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Training on the Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping technique (15-17 June) – places available.

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Training on the Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping technique (15-17 June) – places available.

A small number of places are available for a 3-day training on the Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) technique, which will take place between 15-17 June on Talbot Campus. The training is funded by QR funds and is an opportunity for academics and PhD students to develop their skills on a versatile and upcoming research technique, which is expected to be welcomed by high quality journals.

The training is primarily for members of the Digital Marketing Research Group (DMRT, BUBS), however there are a few places available for staff and PhD students from across the university. If interested contact, Dr Miguel Moital (mmoital@bournemouth.ac.uk).

 

What is Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping?

The FCM technique is a cause-effect relationship knowledge-based method for modelling complex decision-making systems of humans. It emerges from a combination of cognitive mapping and Fuzzy logic and artificial neural network, and this method is increasingly used in social sciences and humanities research. In FCM participants are presented with scenarios (inputs) and asked to provide the expected outputs (e.g. assuming a certain relationship between two factors, what happens to a third factor). This data is used to improve the original model (e.g. developed in focus groups) by using a supervised algorithm. An automated knowledge system is developed to allow respondents to complete the survey online.

The technique can be applied to a variety of research settings, such as consumer behaviour, organisational decision making and social/public policy decision-making.

A good introduction to fuzzy cognitive mapping can be found here and here.

 

What will the training cover?

The training will take place on the following times (Talbot Campus):

Wednesday 15th June:

  • AM – Overview of FCM and fuzzy logic, including research design requirements for FCM research.
  • PM – Case studies/practice using the FCM expert software

Thursday 16 June:

  • AM – Case studies / practice using the FCM expert software
  • PM – Dr. Nápoles  available for 1-2-1 support to discuss developing / adapting research plans to FCM

Friday 17 June

  • AM – Case studies / practice using the FCM expert software & Wrap up

Ahead of the training, participants are expected to watch two pre-recorded knowledge clips and read two chapters about fuzzy logic and fuzzy cognitive maps.

 

The trainer

Dr Gonzalo Nápoles, from the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence), is a leading contributor to the development of the technique, having several publications on it. He is the lead developer of the FCM EXPERT software tool which can be used to carry out FCM analysis.

New research paper published by PhD student Hina Tariq

BU research, NHS, open access, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Publishing, Research communication, Research news, student research, Uncategorized, writing

PhD student Hina Tariq, currently undertaking the Clinical Academic Doctorate program at the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work (SSSW), published a new paper titled, “Factors associated with joint contractures in adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis” Open Access in the journal of Disability and Rehabilitation. This paper is co-authored by her academic supervisors, Professor Sam Porter, Dr Desiree Tait and Dr Kathryn Collins, clinical supervisor, Joel Dunn (Dorset Healthcare University Foundation NHS Trust), and her formal colleague from Pakistan, Shafaq Altaf.

Summary: The review presents latest evidence on factors associated with joint contractures, which are essential to guide clinical practitioners and non-experts in identifying and managing the risk associated with joint contractures. Clinical interventions based on the timely identification of risks related to joint contractures in vulnerable adults can potentially prevent or ameliorate their development or progression.

The review has already crossed over 300 reads. The full text can be accessed by following this link: Full article: Factors associated with joint contractures in adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis (tandfonline.com)

 

 

Today’s research process seminar: Quantitative content analysis. Tuesday 24th May at 2pm on Zoom.

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You are warmly welcomed to this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but open to all.

This week we have an external speaker, Dr Sarah Van Leuven, who will speak about quantitative content analysis.

Sarah Van Leuven is associate professor at the Department of Communication Studies at Ghent University. She is the head of the research group Center for Journalism Studies (CJS), head of the Journalism Division of NeFCA (Netherlands-Flanders Communication Association), and editorial board member of the SSCI-ranked journal Digital Journalism. Since 2021 she is a member of the Flemish Council for Journalism (Raad voor de Journalistiek).

She has published work on a broad range of topics, including the role of news media in political communication, sourcing practices, international news, journalist profiles and innovation in newsrooms. Together with prof. dr. Karin Raeymaeckers, she coordinates the five-annual survey of Belgian professional journalists, and she is also principal investigator for Belgium in the Journalistic Role Performance Project.

Details of her talk are below. This will be of use to anyone who is interested in methods of analysing media or other texts as part of a research study.

