This project examines the ontoepistemological underpinnings of diversity education in the field of communication by focusing on the points where diversity, pedagogy and communication intersect. In this study I seek to understand how we come to know what we know about diversity, or the social construction of differentness, and how we share this information with others. I analyzed three popular interpersonal communication textbooks, examining the patterns revealed in the text, in order to address these questions. This study uses three complimentary methods to reveal the number of occurrences that center on diversity in the text (content analysis), to interpret themes reflected by the patterns discovered in the text (thematic analysis) and a creative twist on the coding process that opens the analysis process to the coders and includes their input as participants to this study (reflexive content analysis). The results of this study revealed three-hundred ten occurrences of the social construction of difference across all three textbooks but only a portion of those, seventy-six, suggested social constructionist underpinnings of these constructs. This study shows how we have missed an opportunity at the introductory level to expand our student's knowledge of issues in diversity.

Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka bedömningen av en situation som inbegriper sexuella trakasserier med genusidentitetens betydelse som central aspekt. En stor andel av den tidigare forskningen berör sexuella trakasserier på arbetsplatser, organisationer och liknande verksamheter. Forskning har även synliggjort skolan som en arena för beteende motsvarande sexuella trakasserier, en arena som även tycks öka i omfattning.  Ytterligare en generell trend inom den tidigare forskningen i ämnet är att utifrån teoretiska resonemang diskutera fenomenet i termer av genusnormer, makt och strukturer. I uppsatsen besvaras frågeställningar rörande dels hur attityden till sexuella trakasserier i skolmiljön kontextuellt kan variera beroende på de centrala aktörernas genusidentitet, dels med explorativa avsikter huruvida dessa attityder är kvantitativt mätbara. Via ett bekvämlighetsurval skickades en internetbaserad enkät ut till medlemmar i Lärarnas Riksförbund Stockholm och insamlat datamaterial genomgick statistiska analyser motsvarande ANOVA för upprepade mätningar samt Post Hoc-analyser. Resultaten visar att bedömningen av en situation inbegripande sexuella trakasserier skiljer sig beroende på de centrala aktörernas genusidentitet. Situationer där förövaren är en man uppfattas mer allvarliga än situationer där förövaren är en kvinna, oberoende av den utsattes genusidentitet. Resultatet diskuteras sedan utifrån teoretiska resonemang gällande socialt konstruerade strukturer och mönster.

This research study explores the perceptions and experiences of individuals involved in the business collaborations of the Coal Authority (TCA) with other public and private sector organisations. The study offers two major contributions to professional knowledge and practice. The first is that the social and behavioural activities associated with the business collaboration process are of as much concern as the economic and structural aspects. The second is a conceptual model and framework which makes sense of the public sector business collaborating process, and identifies behaviours and practices which are perceived by the participants to positively contribute to successful business collaborating and to minimise the risk of inter-organisational collaboration failure. The research accounts underpinning the study are based on the researcher's direct observation, interviews, accounts and life experiences of over fifty individuals that he engaged with during his thirty months involvement within the research process. This was complemented by his reflective diary recording in real time the thought processes from the participants in both the public and private sector involved in business collaborating on a day-to-day basis, as he immersed himself in a purposeful way in the research setting. Twenty-four of the collaborators work for public sector organisations, twenty-nine work in the private sector. Thematic discourse analysis was used to interpret their life experiences and develop the framework around the four perspectives that emerged. The four perspectives are: • The context perspective • The business and strategy perspective • The delivery perspective • The people perspective Personal reflections on the research process and the framework are based on the Kirkpatrick (1967) four level theoretical model for the evaluation of learning and development outcomes. The researcher also describes the changes in behaviour and practices within TCA with regard to the way the people within TCA interact and collaborate with people from other organisations as a result of the study and its findings. Finally, the researcher demonstrates his achievement of the six learning outcomes of his DBA doctoral programme.

China’s civil nuclear power programme is a sensitive topic which has seldom been researched by social or political scientists inside or outside of China. In the past, public participation activities in relation to nuclear power issues in China were rare. However, in 2005, when the central government decided to promote civil nuclear development and build 40 more nuclear reactors within the next 20 years, the public started to become aware of the potential environmental risks that might be caused by nuclear power sites. Based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2007-2008, this thesis represents the first in-depth study of local people’s ways of participation concerning a potential inland nuclear power project in China. It provides rich empirical materials to illustrate local people’s differing perceptions of nuclear power and its risks. The thesis reviews developments in the sociological theorisation of ‘risk’ and, by bringing this body of literature into dialogue with the empirical case study, explores its possibilities and limitations as a means of understanding the social construction of risk in contemporary China. In exploring the social, cultural and political context of risk construction, it illustrates how political power and social status influence local people’s participation in nuclear power issues. It also demonstrates that citizens’ growing environmental risk awareness helps to create space within which they can make their voices heard and, simultaneously, that generating open spaces for people to express their opinions helps to shape their awareness of environmental risk. The central conclusion of the analysis is that, in the context of Chinese society political power, by which I mean policy makers’ ideology and all levels of governments, plays a particularly crucial role in the definition, management and governance of nuclear risk.

