre-examiner for a Ph.D. at a university on Finland. In addition I have also acted six times as an internal examiner at the University of Aberdeen (n=3) and Bournemouth University (n=3). Over the years some of the experiences related to examining and supervision Ph.D. theses have resulted in papers and book chapters [1-5].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
References:
Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey and Dr. Margarete Parrish in the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work on the publication of our article “Using a Range of Communication Tools to Interview a Hard-to-Reach Population” in Sociological Research Online [1]. The paper highlights that online communication tools are increasingly being used by researchers; hence it is timely to reflect on the differences when using a broad range of data collection methods. Using a case study with a potentially hard-to-reach substance-using population who are often distrustful of researchers, this article explores the use of a variety of different platforms for interviews. It highlights both the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Face-to-face interviews and online videos offer more opportunity to build rapport, but lack anonymity. Live Webchat and audio-only interviews offer a high level of anonymity, but both may incur a loss of non-verbal communication, and in the Webchat a potential loss of personal narrative. This article is intended for sociologists who wish to broaden their methods for conducting research interviews.
This methods article was developed based on the recruitment issues faced during Orlanda’s PhD research from which she has published several previous papers [2-6].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
Today the Journal of Education and Research published online our paper ‘Reflections on Variations in PhD Viva Regulations: “And the Options Are …”’. [1] The paper outlines that examining PhD research in the form of a doctoral thesis is specialist work, which is why few people know the potential variations. This paper highlights the different options that are available for PhD examiners. There are four general options: (1) pass, (2) rewrite and resubmit; (3) lower degree, with or without resubmission; and (4) fail the PhD. However, from our experience, of both being examined for our own PhDs and examining others at a range of different universities, we have noted a considerable variety in detail within these common options. This paper outlines a variety of outcomes of a PhD examination, followed by four short case studies, each reflecting on a particular aspect /differences we experienced as examinees or as examiners. This paper further aims to alert PhD candidates and examiners to study the examination rules set by the awarding university, as the details of the PhD examination outcome, and hence the options available to both examiners and the students may differ more than one might expect.
This publication adds to our earlier work on the roles of PhD supervisors providing in-depth discipline-specific Public Health knowledge and technical (e.g., methodological) support to the students, encouraging them towards publications or conference presentations, offering pastoral support for student wellbeing, and finally preparing them to defend their thesis by conducting a mock viva. Our earlier paper focused on the responsibilities, opportunities, and sometimes the challenging nature of being a PhD supervisor in the field of Public Health in Nepal. [2]
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
This week we published a paper on the experience of conducting fieldwork in the public health field in the Journal of Health Promotion. [1] Fieldwork is usually a crucial part of PhD research, not only in the health field. However, few researchers write about this, often challenging, process. This paper highlights various occasions where fieldwork in the area of public health, health promotion or community health was more difficult than expected or did not go as planned. Our reflections on working in the field are aimed at less experienced researchers to support them in their research development. Moreover, this paper is also calling upon health researchers to share more details about the process of doing fieldwork and its trials and tribulations. Our key advice is to be inquisitive and open-minded around fieldwork, followed by: be prepared for your fieldwork, conduct a risk assessment of what might go wrong, and consider your resources and options to overcome such trials and tribulations. Fieldwork can be unpredictable. We believe it is important to share practical lessons from the field which helps other to better understand these tribulations, and learn from them. Finally, sharing such information may guide new researchers and help them identify strategies that can address those issues and challenges in their future studies.
Dr. Preeti Mahato (at Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada (both based at the University of Huddersfield) are all BU Visiting Faculty. Moreover, I have had the pleasure of acting as PhD supervisor for five of my co-authors. I have included in this blog what is probably my favourite fieldwork photo taken a decade ago by former BU PhD student Dr. Sheetal Sharma.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)
References:
Participate in a research study exploring positive research cultures for PGRs across disciplines. I’m interested in PhD student experience and thoughts on what makes a positive research culture. Participants must be PhD students, at BU, who started at least 6 months ago. You will be invited to an online interview which will take between 45 minutes – 1 hour. Participation is voluntary and any involvement will remain anonymous. This work is part of my PhD and not my role in the Doctoral College. Click the flyer for the Participant Information Sheet. Any questions, please email Natalie Stewart at nstewart@bournemouth.ac.uk. Ethics ID: 45787
Congratulations to Dr. Pramod Regmi on having two papers published in the latest issue of the Journal of Health Promotion which appeared online this week. The first paper reports on eight focus group discussions (FGDs) which explored: (a) perceptions of and motives toward social media re. sexual communication in educated unmarried young people in Nepal; and (b) their views of the link between social media and risky sexual behaviour. [1] 
These FDGs were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analyzed. All FGD participants were students (age range 15-22) from Kathmandu. Five themes emerged from the thematic analysis: a) use of and motives for using social media; b) sex education in general; c) sexual information through social media; d) social media’s role in forming romantic and sexual relationships; and e) negative experience of social media.
