Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Ogburn used his social networks to obtain advice on selecting computational equipment for the University of Chicago's new Social Science Research Building in 1929. This was, of course, pre-internet, but one who strongly influenced Ogburn was Lord Kelvin, who had been knighted for his contribution to development of an earlier network that included transatlantic telegraph cables.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Introduction: In many industries equipment and process designs are undertaken with consideration of Human Factors (HF) principles, resulting in a safer environment which minimizes the requirement for human vigilance to prevent errors. There is little published evidence on the effects of HF on medical error. Objective: To determine the potential sources of medication error in an urban Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system using HF principles in a review of existing processes and equipment Methods: Three selected drug storage areas (drug bag, drug boxes and ambulance cupboard) were examined and EMS staff were interviewed by a human factors engineer. Qualitative results were categorized according to the areas examined. Results: Potential sources of medication error included: only tips of drug vials visible and tiny lettering preventing easy identification; drugs stored under other equipment leading to delays in access; snug fit of vials leading to cracking, different vial colours for different batches of the same drug; “look alike” drugs (morphine and epinephrine/pre-loaded syringes of dextrose and bicarbonate). Analysis of medication errors in our system revealed that 13/68 (19.1%) of self reported errors over a 4 year period were likely attributable to system factors. Discussion: Paramedic performance is hindered by many factors (including mental and physical stress) and is manifest by medication errors and inefficiency. HF’s goals are to reduce errors, improve efficiency and reduce mental and physical workload through system design. While limited by its convenience sample size and observational design, this study identifies sources of medication error and potential system corrections for such error. Conclusion: HF can assist in identifying potential sources of medication error and associated solutions in the EMS setting. For product-related problems EMS organizations should work with drug manufacturers to correct factors that lead to error, with emphasis on issues that arise from the challenging environment in which paramedics work. Further studies should be undertaken to determine whether these interventions reduce medication error.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Burke's description of literature as "equipment for living" is a warrant for reflecting on the relation between speech and love expressed in Plato's Phaedrus and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, comparing Plato's speeches on love and Austen's portrayal of marriage proposals. Stanley Cavell's concept of remarriage helps to account for Austen's treatment of love as an intimacy of talk between equals, distinguishing it from Plato's love of teacher for student.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: This paper uses conversation analysis to examine simple status solicitation calls to customer-service agents in an electronics-repair organization, and what participants constitute as an adequate response to these solicitations. Findings include that customers orient to return status as a sufficient response to these solicitations. While data shows that representatives also orient to return status as a sufficient response, representatives do not always provide return status. This raises the possibility that representatives ‘withhold’ return status for particular institutional reasons.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This essay discloses the rhetorical character of white supremacist discourse, which contemporary cultural critics and social scientists have rendered insignificant or taken for granted. Specifically, this essay reexamines and synthesizes previous rhetorical case studies implicating “race,” racism and whiteness in contexts of white European colonialism, fascism and racism in the U.S. I call this discourse “white absolutism,” which is embodied by religious and scientific absolutism, tribalism and scapegoating. White absolutism justifies purging the “black” and “feminine” threats to white masculine (national, regional and cultural) identity, to reestablish white heterosexual patriarchal control. I argue that white absolutism survives in contemporary public and media discourse through black scapegoating, and “blackness” endures as an symbol of negative and essential difference because it integrates ideologies and archetypes of evil.