Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social inquiry'

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, 2007.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 11, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2974. Adviser: Elisabeth A. Lloyd.

Spiritual emergence is a natural part of the human developmental experience. The process is unique to each individual and may gradually unfold or suddenly arise. Yet, because there is no mainstream cultural framework to provide context for the broad spectrum of anomalous experiences that may occur within it, there can be resistance to the process. The purpose of this exploratory study was to elucidate the phenomenon of spiritual resistance within the spiritual emergence process. Using the heuristic method, 18 participants who self-identified as having experienced spiritual resistance were interviewed. Based on data gathered through this research, 5 types of spiritual resistance and 11 ways of overcoming it were named. Spiritual resistance has both a protective and inhibiting function. Although at times it may serve to stifle the progression of spiritual development, it may also be the intermediary in protecting the ego from the tumultuous process experienced during spiritual emergency.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
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Seeking to contribute clarity in understanding the essential characteristics of social science, the thesis this essay defends is that the legitimacy of "social science" as a distinct patterned activity oriented to attaining objective knowledge of humanity depends upon the recognition of its characteristic set of phenomena and that this set is comprised of meaningful behavior; this set was isolated by Max Weber in his major theoretical work and is the central subject matter of his empirical studies. Weber's approach and view is compared with that of the contemporary Chicago historian William H. Sewell, Jr.; specifically, examination of Sewell's view on the nature of the "social" leverages the importance of Weber's concept of "action" underlying "social action" and draws attention to the elemental importance of "action" for social science. Chapter 1 discusses science seen as a "social institution." In this context, the goal or end of "social science" is examined, and a discussion of Geertz' concept "cultural system" is introduced so as to offer clarity concerning the value of the concept of "social institution." Delineating the "social" for "social science" is argued to be essential for the testing of social scientific theories grounded in empirical phenomena. Chapter 2 engages Sewell's approach to the question of the "social" with a view toward the status of his response as an ontological claim and examines his definition of "semiotic practices." A theoretical discussion of the concepts of "action" and "social action" rooted in Weber's Economy and Society provides the framework for Chapter 3, and a discussion of the importance of explanation and understanding in Weber's view is developed. The central argument here is that the concept of "action" is elemental to Weber's approach. Chapter 4 looks forward and discusses the convergence of thought between Sewell and Max Weber and argues that the merits of this view are suggestive for contemporary scholarship.
2031-01-02

This study is an examination of the role of story and storytelling within Appreciative Inquiry, a method of organizational change that orients around a consensus model building on individual and collective strengths instead of focusing on overcoming problems. Interviews with 12 Appreciative Inquiry practitioners were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed using a process of iterative coding consistent with a General Inductive method of qualitative research. Once consensus with a secondary coder was achieved, 6 themes emerged. The 6 emergent themes outlined general roles that story and storytelling plays in the Appreciative Inquiry process: relationship building, coauthoring a future, reframing narrative, narrative meaning, discovery, and engagement. No one of these categories seemed to guarantee success, and all success stories, shared during the interviews, incorporated something from all 6 of these categories. These categories also provide a possible framework for further study on how to optimize or incorporate more storytelling into Appreciative Inquiry practice.

Loneliness is a human experience that often influences the individual’s mood, perception, self-concept, relationship, and physical heath. The existing body of research on loneliness often associates loneliness with a mental illness (e.g., anxiety or depression) and/or a cognitive deficit. Moreover, although, researchers have identified different types of loneliness, there is limited research on the experience of profound loneliness while in the company of another person with whom one is in a close relationship. Therefore, this study was framed to contribute information in the field by exploring the meaning of this particular type of loneliness as a lived experience. The question this research sought to answer through narrative inquiry was: “What is the meaning of participants’ experience of loneliness while in the company of another person with whom they were in a close relationship?”

The current study examined oral narratives of adult participants. Five participants were recruited and interviewed. The transcribed data was analyzed following Gee’s (1991) structural analysis of oral narrative. Through analysis of the narrative data this study aimed to gain an understanding of subjective, psychological meanings of this particular loneliness experience.

The results of the analysis showed that participants, in relationship with another, characterized as close but not experienced as intimate, was retrospectively experienced as loneliness and was lived with a sense of profound hopelessness in a multidimensional manner, which implied the participant’s desired ideals for intimate relationship.

Many factors appear to influence the loneliness experience while in the company of a close other for adults, including the individual’s desire to avoid experiencing pain and loss. The findings indicate that increasing the individual’s awareness of their multidimensional experience through non-pathologizing reflection in a clinical context could allow him or her to reach a deeper understanding of the experience.

Since the early 1990s, religion and matters of faith and spirituality have become a focal point in numerous arenas beyond the individual and traditionally sacred. With President George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives of 2001, the Charitable Choice provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act that preceded it in 1996, and the myriad of legal challenges that followed, matters of religion have become paramount in political discourse regarding social welfare. The viability of faith-based social service provision and the organizations providing the direct services have been the focus of speculation, debate, and a growing amount of research. Few studies, however, have explored the role of faith-based advocacy or lobbying organizations in shifting the social welfare climate, in proposing or opposing policy changes in the social welfare system, or in defining social welfare. Little is empirically known about the organizational dynamics of religious advocacy groups whose attempts at structural influence are, in part, affected by theological positions and religiously-informed values.Considering the dearth of research on such organizations, particularly those that operate on the state level, this study explored faith-based advocacy organizations that seek to influence social policy in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Within an interpretive paradigmatic and theoretical framework that allowed for the exploration of meaning associated with advocacy activities, the inquiry asked the following questions, How do faith-based organizations engage in legislative advocacy in the Commonwealth of Virginia? What meaning do the organizations assign to their advocacy activities? The inquiry's findings, congruent with interpretive research assumptions, are tentative in nature and suggest that while the focal organizations' advocacy activities appear similar to other interest groups, their religious mandates for action distinguish them from their secular counterparts. Interpretations of these mandates significantly influence the organizations' decision-making, their representation of multiple constituencies, and their definitions of success. Unlike previous studies that suggest these organizations distance themselves from insider politics, the religious advocates in the study suggest that fidelity to their mandate means actively participating in the political process while retaining their unique voice as representatives of God and religious traditions.

