In 1996, the U.S. Congress initiated a change to the Department of Defense (DOD) military family housing program. Applying organizational learning and change theories, this study of the Department of the Air Force (AF) reveals how the AF used $617 million of federal funds and $8.3 billion of matching private investment to significantly upgrade or construct and manage 53,323 AF family housing units. Using an outcome-oriented process tracing methodology, I examine the process changes, organizational structure modifications, and strategy adjustments the AF instituted to implement this latest attempt at providing military family housing. To understand how those adjustments occurred, this research uses organizational routine theory to help explain how organizations generate change by performing their day-to-day activities. This single-case historical study of AF family housing privatization, used process tracing to identify five primary organizational routines that determine know when there is a minimally sufficient explanation of how the AF learned and changed while privatizing the existing military family housing stock. These organizational routines help to clarify the organizational strategy, implementation process, and structure changes that emerged during privatization to address the quality, quantity, affordability, and timeliness of AF military family housing. The AF approach to transforming military family housing might be applicable to other publicly funded housing programs. / Ph. D.

<p>This study deals with Swedish nuclear-energy politics from 1980 to 2006. The purpose is to trace and to explain change and stability in three political parties’ rhetoric concerning the phase-out of Swedish nuclear-energy and the Swedish government’s nuclear politics. Two hypotheses based on path dependency theory are tested to analyze if rhetoric and politics are developing in separate directions. The first hypothesis is based on the idea that earlier promises from the political parties affect what promises they can make later on. The second hypothesis is based on the idea that early investments in Swedish nuclear energy will affect what investments can be made at a later stage. The study shows that there are differences between the political parties’ promises and the government’s politics in the Swedish nuclear-energy debate. The two tested hypotheses seem to be possible explanations to why differences between party rhetoric and governmental politics have appeared. While party rhetoric is formed by a need to earn credibility by showing continuity in made promises, governmental politics is formed by a need to find practical solutions to welfare-, economic- and environmental problems.</p>

A majority of diabetes self-management programs have been shown to improve knowledge, attitude, practice, and health care outcomes. However, in the literature the underlying causal mechanisms for the improvement attributable to health education have not been explored, especially, how diabetes educational intervention may affect diabetes care outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to identify the causal mechanisms responsible for improved knowledge, attitude, practice and outcomes, so that educational interventions can be tailored efficiently and effectively to patients who are most likely to benefit from self-care management. The study used the knowledge, attitude, practice and outcome (KAP-O) framework. The specific purpose of the study was to examine the causes of variation in the outcomes of glycated hemoglobin (A1C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), functional capacity (FC), and poor perceived health (PPH). An experimental study with a randomized control trial design involving 141 participants was conducted. The experimental group (N = 87) and control group (N = 52) were comparable in terms of demographics and major diagnoses. The experimental group received diabetes education. The control and experimental groups received usual customary care. Knowledge, attitude, practice, functional capacity and poor perceived health were measured before and after intervention using reliable and valid instruments. The study used a tailored attitudinal instrument. Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) were measured before and after intervention. Multiple analytic strategies were applied to examine the experimental data. The four outcome variables of (A1C), (LDLC), (FC), and (PPH) did not constitute one common factor measurement model for outcome evaluation. Results of the Independent sample t-test showed that health educational intervention directly improves knowledge about diabetes. The path analysis of panel regression showed that health educational intervention directly lowers glycated hemoglobin (A1C). The causal modeling of {(Exp_Status)-(K-T2)-(A-T2)-(P-T2)} model showed that health educational intervention also indirectly improves preventive practice via knowledge. The effect of attitude (A-T2) was greater than the effect of knowledge on preventive practice of self-care. The difference-in-differences analysis showed that difference in practice (DP) statistically significantly affects the difference in glycated hemoglobin (DA1C). The greater the preventive practice, the greater the lowering of glycated hemoglobin (A1C), indicating a better control of diabetes. The data from this experiment do not support a strong causal path of experimental effects on outcomes via knowledge, attitude, and practice of self-care. The study should be replicated using the KAP-O model in research based on multi-centers, multiple providers, and a diverse population of Type 2 diabetes patients. The study should assess outcomes more than four times over a period of one to two years to elicit the trajectory of change in outcome variables. Knowledge and attitude should be assessed at baseline and continuously improved for the duration of the study.