In this session, I will present a step-by-step toolbox to develop a reliable research design for a content analysis. Specifically, I will discuss how theoretical constructs can be translated into manifest content variables, and how research outcomes can be influenced by sampling decisions. The different steps will be illustrated by means of a content analysis study of “global journalism”.

2pm on 24th May. 

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

Hope to see you there

Dan and Sae

International speaker – “Fifty Years of Research into Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults” – Professor Wojtek Chodzko Zajko, University of Illinois

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You are invited to a research seminar from a distinguished Professor visiting the UK from the US.

Please email Samuel Nyman (snyman@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you plan to attend to help with tracking numbers and to send you a calendar invitation.

Title: Fifty Years of Research into Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults
Abstract: For more than half a century researchers and practitioners have enthusiastically advocated for the promotion and adoption of physically active lifestyles as an affordable and effective means to prevent chronic diseases and conditions, and enhance independence and high quality of life for older adults. I have argued that it is possible to discern distinct evolutionary stages when examining scholarship related to the role of physical activity in the promotion of healthy aging. Research into physical activity and aging began with critical early studies that established the underlying scientific evidence for a relationship between physical activity and healthy aging. More recent work has addressed such topics as building consumer demand, developing policies and legislation to support active aging, and understanding the complex interrelationships between physical activity and other lifestyle factors in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and conditions. In my presentation, I will suggest that future research should move away from the promotion of physical activity in isolation, in favor of more complex public health initiatives in which physical activity is embedded as an integral component of a broader health promotion and disease prevention strategy.

Where and when:
Wednesday 22nd June
Bournemouth Gateway Building, room 307
12-1pm Presentation and Q&A
1-2pm Time for informal discussions

Biography
Wojtek Chodzko Zajko earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of London and a Ph.D. degree in Kinesiology from Purdue University. Chodzko-Zajko’s primary research interests are in the area of aging and health. For many years he was the Head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health and the Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Endowed Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. For the past seven years, he has served as Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois.

In his role as Dean of the Graduate College, Chodzko-Zajko leads campus efforts in setting policies, defining standards, and enabling excellence in graduate programs, graduate research, and graduate student life. With graduate programs in more than 100 disciplinary areas, the Graduate College at the University of Illinois fosters a vibrant campus community of scholars. Graduate students and faculty at Illinois enjoy an intellectual environment that reaches across the Arts, Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Engineering to create, challenge, and transform knowledge.

In his professional life, Chodzko Zajko remains active in the dissemination of information about healthy aging through his work on several major professional advisory boards. Chodzko Zajko research focuses on public policy and public health recommendations related to physical activity and healthy living. He served on the World Health Organization committee that developed the WHO Guidelines for Physical Activity among Older Persons. Chodzko-Zajko was the Principal Investigator for a series of projects charged with developing a national strategy for promoting healthy aging in the USA. The National Blueprint: Increasing Physical Activity among Adults Aged 50 and Older serves as a guide for multiple organizations, associations, and agencies, to inform and support their planning work related to increasing physical activity among America’s aging population. Chodzko-Zajko chaired the writing group that authored the American College of Sports Medicine’s Position Stand on Physical Activity and Exercise for Older Adults.

Chodzko-Zajko was the founding Editor of the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity from 1992-2002. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Exercise and is a Past-President of the American Kinesiology Association. He currently serves as President of the AAU Association of Graduate Schools and Chair of the ETS Graduate Education Advisory Council.

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Arnold on her latest paper

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, nhs, NHS, open access, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Arnold in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication today of her  paper ‘Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service‘ [1].  This methodological paper is co-authored with Dr. Clare Gordon who holds a has joint clinical academic post at UCLan and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with a focus on developing clinically focused stroke research, education and improvement. Clare is also a former BU Ph.D. student.  Further co-authors from CMMPH are Professors Sue Way and Edwin van Teijlingen.  The final co-author, Dr. Preeti Mahato, finished her post in CMMPH two days ago to start her Lectureship in Global Health at Royal Holloway (part of the University of London).