This study describes the effects of an 11 week training for 2 preschool teachers focusing on systematizing an inquiry learning approach inspired by the literature on Reggio Emilia inspired practices. This study uses a qualitative, multi-methodology approach including interviews, examination of classroom documentation, and examination of the Broderick and Hong Cycle of Inquiry (© revised 2007) planning forms. Qualitative coding and narratives describe each teacher's data taken at 3 intervals in the study and describe changes, challenges, and successes in teacher practices. Results indicate that these teachers learned successful inquiry learning strategies and grew in both their understanding of the process and their ability to translate this to the classroom. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of adding administration to the mentoring process and if a short-term training can change long-term classroom practices.

Interpretive social science is well established institutionally at universities and research centres. It benefits from this institutional context in terms of prestige, credibility and grants. In comparison with non-interpretive disciplines however, its scientific status is questionable. What elements of it are really scientific and what elements are threats to this scientific character? This problem has been discussed in the past but unfortunately the discussion has gradually dried up without a successful resolution. In my thesis I am revitalising it. I take a systematic rather than historical approach: instead of picking up the discussion where it has been abandoned, I begin with a working definition of science, and analyse to what extent interpretive inquiry meets the requirements of this definition. The structure of my thesis follows this definition in that what is discussed is the three substantial elements of it - theory, research method, and professional quality control. In relation to theory, I pose questions on a range of topics, such as whether interpretive social science is explanatory, and whether it generates new knowledge. In relation to method, I explore, amongst other things, whether qualitative method permits the production of valid and reliable findings. The discussion of professional quality control considers issues around the reporting of findings and the assessment of these findings by others. I complement my analysis by considering three interpretive case studies, exploring both whether they produce theoretical knowledge and reflecting on their methodological strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, I explore the border between interpretive inquiry and non-fiction arts, such as literary reportage and documentary filmmaking, arguing that this border is more blurred than it may first appear.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to develop alternative models for analyzing the systems dynamics of a large group conference format called appreciative inquiry (AI) summits. I apply Luhmann’s social systems theory to the strategizing activities of AI summits to examine how this particular format is capable of generating organizational knowledge. An AI summit is a strategic planning conference in which hundreds of internal and external stakeholders collectively design the future of the organization through structured activities. It applies the principles of AI, a consulting method used in organizational development that attends to the positive aspects of an organization as opposed to its problems. Critics challenge this unconditional focus on the positive, questioning the validity of its methods and techniques. Indeed, very few rigorous evaluations of AI methods including AI summits exist. I propose a new approach for assessing the effectiveness of AI summits. I focus on knowledge creation as the dependent variable. Previous studies have shown that successful AI interventions generate new knowledge, not just transformational change. I conceptualize an AI summit as a strategic episode that allows an organization to temporarily suspend its routines and structures for strategic reflection. According to social systems theory, organizations are autopoietic (self-reproducing) systems that maintain their identity through an ongoing production of decision communications. An AI summit consists of three different types of systems that co-evolve and are structurally coupled: an organization system, interaction system and the individual participants’ psychological systems. I propose a typology for analyzing episodes during an AI summit as a starting point for determining the structural dynamics inherent in an AI summit system. Using illustrative examples from a case study, I identify five structural features of an AI summit that facilitate organizational knowledge creation, including reduced communication barriers and the production of decisions during the conference. The study contributes to the existing literature by identifying the important but understudied role of self-organizing project teams in the knowledge creation process at an AI summit. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University, 2008.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed March 26, 2010). Advisor: Carolyn Kenny, Ph.D. "A dissertation submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2008."--from the title page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-153).

In twenty-first (21st) century tertiary education, undergraduate study is intended to not only to teach the subject knowledge through direct instruction or lecturing, but also to cultivate and foster students' skills and literacies to suit societal needs. For this reason, it is increasingly important to introduce new teaching and learning (T&L) strategies and web applications (apps) into students' undergraduate study. The introduction of collaborative inquiry learning (CIL) is intended to enhance students' communication and collaboration skills throughout their learning. In addition, by introducing social annotation (SoAn) tools, students are able to bookmark, highlight, annotate, share, discuss, and collaborate on information sources collected by students for their collaborative inquiry learning assignments (CILA). In this study, a self-developed SoAn tool known as the Web Annotation and Sharing Platform (WASP) was introduced to investigate how the SoAn tool can facilitate students' CIL. The study included 377 students (freshmen or sophomores) from three different courses at a Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Christian University. A mixed-method research approach was employed using four data collection methods. Quantitative data were collected from all participating students through a questionnaire survey, WASP log file (students' actions on WASP), and CILA marks. Furthermore, qualitative data were gathered from selected students in individual face-to-face interviews. The study aimed to ascertain how students integrate and use the SoAn tool in their CIL. This study also investigated whether students think a SoAn tool is useful and effective for their CIL. Moreover, this study examined the correlations between students' perceptions of CIL and WASP, usage of WASP, and their CILA mark. Finally, this study examined the challenges students encountered when they integrate and use WASP in their CIL. The results reveal that the integration and usage of a SoAn tool were concentrated in the early stages of students' CIL. Furthermore, the results illustrated how the 'able other (s)' arise in the CIL group to provide information sources that initiate the discussion and collaboration among group members. Based upon the student perceptions collected in this study, the results suggested that students agreed that the WASP functions were useful and effective for CIL in courses that teach elementary Information and Communications Technology knowledge content (ICT-related courses). Moreover, student perceptions on the WASP functions highly correlated with their perceptions of CL before this study and any respective group process experiences. The results also indicated that students' perceptions, SoAn tool usage and learning outcomes (CILA mark) are not correlated, there is a higher chance of reaching correlation between the perceived usefulness of the WASP functions and their CILA mark in ICT-related courses. Lastly, the results suggested that low motivation for learning and using a SoAn tool, the functionality and recognition of a SoAn tool, and methods of processing, discussing, and collaborating on collected information sources were the challenges encountered when students integrate and use a SoAn tool in their CIL. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed in Chapter 8. Directions for future research and suggestions are provided, which includes introducing SoAn tools in ICT-related courses and enhancing the functions of SoAn tools both for better user experiences and research purposes.

