This descriptive study examines participant reactions to a new framework categorizing aging-in-place (AIP) services with AI and robotics through a think-aloud method. Using grounded theory, we examined older adults’ perceptions of AI’s role in promoting independence. The framework consists of four AI archetypes that address the cognitive and functional needs of the elderly with physical or digital interventions: Advisor AI, Burler Robot AI, Valet Robot AI, and Conductor AI. The authors conducted virtual interviews with four Boston-based retirees (mean age 70), revealing expectations and concerns regarding health monitoring, routine assistance, and social well-being. The findings emphasize inclusivity, adaptability, and practical relevance for aging populations and underscore the importance of trust, lifestyle integration, and adaptability in fostering meaningful AIP applications.

Academic inquiries into the motivations and experiences of live music audiences have typically focused on the communal and social experience of concerts and festivals, whereas the experience of individual concertgoers has been relatively unexplored, especially in popular music contexts. In this article, qualitative interviews and focus groups were undertaken with self-declared progressive rock fans to understand their often-individualised engagement with the live music experience. The findings demonstrate the importance of live music performance and appreciation, attentive listening, and detailed personal evaluation of the musicians and their performances to these fans. The co-presence of others in the live music setting served to legitimise not only these fans’ tastes in music but also their individualised way of engaging with, experiencing, and enjoying the concert experience: their preference for the ‘text’ over ‘context’.

As we enter the era of longevity economics, the desire for longer life spans and health spans is increasingly prevalent. Recognizing the importance of longevity planning (LP) has become particularly significant, as individuals seek to enhance lifespan quality starting at younger ages. This article explores how 12 LP blocks (LPBs) can serve as boundary objects (BOs) to facilitate conversations and identify user needs in LP services. Using constructivist grounded theory, this research analyzes data from 69 in-person experiments at MIT AgeLab, across adulthood (25–54 years), preretirement (55–64 years) and postretirement (65–74 years). Through a qualitative data analysis supported by a comparison of surveys, the authors identified and clustered 51 initial codes, 15 focused codes, 5 axial codes and 1 thematic code. This led to the development of four personas, each corresponding to one of the four types of BOs defined by Star in 1989: repositories, ideal types, terrains with coincident boundaries and forms and labels. The findings highlight the value and challenges of using LPBs as BOs to enhance LP service, ultimately contributing to design for longevity (D4L). This qualitative research aims to facilitate sensitive conversations and foster comprehension of D4L, positioning LPBs as components in creating LP services.

Whereas the growing body of research into algorithmic memory technologies and the platformisation of memory has a media-centric approach, this article engages with the question of how users experience and make sense of such omnipresent technologies. By means of a questionnaire and follow-up qualitative interviews with young adults (born between 1997 and 2005) and a Grounded Theory approach, we empirically examine an object of study that has been mainly explored theoretically. Our study found four major experiences associated with algorithmic memory technologies: intrusive, dissonant, nostalgic, and practical. Connected to these experiences, we found four sets of practices and strategies of use: avoidance and non-use; curating and training; reminiscing; and cognitive offloading and managing identity through memory. Our results show that our participants’ use and awareness of algorithmic memory technologies are diverse and, at times, contradictory, and shape their attitudes towards their memories, whether they are mediated or not. Hence, our study offers nuances and new perspectives to extant research into algorithmic memory technologies, which often assumes particular users and uses.

Access to heterogeneous knowledge resources is suggested in the literature as an important explanation of firm innovation and performance. The exchange of knowledge, however, can be a complex managerial challenge, especially between different epistemic communities. Our research focuses on the concept of epistemic communities to illuminate the complexity of tensions that arise in heterogeneous knowledge exchange in alliances, thus filling a gap in the literature. Using the Straussian grounded theory case study approach, our research investigates the emergence of horizontal, vertical, and inter-organizational epistemic tensions and explores management controls as instruments to guide the knowledge exchange in intermediary-driven research and development alliances. We find that the source of multiple epistemic tensions is rooted in the natural social behaviors of epistemic community members and further shows how these behaviors influence the effective use of inter-organizational management controls in facilitating heterogeneous knowledge exchange.

Language MOOC research has experienced a notable evolution from practice to conceptuality since its emergence as a subdiscipline of computer-assisted language learning. The versatility of the MOOC format for language learning has led to experimental designs that combine linguistic acquisition with other educational activities. This has been considered to be conducive to new ways of understanding how language learning occurs in LMOOCs, although there is no solid classification of LMOOCs subtypes to date based on course design. This study aimed to contribute to the conceptualisation of the field by creating a taxonomy for existing LMOOCs. Grounded theory strategies were adopted, so evidence was systematically collected to develop conceptual categories based on a thorough analysis process of the syllabus and short description of 432 courses. As a result, six LMOOC modalities emerged from the analysis: general language learning LMOOCs, LMOOCs for academic purposes, LMOOCs for professional purposes, LMOOCs focused on a specific language skill development, cultural-oriented LMOOCs, and meta-language learning LMOOCs. This study means a significant contribution to the LMOOC research field inasmuch as it is one of the first empirical-based attempts to broaden the definition of LMOOC.

Research on interorganisational collaboration is longstanding however the role leadership plays in such collaborations is often neglected. Using grounded theory, we present a process model of ‘leadership by cavea’ whereby the relationships across organisations involved in a collaborative project were structured according to hierarchies of privilege, determined by the inherent power of ‘bonding’ social capital. While it emerged that cultural capital was a more valuable resource, this was recognised too late in the leadership process for it to make a necessary contribution. Our findings demonstrate that when seeking to practice collaborative leadership across organisations, individuals and the organisations they represent must be aware of the power they hold and wield, even needing to share or relinquish power to ensure that hierarchies of privilege do not hinder efforts to achieve mutual goals.

The objective of this qualitative assessment, utilising the constant comparative method, was to identify satisfiers and dissatisfiers that influence paediatric cardiac ICU nurse retention and recognise areas for improvement. Interviews for this study were performed in a single, large academic children’s hospital from March of 2020 through July of 2020. Each bedside paediatric cardiac ICU nurse underwent a single semi-structured interview. Among 12 interviews, four satisfiers were identified: paediatric cardiac ICU patient population, paediatric cardiac ICU care team, personal accomplishment, and respect. Four dissatisfiers were identified: moral distress, fear, poor team dynamics, and disrespect. Through this process of inquiry, grounded theory was developed regarding strategies to improve paediatric cardiac ICU nurse retention. Tactics outlined here should be used to support retention in the unique environment of the paediatric cardiac ICU.

Climate change is profoundly modifying the earth’s environment, making certain territories uninhabitable. Faced with this known phenomenon, this article outlines a research approach for assessing the law’s role in encouraging states to preemptively protect individuals who live in deteriorating territories, notably by enabling mobility. The question is, however, far from simple, insofar as most of the ways to adapt to climate change—and particularly mobility, which has important human and social implications—require profound societal choices that anthropology has the tools to study. I therefore accompany my legal research with an anthropological approach centered around ethnography conducted at three sites—France, Guadeloupe, Senegal—where state-sponsored mobility is either being considered or already being used as an option to confront the progressive disappearance of land that is being swept away by the sea.