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Blomley, Matthew. "The new science, social science, and society." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620289.
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Taylor, Francis. "Who are the dissidents? : analysing changes in the sociological profile of violent dissident republicans in Northern Ireland." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2016. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1017/.
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This thesis presents an empirical analysis of a unique data set of 427 men and women who have been charged with criminal offences as a result of suspected involvement in dissident republican activity in Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2014. The charges result from involvement in the four main dissident groups currently active in armed struggle in Ireland namely Continuity IRA (CIRA), Real IRA (RIRA), Oglaigh Na h’Eireann (ONH) and most recently the New IRA (NIRA). Both official Government publications and open source dissident news material was used to create a violent dissident republican personnel database. This database was then used to compare the dissidents with the Old IRA of the Irish Revolution between the years 1916-1923. This study is primarily comparing and contrasting the IRA and how it has changed in 100 years. Conclusions are made on gender and religion, age and marriage and status and class. It contains policy implications for both practitioners and academics on how to counter the contemporary violence of dissidents in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
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Anzola, David. "The philosophy of computational social science." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2015. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/808102/.
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The thesis is a collection of six stand-alone chapters aimed at setting the foundations for the philosophy of computational social science. Agent-based modelling has been used for social research since the nineties. While at the beginning it was simply conceived as a methodological alternative, recently, the notion of ‘computational social science’ has started to be used to denote a separate disciplinary field. There are important differences with mainstream social science and traditional social research. Yet, the literature in the field has not accounted for these differences. Computational social science is a strongly practice-oriented field, where theoretical and philosophical concerns have been pushed into the background. This thesis presents an initial analysis of the methodology, epistemology and ontology of computational social science, by examining the following topics: 1) verification and validation and 2) modelling and theorising, 3) mechanisms 4) explanation 5) agency, action and interaction and 6) entities and process philosophy. Five general conclusions are drawn from the thesis. It is first argued that the wider ontological base in agent-based modelling allows for a new approach to traditional social dualisms, moving away from the methodological individualism that dominates computational social science. Second, the need to place a distinction between explanation and understanding and to make explanatory goals explicit is highlighted. Third, it is claimed that computational social science needs to pay attention to the social epistemology of the field, for this could provide important insights regarding values, ideologies and interests that underlie the practice of agent-based modelling. Fourth, it is suggested that a more robust theorisation regarding the experimental and model-based character of agent-based modelling should be developed. Finally, it is argued that the method can greatly contribute to the development of a processual account of social life.
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Hunter, Chryssy. "The Equality Act 2010 and empty diversity : neoliberal legislation and inequality in the lives of trans* and sexgender nonconforming people." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2018. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1537/.
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This thesis explores how effectively equality and diversity legislation in the UK offers recognition and protection to trans* and sexgender nonconforming people by engaging with their contemporary experiences. In order to explore these dynamics I give a genealogical and multidisciplinary context to my work. More specifically, I trace the ways in which the development of trans* and sexgender nonconforming discourses impacts on the evolving self-understanding of my research subjects. Finally, I also analyse the implications of my findings for particular forms of legally focused activism. The thesis makes a critical examination of the much commented-on increase in trans* and sexgender nonconforming people’s visibility and social inclusion in the 21st century. In order to undertake such critique I theorize the impact of structural socioeconomic and cultural changes that have taken place in the context of neoliberal governmentality, including the developments in information technologies. I focus on important issues of materiality and political economy to analyse how the neoliberal logic of inclusion of previously discriminated against populations according to their socio-economic fungibility – i.e. their ability to participate in the market – necessarily creates new forms of exclusion and marginalization. This thesis produced a critical examination of the nature of diversity itself in a neoliberal age, focusing in particular on how the valorization of a particular form of empty diversity – i.e. a depoliticized, instrumental and commodified recognition of difference - is emblematic of the delimitations of the effects of the neoliberal project. I contend that the forms of protection grounded in neoliberal understandings of ‘equality’ work to mask the structurally unequal and iniquitous effects of legislation, even if they represent an improvement in relation to the previous lack of recognition. In particular the Equality Act 2010 can be seen as entrenching inequality and discrimination, rather than promoting genuine social and economic equality, by only protecting more ‘legible’, ‘fungible’ and normative experiences of trans* expression.
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Meade, Rosemary Raphael. "Analysing collective action : intersections of power, government and resistance." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2018. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/2980/.
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This research takes the form of ten journal articles and book chapters that were published between June 2008 and February 2018. This body of work encompasses outputs that are focused on community development, community arts, youth work and social movement praxis. These fields of praxis are understood as constituting a vital part of a variegated and differentiated Irish civil society and, while acknowledging their specificities, the body of work situates them together within the contested terrain of collective action. The Covering Document elucidates how, across the ten outputs, collective action is theorised: as the site of and target for complex and dynamic power relationships; as imbricated with various governmental projects through which multiple societal actors seek to mobilise citizens; as a potential site of and resource for resistance to particular expressions of government, ideology and power; and as developing alternative social relationships, organisational forms and modes of communication. The boundaries between the state and civil society are imprecise and fluid: civil society and state actors seek to induce desired forms of conduct and relationships from each other. This research exposes and critically interrogates associated power dynamics, overlaps, and contestations, and how they in turn shape expectations of collective action. Drawing together findings from youth work, community development, social movement, and community arts praxis, the research illuminates; how and by whom collective action is rationalised and (de)legitimised; the changing role of the state in governing civil society; and the potential for collective action to prefigure alternative forms of relationships and to resist particular forms of government. Therefore, the body of work analyses how the meanings, forms and purposes of collective action are constantly reworked, just as they give expression to important societal struggles. The Covering Document details the theory, methodology and methods that have underpinned the research. It offers an integrated thematic overview of the ten research outputs, highlighting their coherence, originality, and relevance for a critical analysis of the dynamics of collective action in contemporary Ireland. The research analyses the discourses of collective action as they have been expressed in key policy documents, in newspapers such as the Irish Independent and in the documents of protest of social movement organisations. It highlights and interrogates the political, economic and cultural context for collective action in 21st Century Ireland, paying particular attention to the ways though which the recent regime of austerity has impacted on civil society, the state and on relations between these spheres. The research is critical in orientation, but it draws upon and articulates diverse critical traditions as it analyses the power dynamics associated with collective action. Gramscian style, cultural materialist and Foucauldian governmentality perspectives are variously adopted and adapted within specific outputs. The Covering Document also outlines how and why the body of work troubles the boundaries between community development, community arts, youth work and social movement research and praxis. It calls for an articulated and dialogical theory and practice that challenge the assumed estrangement of these fields. As the Covering Document outlines, the research records how state policy now seeks to govern youth work, community development and community arts organisations through an increasingly intrusive and prescriptive set of policy ordinances, self-reporting techniques, and accountability measures. Against that, it also points to the potential for collective action to re-politicise issues otherwise framed as non-political by policy-makers and media, to build and be based upon reflexive forms of solidarity, and to reclaim the arts and tactics of protest.