In this thesis I investigate causal inquiry in the social sciences, drawing on examples from various disciplines and in particular from conflict studies. In a backlash against the pervasiveness of statistical methods, in the last decade certain social scientists have focused on finding the causal mechanisms behind observed correlations. To provide evidence for such mechanisms, researchers increasingly rely on ‘process tracing’, a method which attempts to give evidence for causal relations by specifying the chain of events connecting a putative cause and effect of interest. I will ask whether the causal claims process tracers make are defensible, and where they are not defensible I will ask how we can improve the method. Throughout these investigations, I show that the conclusions of process tracing (and indeed ofthe social sciences more generally) are constrained both by the causal structure ofthe social world and by social scientists’ aims and values. My central argument is this: all instances of social phenomena have causally relevant differences, which implies that any research design that requires some comparison between cases (like process tracing) is limited by how we systematize these phenomena. Moreover, such research cannot rely on stable regularities. Nevertheless, to forego causal conclusions altogether is not the right response to these limitations; by carefully outlining our epistemic assumptions we can make progress in causal inquiry. While I use philosophical theories of causation to comment on the feasibility of a social scientific method, I also do the reverse: by investigating a popular contemporary method in the social sciences, I show to what extent our philosophical theories of causation are workable in practice. Thus, this thesis is both a methodological and a philosophical work. Every chapter discusses both a fundamental philosophical position on the social sciences and a relevant case study from the social sciences.

Spurred by the work of the Battered Women's Movement, domestic violence has been responded to since it emerged as a problem in the 1970s. At first the response was providing places for victims to stay and recover from the violence while also providing opportunities for consciousness raising and empowerment work. As domestic violence became a more recognized problem, policies were created and enacted to end the problem. Through the 1980s and 1990s, changes in federal policies in regards to domestic violence were incorporated. The criminal justice system began incorporating such policies as mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies as well as using batterer intervention programs (BIPs) to provide services to those accused of domestic violence charges.In Virginia, domestic violence advocates, batterer intervention program service providers and members of the criminal justice system worked together to create coordinated community responses with the stated goals of safety for domestic violence victims and accountability for perpetrators of domestic violence. The coordination, however, seemed to be fraught with difficulties, as domestic violence advocates, BIP providers, and the criminal justice system continued to struggle with the implementation of the standards. It seemed that although all three groups were able to agree upon the goals of accountability and safety, there were underlying issues of difference that were not being considered.The participants of this inquiry had congruent understandings of the term domestic violence; however their understandings of the social problem domestic violence were quite different. Because the way a social problem is understood influences policy as it is created, implemented, and experienced, it is important to strive for clarity concerning the social problem to which the policy is responding.This inquiry is an exploration of the multiple understandings of the social problem domestic violence as understood by those who participated in the inquiry. The tentative findings, or lessons learned, are not to be understood as generalizable findings, but as the unique, co-created understandings of the multiple meanings of the social problem domestic violence as understood by the participants and the inquirer.