The paper highlights that selecting the most appropriate research method is an important decision in any study. It affects the type of study questions that can be answered. In addition, the research method will have an impact on the participants – how much of their time it takes, whether the questions seem important to them and whether there is any benefit in taking part. This is especially important when conducting research with staff in health services. This article is a reflection on the process of using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in a study that explored staff well-being in a UK maternity unit. The authors  discuss our experience of using AI,the strengths and limitations of this approach, and conclude with points to consider if you are thinking about using AI. Although a study team was actively involved in decisions, this paper is largely based on reflections by dr. Arnold, the researcher conducting the field work in the maternity services.

 

Reference:

Arnold, R., Gordon, C., van Teijlingen, E., Way, S., Mahato, P. (2022). Why use Appreciative Inquiry? Lessons learned during COVID-19 in a UK maternity service. European Journal of Midwifery, 6(May), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/147444

Two new academic papers on COVID-19 research

BU research, COVID-19, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

This month CMMPH has two new research papers focusing on COVID-19.   The first one published in World Medical & Health Policy reports on a quantitative study of the availability of hand-washing facilities in households across Nepal [1].  This study used secondary data from Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 to assess the association between households’ wealth status to handwashing stations. The findings reported a statistically significant association between age of the household head, residence place, ecological zone, province, wealth status, having of mosquito net, having a radio, and TV at respondents’ household to fixed hand-washing stations at their households.

The second paper published three days ago in Vaccines is a qualitative study of of interviews with Nepali immigrants living in the UK and their attitudes towards COVD-19 vaccination [2].  Vaccination saves lives and can be an effective strategy for preventing the spread of the COVID-19, but negative attitudes towards vaccines lead to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Nepali community in the UK. This study found that attitudes towards COVID-19 are generally positive. Nine overlapping themes around barriers to COVID-19 vaccination were identified: (a) rumours and mis/disinformation; (b) prefer home remedies and yoga; (c) religion restriction; (d) concern towards vaccine eligibility; (e) difficulty with online vaccine booking system; (f) doubts of vaccine effectiveness after changing the second dose timeline; (g) lack of confidence in the vaccine; (h) past bad experience with the influenza vaccine; and (i) worried about side-effects. Understanding barriers to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine can help in the design of better targeted interventions. Public health messages including favourable policy should be tailored to address those barriers and make this vaccination programme more viable and acceptable to the ethnic minority communities in the UK.   This Vaccine paper includes two FHSS Visiting Faculty as co-authors: Prof. Padam Simkhada and Dr. Bibha Simkhada.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

 

 

 

References:

  1. Sharma, M., Adhikari, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Handwashing station in Nepal: Role of wealth status in establishing a handwashing station, World Medical & Health Policy Accepted
  2. Simkhada, P., Tamang, P., Timilsina, L., Simkhada, B., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sah, S.K., Wasti, S.P. (2022) Factors Influencing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Nepali in the UK: A Qualitative Study, Vaccine 10(5), 780;https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050780

FUN Project dissemination and networking event

BU research, BU2025, Events, HEIF, Impact, Strategic Investment Areas, Uncategorized

FUN_logo
FUN (Feeling the UNfelt: Assistive Technology accessible digital environments with a haptic interface) is a 2-year HEIF funded research project designed to help address the current lack of (freely) available accessible software resources for children and young people (CYP) who have physical disabilities, specifically with a focus on learning about the physical world through gameplay and haptic feedback. The project is a partnership between Bournemouth University and Livability Victoria School in Poole (find more about the project here).

As the FUN project is coming to its end (finishing on 31st July 2022), we organised a dissemination and networking event on 5th May in the Executive Business Centre. The main aim of the event was to present and demonstrate our project outputs and discuss its future potential with relevant internal and external academics and professionals, thus setting the stage for building wider impact. There were four presentations, one guest talk, two demo sessions, and a discussion at the end. Besides BU academics working on this and other related Assistive Technology projects, there were external people with various backgrounds related to special education, including teachers, technicians, consultants, occupational therapists, and assistive technologists, coming from BU, Livability Victoria School, Langside School, Treloar School and College, and the ACE Centre.

After opening the event, Dr Vedad Hulusic, the PI on the project, invited Prof Christos Gatzidis, the convener of the Assistive Technology (AT) Strategic Investment Area (SIA) who gave a brief presentation on the AT SIA strategy and other related AT-related projects at BU. This was followed by the FUN project presentation by Dr Mark Moseley, a postdoctoral research assistant on the project. At the end of his presentation, Mark gave a short demo of the FUN educational games and invited everyone to try them themselves using either touchscreen or eye-gaze interaction.

