Time use surveys, social practice theory, and activity connections.

Social practice theory (SPT) represents a growing body of research that takes the 'doings and sayings' (social practices) of everyday life as its core unit of enquiry. Time use surveys (TUS) represent a substantial source of micro-data regarding how activities are performed across the 24-h day. Given their apparent complementarities, we ask why TUS have not been utilised more extensively within SPT-inspired research. We advance two contentions: (1) ontological tensions obscure the relevance of TUS data in addressing core SPT research questions, and (2) SPT concepts do not readily translate for application in TUS analysis. In response, we operationalise Schatzki's (2019) concepts of activity events and chains to explore types and forms of temporal activity connection. Using TUS data we examine three activity events: sleeping, reading, and eating. Two types of temporal activity connection (sequence and synchronisation) are identified, together with four forms of connectivity (degrees of uniformity/diversity, sequential directionality, time-varying connections, and symmetrical/asymmetrical relationships). While practices cannot be reduced to activity connections, we argue that this analytical approach offers a systematic basis for examining the ways in which activities combine to underpin the organisation of social practices. Further analysis to compare activity connections across practices, between different groups of practitioners, and over time would offer a valuable resource to empirically examine claims regarding core processes of societal change. We further contend that SPT approaches offer insights for time use research by providing a framework capable of recognising that activities are dynamic and variable rather than homogeneous and stable categories.

A critical exploration of the diets of UK disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation: a scoping review of qualitative literature using a social practice theory lens.

The UK food system affects social, economic and natural environments and features escalating risk of food insecurity. Yet it should provide access to safe, nutritious, affordable food for all citizens. Disadvantaged UK communities [individuals and families at risk of food and housing insecurity, often culturally diverse] have often been conceptualised in terms of individual behaviour which may lead to findings and conclusions based on the need for individual change. Such communities face public health challenges and are often treated as powerless recipients of dietary and health initiatives or as 'choiceless' consumers within food supply chains. As transforming the UK food system has become a national priority, it is important a diverse range of evidence is used to support understanding of the diets of disadvantaged communities to inform food systems transformation research.A scoping review of UK peer reviewed qualitative literature published in MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Web of Science between January 2010 and May 2021 in English. Eligibility criteria were applied, a data extraction table summarised data from included studies, and synthesis using social practice theory was undertaken.Forty-five qualitative studies were reviewed, which included the views of 2,434 community members aged between 5 and 83. Studies used different measures to define disadvantage. Synthesis using social practice theory identified themes of food and dietary practices shaped by interactions between 'material factors' (e.g. transport, housing and money), 'meanings' (e.g. autonomy and independence), and 'competencies' (e.g. strategies to maximise food intake). These concepts are analysed and critiqued in the context of the wider literature to inform food systems transformation research.This review suggests to date, qualitative research into diets of UK disadvantaged communities provides diverse findings that mainly conceptualise disadvantage at an individual level. Whilst several studies provide excellent characterisations of individual experience, links to 'macro' processes such as supply chains are largely missing. Recommendations are made for future research to embrace transdisciplinary perspectives and utilise new tools (e.g., creative methods and good practice guides), and theories (e.g., assemblage) to better facilitate food systems transformation for disadvantaged communities.

Using social practice theory in measuring perceived stigma among female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya.