ABSTRACTWhat is the nature of legal rules, and how do we discern whether they can be harmonized? My thesis seeks to answer these questions through a comparative analysis of civil law and common law jurisdiction rules in transnational cases. I develop a methodology for comparing legal rules that defines rules by their history, epistemology and cultural context. I seek to discover the legal traditions' essential components linked to their jurisdiction rules. I hypothesize that rules rooted to incompatible essential components are likely not capable of harmonization. Legal communities deeply value their tradition's essential components, which arise from unique historical events that shape the tradition. Further, a tradition's essential components affect allowable legal reasoning structures used by judges, and the structure of legal rules generally. When applying this methodology to personal jurisdiction rules, two essential components emerge. The first is a differing view regarding flexibility and judicial discretion on the one hand, and formalism and predictability on the other. Common law jurisdiction rules arose from English equity courts' unfettered freedom to create substantive law and remedies. They are predominately judge-made multi-factor tests derived from inherent judicial discretion to ensure equitable outcomes. Examples are forum non conveniens, anti-suit injunctions, and U.S. courts' minimum contacts test. Conversely, civil law jurisdiction rules are straightforward code provisions, linked to historical limitations on the judiciary predictable rules, which guarantee that litigants' rights are observed. This essential component is manifested in legal reasoning prohibiting overt judicial discretion. A second essential component also emerged. The common law accepts a relatively aggressive judicial power. This power is tied to the historical link between the Crown and English chancellors, as well as concurrent jurisdiction in English and U.S. domestic courts prior to the merger of equity and common law courts. This royalty-based judicial power resulted in tag jurisdiction, anti-suit injunctions and conditional forum non conveniens stays, all of which the civil law rejects. The civil law favors a more passive judicial role, also linked to mistrust of the judiciary. These implicit assumptions regarding the nature of judges are not overtly apparent, but appear beneath the surface as salient underlying tenets. Several attempts at harmonizing personal jurisdiction rules have failed in recent years. The European Court of Justice has prohibited English courts' use of discretionary jurisdiction doctrines, resulting in vocal opposition by the English legal community. The negotiations leading up to the Choice of Court Convention, which originally envisioned global harmonization of jurisdiction rules, ended in discord between U.S. and EU delegates. These two essential components contributed to these harmonization failures. They further explain why harmonization based on Quebec's forum non conveniens statutory provision or the Transnational Principles of Civil Procedure is unlikely. In the final chapter, this thesis asks the peripheral question of whether harmonization where a forum selection clause exists is occurring, and if so, whether the essential components methodology can explain such harmonization. Both the civil law and common law presume that such clauses are valid, relying on the principle of party autonomy. Despite this commonality, judges in the two traditions continue to utilize different legal reasoning when considering a forum selection clause's validity. Like harmonization of jurisdiction approaches where an arbitration agreement exists, it is likely that harmonization through a common framework, such as the Choice of Court Convention, is possible if a common essential component exists, despite continued divergence in approaches.
RÉSUMÉQuelle est la nature des règles de droit et comment savoir si elles doivent être harmonisées? La présente thèse tente de répondre à ces questions en présentant une analyse comparative des règles du droit civil et de la common law dans la jurisprudence internationale. Nous y présentons une méthodologie conçue pour la comparaison des règles de droit selon leur histoire, leur épistémologie et leur contexte culturel. Notre but est de découvrir les éléments constitutifs des traditions juridiques et leur lien avec les règles de compétence. Nous soulevons l'hypothèse que les règles liées à des éléments constitutifs incompatibles ne peuvent probablement pas être harmonisées. Lorsque cette méthodologie est employée dans le cadre des règles de compétence personnelle, deux éléments émergent. Le premier comprend d'une part, une approche divergente concernant la souplesse et le pouvoir judiciaire discrétionnaire; d'autre part, le formalisme et la prévisibilité. Les règles de compétence en matière de common law ont été créées dans un contexte où les tribunaux d'equity en Angleterre jouissaient d'une grande liberté pour créer des règles et recours substantiels. Il s'agit principalement de critères multifactoriels conçus par des juges, découlant du pouvoir judiciaire discrétionnaire inhérent visant à assurer des résultats équitables. Il pourrait par exemple s'agir de cas de forum non conveniens, anti-suit injunctions, ou du critère de lien minimal des tribunaux américains. À l'inverse, les règles de compétence en matière de droit civil sont clairement établies dans des dispositions du code en raison d'une méfiance historique à l'endroit du système judiciaire et d'une volonté de se fonder sur des règles prévisibles garantissant le respect des droits des parties. Le second élément constitutif repose sur le fait que la common law accepte un pouvoir judiciaire relativement plus agressif. Ce degré de pouvoir découle du lien historique entre la Couronne et les chanceliers anglais, ainsi que des compétences concurrentes dans les tribunaux nationaux anglais et américains avant la fusion des tribunaux d'equity et de common law. Ce pouvoir judiciaire associé à la royauté a permis l'essor de la compétence personnelle, des anti-suit injunctions et des suspensions conditionnelles en cas de forum non conveniens; autant d'éléments que le droit civil rejette explicitement. De fait, le droit civil privilégie une fonction juridictionnelle plus passive, également en raison d'une méfiance à l'endroit du système judiciaire, ce qui est incompatible avec l'approche de la common law. Plusieurs essais d'harmonisation des règles de compétence personnelle se sont soldés par des échecs au cours des dernières années. La décision de la Cour européenne de justice d'interdire aux tribunaux anglais l'emploi des doctrines sur la compétence discrétionnaire s'est soldée par une vive opposition de la communauté juridique anglaise. Qui plus est, les négociations ayant mené à la création de la Convention sur les accords d'élection de for dont le but original était d'harmoniser les règles en matière de compétence à l'échelle mondiale, se sont soldées par un désaccord entre les délégués des États-Unis et de l'Union européenne. Dans le chapitre final, notre thèse aborde les questions connexes à la possibilité d'harmonisation lorsqu'une clause d'élection de for existe et, le cas échéant, si notre méthodologie fondée sur les éléments constitutifs permet d'expliquer une telle harmonisation.

Theory has been an object of interest for HCI researchers working on questions related to disciplinary identity and maturity. And recently there have been empirical studies of theory use in HCI research publications. These recent studies are crucial for enriching our understanding of how HCI researchers use theoretical knowledge objects like Activity Theory or the Trajectories Conceptual Framework. Moreover, they establish precedent for conducting textual-analytic empirical studies of theory use. However, there are limitations to these recent empirical studies.

In this dissertation, I discuss several formative studies conducted during my doctoral career. These formative studies contribute material to the conceptual and theoretical frameworks that I apply in a summative study of theory use in five years of CHI best paper winners (n=90). These studies motivate three primary contributions. First, I provide an empirically grounded description of the richness and diversity of theory use in HCI scholarship. Second, I show that there is a growing collection of nascent HCI theories being proposed and developed. Finally, I suggest an alternative way of framing the HCI research community – one that embraces the diversity and richness of theory use evidenced in its scholarly publications.

The Cycle of Inquiry (COI) is a tool for emergent curriculum planning and for professional development of early childhood teachers and teacher education students. The COI includes a sequence of five organizational forms connecting analysis of documentation data with intentional planning for long-term emergent inquiry inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach. The authors discuss and analyze the COI System through examination and analysis of the work of a student in a university early childhood teacher preparation program. Through this case study, the authors explore (1) whether a preservice teacher can learn to use the COI form-driven process to plan and facilitate emergent curriculum and (2) whether a mentor can scaffold and assess the development of an inservice or preservice teacher using the teacher’s COI documentation. The authors also describe ongoing research into use of the COI System and outline potential directions for future research.

