Purpose – Social marketing has been criticised for mainly focusing on the individual and not the wider environmental impacts. Collins, Tapp and Pressley (2010) began the process of tackling this issue by introducing the Social Ecological Framework (SEF). The SEF is based on Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Ecological Theory, but it utilises his first iteration. This thesis has enhanced the framework by incorporating Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) Person-Process-Context-Time Model. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilises a mixed methods approach with a single case study: examining why individuals living with diabetes chose to attend (or not) a structured education course in England. It examines the attitudes of the patients, healthcare professionals and administrators of the NHS. Findings – The research identified that there was a large disparity in the types of services provided by the various PCTs. Many patients were unaware of the courses and that they should have been offered a place: the key driver, which dictated the types of services provided by the NHS was money. The patient’s decision to attend or not was influenced by a variety of factors that were correlated to wider environmental issues, or more specifically Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT model. Research implications/limitations – Utilising Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT model within the SEF has positive implications to the process. Researchers and practitioners will now have a new way of addressing social marketing issues. The study’s scope was limited to a ‘health’ social marketing review, further research will be required to confirm it relevance across the wider social marketing domain. Practical implications – Diabetes is a growing chronic condition that accounts for approximately 11% many nation health service providers’ budgets. Diabetes structured education is proven to empower patients and reduce costs but many of these patients are failing to engage with the process. The enhanced SEF that this research is providing may solve the issue. Originality/value – The study provides an example of social marketers having to deal with multiple complex behaviour changes. It also addresses a concern that is continually raised by the social marketing fraternity: researchers tend to focus on the individual. Keywords – Social marketing, Social Ecological Framework, Ecological Theory, Bio-Ecological Theory, Bronfenbrenner, PPCT Model (Person, Process, Context and Time), diabetes and diabetes structured education.

Arguments have been forwarded that terminating a pregnancy affected by a congenital abnormality discriminates against those living with disabilities and makes negative judgements about their lives. For the clinical geneticist these arguments raise questions as to whether their practice is ethical. In this thesis I aim to consider these concerns primarily from the position of the clinical geneticist by addressing ethical arguments. I argue that the fetus does not have full moral status equivalent to a person and therefore terminating a disabled fetus is not comparable with ending the life of a disabled person, and so does not imply that the lives of disabled persons are not worth living. I further argue that the decision to carry out prenatal testing and abortion should not solely rely on disability and on the objective opinions of healthcare professionals. Central to this argument is that when considering whether or not prenatal testing and abortion are justifiable, it is important to take into account the specific and unique circumstances of the family, particularly the parents and pre-existing children. Parents’ reproductive autonomy therefore needs to be considered as well as the harm having a disabled child could cause; both to the future child to and those directly affected by their existence. I conclude that prenatal testing and abortion does not discriminate against those living with disabilities. Despite this, however, reproductive autonomy is not being respected in current approaches to prenatal testing as late termination of pregnancy can only be legally permitted where two healthcare professionals agree to it. Therefore, in order to enhance reproductive autonomy I have made recommendations whereby the supportive role of the clinical geneticist can be further developed by their acting as an advocate for prospective parents when justifications for late termination of pregnancy are being considered by healthcare professionals.

This thesis is concerned with the problem of new technology in manufacturing industry. Increasing attention is being focused on the possible consequences of new technology as it begins to penetrate the various factors or elements within firms. Claims of massive unemployment and growing dissatisfaction with people de-skilled by automation have been made by various authorities and organisations, yet little recorded research has been made on this subject to provide evidence of the real effect and problem of new technology. Two types of new technology are studied in this research project. The first technology is that of the numerical control machine tool which having been introduced in the 1950s was slow to develop in the 1960s and has now become of major prominence in manufacturing industry. The research investigates the problems associated with this technology and the effects it has had on industry. The second technology is that of the co-ordinate measuring machine, an entirely new technology developed out of the wake of numerical control machine tools and part of an advance in measuring technology never before seen in the field of metrology or manufacturing. A model of the enterprise is proposed which shows a linking relationship between 6 key factors namely, organisation (structures), management (decision-making), strategies (objectives and plans), machine shop environment (the technology), control systems (return on investment) and people (behaviour). Each of these factors are examined against established theoretical bases, prior research and the findings from this project. From a brief description of the development of measuring machines and the invention of the co-ordinate measuring machine, the investigation consists of a logical analysis in 5 steps of manufacturing plants experiencing change due to the introduction of new technology. The first 2 steps examine the single manufacturing plant for the effects of numerical control machine tools and the effects of co-ordinate measuring machines. The third step is the investigation of a multinational organisation for the effect of co-ordinate measuring machines in 23 plants. The final 2 steps in the investigation analyse a large number of manufacturing firms using and not using co-ordinate measuring machines to determine any differences in organisation structures, strategies and people, then concentrates the study on firms using co-ordinate measuring machines to ascertain the overall effects on this larger population of manufacturing firms. The objectives of the thesis are two-fold: the investigation of a very major and critical development in industry, and the research for constructive conclusions which would create positive contribution to manufacturing industry. The outcome will show that manufacturing industry has to make radical changes if it is to maximise on the advantages of new technologies.