Examining older adults’ experiences with and response toward hurricanes within the context of the community of residence is key to both understanding their experiences and planning for future hurricanes. Specific to this research, the objective was to understand the current social network of older adults, or who provides care for whom under what circumstances, using the social constructionist perspective. Grounded theory combined with action research was the theoretical orientation guiding the study. Sources of data included the collection of household disaster plans, semi-structured interviews with older adult residents of housing authority neighborhoods, semi-structured interviews with community planners, and observation of community planning meetings. Data were gathered from older adults living in housing authority communities in Southeastern North Carolina using guidelines established by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to develop individual disaster plans. The individual disaster plans were completed during face to face meetings with the older adults, as were semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews were also completed with area planners. Agendas, minutes, and observational notes from disaster planning meetings were collected. The content of the individual disaster plans, semi-structured interviews, and observation notes were then analyzed to determine gaps that must be addressed in order to meet the overall needs of the community. Working with participants, the housing authority disaster response committee, and county planners, a neighborhood plan will be developed that reflects the social construction of all concerned for use in response to future hurricanes. The impact of the multiple levels of communities was apparent in this research. While common thematic processes emerged in data analysis, planners, housing authority personnel and residents of housing communities define community differently. There is discordance when they identify needed resources, and when they reflect on past experience. A power differential which resulted in stifling was also observed.

The thesis follows the relation between gender and language use of individuals for whom German is a foreign language. It is based on the hypothesis, that the language of men and women shows some typical characteristics. On the background of the development of feminist or gender linguistics the thesis gives an overview of the different concepts, which are trying to explain the relationship between gender and language. Presented are also specific language characteristic of men and women. Further an important theoretical basis is the theory of social construction of reality. Following the theory the thesis examines how are the individuals being styled into their respective gender roles and what influence this stylization on their language use has. The practical part of the thesis is based on a research conducted by an online-questionnaire. Based on data collected from individuals with German as a foreign language the thesis studies perception of a gender-specific language on one hand, as well as the own language stylization of the respondents into their respective gender roles on the other. The thesis looks for an answer to the question, whether and to what extent the use of a foreign language affects the language construction of an own gender identity. Key words: gender, communicative domain, identity, German...

Reality TV dating shows have increased in popularity during the last decade. The producers of this kind of reality TV tend to claim that their shows represent a true portrayal of social reality. Viewing the world from a social constructivist perspective, social reality and behavior are understood as social constructions. From that perspective the content of dating shows are viewed as constructions shaped by, for example, the producers. The purpose of this study is to examine how love ideals and gender roles are constructed within the Swedish dating shows Farmers wants a wife [Bonde söker fru] and Faith, hope and love [Tro, hopp och kärlek].Further this study aims to compare the constructions from each show. To investigate this, an adjusted version of Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis has been used. There is not much previous sociological research done concerning reality TV in general, or dating TV more specifically. However, other disciplines have investigated these fields more. For example, several feminist studies have shown that dating TV shows enforces stereotypic gender roles, and a research study in psychology has shown that dating shows may affect attitudes toward sexual behavior among youths. The study shows that the constructions about love and gender roles are similar in both dating shows. In the shows constructed ideal of love, intimacy is one of the most important things. This love ideal could be understood in the context of Anthony Giddens theory of the pure relationship. The gender role constructions in the shows contain contradictions. In many aspects the constructed gender roles reflect upon the show’s love ideal, in sense of equality and the importance of mutual commitment to the dating process. But in some ways there are more traditional gender role expressions, for example women’s criticism towards passivity amongst men. / Tv-sända dejtingprogram har blivit en alltmer populär företeelse de senaste åren. Produktionerna bakom denna form av dokusåpor anser ofta att programmen speglar en sann social verklighet. Utifrån ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv förstås samhället och socialt beteende som sociala konstruktioner. Med ett sådant perspektiv ses skildringar i dejtingprogram som en konstruktion formad av bland annat produktionen. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur kärlek och könsroller konstrueras i de svenska upplagorna av dejtingprogrammen Bonde söker fru och Tro, hopp och kärlek. Vidare syftar studien till att göra en jämförelse av programmens konstruktioner rörande kärlek och könsroller. För att undersöka detta har studien utförts enligt en anpassning av Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys. En översikt av tidigare forskning visar att det inte finns mycket sociologisk forskning på området dokusåpor i allmänhet, och dejtingprogram mer specifikt. Angränsande discipliner har dock utforskat problemområdet mer. Bland annat har flera feministiska studier visat att stereotypa könroller förstärks i dejtingprogram och en studie i psykologi visade att ungdomars konsumtion av dejtingprogram kan påverka deras attityder kring sexuellt beteende. Denna studie visar att de båda programmens konstruktioner, gällande kärlek och könsroller, har stora likheter. I dejtingprogrammens genomsyrande kärleksideal betonas bland annat vikten av intimitet. Detta ideal kan förstås utifrån Anthony Giddens begrepp det rena förhållandet. Studien visar även att könrollskonstruktionerna i programmen präglas av en slitning. Till stor del går könsrollerna i linje med dejtingprogrammens kärlekskonstruktioner, då könsrollerna utmärks av en jämlikhetssträvan och vikten av ömsesidigt engagemang i dejtingen. Samtidigt innehåller könsrollkonstruktionerna bland annat kvinnors kritik mot passiva män, vilket kan förstås som ett uttryck för mer traditionella könsroller.