BACKGROUND: Perceived stigma is a complex societal phenomenon that is harboured especially by female sex workers because of the interplay of a myriad of factors. As such, a precise measure of the contribution of different social practices and characteristics is necessary for both understanding and intervening in matters related to perceived stigma. We developed a Perceived Stigma Index that measures the factors that greatly contribute to the stigma among sex workers in Kenya, and thereby inform a framework for future interventions. METHODS: Social Practice Theory was adopted in the development of the Perceived Stigma Index in which three social domains were extracted from data collected in the WHISPER or SHOUT study conducted among female sex workers (FSW), aged 16-35 years in Mombasa, Kenya. The three domains included: Social demographics, Relationship Control and Sexual and Gender-based Violence, and Society awareness of sexual and reproductive history. The factor assessment entailed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and the internal consistency of the index was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. RESULTS: We developed a perceived stigma index to measure perceived stigma among 882 FSWs with a median age of 26 years. A Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85-0.88) was obtained as a measure of the internal consistency of our index using the Social Practice Theory. In regression analysis, we identified three major factors that contribute to the perceived stigma and consists of : (i) income and family support (ß = 1.69; 95% CI); (ii) society's awareness of the sex workers' sexual and reproductive history (ß = 3.54; 95% CI); and (iii) different forms of relationship control e.g. physical abuse (ß = 1.48; 95%CI that propagate the perceived stigma among the FSWs. CONCLUSION: Social practice theory has solid properties that support and capture the multi-dimensional nature of perceived stigma. The findings support the fact that social practices contribute or provoke this fear of being discriminated against. Thus, in offering interventions to curb perceived stigma, focus should fall on the education of the society on the importance of acceptance and integration of the FSWs as part of the society and the eradication of sexual and gender based violence meted out on them. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12616000852459.

Transforming practice chains through ideological objects: How plant-based meats impact consumers' everyday food practices.

This research investigates the impact of the introduction of plant-based meats (PBMs) on consumers' food practices. Based on the results of 21 in-depth interviews with consumers who use PBMs, this research uses practice theory to explore how the adoption of PBMs affects linked food practices and the meanings associated with these practices. We find that consumers adopt PBMs due to either a desire for meaning coherence or for practicality. Subsequently there are social and embodied ripple consequences associated with this adoption, with consumers revising their social food practices, reconfiguring their understandings of health, and re-orienting their relationship to their body. Our findings extend the research on practice theory by examining how the adoption of a new category of ideological objects shapes other linked consumption practices. Practically, our findings provide important insights for dietary, marketing and health practitioners to understand the overall impact of PBM adoption on consumers' dietary patterns and practices, and their perception about health and body.

'It's just pølse': Convenient meat consumption and reduction in Norway.

Meat consumption and convenience food are both located at the heart of contemporary, industrialized, unhealthy and unsustainable food systems. In this article, we study the intersections between convenience food and 'meatification' of diets, focusing on the 'pølse'-an umbrella term including both hotdogs and a range of sausages-as the epitome of convenience food in Norway. We explore how the pølse is embedded in Norwegian food practices, and why it is considered convenient in different contexts. In doing so, we seek to explain how pølse eating is co-shaped by socio-material scripting processes that further entrench meat in food practices and complicate meat-reduction efforts. The analysis is based on 52 in-depth household interviews and autophotography in four geographical contexts in Norway, in addition to 22 park interviews and survey data centering on household food and meat practices. We use a theoretical apparatus combining social practice theory, foodscapes and socio-material scripts to analyse the conveniencization of pølse. The articles demonstrates how meat consumption and convenience food become entwined in specific social practices, and how conveniencization intersects with practices of care, notions of class, social expectations and normativity. Moreover, we show that despite the range of plant-based 'pølse' substitutes on offer, meat-eaters remain skeptical to its taste, and substitutes rather seem to offer a way into established social occasions for non-meat eaters than a way out of meat eating.

Community response to COVID-19: The case of rental housing cooperatives in Melbourne, Australia and Choluteca, Honduras.

COVID-19 and its restrictions have had widely documented negative impacts for private and social rental sectors, internationally. Limited evidence exists about how the pandemic effects were experienced in alternative forms of renting such as housing cooperatives. Rental cooperatives, recognised for their principles of democratic control, education and training and concern for community, may offer different outcomes for members than more individually-oriented rental forms. This paper seeks to explore whether and how COVID-19 was responded to within cooperative rental housing models, and if the pandemic posed a challenge to cooperative principles. Using a social practices approach, the analysis first identifies cooperative members' formal and informal responses to COVID-19, and second explores the meaning of such activities in the pandemic context in Australia and Honduras cooperatives. The continuity of usual housing cooperative practices and pandemic measures were analysed via in-depth interviews with 15 residents. Findings indicate that cooperative responses acted to reduce negative impacts of the pandemic or to find effective solutions. Rental housing cooperative residents' lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, invite us to reflect on the role of housing cooperatives in the housing sector, the importance of collaborative housing models and the relevance of housing-based community resilience.

