Tagged / BU research

FHSS academics’ paper cited 1,000 times

international, Publishing, Training, writing

This morning ResearchGate alerted us that our paper published two decades ago ‘The Importance of Pilot Studies’ has now been cited one thousand times [1].  This methods paper in the Nursing Standard is very often used by authors quoting a  paper in their research methods section when they have done pilot or feasibility study for a larger-scale study. This paper is also our second top cited paper with 1,982 citations on Google Scholar and, interestingly enough, on SCOPUS it is not listed at all.

Pilot studies are a crucial element of a good study design. Conducting a pilot study does not guarantee success in the main study, but it does increase the likelihood of success. Pilot studies fulfill a range of important functions and can provide valuable insights for other researchers. There is a need for more discussion among researchers of both the process and outcomes of pilot studies. 

This paper is one of several methods paper focusing on pilot studies we have published over the past 22 years [2-7].

 

Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2002) ‘The importance of pilot studies’ Nursing Standard 16(40): 33-36. Web: nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/vol16-40/pdfs/vol16w40p3336.pdf
  2. van Teijlingen E, Rennie, AM., Hundley, V, Graham, W. (2001) The importance of conducting & reporting pilot studies: example of Scottish Births Survey, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 34: 289-95.
  3. Simkhada, P, Bhatta, P., van Teijlingen E (2006) Importance of piloting questionnaire on sexual health research (Letter), Wilderness & Environmental Medical Journal, 17(4): 295-96. wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-document&issn=1080-6032&volume=017&issue=04&page=0295#Ref
  4. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2001) The importance of pilot studies, Social Research Update Issue 35, (Editor N. Gilbert), Guildford: University of Surrey.  Web:  http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU35.html
  5. Hundley, V., van Teijlingen E. (2002) The role of pilot studies in midwifery research RCM Midwives Journal 5(11): 372-74.
  6. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2005) Pilot studies in family planning & reproductive health care, Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care 31(3): 219-21.
  7. van Teijlingen E, Hundley, V. (2003) Pilot study, In: Encyclopaedia of Social Science Research Methods, Vol. 2, Lewis-Beck, M., Bryman, A. & Liao, T. (eds.), Orego, Sage: 823-24.

 

RKEDF: UKRI Assurance and compliance for externally-funded grants

Post-award

Thursday 20th June – 10:00-11:30 – Hybrid – Poole House, Talbot Campus

Thursday 20th June – 13:00-14:30 – Hybrid – Gateway Building, Lansdowne

UKRI Assurance and compliance for externally-funded grants

This workshop is aimed at staff who have active UKRI-funded grants, or are in the process of applying for UKRI-funded grants. The workshop will cover; how UKRI conduct its assurance and compliance visits (audits), what you as a principal investigator or co-investigator need to be aware of, how to prepare, and the support you can expect to receive from Research Development & Support. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be aware of the common pitfalls and what you can do to ensure a positive outcome if UKRI pick your project as part of their assurance and compliance process.

The external facilitator for these sessions is Charles Shannon

Please note there is an AM and a PM session on the same day. You are invited to attend online or in person.  

Book your place here – under “UKRI Assurance” in the drop-down menu

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact RKE Development Framework

Health of Nepalese migrants workers research

international, PG research

Today, Sunday 9th June, our paper ‘Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad was highlighted by ResearchGate as being widely read.  This scientific paper which was part of Dr. Pratik Adhikary’s PhD study in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has been read 1,000 times.

From Lab to Bistro: A Solo Food Marketing Researcher’s Journey in Slovakia and Beyond

Awarded & submitted bids

Greetings, fellow explorers! 😊 As you may recall, I recently had the incredible opportunity to become a Community on Food Consumer Science (COMFOCUS) research fellow and embarked on a research visit to Slovakia. (I’ve just returned to the UK a week ago). Today, I’m excited to share with you my Guljira-lonely planet style story of this fascinating research journey, which also included delightful detours in Budapest and Vienna. So buckle up, because it’s going to be a delicious ride!

Before diving into the details, let me give you a quick overview of how this adventure came to be. It all started at a conference in Prague last year, where I presented my findings from the ACORN research project. Fast forward to now, and I’m preparing to attend the same conference again in a week, but this time in Tromso, Norway, where I’ll present the findings from my first-ever grant project funded by the British Academy Small Grant Leverhulme. Some of you may remember me as the orange/carrot girl with a trolley during the weeks in Feb-March – yup, that’s me.

