Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 230-241).

In two studies, the author attempts to develop a general symbol theoretical approach to knowledge representation. The first study, Modeling change - the frame problem, critically examines the - so far unsuccessful - attempts to solve the notorious frame problem. By discussing and analyzing a number of related problems - the prediction problem, the revision problem, the qualification problem, and the book-keeping problem - the frame problem is distinguished as the problem of finding a representational form permitting a changing, complex world to be efficiently and adequately represented. This form, it is argued, is dictated by the metaphysics of the problem world, the fundamental form of the symbol system we humans use in rightly characterizing the world. In the second study, Pictures and words, the symbol theoretical approach is made more explicit. The subject Is the distinction between pictorial (non-linguistic, non-propositional, analogical, "direct") representation and verbal (linguistic, propositional) representation, and the further implications of this distinction. The study focuses on pictorial representation, which has received little attention compared to verbal representation. Observations, ideas, and theories in AI, cognitive psychology, and philosophy are critically examined. The general conclusion is that there is as yet no cogent and mature theory of pictorial representation that gives good support to computer applications. The philosophical symbol theory of Nelson Goodman is found to be the most thoroughly developed and most congenial with the aims and methods of AI. Goodman's theory of pictorial representation, however, in effect excludes computers from the use of pictures. In the final chapter, an attempt is made to develop Goodman's analysis of pictures further turning it into a theory useful to AI. The theory outlined builds on Goodman's concept of exemplification. The key idea is that a picture is a model of a description that has the depicted object as its standard model. One consequence Is that pictorial and verbal forms of representation are seen less as competing alternatives than as complementary forms of representation mutually supporting and depending on each other. / digitalisering@umu

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Utbildningsradion (Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company) is a public service broadcaster with a mandate to produce and distribute educational programmes. 80% of Swedish teachers use its products either during lessons or for professional development. Utbildningsradion’s guidelines, set by the Swedish parliament and government, state that the company’s programmes should meet the interests of the country’s whole population, regardless of their background. The purpose of this study is to examine how Utbildningsradion’s products that are intended to be used in a classroom setting for ages 6 to 9 represent the variety of children that live in Sweden and thus reflect the aforementioned guidelines. The main focus of this research project was further defined to only include the company’s television programmes produced in Sweden between 2006 and 2011 that do not have social issues as the main subject. 50 programmes were analyzed using quantitative content analysis and the following results were further interpreted using mainly Kydd’s and Snead’s models for discussing representation. The findings indicated that girls are overrepresented in the material studied as the cast of 116 children consists of 74% young actresses and 26% young actors. 46 of the programs have a child as the main character, but it is a boy in only three cases . Children with disabilities are almost non-existent in the programmes. Also, children from ethnic minorities have few roles. Most of the programmes studied take place in an urban setting, while four of the 50 feature countryside. When it comes to the child characters’ families, fathers are the ones who are seen the most frequently. They are shown 21 times in the programme material, while siblings are shown eight times and mothers six times.

Denna studie diskuterar hur kulturarv, i detta fall Friluftsmuseet Gamla Linköping, är uppbyggt och hur dess utformning gör att anspråk på historisk representation och autenticitet. De tre män som deltog som informanter i denna studie vet att Gamla Linköping är konstruerad genom omlokalisering av gamla byggnader till platsen, vilket skapar bilden av en liten stad i början av 1900-talet. Under intervjuerna med informanterna, frågade jag om de upplever Gamla Linköping som antingen ett museum eller en stadsdel - och svaret var komplex. I huvudsak ansåg informanterna att Gamla Linköping är ett levande samhälle som illustrerar det förflutna. Jag har genomfört denna studie genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och deltagande observationer på Adventsmarknaden i Gamla Linköping. Genom de deltagande observationerna på Adventsmarknaden blev det möjligt för informanterna att fortsätta reflektionen över vad och hur de uppfattar vara representativ och autentiskt i förhållande till Gamla Linköping miljön. Studien är indelad i fyra delar; Museum eller stadsdel?, Dåtiden i nutiden, Adventsmarknaden, Kulturarv - för vem?. I denna studie har jag diskuterat det faktum att alla kulturarv produceras av olika samtida maktcentra. Det innebär att kulturarv inte är något naturgivet objekt som i sig själv har ett värde – utan genom samtidens normer tillägnas vissa historiska kulturella uttryck värden och konstruerar subjektiva kulturarv. / This study has discussed how cultural heritage, in this case the museum Old Linköping, is constructed and how its design makes claim to historical representation and authenticity. The three men who participated as informants in this study know that Old Linköping is constructed through the relocation of old buildings to the site, thus creating the image of a small town in the early 1900's. During the interviews with informants, I asked the question if they experience Old Linköping as either a museum or a district - and the answer was complex. In essence, the informants generally held view that Old Linköping will be a living community that illustrates the past. I have conducted this study through semi-structured interviews and participant observations on the Advent market in Old Linköping. Through participant observation in the Advent market, it became possible for the informants to continue to reflect on what and how they perceive to be representative and authentic in relation to the Old Linköping environment. The study is divided into four parts; Museum or district?, Past in the present, Advent Market, Heritage - for whom?. In this study, I have discussed the fact that all cultural heritages are produced by various contemporary centers of power. This means that cultural heritage is not something given by nature but by current standards are directed toward certain historical cultural expressions of values and constructs a subjective cultural heritage.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Jan. 19, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 320-329).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986.

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As a crisis of representation challenges third wave democracies, two of its most salient indicators – weak party institutionalization and the underrepresentation of marginalized groups – have thus far been evaluated only in isolation. This dissertation contends that the two dynamics are related, and uses extensive variation within Brazil, the third wave's most populous democracy, to analyze the relationship. Employing an original empirical database of 21,478 candidacies, 73 interviews, and field observations from throughout Brazil, I explain how voters, electoral rules, and parties interact to undermine women's political participation and representative democracy. Despite socioeconomic progress, an effective women's movement, an electorate increasingly receptive to female politicians, and a legislated gender quota, Brazil ranks poorly in global assessments of women's legislative presence. Using mixed methods, this dissertation analyzes variation in women's electoral performance across districts, electoral rules, parties, and women to explain the puzzle of women's underrepresentation in Brazil. I argue that the weakly institutionalized and male dominant character of most Brazilian parties has undermined the quota while also hindering women's political prospects and circumscribing their pathways to power. I subject the hypotheses of the women's representation literature and my own arguments to empirical testing and find that Brazil's female political aspirants are thwarted not by development level, electoral size, or ideology, but rather by the preponderance of inchoate and male-led parties. The analysis demonstrates that to effectively promote women's participation in candidate-centered elections, parties must have the capacity to provide women with essential psychological, organizational, and material support and the will, heralded by the party leadership, to do so. The paucity of such support and persistence of traditional gender norms have led Brazil's few female politicians to craft novel profiles; by conforming to traditional gender norms as supermadres, or converting social, organizational, or professional experiences into political capital as lutadoras or technocrats, such women have nonetheless thrived in inhospitable electoral contexts. I conclude that reforms that strengthen parties while incentivizing the promotion of women's participation within parties offer the greatest potential for mitigating Brazil's crisis of representation, situating once more the goals of the women's movement within the broader democratic reform agenda. / text