• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.501-508
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to qualitatively analyze the perceptions of aesthetic values of working women taking ballet fitness classes and to find ways to properly establish ballet fitness classes according to the opinions of the study participants. Participants in the study were 9 working women taking ballet fitness classes at local educational institutions, and FGI (Focus Group Interview) was conducted, and the interview was conducted based on a semi-structured questionnaire. Subsequently, the categorization content was derived through expert review and peer review. As a result, first, the study participants expressed their dissatisfaction, hoping that the ballet fitness class helped improve their daily enjoyment and pain, and even watched ballet performance with interest. Second, the participants of the study were actively publicizing the benefits of ballet fitness classes to their families and nearby acquaintances, and hoped that this exercise would help improve the difficult image of ballet. Based on this study, ballet fitness classes were expected to be sufficiently established as a hobby exercise for working women.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of exercise maintenance in elderly with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Three focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 19 older adults with OA who have been exercising for more than six months. Results: Two main themes emerged from the analysis: the changing exercise in life's journey (exercise maintained by self and family affection, exercise maintained by social networking expansion, exercise changing for function and body-image and exercise changing for economic efficiency) and the exercise pervaded into the life (Exercise used as a side effect-free treatment, exercise internalized by will and a sense of accomplishment and exercise become daily routine habits). Conclusion: Despite the various problems associated with aging and OA, participants made exercise a part of their lives by changing it to fit their own functions, abilities and circumstances. It is necessary to emphasize the positive aspects of the overall situation and to provide appropriate education and exercise based on the theory as well as the individual's overall fitness and limitations.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.179-191
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• 2014

Parents are one of the principal agents of education along with students and teachers. The father, who is also a member of the educational community, plays a role in and has responsibility for his children's education. But, in Korea, as mothers are largely responsible for the children's care and education, fathers' school involvement has not been treated as a research subject. However, changes in family structure and function have challenged the notion of the father's traditional role. Recently, the father who participates actively in the rearing and education of his child has emerged as a new trend of the father model. It has been proven through many studies that the father's involvement has unique positive effects on his children, a phenomenon known as the "father effect". This research investigates the father's school involvement through focus group interviews with fathers. The results showed that the father's school participation rate was not high, while the father's desire for school participation was very high. These results are explained by the situation of fathers having no time or pathway to participate in their children's school. In order to enable fathers' participation, leave for school participation needs to be implemented and the development of fathers' activities is necessary. A father education program is needed to bring about changes resulting in fathers' greater participation in their children's education. This study suggests policy implications for supporting fathers' school involvement.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.352-361
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the communication experience of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in the workplace. Methods: The present study utilized a qualitative approach using focus group interview method. A total of three focus groups of 15 ICU nurses from two university hospitals were formed. The conversations during the focus group interviews were recorded and analyzed through Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Results: As a result of analyzing participants' conversation, Five theme clusters were elicited, namely, "one-way communication", "differences in the position of senior and junior nurses", "communication crisis", "beginning of understanding", and "movement toward change" out of 15 themes and 138 significant sentences. Conclusion: ICU nurses report having experienced communication crisis because of the one-way communication of the ICU nursing environment and the hierarchical differences in junior and senior nurses' position. Systematic education and continuous training on communication skills need to be provided to improve interpersonal relationship among nurses and work environment in the ICUs.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.55-65
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• 2009

By definition, smart clothing describes a garment whose functionality is enhanced by technological advancements in order to ease one’'s lifestyle. To know user’'s understanding and needs, the research had consisted of brainstorming sessions, personal interviews, focus group meeting, and a series of content analyses. Ten of the interview subjects and focus group panel were found by contacting women aged 56-64 in the Ithaca community, NY. They were prompted with general questions on style choices for their lifestyles and age group and then presented with two examples of smart clothing to discuss and critique. Meanwhile, the other three interview subjects, located outside of the Ithaca community, were aged either above or below the targeted bracket. These subjects were interviewed as a method of comparison on multiple levels. Findings had shown that there was indeed a need for smart clothing amongst the increasingly populated demographic of older women: devices to help one’'s body temperature regulation and vision problem, and well-designed clothing. However, the functionalities must be carefully constructed and conveyed in order to be taken seriously by the mainstream consumer market. Once successfully designed, the smart clothing will ideally create a greater sense of autonomy for older women.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.888-895
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• 2020

