Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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Chapter II: (Occupational) Stress & Organisations
The following chapter outlines a very important aspect of
background research, essential to put the thesis into the correct context:
stress and organisations. First of all a range of definitions and approaches
to stress are critically discussed, together with an assessment as to the
appropriateness of their use in the current project. Similarly the main
theoretical writings on psychosocial stress in the workplace are critiqued,
again with a decision of appropriateness of fit within the context of the
current study.
Literature searches were conducted from various sources. For
each of the subjects included in the literature review the format followed
was, as a starting point, a wider reading of the subject area, in particular
from textbooks derived from three main library sources: the Anglia Ruskin
University library (e-books and textual versions), the University of
Gloucestershire library (textual versions) and the Open University online
e-book library. For example, therefore, searching for textbook-based
literature on the Job Demands-Control-Support model were made including
searches for this specific term, searches for psychosocial stress theories,
and searches for stress theories from text books. Following these wider
inquiries more specific e-journal searches were conducted using the
EBSCOHost research database and the Open University online library.
Online libraries within the EBSCOHost database include PsycINFO,
Business Source Premier and PyscARTICLES. Searches within both online
databases were undertaken via the use of specific explorations for journal
article titles as well as searches for ‘key words’ attached to the texts.
Therefore the searches were comprehensive and wide-reaching, using a
variety of appropriate sources which fit the literature.