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Kazmi, Naveed. "How do middle class Pakistani young people construct contemporary international conflicts?" Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2014. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/704/.
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This thesis examines how middle class Pakistani young people construct contemporary international conflicts. Little previous research has been conducted in this area, and none in Pakistan. This investigation is of interest because young people like the ones who participated in my research may become future leaders. Therefore, their perceptions and understanding of these issues may influence the way these are addressed in the future. This thesis draws on literature about the just war tradition – what are the just causes of war or jus ad bellum and how ethical warfare must be conducted or jus in bello. The theoretical framework used is that of social constructionism, especially drawing on the ideas of Jonathan Potter, Margaret Wetherell, Kenneth Gergen and Michel Foucault. The research involved six focus groups with Pakistani young people aged 17-18 years. The study found that the participants talked enthusiastically about issues related to international conflicts. They drew on a range of discourses and evidence to construct their arguments, some of which were grounded in not very reliable evidence. They argued that terrorism, whether perpetrated by state or non-state actors, was wrong, and they were highly critical of US policies and actions in the wider world. These findings are important because Pakistani society faces a serious challenge from militancy and terrorism. The thesis suggests that changes to the content and delivery of school curricula can help young people to develop a more informed and morally active sense of citizenship and world affairs.
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Froude, Ailsa Madeline. "Class, status and gender : a comparative study of perceptions of class and status in an Inner London Borough." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 1987. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/3085/.
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This study of thirty mothers of young children and their respective partners examines the salience of class, gender and local status groups as subjective categories in social identity and attitudes, in order to discover the extent to which people are politically conscious in terms of these three groups. The research was undertaken in Stamford Hill , a poor and culturally mixed inner London district, which is gradually becoming "gentrified".
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Gagnon, P. "The social foundation of the division between pure science and applied science." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.356113.
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Sivaramakrishnan, A. "Social science, professional authority and citizenship." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.382911.
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Mesny, Anne. "The appropriation of social science knowledge by 'lay people' : the development of a lay sociological imagination?" Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.624593.
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McGovern, Brian John. "The idea of applied social science : with special reference to social anthropology." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.304873.
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Philip, W. M. "The contribution of Adam Ferguson to social science." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.332766.
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Nauroth, Peter [Verfasser], and Mario [Akademischer Betreuer] Gollwitzer. "Group-based science rejection: How social identities shape the way we perceive, evaluate, and engage with science / Peter Nauroth. Betreuer: Mario Gollwitzer." Marburg : Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1071947850/34.
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Donovan, Claire Angela. "Government policy and the direction of social science research." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.392801.
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Using the UK Social Science Research Council (SSRC)lEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)l as a case study, this thesis tests the hypothesis that government funding of social science research has altered research directions. Academics often assume a causal link between government policy, ESRC-funded research and research directions but no adequate evidence has been presented to support this claim. As a senior ESRC figure puts it, 'Most of the people who say these things, even though they are social scientists, speak without looking at very simple .... evidence that's publicly available.' This research examines this evidence in detail and draws upon extensive interviews with ESRC figures. Various governments have viewed social science as either the equivalent of, or inferior to, natural science. The ESRC has been caught in the middle of this conceptual and ideological battle. An understanding of the history of social science in the UK Research Council system, and of the development of the disciplines of sociology and economics in particular, is crucial in revealing how the Left and Right have confronted the idea of a 'science of society' and the impact, if any, upon social science research via the ESRC. This thesis concludes that there is no evidence that government policy has deliberately been filtered through the ESRC in order to direct the social science research effort. There have, however, been indirect consequences of government funding social SCIence through the Research Council system. An ex-ESRC Secretary explains that governments do not understand what social science is so they support 'social science that makes sense to natural scientists', which is 'social science in the service of natural science and technology'. Through fear of budget cuts the ESRC never sought to correct this image and has more recently strategically promoted this brand of social science to its advantage. This has led to a picture of the ESRC as positivistic and directive but, as an ex-committee secretary says, this is 'more apparent than real'. A closer examination of the ESRC's relationships with government, its research priorities and the secretariat's dealings with academics reveals a very different day-to-day picture.
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Shahrezaye, Morteza [Verfasser], Simon [Akademischer Betreuer] Hegelich, Jürgen [Gutachter] Pfeffer, and Simon [Gutachter] Hegelich. "Understanding big social networks: Applied methods for computational social science / Morteza Shahrezaye ; Gutachter: Jürgen Pfeffer, Simon Hegelich ; Betreuer: Simon Hegelich." München : Universitätsbibliothek der TU München, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1204562296/34.
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Lang, Iain Alexander. "Citing power : the use of concepts in social science." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.270711.
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Savransky, Duran Martin. "The adventure of relevance : speculative reconstructions in contemporary social science." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2015. http://research.gold.ac.uk/11256/.
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At a time when the institutional and intellectual futures of the social sciences are under threat, there has been growing concern among researchers and policy makers around the question of how to foster and enhance the relevance of their knowledge-practices. This thesis problematises such demands by elaborating a concept of ‘relevance’ that renders it not the product of a subjective act of interpretation, but an event that is part and parcel of the immanent processes by which the facts that compose situations come (in)to matter. By expanding on the work of William Connolly, Gilles Deleuze, John Dewey, Donna Haraway, William James, Michel Serres, Isabelle Stengers and Alfred North Whitehead, among others, I follow the implications of the concept of relevance through a speculative exploration of modes of knowledge-making in contemporary social science. As I show, such an exploration requires a transformation of the ethos with which social scientific inquiries are identified. If the former could be characterised as an ‘ethics of estrangement’ whereby to inquire is to estrange oneself from an apparent reality in order to gain access to a realm of social causes and reasons, an ethos oriented by the concept of relevance must reject that bifurcation of reality and cultivate, instead, a deep empiricism that is both singularly attentive to the coming into matter of the facts that compose a situation, and inventive of propositions that may contribute to the possible transformation of those situations that demand inquiry. It is this latter ethos, one which I call an ‘adventure’, that my thesis develops.