In the broadest sense this work is concerned with processes of cultural construction in the contemporary city, and their connections to the framing, recording and concrete manifestation of society and its ills. Acknowledging the academy to be a productive site in this regard this thesis takes a somewhat meta-theoretical approach, engaging with dominant analyses of urban problems and the methodological approaches they entail. My specific focus is on understandings of time and modes of temporality – crucial factors in the organisation of urban society but which appear largely naturalised in both everyday life and the academy. Attempting to uncover some of the ways in which the socially constructed nature of time has become invisible in these contexts, my aim in this work is to recast time and temporality as critical factors in the formation of urban culture and the organisation of urban society, which warrant detailed future study. Beyond that, this work seeks to establish this case as an impetus for the examination of other absences in urban knowledge production, and a renewed urban imagination. To this end I have designed a methodological approach of autoethnographic rhizoanalysis. I have rhizomatically analysed the urban studies canon for the (non)presence of time and temporality within its dominant texts, practices, performances and methods; and I have performed everyday and experimental autoethnography, as I have continued to make sense of time and temporality as a member of both the contemporary culture that experiences time as naturalised, and the academic culture which seeks to construct knowledge of the city. Along the way this work has also engaged with the craft of academic work, as I have worked to uncover some of the everyday assumptions and practices which may serve to maintain and strengthen hegemonic ideas of the nature of time, temporality and truth. As a counter to the ways in which existing approaches may limit rather than expand urban imaginations I have made a hand-embroidered, patchwork quilt to accompany this written thesis. This object allows for an alternative way of experiencing and performing this work as it relates to processes of knowledge production and cultural construction, of and in the contemporary city.

There is a general consensus around the kinds of jobs graduates might be expected to progress into once they complete their university education. Teaching, law and journalism are regularly cited as classic examples of ‘knowledge-based’ occupations that comprise the kinds of abstract problems and non-standard tasks that require independently minded, creative, and highly educated workers. However, there is very little research exploring graduates’ work post-graduation, and that which there is tends to focus on skill utilisation or the demand for, and deployment of, graduate skills in the labour market. This study takes a different approach, asking what it is about a particular type of work that might mean that the people performing it would benefit from a higher education. It draws on findings from qualitative interviews, exploring the nature and demands of these three occupations to conduct a critical analysis of the assumptions that underpin the skills-based, employment-focused model of higher education that governs current understanding of the relationship between higher education and work, and the role it can and should play in preparing students to meet the demands of these kinds of jobs. The thesis finds that journalists, teachers and solicitors are required to exercise a large amount of discretion in the interpretation and performance of partially and imprecisely specified work tasks and situations, but that this discretion is mediated by their employment circumstances, and complicated by the uncertain and unpredictable nature and conditions of their work. Acting purposefully in these conditions of uncertainty is central to successful performance of these jobs, but extremely demanding of their occupants. It concludes that higher education remains uniquely placed to make an important contribution to students’ preparation for this kind of work, but that this potential can only be realised by rejecting the priorities and focus of a higher education for employment guided by recruiters, and pursuing instead a higher education for performance that focuses on the knowledge and dispositions that will be of most value to students.

This research focuses on the demand for and use of literacy and numeracy skills in low paid work. The motivation for the research is to examine the assumption, widely espoused by policy makers, that literacy and numeracy skills are vital at all levels of the labour market and that deficiencies in these skills are the source of widespread economic problems. The primary aim of this study is to understand the extent to which employees in low paid occupations use literacy and numeracy skills in their work. Alongside this, the research considers the extent of mismatch between the skills of employees and the demands of their job, the extent of change in the demand for literacy and numeracy skills and the sources of demand for literacy and numeracy skill. Methodologically the research focuses on qualitative case studies of frontline work in two major low paying sectors, retail and residential care. Research took place in three Nursing Homes in England and three retail outlets in South Wales. This qualitative analysis is supplemented by a quantitative analysis of the Skills and Employment Surveys from 1997 to 2012, which provides a broader picture of the extent of and changes in the use of literacy and numeracy skills in low paid work. The research raises doubts about the extent of demand for literacy and numeracy skills in occupations at the lower end of the labour market and the incidence of deficiencies in the skills of employees. This in turn leads to questions about the viability of approaches to literacy and numeracy policy predicated on these assumptions.