Consumer adoption of plant-based meat substitutes: A network of social practices.

This research aimed to understand the consumption practices of plant-based meat substitutes (PBMS). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with consumers and Social Practice Theory (SPT) was adopted as the theoretical framework to explore emerging themes relating to consumer practices. Findings indicate that consumers engage in a number of related practices that include the acquisition, preparation, and consumption of PBMS which were embedded within a larger network of practices that included storage, substitution, and food safety, as well as broader meat-based, meat-free, plant-based, and social and cultural practices. This paper highlights the importance of social and cultural structures in facilitating product awareness, and meaning and skill development in the context of dietary and behavioural change. Implications for research, marketing, and policymaking practices are discussed with regard to the marketing of plant-based meat substitutes as well as shifting consumer behaviour.

Crisis management in practice: a dynamic process intertwined with daily work performance.

This paper explores how a social services unit in Sweden coped with the large influx of unaccompanied children during the refugee situation in 2015. Crisis management is approached using social practice theory to examine how everyday work practices and their constituent resources informed personnel's management of the chaotic circumstances. The research data consist of practice-based interviews with managerial staff from social services and operational staff at homes for unaccompanied children, as well as manuals and printed routines. The analysis demonstrates that they coped with the challenges posed by the refugee situation by adopting competences, mobilising meanings, and adapting material resources belonging to different practices of everyday work. The paper concludes by emphasising the importance of studying crisis management from a practice-based perspective as a complement to framing it as a static asset of organisations-governed by institutionalised practices-which has implications for defining what constitutes crisis management and who can become crisis managers.

Swedish recreational athletes as subjects for sustainable food consumption: focus on performance and sustainability.

A high food intake can contribute to increased greenhouse-gas emissions, and therefore consumers with a high energy intake are important to include when exploring sustainable foodways. In this paper, semi-structured interviews and a seven-day food record were used to understand the climate impact of food, analyse mundane food practices, and identify sustainable routines among high-energy consumers represented by a group of recreational athletes. Social practice theory and the interdependent relationship between competence, material, and meaning unfold an Athletic performance-related food practice with a focus on performance, time-saving strategies, structured eating, and a possible Climate-conscious athletic performance-related food practice where the food practice also includes important sustainability aspects. The results indicate a high carbon footprint from high energy and dairy and whey protein intake. Some recreational athletes demonstrate an awareness of the climate impact of food, but they need to be convinced that more sustainable ways are possible without jeopardising athletic performance.

Dietary practices of Iranian migrant women in the United Kingdom.

This research investigates the role of migration on the dietary practices of Iranian migrant women in the United Kingdom. It takes into account previous studies that migration leads to poorer socio-economic status of women that limits their food choices. Conversely, a study in Britain reveals that Iranian migrants continue with their traditional Iranian food practices. This qualitative study was informed by social practice theory, which posits that practices depend on the integration of three key elements: materials, competences and meanings. The study participants were 22 first generation Iranian migrant women aged 24-64 residing in London. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured, individual interviews and were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that despite the diminished socio-economic status of some recent migrant women, the widespread multicultural food stores (materials), the affordable food prices, coupled with the women's cooking skills and improved knowledge of healthy food (greater competences) result in colonizing their energy, time, skills and budget (competences) in preparing healthy foods amongst those living with family members. At a personal level, most single women without children acknowledged their improved knowledge as the key to eating a healthy diet in Britain. Some women, however, recognize resorting to overeating to cope with the psychological demands of migration. Future studies need to focus on identifying the best possible supports for the Iranian migrant women in Britain from the early stages of their migration.

Food practices as part of daily routines: A conceptual framework for analysing networks of practices.