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Colgan, Fiona. "Voice and visibility : tackling the 'invisibility' of the sexual orientation strand in UK organisation equality and diversity research." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2015. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/899/.
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This covering statement introduces the nine published outputs in this submission, and explains their genesis. It considers the implications of the growing visibility of the sexual orientation strand for individuals and organisations operating in the UK context before and after the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 (hereafter the Regulations). The PhD advanced knowledge and understanding of the following: the rationale for and drivers of sexual orientation equality work in UK trade union, public, private and voluntary sector organisations over the last two decades; the equality/diversity structures, policies and practices introduced by organisations in order to become more inclusive of lesbian gay and bisexual (LGB) people; LGB people’s perceptions and experiences of these sexual orientation equality and diversity policies and practices; LGB people’s voice, activism and agency in influencing the changes which have been taking place. The covering document provides details of the research projects and the interpretivist case study methodology on which the published outputs draw. It summarises and links the aims and principal findings of each output demonstrating that they form a coherent body of work. It concludes that although the introduction of the Regulations has been a positive trigger to sexual orientation equality work in the UK, progress remains uneven within and across organisations. Thus, it identifies voice mechanisms such as LGBT trade union and company network groups as key tools for inclusion. The conclusion locates the PhD as an original contribution to the advancement of sexual orientation organisation equality/diversity research. It does so by discussing its empirical and theoretical contributions to a sexual orientation research agenda which has been developing in waves subject to social, political and legal change and mobilisation in LGBT communities in different parts of the world.
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Martell, Anthony Luke. "Socialism and associational democracy : new forms of democratic socialist thinking." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388266.
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Stina, Lyon E. "Social research for social justice : Alva and Gunnar Myrdal and Viola Klein and the history of social science research." Thesis, London South Bank University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.593648.
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This thesis addresses questions about the tension in the history of sociology between academic self-description and the practical actuality of ‘doing sociology’ in traditionally broader social and political contexts. In focusing on the work and careers of three socially committed sociological researchers: Gunnar and Alva Myrdal and Viola Klein, it aims to show that activities in the margin of a discipline in themselves constitute an important field of inquiry illustrating the inherent dilemmas and tensions of the discipline: between science and values, theory and practice, the ideological and the pragmatic, the public and the domestic, the institutionalised and the free-lance, and finally between different kinds of values in relationship to the ‘social’. One of the main arguments of the thesis is that the explicit egalitarian and democratic value orientation of the Myrdals and Klein became both the source of their fame and the curse that left them, and the topics to which they theoretically and empirically addressed themselves, marginalised in the discipline. The ten published papers that form the main part of the thesis were written over a period of ten years each with its own particular research focus, but all within the overall aim of contributing to a broader and more contextual and international history of sociological activities. Several papers address the social context of the work and intellectual careers of the Myrdals and Klein as individual contributors to the discipline. Three papers have a special focus on mutual correspondence and collaboration as a source of information about the learning trajectory of individuals, but also about the development of the discipline and its many dilemmas, contradictions and shifting boundaries. A further two papers raise more general questions about the errors and pitfalls in writing intellectual biography and about the changing social and political context of being a public intellectual.
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Gay, James Verfasser], Frank [Gutachter] [Ettrich, and Oliver [Gutachter] Kessler. "The Blind Prometheus of German Social Science. Eugen Dühring as Philosopher, Economist, and Controversial Social Critic / James Gay ; Gutachter: Frank Ettrich, Oliver Kessler." Erfurt : Universität Erfurt, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1215977530/34.
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Baumann, Annika [Verfasser], Stefan [Gutachter] Lessmann, and Hanna [Gutachter] Krasnova. "Network Science – Applications in Technology, Business and Social Media / Annika Baumann ; Gutachter: Stefan Lessmann, Hanna Krasnova." Berlin : Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1185497684/34.
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Smith, Janet. "The feminism and political radicalism of Helen Taylor in Victorian Britain and Ireland." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2014. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/692/.
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This thesis offers an examination of the feminism and political radicalism of Helen Taylor. Despite the growth of interest in the political and social campaigns of nineteenth century women, Helen Taylor has remained a marginal figure of historical enquiry, referenced mainly in terms of her relationships with her contemporary English feminists and step-father, John Stuart Mill. Divisions in the women’s suffrage movement have been blamed on her difficult personality with no examination that it was her socialist anti-imperial feminism which was at the heart of the antagonism. Her important contribution to Victorian social and political life has been largely ignored. The study will examine the significance of her work across a wide range of political and social organisations from 1876 onwards; namely the London School Board, the Irish question, land reform, the Social Democratic Federation, her attempt to become the first woman MP and her membership of the Moral Reform Union. This work will illustrate how the political ideology of her feminist mother Harriet Taylor and her step-father John Stuart Mill remained at the heart of Helen’s political throughout her public life. It will further consider how the organisations she joined were gendered and how she attempted to negotiate and contest this. It will ask why she was able to successfully resist the middle class ideal of separate spheres for men and women. Finally it offers further evidence to challenge the claim made by some historians that all British Victorian feminists were imperialist in nature.
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Nadrowski, Karin, Daniel Seifarth, Sophia Ratcliffe, Christian Wirth, and Lutz Maicher. "Identifiers in e-Science platforms for the ecological sciences." Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2012. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-101319.
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In the emerging Web of Data, publishing stable and unique identifiers promises great potential in using the web as common platform to discover and enrich data in the ecologic sciences. With our collaborative e-Science platform “BEFdata”, we generated and published unique identifiers for the data repository of the Biodiversity – Ecosystem Functioning Research Unit of the German Research Foundation (BEF-China; DFG: FOR 891). We linked part of the identifiers to two external data providers, thus creating a virtual common platform including several ecological repositories. We used the Global Biodiversity Facility (GBIF) as well the International Plant Name Index (IPNI) to enrich the data from our own field observations. We conclude in discussing other potential providers for identifiers for the ecological research domain. We demonstrate the ease of making use of existing decentralized and unsupervised identifiers for a data repository, which opens new avenues to collaborative data discovery for learning, teaching, and research in ecology.