A mobilização e organização dos movimentos sociais é uma discussão clássica no âmbito das ciências sociais. Entretanto, boa parte da literatura dá maior ênfase à análise dos elementos “materiais” da mobilização ou os analisa de forma separada a seus elementos “simbólicos”, não raro dando menor ênfase a estes. Quando a análise das duas dimensões se faz presente, outro problema comum é a apresentação de descrições importantes sobre a história e características dos movimentos sociais, mas com pouca atenção aos elementos explicativos de como a mobilização e a organização se estruturam e se sustentam. Com o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa cujo foco esteja nas causas da sustentação e ampliação da mobilização, valemos-nos do conceito de mudança de escala para explorar o que aqui denominamos expansão organizativa e amplificação simbólica como mecanismos causais que possibilitam a um movimento social sustentar-se e ampliar sua mobilização. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa sobre a mudança de escala na mobilização das populações atingidas por barragens na bacia do rio Uruguai e sua expansão para as demais regiões do país possibilitada pela fundação do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB). Ancorada na noção de causalidade preconizada pelo realismo crítico, procuramos responder à seguinte questão de pesquisa: como se dá a transformação de um determinado movimento social envolvido em conflitos pontuais em um ator de maior alcance, imbuído de objetivos, pautas e bandeiras políticas diversas? Para tanto, exploramos os mecanismos da expansão organizacional e, sobretudo, da amplificação simbólica para explicar como os atingidos por barragens enquadram o problema social que os atinge e produzem sensos de justiça e justificações para sua mobilização. / The mobilization and organization of social movements is a classic debate in the field of social sciences. However, much of its literature places greater emphasis on the analysis of “material” elements of the mobilization or instead analyze its “symbolic” elements separately, not infrequently conceding only minor emphasis to the latter. When the analysis of both dimensions takes place, another usual problem is the rendition of relevant descriptions on the history and characteristics of the social movements, nevertheless with scarce consideration to the explicative elements on how the mobilization and the organization are structured and sustained. Aiming to conduct research which focuses on the causes of the sustaining and enlargement of the mobilization, we had recourse to the concept of scale shift to explore what we name organizational expansion and symbolic amplification as causal mechanisms which enables a social movement to sustain itself and to enlarge its mobilization. To do so, we carried out a research study on the scale shift in the mobilization of the population affected by dams on the Uruguay River basin and its expansion to further regions of the country by means of the founding of the Movimento dos atingidos por Barragens – MAB – (Movement of People Affected by Dams). Anchored in the notion of causality professed by critical realism, we sought to answer the following research question: how does a given social movement concerned with specific conflicts transforms itself into a player of greater reach, imbued with dissimilar objectives, agendas and policies? Therefore, we inquired into the mechanisms of the organizational expansion and especially of the symbolic amplification to explain how those affected by dams frame the social problem that impacts them and develop senses of justice and justifications for their mobilization. / La movilización y organización de los movimientos sociales és una discusión clásica en las ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, parte da literatura le dá más énfasis al análisis de los elementos “materiales” da movilización o los analisa de manera apartada a sus elementos “simbólicos”, a menudo dandole menor énfasis. Cuando el análisis de sus dimensiones se hace presente, otro problema recurrente és la presentación de descripciones importantes sobre la história y características de los movimientos sociales, pero dandole poca atención a los elementos explicativos de como la movilización y la organización se estructuram y se sostienen. Con el reto de realizar una investigación cuya atención estea en las causas del sostenimiento y extensión de la movilización, utilizamos el concepto de cambio de escala para explorar a lo que aqui decimos extensión organizativa y amplificación simbólica como mecanismos causales que posibilitan a un movimiento social sostenerse y extender su movilización. Así, fue realizada una investigación sobre el cambio de escala em la movilización de las poblaciones afectadas por represas em la región brasileña del río Uruguay y su expansión a otras regiones del país possibilitada por la fundación del Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens – MAB (Movimiento de los Afectados por Represas). Basada em la idea de causalidad desarrollada por los autores del realismo crítico, buscamos responder a la seguiente cuestión de investigación: como ocurre la transformación de un determinado movimiento social involucrado en conflictos pontuales en un actor de mayor alcance, cuyos objetivos y banderas políticas se diversifican? Para tanto, exploramos los mecanismos de la expansión organizacional y, sobretodo, da la amplificación simbólica para explicar como los afectados por represas enmarcan el problema social que os afecta y como producen sentidos de justicia y justificaciones para sua movilización.