In the construction industry, off-site construction (OSC) is drawing attention as a production method due to changes in working hours and the supply and demand of manpower. In 1991, there was a policy of spreading and expanding the use of precast concrete (PC) apartment homes, but they have not been actively used so far since they were discontinued due to quality problems. In this study, policy tasks were analyzed to motivate the application of OSC-based PCs in the apartment housing sector, and policy directions were derived by conducting focus group interviews (FGI). Nine policies are suggested regarding the following topics: PC apartment supply quantity provision, priority application of public housing, priority supply of public housing, preferential floor area ratio, funding, tax support, improvement of business area structure, improvement of delivery method, factory certification system, and training of experts. The results of the FGIs are as follows. First, in order to revitalize PC apartment homes, leading efforts from the public sector are required. Second, rather than reorganizing the business sector or introducing a new delivery method, a policy direction that induces the strengthening of cooperation is desirable. Third, PC activation should be promoted on an institutional basis for securing appropriate construction costs and quality.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.310-316
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• 2023

This study aims to predict uncertain future scenarios that may unfold in South Korea in the near future, utilizing the theory of extreme events(X-events). A group of 32 experts, consisting of government emergency planning officers, was selected as the focus group to achieve this objective. Using the Focus Group Interview (FGI) technique, opinions were gathered from this focus group regarding potential X-events that may occur within the advanced science and technology domains over the next 10 years. The analysis of these opinions revealed that government emergency planning officers regarded the "Obsolescence of current technology and systems," particularly in the context of cyber network paralysis as the most plausible X-event within science and technology. They also put forth challenging and intricate opinions, including the emergence of new weapon systems and ethical concerns associated with artificial intelligence (AI). Given that X-events are more likely to emerge in unanticipated areas rather than those that are widely predicted, the results obtained from this study carry significant importance. However, it's important to note that this study is grounded in a limited group of experts, highlighting the necessity for subsequent research involving a more extensive group of experts. This research seeks to stimulate studies on extreme events at a national level and contribute to the preparation for future X-event predictions and strategies for addressing them.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.103-129
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• 2006

This paper presents a case study of the effectiveness of debate class in promoting speaking skills of advanced learners. The researcher adopted English debate techniques in an English speaking class during four-week teacher training program and investigated how teachers responded to the new technique. Forty-five middle and high school teachers participated in the study and classroom observation, pre-survey, post-survey, and focus group interviews were used as the major research methods. The teacher pre-survey results presented that teachers prefer a conversation class where they can directly acquire proper sentence patterns and speaking strategies rather than spend time in performing communicative events. The results of the focus group interview and post-survey confirmed that a debate class can meet this specific teachers' needs. Most teachers responded positively to the debate classes since: 1) debate techniques are relatively new ideas to Korean teachers; 2) debate techniques require speed and accuracy in speech; thus teachers could learn to present their ideas logically and efficiently in a limited time through repeated argument exercises. The study result implies that debate technique can be an effective vehicle in an EFL context to promote advanced learners' logical thinking skills and logical English sentence structures.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.159-176
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• 2021

Over the past two decades, smart cities have been attracting attention as a means of solving urban problems and as a model for securing urban sustainability. Many studies have been conducted in various fields such as conceptual definitions, classification, new technologies, case analysis, and civic participation of smart cities. In particular, applicable technologies and their importance have been highlighted so far. However, since a city is a complex and meta-systematic space, it is the overly optimistic prospect that technology, one of the smart city components, will lead to successful smart cities. This study elucidates the impediments to driving smart cities as a case study of South Korea, a leading country in smart technology and digital transformation. We examined three comprehensive national plans for promoting smart cities and conducted focus group interviews with experts in smart cities to analyze the obstacles to carrying smart cities. We classified the thirteen impediments into technological, industrial, governmental, and social factors as a result. Some of them are generic issues in policy establishment and enforcement, while others are specific to smart cities.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2005

Although nutrition education for pregnant women is important, few such programs have been carefully examined from the participants' perspective in Korea. Focus groups were used to identify 1) perceived eating behaviors during pregnancy and lactation, 2) factors associated with healthy eating behaviors, and 3) needs for nutrition education programs. Using a trained moderator, we conducted 7 focus group interviews with 44 pregnant women over a four-month period. Focus group discussions were video - and audio - taped, transcribed and categorized by major themes. Participants expressed interest in receiving nutrition education regarding healthy eating, weight control after delivery, weaning foods and health management, yet they showed little interest in breastfeeding. The majority of them said that meal balance and meal regularity were the most important components of good health during pregnancy. They were less likely to be confident about taking dietary supplements, including Oriental medicines. life stress and poor appetite associated with pregnancy were major barriers to healthy eating habits during pregnancy. The most important sources of nutrition and health information were friends and family members, especially those who had become pregnant recently. Qualified educators and reliable information appeared to be the most important aspects of program development. Regarding types of nutrition education, participants tended to prefer a combination of individual counseling and small group education with hands-on materials and interactive formats. The use of Web-based nutrition education was well received Major concerns about Web-based nutrition education were authenticity, tailored messages and interactive formats for sharing information. These results offer useful information for designing nutrition education programs for pregnant and lactating women in Korea for health promotion.