The cloze probability (CP) task is used to investigate the way in which sentences are processed. Participants’ task is to complete a sentence that is presented without the final word; however, sentences vary in levels of CP. High CP sentences have a highly anticipated completion word (e.g. Bradley prefers cats over dogs) whereas, low CP sentences can be completed with several different words, none of which are highly anticipated (e.g. In the distance they heard the kettle). These tasks have previously utilised spoken and hand-written forms of language production, but technological advances mean CP tasks need to be adapted to include typed language as a production modality. In the present study, sentences were presented online to be completed through typed text. Three tasks were included. A standard CP task in which participants completed sentences by freely producing the final word, a picture naming task where the final word of the sentence was presented in picture form, and a copying task. High CP sentences …
As a comics artist and an educator, I have a strong interest in the application of comics in educational contexts, particularly those outside the formal classroom. My previous comics-related research projects have shown that comics may be especially suitable for narrating personal stories and viewpoints. With this in mind, I have designed a small-scale research study to investigate how creating comics may support young people’s meaning-making with museum collections. The adolescent age range (10-19 years old) is relatively overlooked in museum and gallery education in favour or younger children/family activities. To address this gap, the study was specifically aimed at young people aged 10-19. A group of eight participants was recruited through local arts organisations to take part in this study. Due to the lockdown restrictions, his study has been taking place online, through a series of Zoom workshops. Participants explored items in an online collection of an art museum, and selected items that they found c…
The research explores risk practitioners' communication and leadership practices to achieve and maintain Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) effectiveness. The study contributes to the descriptive literature by observing and elaborating phenomena in ERM in German non-financial companies and forms a practical guide for viewing ERM effectiveness as a set of organisational practices. It allows organisations to identify potentials for strengthening ERM units and optimising risk practitioner development programs. A cross-sectional field study approach using semi-structured interviews has been applied to understand and connect risk practitioners' perceptions to the organisational context. Leadership and senior risk practitioners with broad and deep ERM experience participated in this study. They represent multiple industries. The research identifies four practice episodes. Creating shared understanding aims to enable effective knowledge management across boundaries by creating shared knowledge and meaning of the b…
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are over 79.5 million people forcibly displaced globally. Among them are almost 26 million refugees. When 1% of the worlds population has been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution, the issue is undeniably urgent. Unfortunately, these situations are not short term. The United Nations estimates that the average refugee will spend 17 years in a camp. Data from the UNHCR and literature by members of the field are used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of both planned and makeshift refugee camps, why they are temporary and what makes up their physical and social fabric. This knowledge is applied to perform a descriptive and critical analysis of existing refugee shelters and camps designed from both top-down and bottom-up approaches and the consequences of each. By using existing research and documentation observing and analysing how residents appropriate their surroundings to better suit their indi…
Placemaking is a widely adopted tool used by local governments and tourism authorities to market destinations. Dubai has implemented this approach across the city and along its ever-growing waterfront. A great deal of literature has been written on waterfronts as a global phenomenon (Brownill, 2013) and the transferable models of Baltimore and Boston which have been embraced across the globe (Smith and Ferrari, 2012). This research aims to investigate and identify the success of Dubai's waterfront developments in creating quality places as waterfront developments have become key tourism destinations in Dubai. Quality places provide variety and are attractive, accessible, well-connected, comfortable and sociable - they are places that offer positive aesthetic and sensory experiences. To identify the success, or shortcomings, of Dubai’s waterfront developments, this research establishes an analytical framework which includes criteria and indicators for quality places, and is based on academic literature. Al Se…
This study’s overall aim is to determine whether feeding behaviours differ between UK garden bird species, specifically focusing on the effects of access to a variety of feed types and the provision of predation cover near feeding areas. This is a multidisciplinary study involving both first-hand behavioural observations of feeding birds, and a human-participant survey focusing on the general public’s opinions and behaviours towards garden bird species. The survey includes 283 human participants and has been shared through local community pages, such as the platform ‘Next Door’, and through the local radio station ‘BBC Radio Oxford’ during the Sunday Garden and Wildlife Breakfast Show. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, behavioural observations have been performed in a private garden, with a total of 20 hours’ worth of behavioural data collected. During observations, three different feed types were presented in three different feeding areas within the garden: suet blocks in a fully covered area, mixed seeds and nu…
For reasons of planetary and personal health, many people are trying to swap from animal-based (AB) to plant-based (PB) foods. Supermarkets are tapping into this growing sector by increasing ranges of PB convenience foods and ready-meals. This project compared 10 categories of plant-based ready-made main courses to equivalent traditional (AB) versions (e.g. PB lasagne and beef lasagne). Comparisons were made using front- and back-of-packet nutritional information, e.g. calories, protein provided, salt and fat content, added sugar and also price. Additionally, levels of fortification were analysed. Main findings were that PB foods tended to conform to expectations by being lower in protein, fat and energy and higher in carbohydrate and fibre than AB alternatives. Salt content was similar, but there tended to be more added sugar in PB versions. It was noted that quantities of protein comparable to AB versions were provided by PB products containing concentrated plant protein sources (e.g. soy protein concentr…
To what extent can historical models of communal living inform modern residential design in order to address the housing crisis in London? The residential sector in London, as in many other cities, is in crisis. Unaffordability, urban loneliness and an increasing and ageing population are major issues that we are facing. Cities contain 53% of the world’s population while only covering 2% of the Earth’s surface. With these figures set to rise, we need to investigate solutions to the urban residential crisis. Residential crisis has long plagued our cities, and as a result there is a wealth of historical precedent to analyse in relation to housing crisis response. This research investigates whether examples of communal housing throughout history have ever proved successful, and could, therefore, provide solutions to the modern crisis. While most literature focuses on the rise of socialism following WWII, this research looks further back in history to the Industrial age, arguing that this time produced m…
My investigation focused on the media construction of migrants, during the 2015/16 migration crisis, particularly looking at the construction of migrants as either a security threat or a humanitarian concern. I hypothesised that the reporting of a migrant death within a news article would change the focus of security to be for the migrant, rather than securitising against the migrant. However, I found this not always to be the case; instead it was the focus on the individual which aided in the construction of a humanitarian discourse. My research took the form of a discourse analysis, using articles published in 2015 by the BBC, reporting on the migration crisis. 25 articles were chosen to analyse in depth, based on their relevance and a thematic analysis. Using these articles, I used their language and images to investigate the discourses present, exploring how migrants could be perceived as either a humanitarian concern, or a security threat. The predominant discourse was one of security. The presence of …
The aim of the research is to contribute to the debate about pornography in young people’s lives and to inform effective education programs. There are limited studies conducted in the UK and the ones that have been conducted reveal the need for more qualitative research. Despite the inconclusive findings of the impact of pornography on young people, there is agreement that better education is needed to help young people understand pornography and the role it might play in their lives. Semi-structured interviews with open ended questions will be used in this study to generate rich talk, stories and reflections in response to the interviewer's questions. There will be 8-10 adolescents involved between two groups of friends. Participants will be heterosexual, cis-female, aged 16-19 and do not need to be active pornography consumers. Phenomenology and Social Norms theory are the theoretical perspectives to be applied in order to gain a deep understanding of the subject. Applying Social Norms theory will allow an …