After seizing the COMFOCUS opportunity, developing my research project and methodology, and choosing the host, I received the exciting news in October last year – and thus began the preparation for my extravagant research journey in Nitra, Slovakia, in late April-May 2024. Here’s a sneak peek into my little research adventure in Slovakia.

The journey began with multiple flights and fun train rides. Armed with my travel buddy Google Translate, I finally arrived in Nitra, a small city in Slovakia, where I was based for three weeks. I was hosted at the Slovak University of Agriculture under the supervision of Prof. Elena Horská and Assoc. Prof. Jakub Bercik.

For the first week, I focused on familiarising myself with the city, grocery shops, and the lab that I would use for my experiment. Observing how people shopped and how they laid out their fresh produce in the stores was fascinating. Who doesn’t love a bit of people-watching? Designing the questionnaire and preparing the stimuli was a particularly fun part. How so?

Let me share an experience I like to call Apple Hunting. We went on a spontaneous wild apple hunt to gather samples for our study. It felt like I was on a game show! When my supervisor said, “pick whatever you like,” and I chose something, she insisted I get double. 🍎😂 It was a good reminder; otherwise, we would have needed another apple hunting trip.

My lab life was far from lonely – I was lucky to have a lab buddy! Irena – another fellow from Kraków Poland and I got to play with some cool gadgets, like an aromatic capsule that tests how different scents make you hungry. Imagine being in a cube surrounded by delicious smells! For my part, I tested how messages framed fresh produce choices, focusing on eye fixation. We stayed up until midnight, and the next day my lab session started at 7:30 am and ended at 4 pm. After this, I had TWO bento boxes and went straight to bed at 7 pm, missing the entire Aurora highlights. 😅.

This trip was a perfect mix of serious research and fun experiments. Big shoutout to my Nitra crew and the COMFOCUS grant for making it all happen! Nitra may be small, but its surprises are endless.

In the end, my journey to Slovakia wasn’t just about research – it was about embracing the joy of discovery, indulging in new experiences, and savouring every moment along the way. Here’s to many more adventures to come! 🥂 Apart from visiting Slovakia, I had the opportunity to travel to their neighbouring countries – Hungary and Austria. In Budapest, a foodie and designer heaven, I immersed in the world of architecture and design, captivated by its beauty and functionality. After my research journey in Slovakia, I continued my journey with a pit stop in Vienna. Surrounded by stunning architecture and rich history once again. I couldn’t resist sampling some Viennese delicacies – because hey, a researcher’s gotta eat, right?

So what’s next? Armed with a treasure trove of insights and findings from my trip, I’m ready to take on the world of food marketing. With a sprinkle of creativity and a dash of neuroscience, who knows what delicious discoveries await?

Now let’s take a moment to simply appreciate the beauty and diversity of the places I’ve visited. Here are some snippets of photographs capturing the essence of my journey.

 

Take your policy engagement to the next step – sign up for one of our online workshops

Training

We have a small number of places available on our Building a Policy Influencing Strategy workshops on Friday 12th and Thursday 18th July.

What you will learn

These sessions are suitable for you if you have already made steps to engage with policymakers, and/or you have attended previous policy training workshops. Public affairs consultant and trainer Carys Davis will deliver both sessions, and they will enable you to:

  • develop key messages, supporting narratives and evidence for policymakers
  • identify and map your audience
  • gain insight into the channels available for influencing.

The sessions will be delivered via Zoom, from 9.30-4.30pm with 15-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon, and an hour away from screens for lunch from 12.30-1.30pm.

About the trainer

Carys Davis has 18 years’ experience  in politics and public affairs. She has worked as a parliamentary researcher for two frontbench MPs, a policy adviser on the environment, food and rural affairs portfolio for a UK political party and was also the public affairs manager for the Financial Conduct Authority.

Book here – limited places available!

Please note these workshops are not intended as an introduction. If you are not sure whether they are suitable for you, please contact the impact team, who can advise. We can also offer 121 bespoke sessions with Carys up until 20 July 2024, which you can book via impact@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Your Lived Experiences as an Academic with ADHD: Research Participants Wanted

I’m looking for participants to interview for a pilot study I’m undertaking as part of my Ed D.  As an academic with an ADHD diagnosis, my research explores the lived experiences of university faculty who have the disorder and how it impacts their professional lives.