A mobilização e organização dos movimentos sociais é uma discussão clássica no âmbito das ciências sociais. Entretanto, boa parte da literatura dá maior ênfase à análise dos elementos “materiais” da mobilização ou os analisa de forma separada a seus elementos “simbólicos”, não raro dando menor ênfase a estes. Quando a análise das duas dimensões se faz presente, outro problema comum é a apresentação de descrições importantes sobre a história e características dos movimentos sociais, mas com pouca atenção aos elementos explicativos de como a mobilização e a organização se estruturam e se sustentam. Com o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa cujo foco esteja nas causas da sustentação e ampliação da mobilização, valemos-nos do conceito de mudança de escala para explorar o que aqui denominamos expansão organizativa e amplificação simbólica como mecanismos causais que possibilitam a um movimento social sustentar-se e ampliar sua mobilização. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa sobre a mudança de escala na mobilização das populações atingidas por barragens na bacia do rio Uruguai e sua expansão para as demais regiões do país possibilitada pela fundação do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB). Ancorada na noção de causalidade preconizada pelo realismo crítico, procuramos responder à seguinte questão de pesquisa: como se dá a transformação de um determinado movimento social envolvido em conflitos pontuais em um ator de maior alcance, imbuído de objetivos, pautas e bandeiras políticas diversas? Para tanto, exploramos os mecanismos da expansão organizacional e, sobretudo, da amplificação simbólica para explicar como os atingidos por barragens enquadram o problema social que os atinge e produzem sensos de justiça e justificações para sua mobilização. / The mobilization and organization of social movements is a classic debate in the field of social sciences. However, much of its literature places greater emphasis on the analysis of “material” elements of the mobilization or instead analyze its “symbolic” elements separately, not infrequently conceding only minor emphasis to the latter. When the analysis of both dimensions takes place, another usual problem is the rendition of relevant descriptions on the history and characteristics of the social movements, nevertheless with scarce consideration to the explicative elements on how the mobilization and the organization are structured and sustained. Aiming to conduct research which focuses on the causes of the sustaining and enlargement of the mobilization, we had recourse to the concept of scale shift to explore what we name organizational expansion and symbolic amplification as causal mechanisms which enables a social movement to sustain itself and to enlarge its mobilization. To do so, we carried out a research study on the scale shift in the mobilization of the population affected by dams on the Uruguay River basin and its expansion to further regions of the country by means of the founding of the Movimento dos atingidos por Barragens – MAB – (Movement of People Affected by Dams). Anchored in the notion of causality professed by critical realism, we sought to answer the following research question: how does a given social movement concerned with specific conflicts transforms itself into a player of greater reach, imbued with dissimilar objectives, agendas and policies? Therefore, we inquired into the mechanisms of the organizational expansion and especially of the symbolic amplification to explain how those affected by dams frame the social problem that impacts them and develop senses of justice and justifications for their mobilization. / La movilización y organización de los movimientos sociales és una discusión clásica en las ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, parte da literatura le dá más énfasis al análisis de los elementos “materiales” da movilización o los analisa de manera apartada a sus elementos “simbólicos”, a menudo dandole menor énfasis. Cuando el análisis de sus dimensiones se hace presente, otro problema recurrente és la presentación de descripciones importantes sobre la história y características de los movimientos sociales, pero dandole poca atención a los elementos explicativos de como la movilización y la organización se estructuram y se sostienen. Con el reto de realizar una investigación cuya atención estea en las causas del sostenimiento y extensión de la movilización, utilizamos el concepto de cambio de escala para explorar a lo que aqui decimos extensión organizativa y amplificación simbólica como mecanismos causales que posibilitan a un movimiento social sostenerse y extender su movilización. Así, fue realizada una investigación sobre el cambio de escala em la movilización de las poblaciones afectadas por represas em la región brasileña del río Uruguay y su expansión a otras regiones del país possibilitada por la fundación del Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens – MAB (Movimiento de los Afectados por Represas). Basada em la idea de causalidad desarrollada por los autores del realismo crítico, buscamos responder a la seguiente cuestión de investigación: como ocurre la transformación de un determinado movimiento social involucrado en conflictos pontuales en un actor de mayor alcance, cuyos objetivos y banderas políticas se diversifican? Para tanto, exploramos los mecanismos de la expansión organizacional y, sobretodo, da la amplificación simbólica para explicar como los afectados por represas enmarcan el problema social que os afecta y como producen sentidos de justicia y justificaciones para sua movilización.