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Smith, Mark Bryan Bridger. "The posthuman : hostis humani generis? : science fiction allegories/social narratives." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2008. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/4117/.
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Whether in the guise of the novel or non-print media such as film and television, fin-de-millennium science fiction has provided opportunities to envisage a posthuman stage of evolution. The academic response to this has been polarized. Certain elements have embraced the genre as integral to the sociocultural relationship between unfettered biotechnological advance and the limitation of the human flesh. Others have treated the topic as fanciful entertainment, leading them to ignore and sometimes ridicule research on the posthuman. The thesis seeks to utilise the contemporary science fiction allegory as an aid in developing a critique of the emerging posthuman discourse, facilitating the analysis of its socio-political dynamic, and questioning whether discourse advancement necessitates the rejection of the humanist metanarrative. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter differentiates the posthuman from established biotechnological discourses, e mg the discontinuities in global location, temporal engagement, and participant ideology. The second reflects on the contemporary human condition associated with man's technological ingenuity being a credible threat to his own existence. It then outlines the epochal technoscience of the posthuman and introduces the diametrically opposed standpoints of the posthuman as amelioration, or autoextinction. The third chapter draws upon utopian visions of the future to contextualise and assist in the critical analysis of narratives advocating posthuman technoscience. The fourth chapter reverses this, by utilising dystopian imagery as an entree into the rationale of those opposing human alteration, facilitating its critique. The fifth chapter sees the science fiction allegory as a postfoundationalist narrative, offering up a discursive mirror to the influences of providence and progress on the posthuman debate. The final chapter examines whether an a-humanist account of man's relationship with technology might help to advance the posthuman debate.
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Dietrich, Heike [Verfasser], and Birgit [Akademischer Betreuer] Spinath. "The Roles of Socioeconomic Status and Justice Perceptions in Social Science Study Programs / Heike Dietrich ; Betreuer: Birgit Spinath." Heidelberg : Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1177385325/34.
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Medd, William Peter. "Complexity in the wild : complexity science and social systems; an ethnography of collaboration in social welfare provision." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323069.
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Zaidi, Syed Faizan Hussain. "E-government services effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF) : a case study of Indian e-tax service." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2017. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1254/.
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Technological amplification has expended the involvement of information and communication technology in public sectors and enhanced governmental dependence on information systems which restrains the management attention towards improving the effectiveness of e-government services. Based on the analytical review of literature, it was found that most of the e-government evaluation models address the e-service dimensions that assess the quality of e-government websites. This gives a very constrict perspective to e-government and ignores the key dimensions. It becomes important to understand how citizens perceive and evaluate e-government services. This involves defining what e-government service is, identifying its underlying dimensions, and determining how it can be measured. Therefore, periodical evaluation of the effectiveness of e-government services becomes essential. Foregoing discussion clearly indicates the necessity of developing a well founded e-government e-service effectiveness evaluation framework which not only evaluates the e-government service effectiveness but also evaluates the e-government service quality criteria and the citizens‟ perception in the form of citizens‟ trust in offered e-services. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a framework (E-GEEF) "e-government service effectiveness evaluation framework" that assesses e-government service effectiveness from the citizens‟ (G2C) perspective. A systematic study of the existing e-government service assessment frameworks has been carried out to establish the basis for conceptualizing a theoretical framework called e-government service effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF). In this research, the author attempts to explore the underlying dimensions and factors of e-government services, and has proposed an effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF). Present empirical research adapted DeLone and McLean, (2003) IS success model as base model which is upgradable and extendable, hence additional dimensions were incorporated to develop a novel framework (E-GEEF) for evaluating the effectiveness of e-government service. The suggested framework has identified number of measuring dimensions and associated items within each dimension for (E-GEEF). System quality, information quality, and service quality dimensions were adopted from DeLone and McLean (2003) IS success model and “intention to use and user satisfaction” dimensions were re-specified in proposed framework (E-GEEF) as “citizens‟ use / usefulness” and “citizens‟ satisfaction”. Further, "citizens" trust, perceived e-government service quality, and perceived effectiveness” were incorporated as new dimensions in the proposed framework (E-GEEF). Three new dimensions were identified and two existing dimensions were re-specified for evaluating the effectiveness of e-government service. Sixteen hypotheses were formulated from literature on existing e-government assessment frameworks to test the proposed framework (E-GEEF). In order to test the proposed framework and their associated dimensions, Indian e-tax service was considered, because e-tax service of Indian e-government is utilized by several Indian citizens for filing their taxes. Preliminary qualitative study was carried out carefully to ensure whether all important dimensions and measurement items were included in the proposed framework E-GEEF in the right research context or not. Empirical research has used quantitative analysis for validating the proposed framework (E-GEEF). Data collection was done using survey which was conducted among citizens of India who have been utilizing e-tax service as users. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed to ensure the data normality by using SPSS 20. Structural equation modeling statistical technique was applied using AMOS 21 on the collected data for testing the hypotheses. The empirical research findings have confirmed most of the hypothesized relationships within the validated framework (E-GEEF). Consequently, in terms of the theoretical implications, this study emphasizes the significance of such hypothesized relationships when performing empirical research in e-government context. Key findings demonstrated the strong relationships of perceived e-government service quality with system quality, information quality, service quality, and citizens‟ satisfaction. Further, citizens‟ trust exhibited direct relationships with perceived e-government service quality and perceived effectiveness of e-government service. Thus, as a major contribution to the proposed research, the identified new dimensions “perceived e-government service quality, citizens‟ trust, perceived effectiveness” and re-specified dimensions “citizens‟ use/usefulness and citizens‟ satisfaction” have shown great significance in evaluating effectiveness of e-government e-tax service in Indian G2C context. The developed and validated framework (E-GEEF) provides government agencies with an appropriate approach and dimensions in order to evaluate the effectiveness of e-government services.
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Price, Jeremy. "Social work purpose, motivation and identity : Filipino social workers at home and abroad." Thesis, University of Brighton, 2014. https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/3246b84e-36ca-4fb9-9fbf-e860636f7d4c.
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This thesis is concerned with social work purpose and identity in international contexts. It explores the perspectives of social workers, social work academics and policy makers in the Philippines and of Filipino social workers who moved to England to undertake the ‘same’ job.