My work aims to:

  • Create a more comprehensive portrait of the challenges that academics with ADHD encounter on the job
  • Highlight and promote strengths and abilities academics with ADHD bring to the HE workplace
  • Illuminate how the HE work environment can be made more open, accepting and accessible for academics with the disorder.

Eligibility criteria:

  • You are academic Grade 7 or above
  • In possession of an ADHD diagnosis (any subtype)

When:

  • First two weeks of June 2024

Where:

  • Offline in a venue affording the level of privacy you require, or online if preferred

If interested in participating and/or finding out more, please contact:

Hilary Stepien (Senior Lecturer in FMC) at hstepien@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Postgraduate Research Summer Social – 1 WEEK TO GO

PG research

1 WEEK TO GO until to The Doctoral College Postgraduate Research Summer Social! Hosted at the delightful Branksome Dene Room, situated in a stunning location that overlooks the beach with amazing views of the sea to Old Harry Rocks.

We’ve booked this unique location for the exclusive use of PGRs and Supervisors for the afternoon to unwind and catch up with your fellow researchers and academics.

The Doctoral College PGR events at Branksome Dene Room are always a huge success so we hope you can make it.

We are pleased to offer a BBQ style lunch menu including sausages and burgers (vegetarian/vegan options available), a salad bar, teas, coffees and mocktails! You are also welcome to bring your own refreshments to enjoy.

Don’t miss out, book your ticket now!

Ticket: £5

If you have any questions, please do get in touch:

Arabella Moyse [Doctoral College Marketing & Events Coordinator] –

DoctoralCollege@bournemouth.ac.uk

Twitter: @BUDocCollege | #BUDoctoralCollege

The importance of understanding mixed methods

international

Earlier this week ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘The Growing Importance of Mixed-Methods Research in Health‘ has been read 900 times on that platform [1].  This methods paper focuses on  the growing importance of mixed-methods research to a wide range of health disciplines ranging from nursing to epidemiology.

Mixed-methods approaches requires not only the skills of the individual quantitative and qualitative methods but also a skill set to bring two methods/datasets/findings together in the most appropriate way. Health researchers need to pay careful attention to the ‘best’ approach to designing, implementing, analysing, integrating both quantitative (number) and qualitative (word) information and writing this up in a way that enhances its applicability and broadens the evidence-based practice. This paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of mixed-methods approaches as well as some of the common mistakes made by researchers applying mixed-methods for the first time.

Our team in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) has written several other methods papers on the importance of mixed-methods research in community-based health studies [2-5].  We have, of course, conducted and published many mixed-methods studies over the past two decades [see for example 6-10].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

References:

  1. Wasti, S. P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B., & Banerjee, I. (2022). The Growing Importance of Mixed-Methods Research in Health . Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 12(1), 1175–1178.
  2. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Wasti, S.P., Sathian, B. (2014) Mixed-methods approaches in health research in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(5): 415-416.
  3. Mahato, P., Angell, C., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2018) Using Mixed-methods Research in Health & Education in Nepal, Journal of Health Promotion 6: 45-8.
  4. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2022) Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes 29(6):586-593.
  5. MacKenzie Bryers, H., van Teijlingen, E. Pitchforth, E. (2014) Advocating mixed-methods approaches in health research, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(5): 417-422. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/12018/9768
  6. Pitchforth, E, Watson, V, Tucker, J, Ryan, M, van Teijlingen E, Farmer, J, Ireland, J, Thomson, E, Kiger, A , Bryers, H. (2008) Models of intrapartum care and women’s trade-offs in remote and rural Scotland: A mixed-methods study BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 115(5): 560-569.
  7. Wasti, SP, Simkhada, P., Randall, J, van Teijlingen, E, Freeman, J. (2012) Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Nepal: a mixed-methods study. PLoS ONE 7(5): e35547. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035547.
  8. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, RS, Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14.
  9. Dost, S., Arnold, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Management capacity in the Afghan Ministry of Public Health pre-Taliban: A mixed-methods study of political and socio-cultural issues, Razi International Medical Journal, 3(1): 9–18
  10. Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V., Stephens J., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sicuri, E., Belizan, J.M. (2013) Mixed-methods evaluation of maternity care intervention in rural Nepal: measuring what works, Poster P.2.3.004(A), Tropical Medicine & International Health 18(Suppl. 1): 183-184.

