Group Research Project

Group research can be both difficult and rewarding. Joining together with other people can mean you gain new perspectives and different skills from individuals, it also means more work can be done, due to sharing the workload. Our group began as three people, and gradually became 6 through the inclusion of new people, however after a few weeks of struggling to all find time to meet we decided to split in to two groups of three, meaning we would have a better chance of everyone being able to attend meetings.

This change in groups has meant we’ve had to reorganise ourselves. An important part of working in a group is organisation, as well as establishing shared goals and shared responsibility (Kouzes & Posner 2008). To establish our goal, we decided on a topic to base our research around, and we decided on abortion and religion. After some initial research we made the decision to narrow down our research to look at ‘In what way is Christianity still concerned with the issue of abortion in the UK and Ireland’, this allowed us to focus on one religion in a smaller geographical area. Beckman & Cook (2007) stated that establishing clear goals and refining the question were a key step to the planning process, and now that we have established our question, we can begin more in-depth research. 

Meeting regularly to compare work is important in cohesive and productive group work (Huggett, et al., 2011), and is something that is now easier with the smaller group. As we are still in the researching phase we have yet to discuss roles or responsibilities, this may cause some disagreements as it can be difficult to separate responsibilities and workload equally. However, having only three people in the group should make it easier, although there may be more work to do. I hope that after we have brought together our independent research we can work as a team to make the poster and presentation, and therefore have an equal workload and commitment to the project.

Beckman T, Cook DA. 2007. Developing scholarly projects in education: A primer for medical teachers. Med Teach 29: 210–218.

Huggett, K., Gusic, M., Greenberg, R., Ketterer, J. Twelve tips for conducting collaborative research in medical education. Medical Teacher 33: 713-718

Kouzes JM, Posner BZ. 2008. The leadership challenge. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

International Women's Day 2014

The month of March has been host to events across the country celebrating women, with International Women’s Day on Saturday the 8th of March being central to this. This day has been celebrated in countries across the world since 1977 when it was proclaimed to be a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements, and an occasion to look back upon the struggles women have faced, and the accomplishments they have made. Importantly it is also an opportunity to look ahead to the future achievements, untapped potential and new possibilities open to future generations of women. (UN, 2014) 

Across the country during the week leading up to Women’s Day, events were held celebrating the achievements of women, however events were also hosted in a bid to raise awareness about the mistreatment of women. In Manchester students marched through the streets for Reclaim the Night, part of a global movement against sexual violence. These marches occurred across the country, with protestors taking a stand against a culture that blames victims of sexual violence, and tells women to stay off the streets at night in case they attract sexual harassment. (Abraha, 2014)

Violence against women is still a big issue across the world, with 1 in 3 women being beaten or raped during their lifetime, and 44% of all UK women having experienced physical or sexual violence, making Britain among the worst European countries when it comes to violence against women. (Morse, 2014) Reclaim the Night aims to generate awareness, and give women a voice and a chance to reclaim the streets at night, as well as demanded justice for victims of rape and sexual assault. (Reclaim the Night, 2014)

Rape culture is still a prevalent issue, with the focus remaining on the victim, and questions asked of how much they had drunk and what they were wearing, placing blame on the victim for seemingly provoking or encouraging sexual assault. (Kingston, 2013) Students can often be victim to sexual assault and harassment, with universities been seen as “petri dishes for both ‘rape culture’ and sexual assault”, (Kingston, 2013) and a survey focusing on female student’s experiences of sexual harassment, found that one in seven had experienced a serious physical or sexual assault whilst at university, and over two thirds had experience some kind of verbal harassment. (Bindel, 2011) 

This rape culture and violence towards women proves the relevance and need for International Women’s Day, with women facing mistreatment and inequality in both the UK and across the world. Movements and campaigns such as Reclaim the Night are raising awareness and making sure the voices of sexually harassed women are heard, as well as helping to improve the culture and society we live in for women now, and for future generations.

Abraha, M., 2014. Hundreds of students march through Manchester for Reclaim the Night. The Independent, [online] 12 March. Available at: < http://www.independent.co.uk/student/istudents/hundreds-of-students-march-through-manchester-for-reclaim-the-night-9184919.html> [Accessed 12 March 2014]

Bindel, J., 2011. Female students must be made safer. The Guardian, [online] 16 June. Available at: < http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/16/female-students-sexual-violence-harassment> [Accessed 12 March 2014]

Kingston, A., 2013. The real danger for women on campus. Maclean’s, [e-journal] 126 (47), 60-63. Available through: Academic Search Complete [Accessed 12 March 2014]

Morse, F., 2014. International Women’s Day 2014: The shocking statistics that show why it is still so important. The Independent, [online] 7 March. Available at: < http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/international-womens-day-2014-the-shocking-statistics-that-show-why-it-is-still-so-important-9177211.html> [Accessed 12 March 2014]

Reclaim the Night, 2014. Why reclaim the night?. [online] Available at: < http://www.reclaimthenight.co.uk/why.html> [Accessed 12 March 2014]

United Nations, 2014. History of International Women’s Day. [online] Available at: < http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/history.html > [Accessed 12 March 2014]

My passion for travel, and the use of blogs.