Current debates about the need to change daily practices to address sustainability or health issues often neglect to recognise that single practices like eating are embedded in daily routines and connected to a multitude of other practices that take place within networks. While connections, such as complexes, bundles or nexuses, are mentioned in extant literature, a clear definition of these categories and their operationalisation for empirical research is missing. This conceptual study aims to fill this gap by proposing an analytical framework for a network of practices that joins multiple authors' concepts and supports empirical analyses that aim to understand the complex intertwining of practices in daily life, as well as the challenges to changing them. Inspired by the concepts of 'zooming in and out' (Nicolini, 2012), we propose several explorative steps to support the operationalisation process. 'Zooming in' at practices aims for a deeper understanding of the performance within single practices, exploring their internal variations, including elements (i.e. material, meanings and competences), as well as spatial (i.e. in and outside), temporal (e.g. hours, days) and social (e.g. alone, with friends) dimensions. 'Zooming out' for connections between practices explores the various connections single practices have to other practices as complexes, bundles and nexuses, as well as the role of 'external' contexts influencing those dynamics. The framework's benefits are illustrated with examples that refer to the practice of eating and its interconnectedness with other food practices, with other daily practices and with external contexts, such as the surrounding food distribution systems. Our contribution is centred on how such an operationalisation may support the analysis of current and past networks of practices but also possible changes in daily practices in the future.

Shedding new light on the (in)compatibility of chronic disease management with everyday life - social practice theory, mobile technologies and the interwoven time-spaces of teenage life.

This article uses a socio-material approach, social practice theory, to provide new insights into the self-management of chronic illness. It demonstrates how this theory can bridge arguments about the respective roles of social and individual influences, and how it can foreground an oft-overlooked aspect of the issue - the demands of self-care technologies and consequences for participation in social life. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 25 young type-1 diabetes outpatients in London, UK, the study points to the conflicts that occur when disease management technologies compete for time and space with the social practices of everyday life, and when self-care tasks threaten to interrupt the flow of social life and make people feel 'left behind'. The paper concludes that young people are disabled by the contingent position of self-care activities in daily life, which oblige them to compromise either their physical health or their immersion in the social world. This disabling effect would be mitigated if social practices were reorganised to make them more amenable to the time-space requirements of disease management. A social practice theory lens can help throw light onto this issue and make a valuable contribution to the study of the self-management of chronic illness.

Cutting through conflicting prescriptions: How guidelines inform "healthy and sustainable" diets in Switzerland.

This paper takes as a starting point "food consumption prescriptions", or guidelines on what and how one should eat when it comes to "healthy and sustainable diets". Through qualitative research in Switzerland, involving discourse analysis, observations, in-depth interviews, and focus groups, we set out to uncover the more dominant prescriptions put forward by a variety of actors, how consumers represent these prescriptions, as well as overlaps and tensions between them. The notion of a "balanced meal" is the more prominent prescription, along with the idea that food and eating should be "pleasurable". Guidelines towards eating local and seasonal products overlap with organic and natural food consumption, while prescriptions to eat less meat of higher quality are in tension with prescriptions around vegetarian and vegan diets. We then consider how prescriptions play out in daily life, as both a resource and obstacle towards the establishment of eating habits, and what dimensions of everyday life have the most influence on how certain prescriptions are enacted - contributing to conceptual deliberations on food in relation to social practices. Time, mobility, and the relationships built around food and eating are forces to be reckoned with when considering possible transitions towards the normative goal of "healthier and more sustainable diets".

Storying energy consumption: Collective video storytelling in energy efficiency social marketing.

Despite calls for more socio-technical research on energy, there is little practical advice to how narratives collected through qualitative research may be melded with technical knowledge from the physical sciences such as engineering and then applied in energy efficiency social action strategies. This is despite established knowledge in the environmental management literature about domestic energy use regarding the utility of social practice theory and narrative framings that socialise everyday consumption. Storytelling is positioned in this paper both as a focus for socio-technical energy research, and as one potential practical tool that can arguably enhance energy efficiency interventions. We draw upon the literature on everyday social practices, and storytelling, to present our framework called 'collective video storytelling' that combines scientific and lay knowledge about domestic energy use to offer a practical tool for energy efficiency management. Collective video storytelling is discussed in the context of Energy+Illawarra, a 3-year cross-disciplinary collaboration between social marketers, human geographers, and engineers to target energy behavioural change within older low-income households in regional NSW, Australia.

Storytelling as part of cancer rehabilitation to support cancer patients and their relatives.