Postgraduate Research Summer Social – TICKETS ON SALE

PG research

Tickets are now on sale! The Doctoral College is hosting the Summer Social for the Postgraduate Research community at the delightful Branksome Dene Room. Situated in a stunning location that overlooks the beach, with amazing views of the sea to Old Harry Rocks.

We’ve booked this unique location for the exclusive use of PGRs and Supervisors for the afternoon to unwind and catch up with your fellow researchers and academics.

The Doctoral College PGR events at Branksome Dene Room are always a huge success so we hope you can make it.

We are pleased to offer a BBQ style lunch menu including sausages and burgers (vegetarian/vegan options available), a salad bar, teas, coffees and mocktails! You are also welcome to bring your own refreshments to enjoy.

Booking and event details can be found here.

Ticket: £5

If you have any questions, please do get in touch:

Arabella Moyse [Doctoral College Marketing & Events Coordinator]

DoctoralCollege@bournemouth.ac.uk

Twitter: @BUDocCollege | #BUDoctoralCollege

RDP Masterclass in Productive Writing: Techniques, Planning, Finishing

Training

         

RDP Masterclass in Productive Writing – Wednesday 5th June – 14:00 – 17:00 – Online.

Facilitator: Dr Joanna Young

Session Summary:

How do you initiate the writing process when faced with only a blank page or a cursor incessantly blinking on the screen? Effective written communication is an essential part of academia and researchers are required to write a variety of documents including proposals, theses, papers for publication, grant proposals and books. Scholarly writing projects involve planning, drafting & redrafting, setting deadlines and collaboration.

This workshop will focus on how to start writing, how to keep going and how to finish. We will cover initiating and managing a manuscript, structure, productive writing techniques and a short introduction to new collaborative writing tools. Participants will be encouraged to consider where writing can fit into their schedule and what works best for them.

The workshop will include writing exercises, advice on making writing part of your working routine and a short section on dealing with and providing feedback.

Please book your place via the link here.

Getting in touch:

If you have any questions about this specific session or the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme, please feel free to contact Enrica or Arabella in your Researcher Development team, as we are always happy to help: pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk.

RKEDF: AHRC and ESRC – How to write an application in the New Format

Funding opportunities, Training

‘How to write an application in the new format for the Funding Service’

Friday 14th June and Thursday 4th July 2024 – 11:00 – 13:00 – Online

These sessions are aimed at to all interested in finding out about the new funding service, from ECRs to Professors.

The session will cover the requirements for the new UKRI application format. We will discuss the application structure focusing on AHRC and ESRC and the sections and how to complete them. The session will be framed with more general information on the various Research Councils that comprise UKRI and best practice in writing applications for external research funding.

Outcomes:

  • Understanding of the new application format and how to write the sections within it
  • Understanding of AHRC and ESRC

General understanding of best practice for writing an application for external funding.

The facilitator for this event is Sally Baggott – Find out more here.

Book your place here under ‘AHRC & ESRC – How to write an application in the new format for the funding service’ and select either: 14/06/ 2024 or 04/07/2024’ in the drop-down menu.

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact RKE Dev Framework 

🌟Exciting News in Complex Networks Research🌟

conferences, international, Women's Academic Network

I am thrilled to share that I have been honoured to receive the Scholarship for Events on Complex Systems (SECS) from the Young Researchers of the Complex Systems Society (yrCSS). This prestigious award will allow me to attend the upcoming Complex Networks 2024 conference in Istanbul, Turkey from December 10-12, 2024.

          

My PhD research focuses on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes”, exploring the intricate dynamics of urban transportation systems. This field has always sparked my curiosity, and I am eager to delve deeper into this complex interplay of structures and dynamics.

In addition to this incredible opportunity, I am also a finalist in the multi-modal category of the TRA Vision Young Researchers 2024 Competition with my research project “Transport Capacity Planning for Mega-events”. It is truly humbling to be recognised for my work in this competitive arena.

I am grateful for the guidance and support of my PhD supervisor, Dr. Wei Koong Chai, whose expertise and mentorship have been invaluable throughout my research journey. I am excited about the upcoming conference, where I hope to further contribute to the field of complex networks research. Thank you for joining me on this incredible academic adventure!

Best wishes,

Assemgul Kozhabek

🌐🔬 #ComplexSystems #ComplexNetworks

See yrCSS: https://yrcss.cssociety.org/

Complex Networks 2024 conference: https://complexnetworks.org/