Updated: 27/04/14

http://www.travelettes.net

My gap year between A Levels and University was spent working all possible hours, in an attempt to get together enough money to spend three months travelling the east coast of Australia. Fortunately I managed to find the money and hopped on a flight to the other side of the world, this experience gave me a love for travelling, and inspired me to want to travel the world. Travel blogs therefore became a slight addiction, both prior to leaving, and after returning to the reality of cold, rainy England. Travel blogs gave me advice and inspiration, they calmed my fears, and got me excited for what was to come, and when I returned they allowed me to reminisce in my memories whilst also leaving me itching to plan the next big trip. 

A travel blog I became interested in is travelettes, which is a travel blog written by and for women, obviously many of the posts can be useful to both men and women, but the tagline of ‘backpacking in heels’ shows the main focus is on women travelling. The blog features posts from a host of female writers and travellers, with posts on different subjects that could be of interest. One of the main reason I like this blog is the range of topics covered, obviously all with a travel basis. It offers posts on things to do in different countries or cities, such as ’15 fun things to do in Bangkok’ or ‘The top 8 water activities of Australia’, these posts can be useful when you have decided your destination, or when looking for inspiration of where to go next. The blog also offers advice on travelling as well as personal posts which have a autographical feel and allow you to read about things from a personal level. 

One of my favourite things about this blog is the posts that are less travel related, they can focus on personal stories, interesting news pieces, or art and culture, such as the post ‘Kesh Angels - the biker girls of Morocco’.  These give more substance to the blog, the posts are still enjoyable to read even if you’re not currently travelling, or planning to, and therefore are not looking for advice. Something I believe the blog could improve on is the layout and ease of navigating, although it does have a ‘tag’ section where you can browse through certain tags, it can be difficult to find specific types of posts without having to scroll through multiple pages. The layout and design is also quite basic, and this makes it feel less professional and therefore lowers the quality of the posts. 

All together I think travelettes is a great blog, the content is varied but still focused on the main subject of the blog, and the only area I would say needs improvement is the design and layout of the blog.

The use of blogs has increased throughout the twenty-first century due to more people having access to the internet and an overall increase in use. (Hookway, 2008) A 2005 survey found that ‘more than half of all teens who go online create content for the internet’, (Beer and Burrows 2007) this shows the importance of blogging, as the internet has become a place for user generated content, and has therefore shifted towards more dynamic, open, and personal content. There is also the opportunity for engagement of other users through commenting. (Beer and Burrows 2007) Blogs can be seen as persuasive because of their qualitative nature, the author writes from a personal perceptive, and this allows the reader to understand the individual and their views. 

From a social research perspective blogs offer great opportunities, they a publicly available, low cost, and allow for an instant collection of data. They are also naturalistic, and allow the creation of immediate text. The anonymous nature of blogs allows writers to be open in what they write and academic blogging is a platform for academics to communicate to a wider audience through attempting a less formal style of writing (Greggs 2006, cited in Lupton, 2014), and thus forcing academics to think about their research and writing in a different way, being more aware of the potential audiences and ways readers could respond to their content (Kitchin 2014, cited in Lupton, 2014). Academic Blogs are also beginning to challenge the previous styles of academic publishing, and blog posts are now being cited in other, more traditional academic publications, with some journals incorporating blogs (Lupton 2014). 

There is however a negative side to academic blogging. The availability of anonymity within blogging, along with the potential for a public audience can mean writers are not always truthful and this could affect the validity and trustworthiness of using blogs in research. (Hookway, 2008) Blogging as an academic also invites greater scrutiny, and the possibility for becoming a target of trolling and abuse (Logan, 2014).  Another issue faced by academic bloggers is the loss of control, with the possibility of an academic’s content being re-used and passed on via different forums, such as reblogging, excerpts on peoples blog, or small quotes published via twitter (Logan, 2014). Plagarism is also a risk faced by academic bloggers, something experienced by Williams (2013), whose work was plagiarised with no recognition or attribution to the original source, this resulted in Williams reconsidering her decision to post online via a blog.  