The second paper ‘Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers’ is led by FHSS PhD student Yagya Adhikari. This paper focuses on Pramod’s other research interest of the health and well-being of Nepali migrant workers. [2] The journal Journal of Health Promotion is freely available online through Open Access. Pramod is Senior Lecturer in International Health as well as Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences.
Well done!
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)
References:
Congratulation to FHSS PhD student on the publication of his article ‘Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers’ [1]. Yagya’s Ph.D. research title is “Parental migration and its impact on health and well-being of left-behind adolescents in Nepal” and his research is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. The Journal of Health Promotion is Open Access and hence freely available across the globe for anybody with internet access.
Reference:
Thank you to all of our presenters, poster exhibitors, session chairs and of course delegates who supported the 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference. It is always a highlight on the Doctoral College events calendar and we hope you all enjoyed the day.
The conference had an amazing buzz and vibrancy about it, and it was so nice to see so many PGRs and colleagues turn up to show their support and promoting our positive PGR research culture across BU.
Here is what some of our presenters and delegates had to say about the day:
Register to attend the 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference. We will be hosting a PGR poster exhibition in FG06 with over 40 research posters on display (our biggest exhibition yet!).
The conference will also see oral presentations presented via Zoom with a screening room in Create LT (spaces limited).
You can see the full programme with presentation and poster abstracts in our conference brochure.
Registration to attend the 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference is now open. All members of the BU community are welcome so please do spread the word.
The full oral presentation list will be released in due course.
This year we are delighted to announce our keynote speaker is Professor Anna Feigenbaum, with her talk ‘networking from below’.
Abstract:
As postgraduate research students and early career researchers you likely hear the word “networking” all the time. You must network at conferences, network for participant recruitment, network for jobs. You need to network for funding bids, network for sharing your research with the public and network for making an impact. But what is this elusive art of networking? In this talk Professor Anna Feigenbaum will introduce her career approach of “networking from below”. This includes building ‘survive and thrive’ networks with doctoral student colleagues, learning how to approach senior academics, identifying what you have to give and how to best ask for the support or collaboration you want to receive. Delivering this practical advice, Professor Feigenbaum will share her 4C principles for networking success: curiosity, clarity, coordination, and care.
We hope many of you can join us in supporting and promoting the postgraduate research culture and community at Bournemouth University.
The call for abstracts for The 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference is still open, closing Monday 24 October.
The conference is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers to showcase and promote their research to the BU community whether they have just started or are approaching the end of their journey at BU.
Attending the conference is a great opportunity to engage and network with the postgraduate research community and find out more about the exciting and fascinating research that is happening across BU.
Abstracts are invited from postgraduate researchers to take part in the live research exhibition or to present via oral or poster presentation.
For full details on how to apply please visit the Doctoral College Conference Brightspace.
Registration to attend will open in November, all members of BU are welcome!
For any questions, please email pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of the Doctoral College conference team will get back to you.
Cormac Sertutxa showcased his Paramedic Science research on the ‘Impact of COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) restrictions on Cardiac Arrest survival rates in pre-hospital practice: a scoping review’. Cormac presented at Infection 360 in Birmingham last week where he received a Clinical Poster Award for his poster.
Congratulations to Cormac and the lecturers in Paramedic Science who supported him.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Department of Midwifery & Health Sciences
The call for abstracts for The 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference is still open.
The conference is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers to showcase and promote their research to the BU community whether they have just started or are approaching the end of their journey at BU.
Attending the conference is a great opportunity to engage and network with the postgraduate research community and find out more about the exciting and fascinating research that is happening across BU.
Abstracts are invited from postgraduate researchers to take part in the live research exhibition or to present via oral or poster presentation.
For full details on how to apply please visit the Doctoral College Conference Brightspace.
Closing date 09:00 Monday 24 October 2022.
Registration to attend will open in November, all members of BU are welcome!
For any questions, please email pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of the Doctoral College conference team will get back to you.
The 14th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference 2022 will take place on Wednesday 30 November, 09:00 – 17:00 and the call for abstracts is now open.
The conference is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers to showcase and promote their research to the BU community whether they have just started or are approaching the end of their journey at BU.
Attending the conference is a great opportunity to engage and network with the postgraduate research community and find out more about the exciting and fascinating research that is happening across BU.
Abstracts are invited from postgraduate researchers to take part in the live research exhibition or to present via oral or poster presentation.
For full details on how to apply please visit the Doctoral College Conference Brightspace.
Closing date 09:00 Monday 24 October 2022.
Registration to attend will open in November, all members of BU are welcome!
For any questions, please email pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of the Doctoral College conference team will get back to you.
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