This article considers recent literature on contemporary urbanization in Africa that is united in its 'post-normative' orientation, firmly discarding the 'expectations' of modernization that so deeply shaped twentieth-century research on African cities. Best typified by the work of urban anthropologists such as Abdoumaliq Simone, this scholarship instead focuses on the 'vernacularization' of ur...

OBJECTIVE To explore reported willingness and factors associated with utilization of voluntary counseling and testing services by female sex workers (FSWs) in China and to offer recommendations to optimize use of such services. METHODS A questionnaire to explore willingness to use VCT was designed based on social ecological theory and formative qualitative research. A cross-sectional survey w...

OBJECTIVES Dressing primary surgical wounds is common, but the implications for surgical site infection (SSI) remain unknown. The Bluebelle study aimed to determine the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing 'simple', 'complex' or 'no' dressings on abdominal wounds, as prespecified in a funder's research brief. Bluebelle includes exploratory work (phase A) to inform a pilo...

International comparative studies constitute a highly valuable contribution to public policy research. Analysing different policy designs offers not only a mean of knowing the phenomenon itself but also gives us insightful clues on how to improve existing practices. Although much of the work carried out in this realm relies on quantitative appraisal of the data contained in international databa...

considering the nature of qualitative studies, the interaction between researchers and participants can be ethically challenging for the former, as they are personally involved in different stages of the study. therefore, formulation of specific ethical guidelines in this respect seems to be essential. the present paper aimed to discuss the necessity to develop explicit guidelines for conductin...

Although qualitative research becomes more widely accepted, however, its role in management studies is still underrepresented. This because requires an understanding of philosophy, terminology and theories which often presents conflicting perspectives. However, it should be noted that various approaches started with generic research, was considered easier to implement. Therefore, this article a...