Social Science & Social Studies

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    Irish emigration: a study on why people still emigrate from contemporary Ireland
    (Dublin Business School, 2020) Maher, Gavin; Jorgensen, Annette
    As the world appears to be growing into an increasing globalised one, so too does contemporary Ireland. Ireland has always seen periods of emigration throughout its modern history and modern-day Ireland is no exception. This study attempts to research what causes people to leave their country even at a time when Ireland is economically strong. The findings will show that people are in search of a better life with more opportunities than exist in Ireland. People want to experience what the world has to offer and become more financially secure. The participants of this study show that once they have lived several years abroad, they were also ready to return to Ireland and start back with a better, more fulfilled life. Emigration is also a difficult choice that an individual may have to make, thus the research also attempts to understand what some of the key causes may be.
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    The impact of Facebook usage on one's self-esteem and personality.
    (Dublin Business School, 2019) Bigler, Stephen; Quinn, Bernadette
    Facebook use is very popular among many different groups of people in societies worldwide, but many questions remain unanswered regarding individual traits that are antecedents of individual behaviours enacted online. Research suggests that low levels of self-esteem are linked to Facebook intensity usage, however, such findings have also found to be inconsistent, as studies have put forth alternative suggestions of the opposite or no links to Facebook intensity usage. The main aim of this study was to investigate deeper the relationship between self-esteem and Facebook usage with other factors such as personality attributes, gender and age also examined. Data was collected by means of a self-report questionnaire sent to a sample of 244 Facebook users of which 176 were female, 67 were male and 1 was other. The sample had a mean age of 33 years, the minimum age being 18 years and the maximum age being 71 years. Quantitative self-report scales such as the Multidimensional Facebook Intensity Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory-(TIPI) Scale were incorporated into the questionnaire. The results reported that Facebook intensity was not associated with self-esteem. However, results did indicate an association between self-esteem and time spent on Facebook. The results showed that female participants showed a higher Facebook intensity than males. There was a small significant correlation found between personality attributes in total and Facebook intensity. However, extraversion, openness and agreeableness scored significantly high with Facebook intensity with these personality attributes associated with higher levels of Facebook intensity. The study also reported that there was no relationship between age and Facebook intensity. Future research studies in this area should investigate deeper the underlying causal relations using a longitudinal and observational research approach.
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    What effect is the media having on how people view and hear about the catholic church in Ireland?
    (Dublin Business School, 2019) Behan, Phil; Halligan, Paul
    The clerical sexual abuse scandals in Ireland has done untold reputational damage to the Catholic Church in Ireland. During and after the scandals, the media provided the Catholic Church with a grovelling platform as it tried to placate the Irish public. The media used their position to negatively portray the Catholic Church to the Irish people. The aims of this research are to examine what effect is the media having on peoples view towards the Catholic Church in Ireland, and to explore how people are now hearing about the Catholic Church in Ireland. The research, conducted using a quantitative data led study, consisted of a ten-point questionnaire. A total of 217 participants responded to the questionnaire. The sample was random and was made up of students from Dublin Business School and employees from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin. The results showed that participants think the media is having a negative effect over their views of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The results also showed that participants are now mainly hearing about the Catholic Church through the media. The conclusion of this research is that the media is having a negative effect on people’s views towards the Catholic Church in Ireland, and most people are now hearing about developments in the Catholic Church through the media.
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    Celebrating neuro-diversity in Irish workplace, enabling support practices and disabling barriers.
    (Dublin Business School, 2019) Li, Le; Halligan, Paul
    People with Autism face more challenges than an average person in workplace due to challenges they experience with social interaction and sensory sensitivity. In neuro-typical dominated workplace, societal mis-conceptions on the nature of the challenges they experience and on top of it, social and physical environment of the workplace that are not built for them are the main employment barriers. Neuro-diversity is not only viewed as a concept to recognize neurological differences as natural human variations, but also as a social movement that advocates to celebrate autistic forms of perceiving and striving in the world. Many argued with empirical evidences that there is inherent strength that lies in Neuro-diversity. There is a research deficit to explore disabling employment barriers and enabling vocational support practices that are underpinned by the concept of neuro-diversity for high functioning autistic adults in Irish society. The aim of the research is to fill this gap. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among vocational rehabilitation support staffs and neuro-typical employees who were closely working with high functioning autistic employees. IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) was applied to perform data collection and analysis. There are two main findings emerged that were not found in Irish Autism literature. One is, it has been empirically proven the importance of acknowledging the individualistic nature of neuro-diversity. Fully embracing it has significantly helped vocational support professionals in Ireland to devise individually-tailored support that unleashed autistic individual’s strengths and abilities in workplace. This finding supports the argument that the causes of developing mental health problems among autistic adults are complex and multifaceted. Lacking right support is one of the prevailing reasons for social exclusion. This finding challenges the existing finding that social skill deficits is the main reason in developing mental health issues for autistic population.
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    If you want to have a house, you have to stay quiet: Housing experiences of Polish and Romanian migrants in Ireland
    (Dublin Business School, 2019) Grabiec, Justyna; Jorgensen, Annette
    Although migration has been part of human history, we could say that in the 21st-century economic drivers of migration are more powerful than ever, yet in a multicultural country like Ireland where diversity is encouraged many migrants struggle with making a new home. The current housing crisis means that many migrants live in fear of losing their home with nowhere to return. While a number of studies have been carried out in recent time in Ireland on the growing issue of housing, there is no current study on housing experiences of the migrant population. This research aimed to explore the housing experiences of Polish and Romanian migrants in Ireland and picks up on issues related to the current housing crisis. The qualitative method was used, with semi-structured interviews with two Polish and two Romanian migrant participants and one NGO officer who gave an informed opinion on housing experiences of Polish and Romanian migrants, and enhance the data with statistics and migrant and housing policy recognition. The results showed that while some migrants have their sense of home in Ireland, they all are facing challenges when it comes to housing. In addition, the most significant finding from this study seems to be that the migrants might be affected more by the housing crisis than the rest of Irish society. Based on these findings it was recommended that a qualitative method study should be used for future research with a view to collect results that are representative of the entire migrant population in Ireland. Furthermore, the results from this research study provide useful information for future housing intervention programs and promote housing human rights.