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Vass, Jeffrey Matthew. "Rethinking the social : from society to zones of social making." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/191875/.
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‘Apocalyptic’ theories of the social, from different theoretical schools of thought, declare that diverse social, cultural, economic or technological changes have impacted negatively on contemporary social life to the extent that the social is reduced, minimised or is even ended. In particular, macro-historical changes have had consequences for the regions in which actors communicate, interact and socially construct. These pronouncements are concurrent with some lack of confidence in social theory itself. While accepting that the characteristics of modernity have substantially altered since the nineteenth century, this thesis argues that inadequate attention has been given to the way in which its consequences for ‘sociation’ have been conceptualised. Three schools of apocalyptic thought are identified and discussed: ‘dislocation’ theorists (Habermas, Giddens and Bauman); social constructionists (Berger, Berger and Kellner) and cultural absorptionists (Baudrillard, Lash and Urry). In each case the consequences of change have been registered to effects and experiences in the ‘ground of social activity’: i.e. reciprocity, mutuality and situated exchange show more ironic distance, insincerity, moral expropriation, ambivalence, alienation, simulation and dissimulation. This thesis argues that our understanding of this ground of social activity, based on a simplistic model of reflexivity and skill, is not at a detailed enough level of analytic resolution to warrant these claims. However, in identifying flaws in the development of apocalyptic claims, a more sustainable account is produced, ‘the zone of social making’. Based on a return to the work of Weber and Schutz, the new account suggests that the symptoms of late modern life are better viewed as chronic features of sociation, constitutive of constructive activity itself. An alternative, more detailed model of activity is proposed
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Martin, Paul A. "From eugenics to therapeutics science and the social shaping of gene therapy." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.285110.
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This thesis will examine the development of a new medical technology, gene therapy, in the USA and use this study of a science-based innovation to shed light on how science becomes technology. Gene therapy is the application of gene transfer techniques to the treatment of human diseases. When it was first proposed in the early 1960s gene therapy was closely associated with eugenics and ideas of human genetic engineering aimed at improving future generations and correcting genetic 'defects'. Its early development was highly controversial, provoking organised opposition, and commanded little clinical or commercial interest. However, by 1996 gene therapy had widespread support, was seen as a new form of drug therapy, and was being tested for the treatment of cancer and other acquired diseases in over 160 clinical trials. In addition, some 20 dedicated gene and cell therapy firms had been established to commercially develop the technology in the USA, with a market value of over $1 billion. How did this transformation in the social meaning, clinical application, and commercial exploitation of the technology occur? What role did science play in this process? Drawing on recent work in the new sociology of technology it will be argued that the move from science to technology can be understood in terms of two linked processes, the construction of stable socio-technical networks and the social shaping of technology. In particular, the thesis will analyse how basic research was organised so that it became 'do-able', how the social acceptability of the technology was negotiated, how gene therapy was integrated into experimental clinical practice and, finally, how it was commercially developed. Particular attention will be paid to the creation of markets for gene therapy and the configuration of potential products. The thesis will conclude by identifying the key social and technical processes involved in the transition from science to technology, and outlining a conceptual framework for a more complete understanding of the early innovation process
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MacCormack, Una. "The appliance of science : uses of technology in social scientific theory and practice." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2004. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/844600/.
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Tyldesley, M. G. "The political and social thought of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, 1884-1914 : A study in democratic socialism." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.374571.
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Wylie, Gillian. "Creating alternative visions : the role of national and transnational social movements in the demise of Polish state socialism." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.387822.
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The accompaniment of the collapse of Eastern European state socialism by a visible manifestation of "people power" has raised questions concerning "system collapse ... and the role of social movements in this" (Manning 1993, 1319). Some Western peace activists have already offered an answer to this question, claiming that Eastern social movements, supported by Western counterparts, were instrumental in the collapse of state socialism. This thesis addresses these questions and investigates this claim, by analysing the origins, philosophy and ultimate impact of national and transnational social movements in the disintegration of Polish state socialism. Although state socialist Poland provided an inhospitable context, it will be argued that problems of system disintegration besetting the Polish state opened up the political opportunity structure enabling social movements to originate. Moreover these movements were not simply exploiters of political opportunity but were inspired by a moral vision of creating a civil society. Sources and interviews drawn from Polish movements will be used to demonstrate these arguments. At the International level it will be suggested that Superpower detente opened the political opportunity structure for transnational interaction between social movements across the Cold War divide. Furthermore, these movements were inspired by a moral vision of how the international system should be. An empirical enquiry into the relationship between a British peace movement and Polish movements will investigate the efficacy of this interaction but will simultaneously demonstrate the difficulties caused by these movements' possession of conflicting moral visions. Having analysed the origins and activities of these movements - their interaction with each other, the socialist state and the international system - conclusions will be drawn both about the specific role of social movements in democratic transition at the Round Table and from a more general perspective, the significance of the practical and moral challenge offered by social movements to the socialist state.
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Baumann, Annika. "Network Science – Applications in Technology, Business and Social Media." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/19216.
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Netzwerke stellen einen integralen Bestandteil unseres Lebens dar. Eines der wichtigsten Kommunikations-Netzwerke ist das Internet, welches zu starken Veränderungen im Alltag geführt hat. Diese werden in Teilaspekten in der vorliegenden Dissertation untersucht. Insgesamt ist die Dissertation in drei Bereiche unterteilt, welche auf der traditionellen Perspektive der drei Dimensionen von Informationssystemen basieren. Diese Dimensionen umfassen die Technologie, das Management und die Organisation.
Im Zentrum der Dissertation steht hierbei die Technologie-Dimension in dessen Rahmen die Struktur und Robustheit des Internets sowie anderer Netzwerke unter Nutzung des mathematisch-methodischen Aspekts der Graphentheorie analysiert werden.
Der zweite Teilbereich der vorliegenden Arbeit wechselt die Perspektive hin zum Management. Unter Nutzung von Methoden der prädikativen Modellierung stehen das bessere Verständnis und die Möglichkeit der Vorhersage von Nutzerverhalten im E-Commerce-Kontext im Fokus.
Der dritte Bereich umfasst die Organisations-Perspektive aus Sicht der Nutzer. Hierbei werden zwei spezielle Unterbereiche betrachtet. Der erste Unterbereich umfasst Webseiten Sozialer Medien und analysiert wie verschiedene Nutzergruppen diese verwenden. Der zweite Unterbereich befasst sich mit dem Einfluss der weitläufigen Verbreitung von mobilen Endgeräten auf Aspekte des persönlichen und beruflichen Lebens von Individuen.