FUN Accessible level builder FUN games demo

The guest speaker was Prof Pedro Encarnação from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). In his talk titled “The use of physical and virtual robots to promote inclusive education” he covered his group’s work on physical and virtual robots and presented the results showing the success of virtual environments for children and young people in the educational setting. This was followed by a presentation by Dr Huseyin Dogan and Dr Paul Whittington who talked about the case studies of user ability detection, accessibility requirements capture, and provision of Assistive Technology recommendations – the work their group has been working on for the past few years. In the end, there was another demo session and a discussion on the past, present, and future of AT, instigating great participation by all participants.

FUN - Guest talk FUN - AT Projects

The FUN games are being finalised and will be freely available both as standalone (executable) as well as web-based (running in a web browser) software. The aim is to have these games available in as many special schools across the UK and beyond, and in homes of CYP who will be able to use them independently without required supervision and assistance. The users will be able to create personal profiles and configure all required accessibility and game features to make their experience as FUN as possible, as well as to create new in-game content for themselves and their peers. The event participants had very positive feedback on the FUN project and games and anticipated a significant impact through the improvement of the quality of life of CYP with physical disabilities, their parents, caregivers, and teachers. The FUN team plans to extend this project by strengthening existing and creating new collaborations. The extensions will be multidirectional involving co-design with practitioners, changing practices, policies, and curricula in special schools, and having such games being used in educational institutions allowing CYP with profound disabilities to have FUN while learning.

“I really enjoyed the day – fascinating, inspiring & really positive.“ – Teacher, Livability Victoria School

“Haptic device easily put on/off, providing good feedback to a child. Worth considering use with adults with learning disabilities.” – Occupational therapist, Langside School

“The students involved whom I work with enjoyed the sessions + it was something that enhanced their self-esteem.“ – Teacher, Livability Victoria School

“It can be easily adapted to make it accessible to a wider range of individuals.“ – AAC consultant, ACE Centre

“Very good, simple to setup and use.“ – Technician/Music teacher, Livability Victoria School

BU Research into English Cricket – Fill out our survey if you attended The Hundred

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Are you a cricket fan? Or does cricket bore you? Could a new, shorter, simpler competition change your view?

In 2021, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) launched a brand new competition – The Hundred – which aimed to attract a new audience to cricket. Were they successful? Who attended The Hundred, and what kind of experience did they have? A new research project at Bournemouth University seeks to answer these questions.

The project is being run by Dr Raf Nicholson and Dr Keith Parry, working in conjunction with the Women in Sport charity, which was founded in 1984 and campaigns to empower more women and girls to be active. We are very grateful for the financial support we have received from BU’s Charity Impact Fund to carry out the research.

The research involves a survey with people who attended one or more matches in The Hundred, and focus groups with some of our survey respondents. We will be writing up our results in a report, which we will present to the ECB.

We’ll also be reporting our findings here on the BU Research Blog in due course… but for now we need your help!

If you or any of your family members or friends attended The Hundred, could you spare 10 minutes to fill out our survey? https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-hundred

Please share far and wide – many thanks!

Paramedic science book launch this Friday

BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Events, Featured academics, Publishing, Training, Uncategorized, writing

Coming Friday the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has the pleasure of hosting the official launch of a new Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice written by BU’s Dr. Ursula Rolfe and Mr. David Partlow, Somerset County Council Adult Social Care Strategic Manager.  The launch will take place in the Bournemouth Gateway Building at noon on May 6th in room BGB 302.

Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice is the first guide written specifically to support paramedics in understanding a range of different mental health conditions in their practice.  This new book provides essential information on recognising and managing a range of conditions.  It offers case studies written by paramedics with first-hand experience of managing mental health issues, and includes a section on legal changes and policy descriptions as well as on the importance of interprofessional working. One of the online reviewers declared that this is an important read for Emergency Medical Service staff.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

Reference:

Rolfe, U., Partlow, D.  (eds.) (2022) Mental Health Care in Paramedic Practice, Class Publishing  [ISBN: 9781859599242]

Final call: Applications remain open for M-level 20 credit CPD unit: Public Involvement in Research. Application deadline 10th May.

