Search results

The so-called hotspots—identification and registration centres on the Aegean Islands in Greece and in Italy—are not only sites of remote detention, European intervention or differential inclusion, but also logistical set-ups, where data is generated and spread across state institutions. Such socio-technical assemblages are hard to research not only because of state actors' desire to keep things secret but also because of methodological issues. How does one disentangle their extensive, complex and rhizomatic nature? Which trajectories does one follow and which actors and voices does one assemble? Following recent work in the realm of STS, methods are understood as (b)ordering devices, which performatively enact an ordered world and produce accounts of the social, including some realities while excluding others. This article considers mapping a well-suited method for studying widespread socio-technical assemblages, but only if it is handled with caution. Based on an empirical inquiry into the Moria hotspot and following a praxeographic research approach, different types of small maps are developed that enfold complexity by being attentive to situatedness, symmetry, multi-sitedness and multiplicity. Furthermore, it emphasizes an on-going process of reflexive inversion of the mapping process that makes the crafted accounts contestable and its boundaries and blind spots visible. Finally, the article discusses how mappings can be used not only as research but also as a political device that contributes to the work of other collectives beyond the scientific production of truth.

We discuss situational analysis as an auspicious method for researchers in childhood studies due to its critical-reflexive approach towards power relations, marginalization, and relationalities of collective action—which are topical issues within childhood studies. Especially the position of "implicated actors" (CLARKE & MONTINI, 1993, p.45), a key concept of social worlds/arenas theory, seems conducive towards research about children. However, we also raise concerns about potentially re-marginalizing children in and through research when it is assumed that, as implicated actors, they are not involved in social worlds/arenas and therefore also not involved in social action. We discuss the methodological potentials and pitfalls of social worlds/arenas maps and the use of the concept of implicated actors to analyze children and childhood. We draw from empirical projects and central conceptual debates within childhood studies and focus on three theses: With social worlds/arenas maps 1. researchers are at risk of rendering children invisible; 2. researchers cannot (yet) capture the intragenerational relations of children (as implicated actors); 3. researchers cannot fully account for a relational understanding of children and childhood. Based on these considerations, we suggest how to enable and reconsider the analysis of children and childhood with social worlds/arenas maps using situational analysis.

An emerging offshoot of traditional grounded theory methods is situational analysis. This article presents an exemplar of conducting situational analysis within a grounded theory study that focuses on the perceptions of changing family boundaries in the process of leaving an abusive partner. Specifically, I used situational maps to supplement open coding and adapted situational mapping techniques to develop a family‐level theory of the process of leaving. The practical and theoretical utility of situational analysis to supplement traditional grounded theory methods is immense, which makes the method highly adaptable to fit the needs of various qualitative research endeavors.

Recent years have witnessed several major crimes against children both inside, and in the vicinity of, schools in Japan. These criminal incidents have heightened parental and community concerns regarding the safety of children in school. From the perspective of situational crime prevention, this study attempts to examine the nature and characteristics of community safety maps designed for children. It assesses the potential benefits of these maps and analyzes the structural and cultural obstacles for their implementation. This paper calls for more research into further innovative crime prevention strategies that can be used in Japanese schools so as to prevent children from becoming victims of crimes.

In diesem Beitrag schlage ich das neumaterialistische Konzept becoming-with-others [Werden-mit-anderen] von Donna HARAWAY als sensibilisierendes Konzept für das relationale Mapping der Situationsanalyse von Adele CLARKE vor. Durch HARAWAYs Perspektive geraten Verschmelzungen von Elementen, Grenzziehungen und Beziehungsweisen von und mit Elementen in den Blick. Werden-mit-anderen stellt dementsprechend eine Erweiterung des Theorie-Methoden-Pakets der Situationsanalyse dar. Dies wird exemplarisch an einem Beispiel aus der Forschung zur tiefen Hirnstimulation erläutert.