Previous research on psychosocial support for cancer-related concerns has primarily focused on either patients or their relatives, although limited research is available on how patients and their relatives can be supported together. The aim of this article is to explore the use of storytelling as a part of a residential cancer rehabilitation intervention for patients together with their relatives, with a specific focus on their management of cancer-related concerns. Ten pairs participated in the intervention and data were generated through ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observations, informal conversations and follow-up interviews conducted one month after completing the intervention. Analysis was performed drawing on narrative theory combined with social practice theory. The results demonstrate that the use of storytelling and metaphors intertwined with other course activities, such as dancing and arts & crafts, provided the patients and their relatives with strategies to manage cancer-related concerns, which they were later able to apply in their everyday lives. The study results may be useful to other professionals in clinical practice for rehabilitation purposes for addressing issues of fear and worry.

How do people drink alcohol at a low-risk level?

Reducing the risks associated with drinking is an ongoing public health goal. Approximately two-fifths of Australian adults consume alcohol within low-risk guidelines, yet little is known about their drinking patterns or practices. In this paper, we use social practice theory to consider low-risk drinking at home as a routinised social practice with material, meaning and competence dimensions. We analysed open-text survey responses from 252 Australian adults (30-65, 89% female) who were considered low-risk drinkers. A low-risk drinking occasion was typically closely linked to other practices such as eating dinner or connecting with family or friends. Drinking alcohol, even in small amounts, was associated with enjoyment. Being attuned to bodily sensations and applying some self-imposed rules were competencies that allowed low-risk drinkers to avoid intoxication. Low-risk drinking practices entail some elements that can inform health promotion, including encouraging efforts to limit drinking to times of the day (e.g. during meals) and to attend to bodily feelings of sufficiency. The study also shows how low-risk drinking is entangled with gendered and age-related norms about drinking, and facilitated by rarely being in 'intoxigenic' environments. These factors are imbricated with individual decisions in our respondents' capacity to consume alcohol moderately.

Change and stability in British drinking practices and culture between 2009 and 2019: A longitudinal latent class analysis of drinking occasions.

Rationale: Theories of practice can support understanding of health-related behaviours, but few studies use quantitative methods to understand time-trends in practices. This paper describes changes in the prevalence and performance of alcohol drinking practices in Great Britain between 2009 and 2019. Methods: Latent class analyses of annual cross-sectional data collected between 2009 and 2019. The dataset come from a one-week retrospective diary survey of adults resident in Great Britain. It contains 604,578 drinking occasions reported by 213,470 adults (18+) who consumed alcohol in the diary-week. The measures describe occasion characteristics including companions, location, motivation, timings, accompanying activities and alcohol consumed. We estimate separate latent class models for each year and for off-trade only (e.g. home), on-trade only (e.g. bar) and mixed-trade occasions. Results: We identified fifteen practices; four off-trade only, eight on-trade only and three mixed-trade. The prevalence of practices was largely stable over time except for shifts away from drinking with a partner and towards drinking alone in the off-trade, and shifts away from Big nights out and towards other forms of heavy drinking in the on-trade. We identified five key trends in the performance of practices: (i) spirits increasingly replaced wine as the main beverage consumed in occasions; (ii) home-drinking moved away from routinised wine-drinking with meals on weekdays and towards spirits-drinking on weekends; (iii) the Male friends at the pub practice changed less than other pub-drinking practices; (iv) Big nights out started later, often in nightclubs, and involved less pub-drinking or heavy drinking and (v) the meal-based and Going out with partner practice formats showed few changes over time. Conclusion: Key recent trends in British drinking practices include a decline in routinised wine-drinking at home, a transformation of big nights out and a mixture of stability and change in pub- and meal-based practices.

Exploring the data divide through a social practice lens: A qualitative study of UK cattle farmers.