Although blogs can be a useful tool in research it has been a under examined area by social researchers, this may be because of some of the ethical and practical disadvantages in researching blogs. (Hookway, 2008) However blogs are great for public use as ‘online diaries’, or as a place to begin discussion or gather information together, there is also a great use for blogs within the academic field, and this is shown in the increasing popularity of blogs in all genres. 

BEER, D. and Burrows, R. (2007) “Sociology and, of and in Web 2.0: Some Initial Considerations”, Sociological Research Online, 12(5). Available from: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/12/5/17.html

HOOKWAY, N. (2008) ‘”Entering the blogosphere:” some strategies for using blogs in social research’ Qualitative Research 8(1) 91-113.

LUPTON, D. (2014) Research on academic blogging: what does it reveal? This Sociology Life. Weblog [online] 13/01/2014. Available from: <http://simplysociology.wordpress.com/category/social-media/> Accessed: 27/04/14

WILLIAMS, L. (2013). Academic blogging: a risk worth taking? The Guardian [online] 4/12/13. Available from: <http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/dec/04/academic-blogging-newspaper-research-plagiarism> Accessed: 27/04/14

My relationship with food; the good, the bad and the naughty.

Updated : 27/04/14

Food has always been a large part of my life from a young age, and has been something enjoyed as part of a family, food being a central part of birthdays, Christmas and any special occasion. I like to believe that I have always eaten healthily, and generally favoured healthy food, loving fruit and vegetables, and rarely choosing chips, crisps or fizzy drinks. However, although I have always had a love for fruit and vegetables, I also have a sweet tooth. 

Chocolate, cake, and biscuits are my addiction, they are what I constantly reach for, although it’s said you can’t be addicted to chocolate, I feel as if I am. Once its in front of me, or in the cupboard my self control disappears, chocolate bars are gone before they even make it home, whole packets of biscuits are destroyed in one sitting without me even noticing, and I will have my cake, and eat it too! This over indulgence on high calorie food has meant I have been slightly overweight for most of my life. 

My weight and size has been an issue for as long as I can remember, since around the age of 10 I have felt bigger than all my friends, and from about the age of 12 have been uncomfortable and upset with my size. Although I rarely experienced any bullying or negativity in relation to my size, i was always aware of looking different and bigger. These feelings led to low self confidence and a hate of my own body, I became more aware of what I was eating, and from the age of 14 I was constantly on and off diets. Although I was conscious of my weight, I never managed to loose a considerable amount, and never stuck to any healthy eating plan, always reverting back to old habits, and feelings of ‘I don’t care, Im fat anyway’. I tried multiple different things, calorie counting, not eating carbs, cutting down chocolate, drinking energy drinks and not eating whilst at college, however nothing ever worked and I would eventually become disheartened and turn to my chocolate covered comforts. 

Up until the age of 19 I had a strong dislike for my body, and even when I wasn’t trying to loose weight, and ate what I wanted I still disliked myself. However something happened to change my perceptions of myself, and that was travelling to Australia and spending three months of my gap year there. During this time I ate what I wanted, didn't care what people thought of me, and had some of the best experiences of my life, whilst at my highest ever weight. When I came back from travelling I made a promise to myself to loose weight and become more healthy, and this time I succeeded in loosing a considerable amount. My perceptions of myself were no longer negative, and although I am still in the process of becoming healthy I don’t hate myself, or my body anymore. 

However, my relationship with food is still something I struggle with, I have once again been through many stages of changing my diet. I have cut out types of food, spending one month as a vegetarian, I have also calorie counted, restricted food types, eaten whatever I wanted, and binged on chocolate goodies. Although I am happy with myself, I still want to be slimmer and a more healthy weight, and this has meant my focus on food has increased. I have a strong awareness of food, always checking calories, sugar and fat content, and arguing with myself over eating ‘naughty’ foods. However the naughty foods often find themselves in my possession, during all types of moods I can justify eating badly, happy, sad, angry, upset, bored, any time I can find a reason to eat unhealthy I will. Afterwards I always promise myself that I’ll change, ‘eat healthier tomorrow, ban chocolate, start dieting’, yet this never seems to last. 

Research has shown that children may model their parent’s food intake and copy what they eat, however they can also model their parents attitudes to food and their body dissatisfaction (Brown and Ogden, 2003). A study by Steiger et al. (1994, cited in Brown and Ogden, 2003) found a link between a mother and daughter’s concern over weight and body image, and Hill et al. (1990, cited in Brown and Ogden, 2003) reported a direct correspondence between a mother and daughter’s level of dietary restraint. Showing the role of observational learning and the influence of parental attitudes and behaviour on young girls (Brown and Ogden, 2003). 