The phenomenon of panic is one of the most unedifying experiences to inflict the human condition. It is a globally-recognised problem regularly encountered in psychotherapeutic practice. Whilst it is thought that distressing psychological and social (‘psychosocial’) problems might help account for this experience, the precise role they play - particularly in first onset - remains difficult to fathom. For example, whilst there is evidence to suggest that stress related to an individual’s family and work life, marital circumstances, age and gender appear linked with initial episodes of panic, these and many associated stressors people endure remain largely under-researched. Following an inquiry aim that recognises the social construction of reality, this research offers an insight into my first experience of panic attack (my being both a panic sufferer and psychotherapist). The aim was to identify an ‘invisible cord’ (e.g. a series of causally linked stressful life events) related to my panic. These events are typically thought to be found in the twelve months prior to first onset and hold important clues to an individual’s recovery. Hence my research question was: ‘What sense can be made of the invisible cord of events leading to my first experience of panic attack’? Using analytical autoethnographic methods to guide this research, significant personal events were discovered and are presented here in the findings. The earliest events uncovered would stretch back far longer than twelve months; with a series of five scenarios plotted from childhood to my mid-forties. To ensure that this research remained an exercise in critical thinking, each event was then examined alongside broader psychosocial theory and frameworks; offering a connected analysis of this first attack and contingent factors. A summary follows, ‘pulling together’ aspects of this undertaking and offering implications for practice. For example, having only made visible elements of my stressful cord by means of the analytical methods at my disposal (including use of collage and timelines) I suggest that such tools might routinely help other panic sufferers in retracing their past. Equally, in learning that my (often confused) Christian faith was implicated in this panic, I advance that we, as therapists, must remain vigilant to matters of client spirituality: noting that traditional forms of religious guidance are receding in an increasingly sceptical UK society. The thesis concludes with a personal reflection that aims to facilitate a deeper understanding of my research journey.

<p>This study examines the representation of women and men through the quantitative analysisof quotations in three Swedish newspapers - Dagens nyheter, Aftonbladet and Barometern.The roles in which they appear have also been recorded, for example; managerial, political orparental. In addition to the main study, this report analyzes how often women and men appearin the respective photos of the articles examined. In total, 36 newspapers were included in thisstudy (12 of each paper) which resulted in a data set of 1453 articles and 1296 photos.The main aim of this study was to measure the degree of equality and in what differing roleswomen and men appear when being interviewed. Secondly, this study aims to highlight anydifference between women and men appearing in text and photo. The results were comparedacross the three newspapers examined with established theories on gender and feminism,equality, social construction, representation and media power being applied to understand andanalyse these results.The study shows patterns of an unequal distribution between the representation of women andmen in the three Swedish newspapers examined. In the articles where the individuals could beidentified by gender, approximately 65 percent of the persons interviewed were male and 32percent female (the remainder were not identified). Men were more likely to be quoted inexpert or managerial roles where as it was more common for woman to appear under thefamily and consumer headings. However, it was more common for women to appear in photothan in text, with 60 percent of the photos examined containing men and 40 percent women.</p>

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