The so-called hotspots -identification and registration centres on the Aegean Islands in Greece and in Italy- are not only sites of remote detention, European intervention or differential inclusion, but also logistical set-ups, where data is generated and spread across state institutions. Such socio-technical assemblages are hard to research not only because of state actors' desire to keep things secret but also because of methodological issues. How does one disentangle their extensive, complex and rhizomatic nature? Which trajectories does one follow and which actors and voices does one assemble? Following recent work in the realm of STS, methods are understood as (b)ordering devices, which performatively enact an ordered world and produce accounts of the social, including some realities while excluding others. This article considers mapping a well-suited method for studying widespread socio-technical assemblages, but only if it is handled with caution. Based on an empirical inquiry into the Moria hotspot and following a praxeographic research approach, different types of small maps are developed that enfold complexity by being attentive to situatedness, symmetry, multi-sitedness and multiplicity. Furthermore, it emphasizes an on-going process of reflexive inversion of the mapping process that makes the crafted accounts contestable and its boundaries and blind spots visible. Finally, the article discusses how mappings can be used not only as research but also as a political device that contributes to the work of other collectives beyond the scientific production of truth.

This paper presents an overview of the Moving Mapp and Situational Awareness capabilities of the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) military handheld GPS receiver (refer to Figure 1), and how these capabilities can be utilized for other applications. The paper first presents an overview of situational awareness and moving maps as provided by handheld GPS receivers, factors driving the DAGR's requirements, and the requirements themselves. This paper presents the system design in a two-part approach corresponding to the two primary components of the system: 1) importing digital map products into the DAGR and 2) displaying moving maps and situational awareness on the DAGR's display. A significant driver to the design is the requirement to import and display both vector map products and raster map products. The design also needs to allow the use of specialized digital map data, created by the Military's Geospatial Engineers, containing real-time intelligence information and tailored to contain information relevant to a particular mission. The design also provides the ability to import nongeospatial images to allow digital images to be utilized in the field for assistance in identification (e.g. photo of target) or mission operation (e.g. floor plans of a building). The suitability of the ArcMapTM component of the Commercial Joint Mapping Toolkit (C/JMTK) in this design is also presented. This paper concludes with an overview from the user's point of view of the operation of importing digital maps (pre-mission) into the DAGR and using moving map and situational awareness on the DAGR. The overview will also contain a discussion noting some of the possible ways the mapping capabilities can be used by other applications (e.g. adding a survey marker layer to a vector map product) or can be integrated with other systems (e.g. FBCB2/BFT). Reprinted with permission from The Institute of Navigation (http://ion.org/) and The Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation, (pp. 322-332). Fairfax, VA: The Institute of Navigation.

"Situational Analysis (SA) creates analytic maps of social processes and relationships identified using approaches pioneered in grounded theory. Creator of the method, award-winning sociologist Adele E. Clarke, with Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese, shows how the method can be, and has been, used in a variety of critical qualitative studies. The entirely new second edition of this book offers several chapters on the method and new introductory material from the editors about developments in using SA in qualitative inquiry. Part I introduces readers to the method of SA, discussing recent developments in the field. Part II offers five new chapters about various facets of the SA method, including a history of grounded theory and situational analysis, SA as critical pragmatist interactionism, using SA in managing a mixed-methods project, and SA mapping in the social policy classroom and in clinical counselling as innovatively collaborative analysis. Part III offers six new exemplary research articles drawn from energy research and international relations, public health research methods, disabled access to public transportation, participation in conservation in a biosphere reserve, and PTSD and the military. Authors' reflections on their experiences in using the method are also included. These carefully selected new readings vividly demonstrate how widely this method has travelled, successfully meeting the needs of diverse researchers seeking an innovative relational approach to critically analysing a wide array of data. Situational Analysis in Practice will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students practicing the SA method across the social sciences, including sociology and healthcare amongst other disciplines, as well as research scholars interested in qualitative inquiry"--