Appropriate management decisions are key for sustainable and profitable beef and dairy farming. Data-driven technologies aim to provide information which can improve farmers' decision-making practices. However, data-driven technologies have resulted in the emergence of a "data divide", in which there is a gap between the generation and use of data. Our study aims to further understand the data divide by drawing on social practice theory to recognise the emergence, linkages, and reproduction of youngstock data practices on cattle farms in the UK. Eight focus groups with fifteen beef and nineteen dairy farmers were completed. The topics of discussion included data use, technology use, disease management in youngstock, and future goals for their farm. The transcribed data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with a social practice lens. Social practice theory uses practices as the unit of analysis, rather than focusing on individual behaviours. Practices are formed of three elements: meaning (e.g., beliefs), materials (e.g., objects), and competencies (e.g., skills) and are connected in time and space. We conceptualised the data divide as a disconnection of data collection practices and data use and interpretation practices. Consequently, we were able to generate five themes that represent these breaks in connection.Our findings suggest that a data divide exists because of meanings that de-stabilise practices, tensions in farmers' competencies to perform practices, spatial and temporal disconnects, and lack of forms of feedback on data practices. The data preparation practice, where farmers had to merge different data sources or type up handwritten data, had negative meanings attached to it and was therefore sometimes not performed. Farmers tended to associate data and technology practices with larger dairy farms, which could restrict beef and small-scale dairy farms from performing these practices. Some farmers suggested that they lacked the skills to use technologies and struggled to transform their data into meaningful outputs. Data preparation and data use and interpretation practices were often tied to an office space because of the required infrastructure, but farmers preferred to spend time outdoors and with their animals. There appeared to be no normalisation of what data should be collected or what data should be analysed, which made it difficult for farmers to benchmark their progress. Some farmers did not have access to discussion groups or veterinarians who were interested in data and therefore could not get feedback on their data practices.These results suggest that the data divide exists because of three types of disconnect: a disconnect between elements within a practice because of tensions in competencies or negative meanings to perform a practice; a disconnect between practices because of temporal or spatial differences; and a break in the reproduction of practices because of lack of feedback on their practices. Data use on farms can be improved through transformation of practices by ensuring farmers have input in the design of technologies so that they align with their values and competencies.

Ethical consumption: why should we understand it as a social practice within a multilevel framework?

This article discusses the importance of a multilevel and intertwined understanding of ethical consumption given its conjunction with other social practices. Although the literature on ethical consumption is vast, the role of sociotechnical regimes including technological and cultural elements, infrastructure, market and regulation has been mainly overlooked in this literature. This may be so because ethical consumption practices that refer to other-oriented consumption practices are mainly considered in the view of the motivations and preferences of individual consumers. Due to the insufficiency of individualistic approaches in explaining stimulators and inhibitors of ethical consumption, there might be "various constraints" and "competing demands" in society which limit the formation of "ethical consumption". Therefore, to avoid an oversimplified view of ethical consumption, this paper contributes with a theoretical discussion on combining social practice theory (SPT) with a multi-level perspective (MLP). Although the SPT is a very well-structured framework in consumption studies, the necessity of a combined approach concerns the often-insufficient attention paid to structural prerequisites of various consumption forms in social practice theories. By understanding ethical consumption practices according to a multi-level framework, the paper emphasizes the importance of structural factors at macro- and mesolevels. It also contributes attention to how ethical consumption grows due to dialectical processes between levels, showing that niche practices can simultaneously challenge and rely on existing regimes.

A Conceptual Framework for Food Sharing as Collaborative Consumption.

Food waste has increased significantly and become a global issue amidst a growing concern regarding famine in several countries. Food sharing constitutes the solution to the problem provided an appropriate framework is developed that guides its application. The sharing economy was touted as the appropriate framework, yet it is excessively macroscopic to be able to capture the dynamics of food sharing activities. A microscopic framework is required to overcome this problem, the concept of collaborative consumption with its focus on activity level being one potential solution. However, an investigation into how food sharing activities can be viewed as collaborative consumption should be completed. This paper presents an analysis of the relationship between food sharing activities and collaborative consumption. The authors employed a systematic literature review conducted by meta-analysis and content analysis to identify the commonalities between the two and the theories underlying them. The result is a conceptual framework of food sharing activities as a collaborative consumption practice. The framework highlights eight propositions that can explain the intention, performance, and continuity of food sharing activities. At the end of the paper, the authors outline the theoretical and managerial contributions and recommend future research activities.