A mobilização e organização dos movimentos sociais é uma discussão clássica no âmbito das ciências sociais. Entretanto, boa parte da literatura dá maior ênfase à análise dos elementos “materiais” da mobilização ou os analisa de forma separada a seus elementos “simbólicos”, não raro dando menor ênfase a estes. Quando a análise das duas dimensões se faz presente, outro problema comum é a apresentação de descrições importantes sobre a história e características dos movimentos sociais, mas com pouca atenção aos elementos explicativos de como a mobilização e a organização se estruturam e se sustentam. Com o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa cujo foco esteja nas causas da sustentação e ampliação da mobilização, valemos-nos do conceito de mudança de escala para explorar o que aqui denominamos expansão organizativa e amplificação simbólica como mecanismos causais que possibilitam a um movimento social sustentar-se e ampliar sua mobilização. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa sobre a mudança de escala na mobilização das populações atingidas por barragens na bacia do rio Uruguai e sua expansão para as demais regiões do país possibilitada pela fundação do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB). Ancorada na noção de causalidade preconizada pelo realismo crítico, procuramos responder à seguinte questão de pesquisa: como se dá a transformação de um determinado movimento social envolvido em conflitos pontuais em um ator de maior alcance, imbuído de objetivos, pautas e bandeiras políticas diversas? Para tanto, exploramos os mecanismos da expansão organizacional e, sobretudo, da amplificação simbólica para explicar como os atingidos por barragens enquadram o problema social que os atinge e produzem sensos de justiça e justificações para sua mobilização. / The mobilization and organization of social movements is a classic debate in the field of social sciences. However, much of its literature places greater emphasis on the analysis of “material” elements of the mobilization or instead analyze its “symbolic” elements separately, not infrequently conceding only minor emphasis to the latter. When the analysis of both dimensions takes place, another usual problem is the rendition of relevant descriptions on the history and characteristics of the social movements, nevertheless with scarce consideration to the explicative elements on how the mobilization and the organization are structured and sustained. Aiming to conduct research which focuses on the causes of the sustaining and enlargement of the mobilization, we had recourse to the concept of scale shift to explore what we name organizational expansion and symbolic amplification as causal mechanisms which enables a social movement to sustain itself and to enlarge its mobilization. To do so, we carried out a research study on the scale shift in the mobilization of the population affected by dams on the Uruguay River basin and its expansion to further regions of the country by means of the founding of the Movimento dos atingidos por Barragens – MAB – (Movement of People Affected by Dams). Anchored in the notion of causality professed by critical realism, we sought to answer the following research question: how does a given social movement concerned with specific conflicts transforms itself into a player of greater reach, imbued with dissimilar objectives, agendas and policies? Therefore, we inquired into the mechanisms of the organizational expansion and especially of the symbolic amplification to explain how those affected by dams frame the social problem that impacts them and develop senses of justice and justifications for their mobilization. / La movilización y organización de los movimientos sociales és una discusión clásica en las ciencias sociales. Sin embargo, parte da literatura le dá más énfasis al análisis de los elementos “materiales” da movilización o los analisa de manera apartada a sus elementos “simbólicos”, a menudo dandole menor énfasis. Cuando el análisis de sus dimensiones se hace presente, otro problema recurrente és la presentación de descripciones importantes sobre la história y características de los movimientos sociales, pero dandole poca atención a los elementos explicativos de como la movilización y la organización se estructuram y se sostienen. Con el reto de realizar una investigación cuya atención estea en las causas del sostenimiento y extensión de la movilización, utilizamos el concepto de cambio de escala para explorar a lo que aqui decimos extensión organizativa y amplificación simbólica como mecanismos causales que posibilitan a un movimiento social sostenerse y extender su movilización. Así, fue realizada una investigación sobre el cambio de escala em la movilización de las poblaciones afectadas por represas em la región brasileña del río Uruguay y su expansión a otras regiones del país possibilitada por la fundación del Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens – MAB (Movimiento de los Afectados por Represas). Basada em la idea de causalidad desarrollada por los autores del realismo crítico, buscamos responder a la seguiente cuestión de investigación: como ocurre la transformación de un determinado movimiento social involucrado en conflictos pontuales en un actor de mayor alcance, cuyos objetivos y banderas políticas se diversifican? Para tanto, exploramos los mecanismos de la expansión organizacional y, sobretodo, da la amplificación simbólica para explicar como los afectados por represas enmarcan el problema social que os afecta y como producen sentidos de justicia y justificaciones para sua movilización.

Ce travail étudie les changements dans les politiques d’exportation d’armement de la France et de la Suède depuis la fin de la guerre froide. Il cherche à expliquer pourquoi on assiste d’abord à un phénomène de convergence entre les deux Etats (1990-2005) puis à un phénomène de divergence (2005-2015). La thèse montre que les explications du changement ne viennent pas uniquement de facteurs internationaux (transformations économiques, diplomatiques) ou internes (évolutions de l’industrie de défense, scandales, alternances politiques), mais des rapports de force entre coalitions « pro-soutien » et « pro-contrôle » des ventes d’armes. L’intervention et l’enchaînement de mécanismes causaux faisant appel au travail politique d’acteurs du sous-système de politique publique sont nécessaires pour relier les facteurs de changement internationaux et domestiques aux réformes observées dans les politiques d’exportation d’armements. / This thesis studies the changes in French and Swedish arms export policies since the end of the Cold War. It seeks to explain why we first observe a converging trend between the two states (1990-2005) and then a diverging trend (2005-2015). The thesis shows that the explanations for policy change do not stem only from international (economic and diplomatic transformations) or domestic factors (defence industry evolutions, arms trade scandals, government political shifts), but from the power struggles between “pro-support” and “pro-control” arms export coalitions. The intervention and succession of causal mechanism requiring actors’ political work is necessary to link the international and domestic factors of change to the observed reforms in arms export policies.