Qualitative Methoden basieren auf bestimmten Vorstellungen von Zeit und Zeitlichkeit. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Methoden als Darstellungsmedien vorgestellt, durch die bestimmte temporale Aspekte der sozialen Welt für die soziologische Analyse sichtbar und verstehbar gemacht, während andere tendenziell ausgeblendet werden. Ausgehend von dieser Perspektive werden insbesondere die Mapping-Verfahren der Situationsanalyse untersucht. Die Situationsanalyse ist eine historisierende Methode. Mit ihren Maps kann aber das zeitliche Nebeneinander von Elementen eher dargestellt werden als zeitliche Abfolgen. Dadurch wird eine adäquate Analyse der schrittweisen Hervorbringung von Prozessen erschwert. Um dieser Problematik zu begegnen, werden die medialen Eigenschaften dieser Methoden angepasst, sodass filmähnliche Sequenzen erzeugt werden. Damit wird Zeitlichkeit auf eine neue Weise sichtbar gemacht. Mit dieser Art von Maps können Forscher*innen vielfältige Zeitlichkeiten und Prozesse in den Blick nehmen, ohne auf die Vorteile des Methodendesigns der Situationsanalyse verzichten zu müssen. Insbesondere können so prozessuale Dynamiken und ihre formativen Bedingungen besser erfasst und in Verbindung gebracht werden. Als Illustration der neuen Verfahren dient ein polizeiliches Notrufgespräch.

Situational Analysis (SA) creates analytic maps of social processes and relationships identified using approaches pioneered in grounded theory. Creator of the method, award-winning sociologist Adele E. Clarke, with Rachel Washburn and Carrie Friese, shows how the method can be, and has been, used in a variety of critical qualitative studies. The entirely new second edition of this book offers several chapters on the method and new introductory material from the editors about developments in using SA in qualitative inquiry. Part I introduces readers to the method of SA, discussing recent developments in the field. Part II offers five new chapters about various facets of the SA method, including a history of grounded theory and situational analysis, SA as critical pragmatist interactionism, using SA in managing a mixed-methods project, and SA mapping in the social policy classroom and in clinical counselling as innovatively collaborative analysis. Part III offers six new exemplary research articles drawn from energy research and international relations, public health research methods, disabled access to public transportat, participation in conservation in a biosphere reserve, and PTSD and the military. Authors' reflections on their experiences in using the method are also included. These carefully selected new readings vividly demonstrate how widely this method has traveled, successfully meeting the needs of diverse researchers seeking an innovative relational approach to critically analyzing a wide array of data. Situational Analysis in Practice will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students practicing the SA method across the social sciences, including sociology and healthcare amongst other disciplines, as well as research scholars interested in qualitative inquiry.

Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Maps -- 1: Introduction: Exploring an Elephant -- Density and Otherness: Stuttgart's Nordbahnhofviertel -- Multi-culture and Class Consciousness: Glasgow's Pollokshields -- Structure of the Book -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 2: Situational Diversity -- Super-diversity and Social Differentiation -- Social Differentiation as Practice -- Social Differentiation as Practice in Situations -- Urban Neighbourhoods as Research Sites for Diversity -- Researching Situational Diversity -- Researching Situational Diversity in Stuttgart and Glasgow -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 3: Knowledge Production/Transfer -- Case Studies -- Municipal Statistics and Research -- Conclusion -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 4: Exploring -- Exploring Far Places -- Exploring Near Places -- Conclusion -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 5: Creating Presence -- Festivals -- Identifiable Structures -- Empower and Control -- Racism: A Backlash of Presence -- Conclusion -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 6: Supporting -- Language Learning -- Informing -- Supported and Supporters -- Understanding and Materialisation -- Conclusion -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 7: Situational Modes of Differentiation -- Infrastructural Demand -- Habitual Places -- Environmental Resourcefulness -- Environmental Ability -- Conclusion -- References -- Research Material -- Bibliography -- 8: Conclusion -- References -- Bibliography -- Index.

