Coverage for the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) has been low since the publication of Wakefield’s 1998 study associating MMR with the onset of autism. As a part of a larger project on risk communication, this study examined the medical discourse on parental decision-making for childhood immunizations to gain insight on why risk communication efforts have not been successful at improving uptake. The Public Understanding of Science (PUS) was used as a theoretical lens to guide Critical Discourse Analysis of texts from medical, pediatric, and public health journals, from which the analytic themes of Risk and Trust emerged. MMR uptake was framed mainly in terms of risk, indicating the dominance of the Deficit Model of PUS in the discourse. Future research and risk communication need to expand beyond current notions of risk; the Contextual Model of PUS can help highlight other factors that impact parental decision-making about MMR.

This thesis is a contribution to the research of media discourse. During the last decades the media landscape has changed dramatically. These changes have been especially evident in German TV programs and the rise of private TV channels. The purpose of this thesis is to explore some of these changes more thoroughly, focusing on the live TV coverage of three soccer matches during the Soccer World Cups of 1974 and 2006 in Germany. The major research question is how these commentaries changed over the years. The thesis analyses how the reporters describe the players, the team and the coach, as well as the sport and the match itself. The relationships between the reporters and their respective audiences as well as the changing functions of the reporters are subsequently examined. The methodological approach used is Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001; Fowler 1985; van Dijk, 2001). It provides a framework that allows analysing of language in its cultural and social context. Hence, discourse is seen as “language as a form of social practice” (Fairclough, 2001, p.18). Cultural and social contexts as well as extralinguistic factors such as images and sounds are also considered part of the discourse. The overall results indicate that in 2006 soccer has taken on greater importance in the lives of the audience. Live broadcasts of soccer matches have turned more and more into spectacles. This has led to phenomena such as the media’s growing preoccupation with entertainment (“infotainment”). Besides that, an increased presence of the ‘private’ in the public sphere can be discerned. In conclusion, this thesis identifies five principles prevalent in current live media broadcasts: commercialization, individualization, emotionalization, identification, and globalization. Even though some of these principles had already begun to emerge in the 1974 broadcast, their presence in 2006 attests to their increased importance in the German media landscape over time.

The purpose of the study is to expose how the US newspaper New York Times and the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter mediate the war in Afghanistan. Furthermore a comparison is done to map out possible differences and similarities. To fulfill the purpose of the study a critical discourse analysis has been used. The results have shown both differences and similarities between the newspapers. The main conclusions are tendencies of correspondence with previous research and theoretical base, such as the furtherance of elite sources, the promotion of the national political agenda and the national identity and an obvious construction of us and them.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det går att finna relevanta skillnader i framställandet av mannen över tidsperioden 1999 till 2011. Om en förändring har skett vill vi försöka ta reda på hur den ser ut. Utifrån en socialkonstruktivistisk utgångspunkt och med hjälp av begreppsliga redogörelser av genus, maskuliniteter och homosocialitet ämnar vi analysera de båda livsstilsmagasinen Café och Slitz. Vi kommer särskilt ta fasta på studier om massmedia och dess inverkan på människors vardagliga liv. Metoden som används för att vi närmare ska kunna analysera materialet är kritisk diskursanalys, som går ut på att skärskåda textens grundläggande meningssammanhang. Materialet vi utgår ifrån är begränsat till alla Cafés och Slitz utgåvor från 1999. För att se om förändring skett analyserar vi två utgåvor av Café från 2010 och sex från 2011, samt sex utgåvor av Slitz från 2009 och tre från 2011. Därigenom är vår ambition att försöka presentera en intressant bild av denna mångnyanserade kontext och dess diskursiva aspekter. Det generella resultatet är följande: i Slitz har vi inte funnit någon relevant skillnad, men däremot i Café finner vi en diskursiv skillnad från 1999 till 2011. / The purpose of this essay is to examine whether it is possible to find relevant differences in the presentation of the man over the time period from 1999 to 2011. If a change has occurred, we want to try to find out how it looks like. From a social constructivist approach and using conceptual explanations of gender, masculinity and homosociality, we intend to analyze the two Swedish lifestyle magazines Café and Slitz. We will take particular note of studies on mass media and its impact on people's everyday lives. The method used to enable us to further analyze the material is critical discourse analysis, which is to scrutinize the basic sentence context of the text. The material we assume is limited to all Café’s and Slitz’ editions from 1999. To see if changes are made, we analyze two editions of Café from 2010 and six from 2011, and six editions of Slitz from 2009 and three from 2011. Thus, our aim is to try to present an interesting picture of these multi-nuanced contextual and discursive aspects. The general results are as follows: in Slitz, we found no relevant difference, but in the Café, we find a discursive difference between 1999 to 2011.

This thesis is a contribution to the research of media discourse. During the last decades the media landscape has changed dramatically. These changes have been especially evident in German TV programs and the rise of private TV channels. The purpose of this thesis is to explore some of these changes more thoroughly, focusing on the live TV coverage of three soccer matches during the Soccer World Cups of 1974 and 2006 in Germany. The major research question is how these commentaries changed over the years. The thesis analyses how the reporters describe the players, the team and the coach, as well as the sport and the match itself. The relationships between the reporters and their respective audiences as well as the changing functions of the reporters are subsequently examined. The methodological approach used is Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001; Fowler 1985; van Dijk, 2001). It provides a framework that allows analysing of language in its cultural and social context. Hence, discourse is seen as “language as a form of social practice” (Fairclough, 2001, p.18). Cultural and social contexts as well as extralinguistic factors such as images and sounds are also considered part of the discourse. The overall results indicate that in 2006 soccer has taken on greater importance in the lives of the audience. Live broadcasts of soccer matches have turned more and more into spectacles. This has led to phenomena such as the media’s growing preoccupation with entertainment (“infotainment”). Besides that, an increased presence of the ‘private’ in the public sphere can be discerned. In conclusion, this thesis identifies five principles prevalent in current live media broadcasts: commercialization, individualization, emotionalization, identification, and globalization. Even though some of these principles had already begun to emerge in the 1974 broadcast, their presence in 2006 attests to their increased importance in the German media landscape over time.