This study deals with Swedish nuclear-energy politics from 1980 to 2006. The purpose is to trace and to explain change and stability in three political parties’ rhetoric concerning the phase-out of Swedish nuclear-energy and the Swedish government’s nuclear politics. Two hypotheses based on path dependency theory are tested to analyze if rhetoric and politics are developing in separate directions. The first hypothesis is based on the idea that earlier promises from the political parties affect what promises they can make later on. The second hypothesis is based on the idea that early investments in Swedish nuclear energy will affect what investments can be made at a later stage. The study shows that there are differences between the political parties’ promises and the government’s politics in the Swedish nuclear-energy debate. The two tested hypotheses seem to be possible explanations to why differences between party rhetoric and governmental politics have appeared. While party rhetoric is formed by a need to earn credibility by showing continuity in made promises, governmental politics is formed by a need to find practical solutions to welfare-, economic- and environmental problems.

Dans les annales de l'Intelligence Artificielle (IA), la quête incessante pour émuler la cognition humaine dans les machines a sous-tendu l'évolution technologique, repoussant les limites du potentiel humain et des capacités de résolution de problèmes. L'intégration de l'IA a catalysé des progrès remarquables, pénétrant divers domaines et redéfinissant des industries. Cependant, un défi demeure imperturbable : l'obstacle de la généralisation hors de la distribution (OOD). Alors que l'IA triomphe avec des données familières, elle échoue avec des données en dehors de son domaine d'entraînement. En santé, en finance et au-delà, les limitations de l'IA entravent l'adaptation à des scénarios nouveaux. Cette lacune découle de l'écart entre les schémas appris et les caractéristiques causales et invariantes sous-jacentes, entravant l'adaptabilité à des scénarios inexplorés. Cette thèse franchit des étapes significatives pour aborder cette question en innovant et en exploitant des méthodes issues de l'apprentissage de structure causale et de représentation. Le parcours commence par un algorithme novateur d'apprentissage de structure, les ``Reusable Factor Graphs'', qui tire parti des biais inductifs issus de la causalité et de la cognition humaine pour une meilleure généralisation. Ensuite, en explorant l'apprentissage de représentation causale, nous découvrons des représentations désenchevêtrées centrées sur les objets en utilisant une supervision faible basée sur une connaissance partielle de la structure causale des données. Ces connaissances se conjuguent pour préconiser l'apprentissage conjoint de la structure causale et de la représentation. L'architecture proposée, les ``Reusable Slotwise Mechanisms'' (RSM), relie théorie et pratique, démontrant une promesse réelle à travers ses représentations centrées sur les objets et ses mécanismes causaux réutilisables. Cette fusion offre une solution potentielle pour surmonter les limitations de la généralisation OOD en IA. / In the annals of Artificial Intelligence (AI), an enduring quest to emulate human cognition in machines has underpinned technological evolution, driving the boundaries of human potential and problem-solving capabilities. The integration of AI has catalyzed remarkable progress, infiltrating various domains and redefining industries. Yet, a challenge remains unshaken: the hurdle of out-of-distribution (OOD) generalization. While AI triumphs with familiar data, it falters with data outside its training realm. In healthcare, finance, and beyond, AI's limitations hinder adaptation to novel scenarios. This deficiency arises from the gap between learned patterns and underlying causal and invariant features, hindering adaptability to uncharted scenarios. This thesis takes significant steps toward tackling this issue by innovating and leveraging methods from causal structure and representation learning. The journey begins with an innovative structure learning algorithm, Reusable Factor Graphs, leveraging inductive biases from causality and human cognition for improved generalization. Next, delving into causal representation learning, we uncover object-centric disentangled representations using weak supervision from partial knowledge of the causal structure of data. These insights synergize in advocating joint learning of causal structure and representation. The proposed Reusable Slotwise Mechanisms (RSM) architecture bridges theory and practice, demonstrating real-world promise through its object-centric representations and reusable causal mechanisms. This fusion offers a potential solution for tackling OOD generalization limitations in AI.