Offender learning policy in England and Wales is vocationally focused and thus primarily aims to educate prisoners to increase their employability. Through an analysis of letters written by prisoners and interviews with serving prisoners, ex prisoners and prison staff, this qualitative study investigates prisoners’ experiences of education to explore the broad range of ways that such experiences are interpreted. A recurring interpretation involves personal development and this study shows that a range of personal changes and transformations can be attributed to prison education experiences. This suggests that prisoners’ interpretations of their educational experiences often go beyond employability. This study also provides a greater understanding of prisoners’ identities by drawing on elements of the research participants’ life histories and locating experiences of education within their narratives. This places the study in an in depth human context and as such, it has emerged that prisoners’ experiences of education can be better understood in the context of aspects of their life stories. This study reveals that prisoners who have not previously had positive educational experiences are often lacking in personal development and emotional maturity and therefore offender learning should be concerned with developing the ‘whole person’ in addition to giving prisoners skills for employment. As such, value can be ascribed to personal developments that are not directly related to employability such as the ability to cope with the experience of imprisonment and improved family relationships. By including such findings, this research also shows how understanding prisoners’ experiences of education contributes to understanding key themes in prison sociology: coping, masculinity, identity and the pains of imprisonment. This study concerns issues spanning a range of academic disciplines including criminology, sociology and education. As such, it is hoped that this thesis will be of interest to academics in the aforementioned subject areas as well as prison researchers, future prison researchers, prison teachers, prison staff, professionals in criminal justice, and any person with an interest in contemporary imprisonment.

This thesis explores the ways in which professionals (in particular, social work professionals) define, produce, transfer, use, develop and disseminate knowledge of and for their profession and their practice. The thesis considers the issue(s) of professional knowledge from three related but distinct perspectives: philosophical, methodological and professional. From a philosophical perspective, the thesis articulates and examines the underpinning principles of epistemology and considers to what extent the professional social work knowledge debate has been informed by reference to these, and whether the application of appropriate epistemic principles has anything to offer the professions(s) in terms of its knowledge requirements. Methodologically, the thesis is informed by the history of the philosophy of science regarding the nature of inquiry. These considerations provide a clear paradigmatic rationale and context for the utilisation of a mixed-methods approach to the empirical content, with Q-Factor analysis being the quantitative method of choice, supported by semi-structured interviews. From a professional perspective, the thesis explores the views of those professionals actively engaged in those processes of defining, producing, transferring, using, developing and disseminating knowledge of and for social work. These three perspectives are here combined to provide a means by which the views and understandings of professionals can be articulated in meaningful ways and used to inform future discussion and practice regarding professional knowledge forms. The findings within this thesis reveal the differing ways professional social workers both theorise about and engage with knowledge in its many and varied forms. The findings also highlight the ways in which influences external to the individual affect how knowledge is, or is not used, and how some forms of knowledge appear to have preferential status. The conclusions suggest ways of responding to and addressing these issues by reference to a new pragmatic epistemology for the profession(s), which takes cognisance of the contemporary professional zeitgeist.

Albinism is an inherited condition affecting at least 1 in 4000 people in Africa. It is thought to be more common among black Africans although it affects the entire human populations. In most African societies, albinism is regarded to be a disability and the social attitudes against albinos are characterised by lack of understanding, fear, and also of prejudice based on the appearance of albinism. There are various myths surrounding albinos such as that they are born as a punishment, that it is a curse to give birth to albinos and that albinos are immortal and that they are in fact spirits. This causes them to be seen as outcasts in society. Albinism is an inherited, congenital condition resulting in reduced synthesis of melanin pigment in the hair, skin and eyes. It leads to a host of lifelong physical health problems, in particular visual impairment and ultraviolet induced skin damage. In Africa such problems are exacerbated by exposure to harsh sunlight and reduced access to adequate health care, especially in rural areas.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
nf2012
Centre for Human Rights
LLM

Hyperpedagogy seeks to actualize social justice pedagogies and poststructuralist theorizing in digitally enhanced and online learning environments. Hyperpedagogy offers ways to incorporate transactional pedagogies into digital curricula so that learners throughout the United States' pluralistic culture can participate in e-learning. Much of the hyperbole promoting e-learning is founded on social-efficiency pedagogies (i.e. preparing tomorrow's workers for the information-based, new global economy) that tend to homogenize culturally pluralistic learners. The premium placed on a strict adherence to rigid learning systems inculcated within standards-based reform movements typically, moreover, discriminate against historically marginalized learners. Hyperpedagogy seeks to elucidate the closeting of privilege in e-learning so that learners of color, female learners, and homosexual learners can be better represented in the literature than is currently practiced.
Ph. D.

In the context of a changing world, and faced with a scientific analysis that unequivocally links corporate activity with climactic changes which might threaten humankind, any study of financial reporting needs to be placed in perspective. If the science is correct, then it is the contention of this thesis that capital market activity is complicit in the destruction of the Earth’s biosphere and that accounting, in terms of the rules that govern corporate activity and the financial reporting, is an essential link in this chain. Previous research has sought to demonstrate links among social disclosure, social performance and financial performance and this thesis seeks to extend that literature by conducting two further studies, not to aid investors in their quest for further abnormal returns, but to understand the potential for financial markets to contribute to responsible business practice and the quest for sustainable development. The first study was a statistical examination of the relationships between social and environmental disclosures and market performance of the UK’s largest companies. It utilised longitudinal and cross-sectional data over a 10 year period and was tested for linear and non-linear relationships. As expected, no direct relationship between share returns and social disclosure was detected but, on further examination, the longitudinal data revealed a relationship between consistently high (or low) returns and a predisposition to high (or low) disclosure. The second study was a qualitative, interview based inquiry into what companies report in terms of social and environmental information and how markets gather and utilise that information. Senior executives from twelve FTSE companies were interviewed to gain an understanding of why this practice had grown so significantly over the last two decades, who their intended audience might be and the place such information had in their interactions with capital markets. Thereafter, senior executives from three Mutual Assurance Companies were interviewed to seek an understanding of the nature of information they required, and upon which their investment decisions were based. The findings of this study confirmed that social and environmental issues are of limited interest to markets except where they can be identified as relevant in terms of risk or governance. It also confirmed that there is a strong PR motivation in releasing social and environmental reports, which has little to do with improving social performance. On the market side there was confirmation that financial returns, even in ethical funds, were the main driver behind portfolio selection. The rather depressing conclusion from these studies is that serious moral and ethical issues are eschewed by companies and markets alike, where the focus remains on short-term performance measures.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW)
The effective and efficient delivery of social services in South Africa has suffered as a result of the apartheid policies and practices. Now that we have legitimate political structures in our country, social workers in local authorities have the opportunity to take their rightful place in our social service delivery system. In order to enhance the quality of life in South Africa, we must ensure that people are not serviced at a distance. The broad intention of this study is to critically examine social work practice in local authorities in South Africa in order to identify the pertinent elements of a model of practice and to clarify the role of the local authority social worker. Five theoretical issues are identified within structural Marxism which was selected as the theoretical orientation for this study. These are the individual-society relationship, basic needs and services, social change, community participation and professionalism. The literature review of the h-uman services rendered by local authorities in the United Kingdom and the U.~nite-d-S-ta-tes of America, and in South Africa. of which there is a Raucity of research, sensi-ti-ze-d-the res-earcher to the-relevant issues and debates, and informed the empirical study.Ten (10) directors and fifty (50) social work practitioners of social services departments completed the mailed questionnaires. The response rate was, 24,39% and 27,47%, respectively. The empirical data has provided important information about the rationale and types of social services provided by local authorities in 1992-1993. To varying degrees, casework, group work, research and community work/development are practised. While the latter method was purported by many respondents to be their priority, casework was found to be the most popular method. These services were often provided because no other services existed in the area or were inaccessible. In most cases, the social services departments, unfortunately, did not have a mission statement nor terms of reference to guide their planning and interventions. As the majority of the South African population were excluded from the political process, local authority structures were discredited by many people and this caused anxiety among many practitioners and tensions with the communities. There was a high level of co-operation between social services departments and their respective health departments. The conclusions drawn from this study are that local authorities should provide social services through a comprehensive social services department which should include, among other, the health department; and that local government is an important site for the practice of developmental social work. Other researchers could build on this foundation so as to develop clearer policy and practice guidelines for this field of speciality.