Aufbauend auf diesen drei Dimensionen wurden im Rahmen dieser Dissertation insgesamt 18 Studien durchgeführt, die sich unterschiedlicher methodischer Anwendungen bedienen um wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu den vorgestellten Teilbereichen zu erlangen.Networks constitute an integral part of our lives. One of the most important communication networks is the Internet which led to large changes in everyday life, which are examined in part in this dissertation. Overall, the present dissertation is subdivided into three areas, which are based on the traditional three dimensions of information systems, comprising perspectives technology, management and organization. At the core of this dissertation is the technological perspective, centered on an analysis of the structure and robustness of the Internet network using the mathematical-methodical aspect of graph theory. The second part of the thesis deals with the management perspective. The focus lies on the understanding and prediction of user behavior in the e-commerce context utilizing methods of predictive modeling. The third area includes the organizational perspective from the point of view of users. Here, two specific sub-areas are selected. The first sub-area revolves around social media websites, with the goal of understanding how sub-groups of users utilize them in different ways. The second area is centered around the aspect of how the propagation of mobile devices influences individuals in their personal and professional environments. Based on these three perspectives, a total of 18 studies were conducted within the scope of this dissertation, using different methodological applications to gain scientific insights with respect to the areas examined.
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Chi, Pei-Shan Verfasser], Vivien [Akademischer Betreuer] [Petras, and Stefan [Akademischer Betreuer] Hornbostel. "The characteristics and impact of non-source items in the social sciences : a pilot study of two political science departments in Germany / Pei-Shan Chi. Gutachter: Vivien Petras ; Stefan Hornbostel." Berlin : Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2014. http://d-nb.info/106106848X/34.
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Chi, Pei-Shan [Verfasser], Vivien [Akademischer Betreuer] Petras, and Stefan [Akademischer Betreuer] Hornbostel. "The characteristics and impact of non-source items in the social sciences : a pilot study of two political science departments in Germany / Pei-Shan Chi. Gutachter: Vivien Petras ; Stefan Hornbostel." Berlin : Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät I, 2014. http://d-nb.info/106106848X/34.
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Kirlew, Martina Inessa. "The interaction of corporeality, social discourses and institutions on the transition process and transexual people's experiences of accessing health and social care services post 2004." Thesis, University of Hull, 2013. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:11474.
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McKearney, Aidan. "Sexual citizenship : an analysis of gay men as sexual citizens in nonmetropolitan England and Ireland." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2018. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/2641/.
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This study explores the concept of sexual citizenship as it applies to the lives of gay men living in nonmetropolitan areas of Britain, and Ireland. Both countries have undergone dramatic social, legal and cultural changes over recent decades, and have witnessed profound and progressive shifts in public attitudes towards lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Given historical tendencies towards a metrocentric bias in researching gay lives, this study takes place outside the large metropolitan centres of population. It travels to a world of smaller towns, villages and farms. In making this journey, the research aims to understand the life world and experiences of gay men living within these locales. It seeks to explore the dynamics created by the intersection of sexuality and the space of the rural. Crucially it strives to develop an understanding of the nature, depth, and scope, of the men’s sexual citizenship, as it applies within their geographic context. Forty-four men were interviewed: twenty-two in England and twenty-two in Ireland. The study finds that rural men in both countries share similar experiences, concerns and worries. All of the men recall an awakening in childhood and adolescence that they were different from other male age mates, followed by a slow realisation (often resisted) that they could be gay. The study finds that profound social, and cultural changes have been of critical importance to the men, in encouraging many of them (though not all) to begin, the uneven, and continuous, process of coming out, embracing a sexual minority identity, and in doing so, becoming sexual citizens. The study finds clear consensus that the nonmetropolitan context is relevant to the men, especially in how they negotiate their sexual identity. While life outside the cities can bring a number of distinct advantages, such as tranquillity, and a more relaxed pace of life, the men also report numerous challenges which include social isolation, powerful hegemonic narratives around rural masculinity, and a pervasive heteronormative culture. As such, the rural space can be an alienating environment. Nonetheless, these men continue to live in the rural, and by their presence and increasing disclosure, they are changing the cultural narrative of what it means to be gay in the space of the rural, creating rural gay (male) identities, which can appear different from metropolitan gay (male) identities. In many ways, their rural environment creates similar identity characteristics, and limitations, despite their residency in different countries. In assessing the men as sexual citizens, the study takes the opportunity to interrogate the model of sexual citizenship. To this end, it finds the citizenship model of rights and obligations to be seductive and appealing to many of the gay men. However, the study also highlights its exclusionary tendencies, and as its propensity to promote a de-sexualised, de-politicised, and de-radicalised gay identity; tendencies which are exacerbated by the context of the nonmetropolitan, small town, and rural spaces. This research concludes that, while the men may be considered, constitutional sexual citizens, which is an enormous advance from the dark times of the past, there remains a legacy of stigmatization, which helps ensure compromised citizenship on a number of levels. As such, the journey has not yet ended.
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Orrnert, Anna Maria. "Uncertain futures : young women in transition to adulthood in a post-industrial British city." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2016. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1132/.
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This study examines the transitions to adulthood of a group of 19 young women of mixed age, social class and ethnic backgrounds, from two adjacent ‘outer-urban’ neighbourhoods in the post-industrial city of Birmingham, UK. It focuses on three distinct, and inter-related, spheres of transition: education and training, employment and independent household formation, including family of origin, housing, couple relationships, marriage and motherhood. Using the concepts of reflexivity, the appearance of choice and intersectionality, the study aims to shed light on the role of individual agency and structural inequalities in shaping the research participants’ (RPs’) life chances. It examines how RPs interpreted their available 'choices', the structural constraints - related to gender, social class and ethnicity - they encountered, and the strategies they employed during their transitions. An intersectional approach illuminates the multiple, co-constituted, ways in which gender, social class and ethnicity operated in RPs’ lives. Using a critical ethnographic research methodology, data was gathered through participation observation at a local youth centre and repeated semi-structured interviews with RPs, over a 20-month period. Additionally, several one-off interviews were conducted with practitioners to build a picture of the context in which RPs lived their lives. The findings indicate that while RPs frequently articulated notions of choice, their actual options were often heavily bounded. Structural constraints related to gender, social class and ethnicity shaped many aspects of their experiences of compulsory and post-compulsory education, the labour market, and transitions from familial dependence to independent households. Despite this, RPs consistently strove to make the ‘right’ choices to achieve positive life outcomes. Although this included remaining flexible in the face of uncertain futures, diverse opportunities, constraints and subsequent strategies were observed along social class and ethnic lines. This study is relevant to sociologists, journalists, policy makers and others interested in the experiences of young women growing up in materially disadvantaged areas, in the context of widening inequality. The findings illustrate that an intersectional approach enables a more nuanced understanding of young women’s transitions to adulthood in the post-industrial city. This makes a compelling case to incorporate intersectional approaches into the study of youth transitions more widely.