Abstract. This article describes the architecture of sea situational awareness (SSA) platform, a major asset within TESSA, an industrial research project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research. The main aim of the platform is to collect, transform and provide forecast and observational data as information suitable for delivery across a variety of channels, like web and mobile; specifically, the ability to produce and provide forecast information suitable for creating SSA-enabled applications has been a critical driving factor when designing and evolving the whole architecture. Thus, starting from functional and performance requirements, the platform architecture is described in terms of its main building blocks and flows among them: front-end components that support end-user applications and map and data analysis components that allow for serving maps and querying data. Focus is directed to key aspects and decisions about the main issues faced, like interoperability, scalability, efficiency and adaptability, but it also considers insights about future works in this and similarly related subjects. Some analysis results are also provided in order to better characterize critical issues and related solutions.

In our article we focus on potentials and challenges that arise in the use of situational analysis for reflexive-relational transition research. We discuss how transitions can be mapped as transformation processes in the life course and mapping can function as reflective tool in research projects. We explore mapping transitions not only as static situations, but also in their complex processuality. To do this, we discuss transition and reflexive maps inspired by CLARKE's situational analysis, and thereby the challenge of mapping processes. We start by discussing a mapping strategy inspired by situational analysis for the study of transitions, and proceed with an innovation of maps based on a research project. The aim is to trace the processes of change and to be able to analyze and map the connections between different dimensions and actors in these events. We reflect on various mapping strategies developed in the project to analyze spatial-material and temporal-processual aspects, their potentials, and limitations as well as the research process. Mapping processes remains challenging and important for future research. Combining situational analysis and life course research opens up possibilities for researchers to better conceptualize the processuality of situations and to test different mapping procedures for this purpose. We start by discussing a mapping strategy inspired by situational analysis for the study of transitions, and proceed with an innovation of maps based on a research project. The aim is to trace the processes of change and to be able to analyze and map the connections between different dimensions and actors in these events. We reflect on various mapping strategies developed in the project to analyze spatial-material and temporal-processual aspects, their potentials, and limitations as well as the research process. Mapping processuality remains challenging and important for future research. Combining situational analysis and life course research opens up possibilities for researchers to better conceptualize the processuality of situations and to test different mapping procedures for this purpose.

The Advanced Navigation Technology (ANT) Center at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is currently exploring ways to develop and advance the employment of autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) by the Department of Defense for military purposes. The research in this thesis describes the development of a tool that enhances situational awareness and provides synthetic vision in a program called the Aviator Visual Display Simulator (AVDS) during UAV flight. During flight testing, the Situational Awareness and Synthetic Vision Relay Tool (SASVRT) developed provides the test coordinator and pilot, as well as the safety observers, with the most pertinent information regarding operational safety. In addition to improved safety, the enhanced situational awareness provided by SASVRT provides improved operational capabilities. SASVRT provides users with real-time information regarding hard boundaries, interpolated terrain, flight ceilings, and other aerial vehicles present. The hard boundary is a user defined area within which the UAV is to stay at all tirn.es e.g. as designated by a Safety Review Board (SRB). Pertinent data to this boundary is both distance and time until crossing, and is provided to the user during flight by SASVRT. The interpolated terrain part of SASVRT allows the user to input contours of altitude and based on all present information, interpolates a minimum safe altitude for flight. This information is also relayed to the user during flight. If multiple aerial vehicles are recognized by the autopilot operator interface) SASVRT will relay to the user the distances between a vehicle and any other vehicles present. Finally, in order to provide synthetic vision, SASVR:T relays telemetry data from the aircraft to AVDS, an aircraft simulation program, to provide a real-time visualization of the aircraft's position and attitude relative to a synthetic terrain constructed based on information entered by the user. The visualization can be thought of as the view from a virtual camera that can be placed anywhere relative to the UAV or ground. Furthermore, the virtual camera can be oriented such that it provides a view from the cockpit, providing synthetic vision for the UAV operator, the fidelity of which is limited only by available maps and GPS accuracy. This report and the accompanying SASVRT program, provide a much enhanced methodology for safe operation during UAV flight testing, as well as improved operational capabilities.