This multi-layered and multi-perspective inquiry focuses on adult adoptees’ sense-making of, and presentation of, their sexuality and self/identity. It is situated firmly within postmodern and social constructionist traditions, whereby both the personal/particular and social/shared dimensions of experiences are negotiated, disenfranchised/marginalised voices are privileged, and the distinctions between, research, art and therapy are disrupted. Due to the adoptees being placed in, and conceived as, marginalised group members, their local and marginalised voices are privileged within this thesis. The aims of this research were:  To gain access to, and gather, adult adoptee’s personal narratives/stories around the subject of their sexuality, their sexual identity and their adoption;  To give ‘voice’ to adult adoptees around the subject of sexuality and adoption;  To represent, and then present, these narratives/stories, honouring both the individual particulars of ‘lived experience’ and also to highlight any shared thematic qualities of the participants. A bricolage approach was used, using Kinchloe and Berry’s (2004) formalised theoretical concept of the ‘POET’ (the point of entry text). To capture the multiplicity of the research, and the POETs, a three-phase approach was applied. Phase one incorporated my auto-ethnographic account, of my lived experience of sexuality as an adoptee, through an analysis of my narratives and poems. Phase two explored the participants’ understanding, and presentation of, their sexuality from the analysis of their interview data. These data were analysed through a heuristic approach, developing individual depictions, a group depiction and then a final creative synthesis. In phase three, an interpretative phenomenological analysis, was applied to highlight thematic individual and shared themes of the participants’ data, to present a more structured and thematic representation. The data from phase one, two and three, highlighted the vulnerability, and cultural socio-political constructs, that can affect the self-formation and sexuality of an adoptee. The data from phase three established four superordinate themes: 1. Sexual attitudes, 2. Vulnerability, 3. The ‘Other’, and 4. The Feminine. The research demonstrates that adult adoptees, as vulnerable, are more open and susceptible to external influence regarding their sexuality and self-formation, and proposes an ‘inherent potential toward vulnerability’ within the adoptee. Therefore, there is a relationship between the adoptee, as inherently vulnerable, and how they constitute their sexuality and self-formation. Implications for practice require careful ethical consideration of the adoptees’ inherent vulnerability and how this impacts their sexuality and self-formation. These considerations for good practice/therapeutic intervention are underpinned by an awareness of potential ethical, political and social issues regarding the adoptee’s susceptible influence by the ‘other’. Therefore, an awareness of how ‘non-directive practice’ can be integrated ethically by the practitioner is emphasised. These implications are not always evident in counselling/psychotherapy training and supervision, and therefore need careful consideration by the practitioner at a personal level, and in relation to social policy, when working with adoptees.

This liberatory participatory action research involved a collaborative inquiry by unaccompanied minors from Central America. Using participatory action research and a liberatory approach, the study followed the youth as they investigated and shared their experiences in the systems of custody and legal protection that exist for unaccompanied minors in the United States. The research question, developed with the youth, was what is the experience of unaccompanied minors as they journey to the United States? Their collaborative inquiry is reflected in the mural that they created and their complementary written personal narratives. The co-creation of the mural and personal narratives developed their self-awareness as they discovered and understood their social placement. The research question also stimulated the participants’ consideration of taking action for social change through the sharing of their experience with the public. The work of these youth took place in the accompaniment of adults who witnessed the participants’ inquiry and shared knowledge with them about the journeys of other unaccompanied minors.

Keywords: accompaniment, collaborative inquiry, liberatory psychology, youth participatory action, unaccompanied minors.

This work sets out to critically reconstruct human rights as both an ethical ideal and a political practice. I critique conventional moral justifications of human rights and the related role they play in legitimating political authority, arguing that the pluralism and political content of human rights cannot be eliminated. I reconstruct the relationship between ethics and politics through an engagement with pragmatist and pluralist moral theory, which I then develop into a democratising account of human rights by incorporating work on agonistic democracy. The resulting view of human rights is situated and agonistic, seeing the act of claiming human rights as a political act that makes demands on the social order in the name of a particular ethical ideal. Rather than seeing the political act of claiming rights as undermining human rights as universal moral principles, it becomes essential to global ethics as such. The international political aspect of rights is then examined by looking to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in historical context, and contrasting human rights practice as expressed in popular social movements with conventional state-centric and legalist accounts. In the end the defence of human rights that is offered aims to preserve the transformative power of human rights claims, their democratising content, while undermining their totalising tendency, in which a singular conception of humanity provides certain moral principles to legitimate political authority.