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Final call: Applications remain open for M-level 20 credit CPD unit: Public Involvement in Research. Application deadline 10th May. This course is delivered online for 5 consecutive Tuesdays now starting on Tuesday 7th June. The unit is open to external applicants; PGRs (as part of the Doctoral programme) and BU staff.

This Master’s level unit is co-designed and delivered by the PIER (Public Involvement in Education and Research) Partnership and Dr Mel Hughes. As a participant you will explore and evaluate a range of models and approaches to public involvement in research from shaping your research idea and through each stage of the research cycle. You will identify a strategy for public involvement (what, why and how) that will best fit your research study allowing you to gain an appreciation of how collaborating with people with lived experience (public, patients, carers, service users and potential users) can enhance your research. Specific emphasis will be placed on strategies for engaging and collaborating with marginalised groups so as not to reinforce social and health inequalities and inequities. Sessions will be interactive and involve drawing on the expertise of people with lived experience, including members of the PIER partnership.

For further information and to apply, click here

Alternatively, PGRs can email FHSSresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk copying in Mel Hughes, unit lead mhughes@bournemouth.ac.uk asking to be added to the unit.

WAN Webinar ‘Online harassment of women scientists in the public eye’. Friday 29 April 11.00-13.00

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Trolling and online harassment on social media platforms is a uniquely ugly phenomenon of our time but one that targets some more than others; and where women in the public domain are likely to be subject to high levels of gratuitous abuse in an attempt to undermine them towards potential self-censorship. An overt form of misogyny, owing to these gendered characteristics, when women offer their opinions or demonstrate their expertise offensive and bullying comments can be greatly escalated in terms of harm, not only to individuals, but to society in general by suppressing ideas, intellectual knowledge and stifling public debate, as well, crucially, as silencing women’s voices.

This week the Women’s Academic Network at Bournemouth University are hosting a special webinar featuring three prestigious Independent Sage women scientists with personal experience of online harassment in the delivery of important public health messages across the media during this Covid-19 pandemic.  Our esteemed panellists are:

Professor Susan Michie, Professor Health Psychology, University College London. Independent Sage member

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning, Queen Mary, University of London.

Professor Christina Page, Professor of Operational Learning, University College London. Independent Sage member.

The webinar will offer a reflective, exploratory and discursive session facilitated by Dr Emma Kavanagh, Senior Lecturer of Sports Psychology and Coaching Sciences at Bournemouth University.

The event will be opened by the Pro-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, Dr Sue Sutherland, OBE and chaired by Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, WAN Convenor.

This is an open-to-all, free webinar, to which we warmly welcome all BU staff and students as well as the general public.

Please register at:

https://wan_female_scientists.eventbrite.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!

Phantom Touch Research from Sasha Alexdottir (an undergraduate R&D project)

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Phantom Touch in VR is a phenomenon where a person can experience interpersonal touch in virtual reality with no real-life contact. With the growth of VR technology and games, more users are coming across the phenomena, however current studies have not identified the scientific reasons why it occurs and what effect it has on users. This R&D project has done some preliminary study and experiment on a group of participants. If you have interest, have a look at the interview of Sasha on the national television of her country.

Research study recruitment – adults aged 60 years or older

research opportunities, Uncategorized

NMES applied to the quadriceps muscles

We are looking for 12 healthy adults aged 60 years or over to take part in a PhD research study. The study is an evaluation of a six week intervention of home-based neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) that aims to strengthen the quadriceps muscles in the legs.

 

What is neuromuscular electrical stimulation? (NMES)

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation sends electrical impulses to nerves. This causes muscles to contract involuntarily. Doing so can increase muscle strength and offset the effects of muscle disuse. NMES is often use to improve muscle function and to build strength before or after surgery or following a period of disuse. We want to test how effective it is at improving quadriceps muscle endurance.

What would taking part involve?

  • A baseline assessment at the Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI), where we will collect data on your leg muscle strength.
  • Six weeks of home-based NMES training with biweekly telephone reviews.
  • A follow up assessment at ORI where your baseline measures will be repeated.

We are unable to pay participants, but can offer a £20 John Lewis voucher and a strength assessment report as a small thank you.

Primus equipment used to test leg muscle strength

How do I find out more information?

The participant information sheet for this study can be found here.

If you would like any further information, or are interested in taking part in the study, please contact the lead researcher Louise Burgess (lburgess@bournemouth.ac.uk, 01202 961651).