“Hay Sacks Anonymous”: Living in the Shadow of the Unidentified. Psychological Aspect s of Physical Inactivity from a Phenomenological Perspective

The present qualitative study emanates from a phenomenological perspective and has the purpose of creating an understanding for what a so-called “hay sack” is as well as understanding the experiences of a hay sack. In this context a hay sack refers to a person with low physical activity. Eight hay sacks between 36-58 years of age were interviewed about their experiences. Karlsson’s (1995) EPP-method was used. The analysis resulted in 13 categories. A hay sack wants to, but is unable to engage in regular physical activity as a consequence of something unidentified, possibly a psychological barrier. Being a hay sack involves thoughts and feelings which are expressed in a variety of ways such as excuses and anxiety about future health

Role of High School Teachers in Swedish Psychology Education: A Phenomenological Study

A descriptive, qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews involving six high school teachers of psychology was carried out in order to ascertain the factors contributing to the outcome of education in the discipline. The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method (EPP-method) was used. Eighteen categories of meaning units were derived from the analysis of the interview materials and are described together with representative quotations taken directly from the raw material. Didactic image but also school leadership, governors, politicians and students all influenced content, organisation and teaching of the psychology course, which is viewed not only as an autonomous subject in its own right but also a necessary preparation of young people for the realities of adulthood

Flight of the H-1B: Inter-Firm Mobility and Return Migration Patterns for Skilled Guest Workers

Critics of the H-1B program for high-skilled workers argue that the program restricts immigrant job mobility and lacks a vehicle for adjusting the number of visas during a recession. We study the job mobility of highly-skilled Indian IT guest workers and provide new evidence on their inter-firm mobility and return migration patterns. We use a unique multi-year firm level dataset to show that, outside of the Great Recession, these workers are mobile and that lower paid guest workers are more likely than higher paid guest workers to separate to another firm in the U.S. We also analyze return migration decisions and find that low wage workers repatriate more than high wage workers, and that this relationship intensified during the Great Recession. This partially mitigates concerns that guest worker visa programs do not adjust to fluctuations in the macro economy. Following this finding, we show that the employment to population ratio (EPOP) for highly-skilled male workers has fallen at a much steeper rate since 2008 than is typically recognized, once we account for the phenomenon of discouraged immigrants

Sensory Isolation in Flotation Tanks: Altered States of Consciousness and Effects on Well-being

A qualitative analysis (The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method) of interviews involving eight patients (depression, burn-out syndrome, and chronic pain) was carried out in order to obtain knowledge regarding the effects of flotation tank therapy. This knowledge might be helpful for both professionals and potential floaters. The analysis resulted in 21 categories, which were summarized as four themes: (a) experiences during flotation, (b) perceived effects afterwards, (c) technical details, and finally (d) the participants ́ background, motivation, and expectations. Floating was perceived as pleasant. An altered state of consciousness was induced, varying from a milder state including profound relaxation and altered time perception, to more powerful with perceptual changes and profound sensations such as out-o f-body experience s and perinatal experiences

Discouraged Immigrants and the Missing Pop in EPOP

We address the impact of declining migration on the measurement of labor market health. We first document an historically significant decline in the growth rate of the U.S. foreign born population since 2000. A decomposition shows that nearly two-thirds of the decline can be attributed to declining pull factors in the U.S. Had this decline not occurred, there would have been approximately 7.2 million more immigrants present in the U.S. in 2013. Making a conservative assumption about the hypothetical likelihood of employment for these "Discouraged Immigrants," a recalculation of the Employment to Population Ratio reveals a 13% larger decline since 2000 than is shown when conventionally measured

Threats and Aggression Directed at Soccer Referees: An Empirical Phenomenological Psychological Study

A descriptive qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews involving seven provincial Soccer Association referees was carried out in order to find out how referees experience threats and aggression directed to soccer referees. The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method (EPP-method) was used. The analysis resulted in thirty categories which were summarized in six themes. The main themes described the perceived causes of threat, reactions to threat, how the referees manage stressful situations, and their motives to referee

Psychotherapeutic Treatment in Combination with Relaxation in a Flotation Tank: Effects on Burn-Out Syndrome

The focus of this study was to investigate experiences gained from treatment combining relaxation in flotation tank with psychotherapy for sufferers from burn-out syndrome . Six people participated in a ten week program. They were all interviewed; the data were analyzed using the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method. Five themes emerged: (a) direct experiences during flotation, (b) effects due to the treatment sessions, (c) psychological transformation, (d) reflections about the treatment program, and (e) demanding and rewarding psychological process over time. All participants went through psychological transformations and improvements in quality of life. At the end of the treatment program, all participants were able continue working full time. This combined program seems to be more therapeutically beneficial than flotation tank treatment alone

The relationship between exercise induced bronchial obstruction and health related quality of life in female and male adolescents from a general population

Background: Previous studies have observed that exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is more common and more strongly related to exercise related breathing problems in female adolescents than male adolescents. However, few studies have investigated the association between EIB and health related quality of life (HRQoL) from a gender perspective. The aim of this study was to examine the association between EIB and HRQoL and physical activity level in female and male adolescents with and without EIB. Methods: From a population based study on exercise-induced breathing problems among adolescents (13-15 years, n = 3838) a cross sectional study with prospective data collection was carried out in a random subsample of 140 adolescents. The subjects in the sample were tested for EIB with a standardised exercise test, of which 49 adolescents were tested positive. HRQoL was assessed with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and the adolescents' physical activity levels were measured objectively with accelerometer. Results: The female subjects with EIB reported a lower HRQoL, both in total score (p = 0.03) and physical functioning score (p = 0.009) and had a lower baseline FEV1 compared to females without EIB (88 vs. 94 % predicted, p = 0.001). No differences were found in HRQoL or baseline lung function between males with or without EIB. There were no differences in minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day between females or males with and without EIB. Conclusion: In a general population, the female adolescents with EIB had lower HRQoL and poorer baseline lung function compared to counterparts without EIB. These differences were not observed in males. EIB does not appear to affect the level of daily physical activity neither in females nor males

New Evidence on Employee Noncompete, No Poach, and No Hire Agreements in the Franchise Sector

This paper presents new evidence on anti-competitive practices in the franchise sector. Drawing from a corpus of Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) filed by 3,716 franchise brands in years 2011- 2023 (partial), I report new information on franchise brands’ use of inter-firm non-solicitation (“no poach”) clauses barring recruitment between firms, no hire clauses barring employment, and franchisor requirements that franchisees use employee non-compete clauses barring workers from joining competitors. Regulatory actions that restricted the enforceability of anti-competitive clauses began to appear in FDDs in 2018. While non-solicitation and no hire clauses have declined in use, the use of non-competes remained stable over time. While prior evidence on anti-competitive practices largely draws from individual complaints, survey data, and limited hand-coded samples, this paper spotlights new methods for finding barriers to worker mobility in large, unstructured text corpora