This dissertation is offered at a time when new and social media are becoming a significant part of how teens and adults relate, know, and learn in North America. New and social media are forming networked social spaces which are overlapping and permeating places of schooling and which need to be woven into learning and teaching. However, the deployment of new networked digital technologies is not enough; new conceptions of curricula and pedagogies are needed to address shifts in knowing and learning through new and social media. Responding to this, art educators have been calling for the incorporation of contemporary art practices into curricula and pedagogies, and articulating learning in relational and complex ways. This exploratory design-based research study inquires into the intersection of these three strands: how knowing, learning, and teaching art are affected by new and social media; how an inquiry-based art curricula and pedagogy, as drawn from the practices of contemporary new media art and complexity thinking, may be theorized and enacted; and how art learning takes place at the individual and collective scales as it is enacted in curriculum, pedagogy, and social network space. This study examines a designed and enacted curriculum and pedagogy in a social network space which involved participants from one secondary school visual arts department. Fifteen student participants, from grades 9 through 12, and 5 adults, including myself, inquired through art using new and social media. Questions arose during this inquiry, such as: Who and what is considered a knower and learner in a social network space? How does a dynamic system of collective ideas, resulting from artistic inquiry, shape and get shaped by the learning of individuals in a bounded collective? What and who teaches in such a collective? What roles do identity performance and construction play in participation and the learning of art online? All of these questions form an inquiry direction that seeks to interpret and represent possibilities for art education through new and social media.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education." Discipline: Education; Department/School: Education.

This thesis is a theoretical investigation into Marx’s theory of value through a close reading of the ‘systematic dialectical’ tendency in the area of value-form theory. It investigates theories, which emphasize the import of Hegel’s Logic on Marx’s Capital The main argument is that many of the arguments that are associated with ‘new’ Hegelian Marxism are sound and valid, but that they also require a closer look into Marx’s emphasis on the social concepts under investigation. In this context, the thesis compares and contrasts ‘systematic dialectics’ with core texts of Marx’s intellectual project. It is argued that the main exponents of ‘new dialectics’ and Hegelian Marxism have left unexamined such crucial topics as those of the critique of private property and class struggle. In this context, the thesis affirms that the ‘systematic dialectic’ can be utilized to conceptualize the transition to a different social order, with the latter being a by-product of the logic of capital itself.

Teachers who are called upon to teach in a virtual high school environment require preparation and support as well as an effective professional development process to help them adapt to a different educational dynamic. The virtual school reality demands that educators do more than transfer traditional classroom pedagogy and learn the various functionalities of the technologies utilized in the delivery process. Research shows that conventional professional development programs have had limited effectiveness in altering teachers’ classroom practice especially for online educators, and that ideally modeling the desired outcomes within the process itself has been most effective. While current research also calls for improved professional development for online instructors, the characteristics of such a professional development program are not fully-explored or characterized, and failure to define these characteristics increases the probability that online instructors will continue to arrive inadequately prepared. This qualitative research that is in the form of a narrative inquiry identified and analyzed the essential components of a professional training program for online teachers who were subsequently expected to modify their online classroom practice. The key participants in the case study were the administrators and teachers of a virtual high school in the province of Quebec and all of the participants were former classroom teachers who have been employed by the LEARN Virtual School. The findings of this study focused on identifying key components of a professional development program that incorporated key principles of social constructivism and the impact the program had on the online teachers’ practice. The study highlights the importance of active learning, collaboration, and metacognition in any program for teachers transitioning to the virtual environment and that teachers benefit enormously from modeling for one another.

This action research study examined the impact of participation in an appreciative inquiry (AI) intervention on social service workers' level of compassion fatigue. Five workers plus two of their managers took part in the study. A 6-hour AI intervention was held and participants completed pre- and post-tests of the Professional Quality of Life Scale to measure their compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout. A focus group also was held to gather qualitative data about the impact of the intervention. Results indicated that the intervention was highly valuable for strengthening working relationships, underscoring the positives in otherwise emotionally difficult work, and learning how to avoid or reduce compassion fatigue. Based on these findings, periodic AI interventions are advised to reduce social service workers' compassion fatigue by sharing their experiences and focusing on the positive. Future research should eliminate the limitations of the present study by expanding the sample and gathering multiple forms of data.