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Gasiorowski, Pawel. "Individual and group dynamic behaviour patterns in bound spaces." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2017. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/1447/.
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The behaviour analysis of individual and group dynamics in closed spaces is a subject of extensive research in both academia and industry. However, despite recent technological advancements the problem of implementing the existing methods for visual behaviour data analysis in production systems remains difficult and the applications are available only in special cases in which the resourcing is not a problem. Most of the approaches concentrate on direct extraction and classification of the visual features from the video footage for recognising the dynamic behaviour directly from the source. The adoption of such an approach allows recognising directly the elementary actions of moving objects, which is a difficult task on its own. The major factor that impacts the performance of the methods for video analytics is the necessity to combine processing of enormous volume of video data with complex analysis of this data using and computationally resourcedemanding analytical algorithms. This is not feasible for many applications, which must work in real time. In this research, an alternative simulation-based approach for behaviour analysis has been adopted. It can potentially reduce the requirements for extracting information from real video footage for the purpose of the analysis of the dynamic behaviour. This can be achieved by combining only limited data extracted from the original video footage with a symbolic data about the events registered on the scene, which is generated by 3D simulation synchronized with the original footage. Additionally, through incorporating some physical laws and the logics of dynamic behaviour directly in the 3D model of the visual scene, this framework allows to capture the behavioural patterns using simple syntactic pattern recognition methods. The extensive experiments with the prototype implementation prove in a convincing manner that the 3D simulation generates sufficiently rich data to allow analysing the dynamic behaviour in real-time with sufficient adequacy without the need to use precise physical data, using only a limited data about the objects on the scene, their location and dynamic characteristics. This research can have a wide applicability in different areas where the video analytics is necessary, ranging from public safety and video surveillance to marketing research to computer games and animation. Its limitations are linked to the dependence on some preliminary processing of the video footage which is still less detailed and computationally demanding than the methods which use directly the video frames of the original footage.
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Rousso, Alex. "A critical analysis of the application of memes to the social sciences." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.273564.
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Serafinelli, Elisa. "New mobile visualities and the social communication of photography : Instagram as a case study." Thesis, University of Hull, 2015. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:12403.
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This research intends to show how visuality, through the mobility of Instagram (a social media platform designed for photo sharing), is modifying individuals’ perception of the world and their mediated lives. It examines how Instagram transforms individuals’ perception of interpersonal relationships, marketing, privacy and surveillance, identity and memory, and communication. It attempts a critical re-reading of the combined interrelations between the concept of mobility (smart mobile devices) and the thematic areas mentioned above. Conducting an empirical examination, it delineates the changing dynamics that digitality determines within the contemporary experience of visual communication. In order to understand visual practices it is important to consider how relationships develop among individuals, visual technologies, practices and images, society and culture (Pink, 2007: 35). A qualitative research method informed by netnography, computer-mediated interviews and visual analysis (Rose, 2007) is employed in this study. Findings show that the ubiquitous use of smart mobile devices guides us towards the development of new forms and conceptions of mobile mediated visualities. The critical analysis of the (embedded) multiple-case study presents the innovative transformations that the mediation and mobility of Instagram bring into everyday relations between human-technologies. Findings show that now that daily life is experienced as a succession of photo opportunities that allow the creation of social networks but do not replace physical relationships. Images figure as a fair means of communication although they cannot fulfil verbal ones. However, the connections that images establish become a valuable part of new social media marketing strategies. With the widespread use of the platform, companies start to monitor users and influence their online behaviour without causing concern in relation to privacy and surveillance issues. The protection of personal information instead is related to the visibility that the contents of images acquire within the virality of the Internet. Within this, the voyeuristic spirit that animates the platform affects individuals’ interest in disclosing self-identity through visual metaphors. The disclosure of visual narrations of the self, at the same time, models the sharing of new networked archives of personal and collective memories. The ephemerality of digital culture is embraced by smart mobile technologies considering the importance that individuals give to the act of producing multimedia contents more than the content itself. Smart mobile devices represent the element of mediation in social instances and they strongly represent the foundation of a new mobile visualities aesthetic. Societies produce peculiar forms of expression and communication that are shaped by the co-presence of individual demands and the current typology of means of communication. Every alteration in the structure of societies has influence on individuals and on means of expression. This thesis shows that in contemporary life visualities have crucial functions in different environments such as business, leisure, and surveillance. Lastly, the triangulation of mediation-mobility-visuality produces a snapshot aesthetic, which radically transforms traditional functions of photography.
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Allen, Rebecca. "Choice-based secondary school admissions in England : social stratification and the distribution of educational outcomes." Thesis, UCL Institute of Education (IOE), 2008. http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/632/.
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This thesis uses the cohort of 2005 school-leavers in the National Pupil Database to present an economic analysis of the effects of secondary school admissions in England on pupil sorting and achievement. The first part of the thesis exploits the availability of pupil postcodes to examine the impact of current school admissions arrangements on residential and school stratification. It produces data from a thought experiment whereby pupils currently in schools are reallocated to a new school based strictly on proximity to school. Through this simulation the role of the housing market in producing socially stratified schooling can be identified. A survey of school admissions policies is used to show that religious (and to a lesser extent Foundation) schools have intakes that are signifcantly more advantaged than their local neighbourhood, and that they achieve these intakes through the use of explicit potentially selective admissions criteria. The second part of the thesis adds to evidence on whether policies intended to increase parental choice raise pupil achievement via competition between schools. Quantitative evidence on school competition in England is evaluated alongside the existing international literature. A regression discontinuity design is employed to examine the legacy effects of the Grant-Maintained schools policy on area-wide educational outcomes at age 16. Pupil fixed-effects test score growth models and historical instrumental variables are used to identify the causal impact of religious schools on their neighbouring schools. This econometric analysis fails to lend support to claims that encouraging schools to compete for pupils is a route to improving standards. The thesis concludes that the current English secondary school arrangements have resulted in a system that is stratified and inequitable, without measurable efficiency gains induced by competition between schools for pupils.