I believe my relationship to food stems from my eating habits as a child, and also my mum’s feeling towards food and also to herself. Since I can remember my mum was always talking about loosing weight, starting diets, buying low fat options, and disliking her body. When I was a young teenager struggling with my weight, it became something my mum focused on too. She would tell me off for eating certain things, or make comments on what I ate, these comments made me see certain foods as bad. From a young age my mum had always restricted what I ate, we had a cupboard that locked that contained the biscuit tin. I remember climbing on a chair to try and reach the shelf where the key was hidden. I remember hiding wrappers in my room, or down the side of the sofa so mum wouldn’t know what I’d eaten.

Studies have shown that parent’s restricting access to food may promote and increase the intake of these restricted foods when given the option to freely consume, whilst also generating negative feelings about having eaten these restricted foods (Fisher and Birch, 2000). There is also evidence that children who experience restriction may see these foods a highly attractive and also may associate the consumption of these foods with parental disapproval (Fisher and Birch, 2000).

Hiding the ‘bad’ foods from me was something my mum did from a young age, and still does now. I believe this restriction on the ‘bad’ and ‘naughty’ foods made me crave them more, and when I managed to get my hands on some I binged. Eating lots in case I didn’t get the chance again and hiding the wrappers so no one would know. This is something that I still do now, binging on food when I get it, lying to people about what, or how much I’ve eaten,  and hiding the wrappers from everyone and also from myself. Even though I now live away from home and have total control over my food and eating, I still find myself uncontrollably eating, and lying to myself to justify what I’ve done. 

Parents restricting food therefore labels certain foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, this allows children to place a negative feeling towards eating certain foods, with the association of guilt for eating a bad food (Fisher and Birch, 2000). The level of restriction imposed by parents can also contribute to the development of restrained eating and dieting within young girls (Hill, 1999, cited in Fisher and Birch, 2000).

My relationship with food has been a struggle for most of my life, even though Im now confident and comfortable with my body, my eating habits, and how I see certain types of food are still an issue. I am hoping to change my thoughts and feeling towards food, and become more healthy in both what I eat and how I feel towards what Im eating. 

BROWN, R. and Ogden, J. (2003) Children’s eating attitudes and behaviour: a study of the modelling and control theories of parental influence. Health Education Research, 19 (3). 261-271

FISHER, J.O. and BIRCH, L.L. (2000) Parent’s restrictive feeding practices are associated with young girls’ negative self-evaluation of eating. J Am Diet Assoc, 100 (11). 1341-1346 

A brief article review.

A brief review of Article: ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Hate Crimes and Suicidality Among a Population-Based Sample of Sexual-Minority Adolescents in Boston’ by Dustin T. Duncan, ScD, and Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, PhD

The theoretical approach taken was an examination of whether suicidality among sexual-minority youths was more common in certain areas of Boston, Massachusetts where there was a higher level of hate crimes recorded targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender society.

The concept of the journal article seems to have come from data indicating that suicide is second-leading cause of death amongst teenagers in the United States.

The data used in the research came from high school students in the Boston public school system who participated in the Boston Youth Survey from 2008. The survey provided the address of each student which in turn aided the research into the youth’s geographical areas, highlighting the different effects certain neighbourhoods had amongst those surveyed.

Emma Luxton & Hannah Johnson 

Doing Social Research

As I start my university module of Doing Social Research, I feel as if it could be the first module to challenge me in a different way to most of the other modules I have studied. Most of my assessments have been writing essays and studying for exams or making presentations, and therefore my main method of research has been through reading books, journals and similar sources. I have had little experience in any other form of research, and in this module I hope to learn more about other forms of research and how to best use them. I expect this module will help me learn more about researching, and hopefully help me in researching my dissertation, as well as allowing me to experience other forms of assessment such as blogging and making an academic poster, which I have never done before.

Through studying my degree subject of Human Rights I have become more aware of topics and become more interested in, as well as learning more about certain topics which I have a strong interest in and would enjoy researching. The main area that interests me is researching the treatment of, and inequality for women, I also have an interest in human rights abuses and researching countries suffering from poverty and war.

I currently feel slightly unsure about this module as I haven't done anything similar, nor do I know much about researching, the terminology used or social research as a topic, however I hope I can learn more and gain some skills. I do believe I will enjoy this module, especially the blogging aspect as it is a more relaxed and creative means of learning, and I hope through blogging I can become more aware of academic and informative content within blogs.