This study focuses on support and opposition in an attempted merger between three Norwegian university colleges.  The university colleges that took part in the merger process were Buskerud University College, Vestfold University College and Østfold University College, all three located in the south-east part of Norway. The study takes its point of departure in the fact that the merger process was terminated before a decision to merge was reached. It aims to describe the two discourses of support and opposition, and explain change in discursive practices from support to opposition. The thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part the conceptual framework used in the analysis is presented, as well as the area of mergers in higher education and methodological aspects.  Four conceptual pairs are used to analyse the merger process; support/opposition, idea/operationalisation, outwards/inwards and modern/traditional. The second part is constructed as a play with acts presenting the merger process in a chronological order where the conceptual pairs are used to describe and explain discursive practices. The third and final part focuses on general insights into the construction of support and opposition in the terminated merger process. The study shows that the use of different discursive practices evolved into antagonism between the three university colleges leading to the termination of the merger process. Supporting the idea to merge in order to achieve university status was not enough to support the merger if the operationalisation of how the merger process was to be conducted, and how the merged organisation was to be constructed led to a disadvantageous power position.  In addition, discursive practices of support and opposition were conditioned by discourses of the education market and academic drift. / This study focuses on support and opposition in an attempted merger between three Norwegian university colleges. It aims to describe and explain how discourses of support and opposition conditioned the outcome of the merger process.The thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part the four conceptual pairs – support/opposition, idea/operationalisation, outwards/inwards and modern/traditional – used to analyse the merger process, are introduced, as well as the area of mergers in higher education and methodological aspects. The second part is constructed as a play with acts presenting the merger process in a chronological order. The third and final part focuses on general insights into the construction of support for and opposition to the merger.The study shows how different discursive practices evolved into antagonism between the three university colleges leading to the termination of the merger process. Support for the idea of the merger as a means of achieving university status was not sufficient; the operationalisation of the merger process itself and the proposed construction of the merged organisation resulted in power struggles. In addition, support and opposition were conditioned by discourses of the education market and academic drift.

This ethnographic study explored everyday lived experiences of a group of Latina women in school and in the community in an Adult Basic Education (ABE) setting. I examined the functions of discourse in ABE in literacy events (Heath, 1983). In this way, I gained insights into literacy practices through ethnography of communication (Heath, 1983; Hymes, 1972, 1977; Philips, 1993; Saville-Troike, 2003). Narratives provided insights about what was communicated in everyday interactions.In a "teaching to the test" ideological environment, the Latina participants in this study shared knowledge and experiences and created a unique sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978) context for learning. Over time, a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) developed through mutual engagement, joint effort, and shared repertoire which included in and out of school literacies. Salient was the collaborative effort among a local community center, community college, and school district which strived to meet the needs of Latina/o students and their families. These multiple communities of practice provided a support network integral to sustaining a community of learners.The backdrop of this study, an American-Mexican Southwest border region, was the cultural context in which American education and Latinas' Sonora Mexican world views met. This hybrid space or borderlands Anzaldua (1987) described as a place where two cultures merged to form a third culture. In practice, this hybrid space was explored in discursive practices which provided an alternative space, a third space (Moje, Cicechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, & Collazo, 2004) in which identities were negotiated. Participants negotiated to find balance, a synergy between change and maintenance, which was ongoing as they struggled to maintain a traditional world view while accommodating new ideas.Integral to ongoing identity construction were the relationships with language, learning, and conversation. A story emerged from daily acts and events that reflected negotiated individual and social identities in the practice of literacy, teaching, and learning. This study demonstrates the insights ethnographic investigations can bring to understanding the functions of discourse in the construction of identity and socialization into learning.

Despite being a strong advocate for children’s rights in the international community, Sweden has received critique from the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the high number of children who have been removed from their families and that are currently living in foster homes. Previous research has not dealt with the issue of children’s rights in foster care placement processes in Sweden, nor has it included Sweden in discourse analyses on children’s rights, or sufficiently explored the relationship between discourse and implementation of the UNCRC. I use theories on discourse and translation in order to provide a comparative analysis of the articulations of children’s rights relevant for foster care placement processes in the UNCRC, and on the national and local level in Sweden. The analysis points to both similarities and differences in the discourses and identifies six aspects of the Swedish discourse that make certain activities in foster care placement processes possible, desirable and inevitable.

No description available.

Human trafficking is one of today’s largest shadow economies and even though efforts of all kind have been accomplished throughout the years the number of trafficked persons continue to increase. The United Nations together with the European Union as well as the Association of South East Asian Nations cover three areas with different political and social cultures. All three have developed several documents on how to combat the phenomenon but do they understand and respond to the issue in a comprehensive manner? The intention of this study is to investigate whether the UN, EU and ASEAN approach trafficking in human beings in the same manner. By using the method critical discourse analysis, documents such as protocols and strategies from the three organizations have been object of the analysis. With six dimensions divided into two discourses; understanding and response to human trafficking – the analysis resulted in the understanding that the three organizations approach the issue similarly, but that EU and ASEAN put different aspects of the phenomenon in focus.