Post financial crisis, economic and business news has generated conflicting narratives where, for example, bankers and corporate executives enjoy large salaries while ordinary people find their lifestyles under increasing pressure. Accordingly, the issues of income inequality, wealth and poverty have attracted increased scholarly attention. Citizens make sense of such issues via the media, and most often via TV news which is still the U.K’s primary news provider. Given that U.K broadcast media are bound by public service obligations, the intellectual puzzle addressed here is whether either side of the financial crisis (2007 and 2014), two TV news providers (BBC1 and ITV1) address financial news generally, and income inequality more specifically, in ways that serve all citizens. Large-scale content analyses are used to identify recurrent themes within economic, business and financial news, and stories containing elements of income inequality, poverty, wealth and the “squeezed middle”. To further explore how these issues are covered, typical cases are developed using critical discourse and multimodal analyses. The study finds that while economic and business news has increased and has been partially redefined by the crisis, income inequality is covered less in 2014 than in 2007, and since it is embedded within various news stories, the issue is not covered in ways helping citizens to make sense of causes and consequences. Despite indicators that “trickle down” economics is broken and that wealth remains concentrated among a few, even post-crisis, economic growth is presented as a universal solution to ease discomfort and inequality. Although coverage of business actors and corporations is often critical, the wider model of capitalism within which they operate remains unchallenged. In conclusion, despite the seismic financial events and normative expectations that they should discuss issues of social significance, because of institutional, economic and historic causal mechanisms, these channels do not provide any such critique.

This research explores the experiences of Chinese seafarers and bereaved families in the process of claiming compensation following workplace accidents. For a long time, issues regarding seafarers’ rights in such cases have failed to attract substantial public attention. International and Chinese studies indicate that seafarers may suffer higher risks of work-related injuries compared with land-based workers. Studies conducted in Australia, Canada and the United States show that claimants under workers’ compensation system may suffer extra psychological harm when claiming damages. However, there is little attention, in academic discourse, paid to the struggles of Chinese seafarers and/or bereaved families in the processes of claiming compensation following work-related casualties. This research aims to examine the procedures for compensation claims and to explore individual experiences of the claim process to determine whether Chinese seafarers suffer additional harm during claim processes. Two major qualitative research methods, documentary analysis and semi-structured interview, are applied in this research. The findings based on an analysis of legal claims process documents and records and interview data with the key informants, including claim handlers in shipping companies, maritime lawyers and maritime court judges in China, suggest that the compensation standards for occupational casualties of seafarers are chaotic and the current social welfare system does not provide effective assistance for the victims. The research results, therefore, show that Chinese seafarers and their families are most likely to suffer additional harm in the process, including intensive psychological pressures caused by the lack of procedural transparency and mental trauma resulting from claim suppression by their companies. Moreover, when resorting to public institutions, including labour administration and judicial authorities, Chinese seafarers are unlikely to receive timely and sufficient remedies.

This thesis comprises an ethnographic exploration of the emergent scientific field of biogerontology (otherwise known as the biology of ageing) ‘in the making’ at its different sub-sites. Specifically, biogerontology, as a field on the frontiers of science research in the UK and US, seeks to redefine ageing as malleable and pathological. I examine this approach to ageing in relation to an ethics of care for all of life. By examining public biogerontology (conferences, media, academic publications), with an in depth focus on UK biogerontology, I illuminate biogerontologists’ perspectives and concerns, and I show how these are circulated in this public setting. By extending focus to two genetics laboratories where biogerontologists study ageing as a biological process (using model organisms), I provide insight into the mundane practices of biogerontologists, and I also offer comparison between the verbally expressed concerns of public biogerontologists and the practical labours of care in the laboratory setting. Moreover, I explore the fragmented, ambiguous, and complex ordering of care in the laboratory setting, which is part of viewing the field as a continual accomplishment. Whilst ‘good science’ as ‘excellence’ is shown to be the primary concern and care of the field, I also show moments in the laboratory setting where biogerontologists extend their care, as a practical and affectual labour, to the animal (models) that they are working with. As well as examining the standardisation of ageing, and the way that the animal (models) are figured as instruments, I conclude by showing that whilst life itself becomes instrumental in science experiment, the moments of care for life in the laboratory break from this instrumental relation. Furthermore, I show that these moments open up space for biogerontologists to reflect more deeply upon the field and its implications for the future of humanity and, also, all life on earth.

This thesis is an ethnography which explores acquired brain injury (ABI) survivor experiences of rehabilitation and compares these experiences with an analysis of discourses of ABI, as well as the social and organisational arrangements of rehabilitation services. Acquired brain injury interacts with the health care setting in complex ways. Many of the usual markers in which the individual might be interpreted as a patient such as assessing symptoms, the method of diagnosis, how the progress of the patient is viewed and the actual act of getting better are immensely complicated and, at times, even contradictory in this setting. Very often, these markers become negotiated. When the understanding of these different interactions between actors is contested, (e.g. when there is a disagreement between professional, family member and patient as to what a symptom might be or what a goal to work towards might be) this can become problematic. The ultimate objective is to use the study’s findings to inform ABI services and potentially enable better provision. Health care professionals work tirelessly in difficult environments, with increasing workloads and often with scarce resources. Research that specifically engages with the interactions within the health care setting will aid understanding of good practice and help prioritise the importance given to parts of the service which are currently under-represented. This research also aims to make a contribution to the sociology of biomedicine, healthcare organisation and work which investigates the body, identity and disability, particularly hidden disabilities. The practical implications of this research would inform decision makers of the extent to which identity work and participation underpins the success of the overall rehabilitation process.