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Webster, J. G. "Reason, character, evolution and environment : theory and policy in Victorian social science, c. 1860-c. 1895." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.358666.
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Thomson, Stuart William James. "The social democratic dilemma." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1998. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU115282.
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The social democratic dilemma lies in the fact that to gain (or regain) office, parties of the social democratic left are having to abandon many of their ideals, and adapt to a changed globalised, advanced market capitalist system. This in itself provides a further dilemma, how to achieve egalitarian policies in an environment which thrives on inequality. It is the contention of this thesis that the version of social democracy presented to the electorate in Western Europe today adheres to a neo-liberal agenda. In the past, social democracy in Western Europe has been viewed as a single entity, but this was inaccurate. A fuller understanding can be gained by distinguishing between a Northern European and Southern European model, each with its own characteristics. Yet, these are now converging upon a 'new' social democracy which abandons the central values of the past and embraces neo-liberalism. An examination of the theories suggested to explain the problems facing social democracy show that many of them revolve around difficulties with the economic agenda. A number of Western European parties are examined in light of this to illustrate the development of social democracy. A fuller analysis of the British New Labour Party is forwarded as it is the most advanced in the direction of 'new' social democracy. This helps to highlight a number of historic reversals for social democratic parties and to confirm that the parties are following an agenda which is incongruent with their theoretical values.
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Jones, Beverley. "The rhetoric of research in social science : a post-structuralist consideration of world views." Thesis, Keele University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.368976.
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Boulton, Richard. "Children with HIV : the consolidation of medicine, science and the social into the clinical practice of paediatric HIV." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2013. http://research.gold.ac.uk/8713/.
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This thesis explores how medicine is practiced in a paediatric HIV clinic in outer London. It draws on ethnographic research that took place in the clinic over the course of a year. The significance of the topic is situated in the complexity of the issues presented clinically by children with HIV in London. During practice recurrent associations of confidentiality, stigma, vulnerability, naivety and innocence emerges around the patient cohort that mainly comprises recent African migrants living their lives in complicated urban environments. These associations are contrasted by the uncompromising requirements of antiretroviral medicine which needs almost perfect dosing adherence in order to suppress the virus. The incompatibilities between complex patient lives and medical requirements must be made compatible through clinical practice. Therefore, the thesis emphasises the clinic as the key site where the ‘cultural’ issues presented by patients are consolidated with drug requirements to form a functional medicine. The argument is informed by discussions around Science and Technology Studies (STS), and the Sociology of Childhood (SoC). These discussions highlight practice as ‘enacted’, where objects such as disease, the body or medicine are not ‘given’ but gain their shape through their recurrent enactions (Mol 2002, Mol and Law 2004). I have used these discussions to argue that medicine and protocol do not pre-exist practice but must be enacted by practitioners and (child) patients in the clinic. Clinical practice is shown in the thesis as consolidating protocol, drug requirements, patients, practitioners and representations of HIV in ongoing clinical enactions to make the antiretroviral medicine amongst the paediatric cohort operational. To do this, the research focuses on a set of procedures enacted in the clinic: disclosure, adherence, HIV as chronic illness and transition. These procedures inform practitioners on how to maintain care and make medical requirements explicit to child patients (and their parents), enforcing behaviour that accords with the goals of antiretroviral medicine. In this way practice and protocol are negotiated and renegotiated to ensure their effectiveness between all of the associations involved in participating with the condition, paediatric HIV and the corresponding medicine. Compared to existing STS on the subject of medicine and the clinic, paediatric HIV practice emphasises the clinic’s role to consolidate seemingly incompatible associations around patients such as stigma, vulnerability and innocence into medical requirements. The result is that STS that advertently or inadvertently implies that medical practice is messy or disjointed are questioned in light of two important features of paediatric HIV. Firstly, that practice must necessarily consolidate disparate patient lives into medical requirements if treatment is to be successful, and secondly, that practitioners must employ a logic to generate a coherent, well-organised clinical practice that is flexible and pliable to diverse eventualities. The significance of this argument demonstrates the clinic’s importance in enacting interventions and attuning medicine, displacing a notion of protocol or guidelines as dictating practice without negotiation, or the belief that the ideal course of clinical practice is fully predefined in protocol. Therefore, the implications of this research underline the clinic as a key site in rationalising how medicine is formulated and applied to patients.
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Miller, Paul K. "The social reality of depression : on the situated construction, negotiation and management of a mental illness category in primary care." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2003. http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/75/.
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This project is a study of the way that people use language actively to achieve certain ends in communication, the way that they organise their spoken discourse to construct, convincingly, the state of their lives, both ‘internal’ and ‘external’. It does this primarily through an analysis of the systematic properties of the descriptive, communicative and interpretative skills which members use in the accomplishment of the meanings central to everyday existence. More specifically, this project is a study of verbal accounts of, and doctor-patient interaction relating to, clinical depression. The project begins from the premise that most social studies of depression and its diagnosis have been subject to the same problematic treatment of language as a ‘transparent medium’ as the psychiatric frames upon which the modern clinical understanding of depression in the UK is itself based. I aim, in view of this, to demonstrate how hitherto neglected elements in the social analysis of the condition can be revealed with the application of an alternative methodology, a methodology which treats talk-in-interaction as a dynamic and constructive phenomenon rather than a neutral conduit for the passage of information. The empirical data takes the form of a set of General Practitioners from a single practice in the North West talking freely about depression and their experiences of diagnosing it, and actual consultations between these GPs and their patients. Drawing upon Wittgenstein, Ethnomethodology, Discursive Psychology and, particularly, Conversation Analysis this project examines the ways in which doctors and patients construct, negotiate and manage ‘depressive’ meanings in the course of medical interaction, always holding tightly to Wittgenstein’s maxim that practice gives words their significance.
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Scraggs, Emily Anne. "The use of social science knowledge at the United States Agency for International Development." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.313027.
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