Methodology Insight

With the widespread application of qualitative research methods in social sciences, grounded theory, as one of the core methods, has coding quality that directly affects the validity and credibility of the theory. The article first elaborates on the connotations and evaluation dimensions of coding quality, pointing out that high-quality coding should meet the requirements of grounded theory in both the process and result dimensions. The main challenges faced in the coding process are the subjectivity of researchers, the complexity of qualitative data, and the lack of unified coding standards. By synthesizing existing research, this paper proposes a systematic coding quality assurance theoretical model, aiming to improve the standardization and scientificity of the coding process. The model emphasizes five key dimensions: researcher quality, coding strategies, reflective practice, collaboration mechanisms, and technical support, and explores how they jointly contribute to the improvement of coding quality. The interrelationships between these dimensions are explicitly discussed to demonstrate their interconnected nature and mutual influence. In addition, the article also discusses the innovativeness and theoretical significance of the model, as well as future research directions, providing new theoretical references and practical guidance for coding quality in qualitative research.

This paper explores attitudes towards Muslims concentration areas in Sydney and Melbourne, two largest Australian cities. Survey data is used (N=1020), collected online and by phone, from people who lived in either ‘metro areas’ (within metropolitan Sydney or Melbourne) or in ‘target areas’, designated as Muslim concentrations based on census data. We analyze quantitative data to establish how attitudes towards Muslims residential concentrations relate to demographic, socio-economic and residential characteristics of respondents. Our data show that a typical ‘concerned citizen’ can be described as older, Christian, lower-educated, unsatisfied with their income and living outside Muslim concentrations. We use qualitative data (open-ended narrative responses) to elucidate why people hold Islamophobic views and how they justify them. We find that non-Muslims who live outside Muslim concentration areas are more concerned about them than those who reside in them and therefore encounter Muslims on a daily basis. This finding supports the ‘contact theory’ of ethnic relations. The article contributes to the body of research into Islamophobia in Western countries.

The research paradigm is the foundation for the construction of the design research model. This study starts from the research paradigm to construct a design research model: the Research Tree Diagram. The crown part of the model presents the different levels of design research from five aspects: ontology, epistemology, methodology, approaches to theory development, research strategies, and data sample ethics. The root of the model shows the influence sources of design studies as an interdisciplinary field. As an information visualization tool, the Research Tree Diagram graphically delineates the multifaceted nature of design research, enabling researchers to systematically comprehend its intrinsic logic and interconnections. For novice researchers, it serves as a pedagogical scaffold to rapidly grasp design research methodologies. The model’s efficacy is validated through a case study that demonstrate its practical application in structuring and executing design research projects. This example illustrates how the diagram facilitates the alignment of theoretical frameworks with empirical practices, ensuring methodological coherence.

This study focuses on additive manufacturing (AM) to remodel an ergonomically optimized Leiqin leg rest. To address the design deficiencies of traditional leg rests regarding playing comfort and stability, iterative optimization techniques were employed alongside the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). Photosensitive resin material was chosen, and a parametric modeling approach was utilized to accurately construct the leg rest model, resulting in the successful development of a double-layer rotating arc-shaped leg rest. Systematic acoustic testing and semi-structured interviews with ten Leiqin players were subsequently conducted for evaluation. The results indicated that the redesigned leg rest significantly outperformed traditional designs in terms of both comfort and stability. This study not only validates the application value of additive manufacturing in enhancing traditional musical instruments but also offers a new technological paradigm for the ergonomic design of musical instrument accessories.  

In 1898, the British acquired the southern parts of Hsin-an County in Chinese mainland and incorporated it into the colony of Hong Kong. This newly acquired land later became known as the “New Territories”. The New Territories were home to four major ethnic groups such as the Punti, Hakka, Tanka, and Hokklo, each with their own distinct settlement patterns and historical cultural backgrounds. The desire of these indigenous villagers (particularly those with land-based communities) to assert their land rights created complexities in land administration and posed challenges for the government in acquiring land for development. The colonial government faced further resistance from indigenous landowners as the political and economic significance of indigenous lands complicated the matters. This paper aims to explore the evolution of the land administration mechanism in the New Territories by examining various types of land-related documents. It also provides reliable archival sources to guide readers in conducting further research on indigenous land-related topic in the New Territories.

This study takes HPV vaccine promotion on Chinese social media platforms (taking WeChat as a case) as the research focus. Grounded in Van Leeuwen’s theoretical framework of “discourse as the recontextualization of social practice” and O’Halloran’s multimodal recontextualization analytical model, it systematically compares multimodal strategies between an official medical guideline and a popular WeChat article in health communication. The study demonstrates that multimodal resources significantly shape public risk perception and behavioral motivation: WeChat posts enhance the accessibility and persuasiveness of health information by reducing cognitive load (e.g., simplified representation of vaccine mechanism), evoking emotional resonance (e.g., vivid illustrations of young female patients), and increasing legitimation via personifying viruses. Through the analysis, the findings reveal that official documents construct scientific authority through professional terminology, data tables, and hierarchical layouts, whereas WeChat articles employ visual metaphors (e.g., anthropomorphic virus imagery), emotional narratives, and interactive designs to reconstruct the social practice of vaccination. On the above basis, this research not only highlights the potential of multimodal discourse in digital public health interventions but also provides methodological insights for increasing public acceptance in health communication. Future studies could investigate audience’s acceptance or cross-cultural comparisons, exploring in-depth understanding of the communicative power of multimodal public health discourse.

Talents play a key role in supporting high-quality economic development. A talent support system typically focuses on five elements: talent quantity, quality, structure, efficiency, and potential. Utilizing an entropy weight method and a coupling coordination degree model, this study analyzed the coupling coordination degree and spatial correlation between regional talent support and high-quality economic development in China utilizing panel data from 31 provinces. The results revealed that talent support is closely related to high-quality economic development. Meanwhile, the coupling coordination degree shows significant regional characteristics, being the highest in eastern China, followed by Central, Northeast, and Western China. Further, talent support in some regions changes due to changes in regional economic and social conditions. In the eastern coastal areas, high-high agglomeration is relatively stable; A few central regions show Low-High type of agglomeration; the west exhibits an increasingly Low-Low agglomeration; and the agglomeration effects in the Central and Northeastern regions is not clear. Multiple regression analysis of the five talent support elements shows that talent efficiency has max Influences on high-quality economic development, followed by talent structure, potential, and quality; however, the effect for talent quality is not as large. Building on these findings, this study finally makes policy recommendations from the perspectives of enhancing talent efficiency, structure, and potential.