Abstract This thesis concentrates on investigating the social construction of learning and teaching in a classroom that was encultured into working and acting as a community of inquiry across the curriculum. The theoretical and methodological premises of the study draw on sociocultural and sociolinguistic views on learning and instruction. Through this framework, the study aims at investigating the development, implementation and evaluation of the processes and conditions for communal inquiry across different pedagogical situations and across the curriculum in the case study classroom. In addition, the study aims at creating a pedagogical rationale for supporting meaningful, student-centred and problem-based learning in classroom. The research project was realised as a series of qualitative case studies. The subjects of the study were seventeen third-grade students from a Finnish elementary school and their teacher. The empirical data corpus consists of nine hours of videotaped classroom sessions gathered from the domains of philosophy, science and mathematics. Detailed, micro- and multilevel analyses were completed on the transcribed video recordings of whole classroom interaction. The results of the research project indicate that social interactions in the case study classroom were quite dominantly characterized by multilateral interactions amongst classroom members. Instead of mere information exchange, the nature of knowledge in this classroom was largely based upon sharing and defining views as well as negotiating evidence. In general, the students in this classroom clearly took charge of the cognitive work whereas the teacher’s responsibility was more directed towards managing the interactional practices during the joint discussions. However, there were occasions when the teacher stepped in as an analytic authority. The teacher scaffolding was grounded in the on-going interactions and varied in both quantity and quality whilst engaging in dialogue with individual students demonstrating different participation modes. Overall, the results of the study indicate that teacher scaffolding in this classroom supported communal inquiry from both the cognitive, social and socio-emotional perspectives
Tiivistelmä Väitöstutkimus tarkastelee oppimisen ja opetuksen sosiaalista rakentumista luokassa, jonka toimintakulttuuri rakentuu tutkivan yhteisön periaatteille yli oppiainerajojen. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu sosiokulttuurisille ja sosiolingvistisille oppimis- ja opetuskäsityksille. Tästä teoriataustasta käsin tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella tutkivan yhteisön periaatteille rakentuvan toimintakulttuurin prosesseja ja ehtoja tapaustutkimusluokassa. Lisäksi tutkimuksen pedagogisena tavoitteena on kehittää suuntaviivoja merkitykselliselle, oppilaskeskeiselle ja ongelmalähtöiselle oppimiselle. Tutkimusprojekti toteutettiin laadullisten tapaustutkimusten sarjana. Tutkimuskohteena ovat seitsemäntoista suomalaisen alakoulun 3. luokan oppilasta ja heidän opettajansa. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu yhdeksästä tunnista videoituja oppituntitilanteita filosofian, luonnontiedon ja matematiikan oppiaineissa. Koko luokan vuorovaikutustilanteita sisältävät litteroidut videotallenteet analysoitiin yksityiskohtaisin, mikro- ja monitasoisin analyysimenetelmin. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että tapaustutkimusluokan sosiaaliset vuorovaikutustilanteet rakentuivat vahvasti jäsenten väliselle, monenkeskiselle vuorovaikutukselle. Pelkän informaation vaihdon sijaan tiedon luonne tutkimuskohteena olleessa luokassa perustui yhteiselle näkökulmien jakamiselle, tarkentamiselle ja perustelemiselle. Luokan oppilaat ottivat vastuuta tiedollisista neuvotteluista, kun taas opettajan vastuu kohdentui enemmänkin vuorovaikutuksen ohjaamiseen yhteisten keskustelujen aikana. Kuitenkin opettaja astui esiin luokan vuorovaikutustilanteissa välillä myös analyyttisenä asiantuntijana. Opettajan tuki määrittyi luokan vuorovaikutustilanteiden kautta, ja se vaihteli määrältään ja laadultaan opettajan ollessa vuorovaikutuksessa osallistumiseltaan erilaisten oppilaiden kanssa. Kaiken kaikkiaan tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että opettajan ohjaus luokkayhteisössä tuki tutkivan yhteisön rakentumista niin tiedollisesta, sosiaalisesta kuin sosioemotionaalisesta näkökulmasta

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 294 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Co-advisors: Christopher Andersen and Michael E. Beeth, College of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-262).

The literature and research investigating why people choose social work as a career has tended to focus on motivational traits rather than on the choice experience itself. Whereas the vocational sector has moved to include a focus on the narrative processes involved with selecting a career, much of the social work research fails to capture the meaning-making processes individuals engage in to make sense of their career choices within their personal and social contexts. This research project describes the meaning-making processes two students participating in the social work program at Central Queensland University and I employ to understand our career choice experiences. Over a period of four years, using a research approach that combines Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) narrative inquiry with Riessman’s (2003) emphasis on social positioning within narratives, Geraldine, John and I explore the interplay between individual, community and professional agendas in our past, present and imagined career choice experiences – particularly focusing on the impact of gender. Identifying the importance of caring as a hallmark of the profession and what draws us to social work, this co-constructed research text highlights the agendas that predominantly support women’s entrance into the profession and challenge men’s participation. Drawing on the metaphor of a quilt to describe our career choice experience, this project draws attention to the importance for aspiring social workers to carefully choose, cut and join together bits of gendered narrative material to create a professional story that both legitimises their entrance into the profession and to position them within the larger career sector.

This thesis is an inquiry into the economics and ethics of residential integration. Efforts to integrate otherwise segregated black and white households in the United States over the last 40 years has been met with legitimate skepticism. Primarily, there is an absence of evidence as it relates to whether neighborhoods cause disadvantage (neighborhood effects) in addition to a lack of evidence related to whether “mixing” actually produces adequate social benefits for those being moved or for society as a whole. I intend to move the conversation forward by presenting two additional considerations. First, in the economic paradigm, it is useful to explore the issue of segregation through what has been described as adverse impacts occurring in the wake of a market failure (“subprime financial crisis”). Second, there are ethical considerations relevant to the integration discussion that offer new norms by which to engage and advance our approach to residential integration and endeavors to mix. This thesis makes a contribution to knowledge by explicating these two points and ultimately providing a more morally capacious evaluative framework by which to appraise this complex social issue.

Young people who are homeless or runaway encounter numerous barriers in obtaining an education (Milner,2013). Concurrently, their schooling experiences have been restricted by neoliberal policy initiatives that have muted investments in building an engaged US citizenry, moving curriculum from content to skill-based learning (Au, 2013). Since civic opportunities for young adults in marginalized communities are not often available and unevenly distributed across social class and race/ethnicity (Ginwright, 2010), participants and I co-created a youth activism club with participants to gain a fuller, more nuanced understanding of the intersection of literacies, civic engagement, and homeless urban youth aged 16-23.

This study draws upon positioning theory and narrative inquiry and works to uncover the ways young people of color who frequented the Scope Resource Center (SRC) for Homeless and Runaway Youth positioned themselves towards critical literacies and as activists in their communities.

Primary findings indicate examinations of power structures morphed as participants expanded critical thinking outwardly over time, moving from micro, through mezzo, and into macro level questioning. Participants engaged in dialogue around texts resulting in intertextual multiliterate positioning and associations were made between critical YA texts and embodied civic action, enabling participants to position themselves as cultural critics and resisters of the status quo. Data suggests established adolescent civic engagement indicators (Flanagan & Levine, 2010) need to be adapted and expanded to include indicators linked to new literacies and online spaces that helped participants position themselves as active, engaged citizens.