Preocupações com o envelhecimento populacional, que cresce rapidamente nos países em desenvolvimento, aliado à intensa degradação do meio ambiente, levaram ao delineamento desta pesquisa. Inicialmente, procurou-se discutir e compreender o processo de envelhecimento individual e populacional, estudando suas teorias: por que e como envelhecemos e alcançamos a longevidade. Destaca-se os fatores associados positivamente à longevidade: restrição alimentar, genética e hereditariedade, hábitos de vida, engajamento social, entre outros. E condicionantes negativos, situações de exposição opostas a estas, dentre as quais a poluição merece destaque pela morbimortalidade a ela associada, podendo encurtar o tempo de vida. Destaca-se a complexidade dos problemas ambientais e a necessidade de romper com o reducionismo, avançando na Saúde Ambiental e seus indicadores. O objetivo do presente estudo foi compreender as possíveis associações entre fatores ambientais e aumento da longevidade humana, segundo a perspectiva de um grupo de longevos ferroviários. Questionário semi-estruturado foi aplicado a uma população mais homogênea de longevos (30 ex-ferroviários aposentados da Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana de Botucatu). Caracterizou-se a vida desses indivíduos e se resgatou a importante história da ferrovia, buscando evidências de associações entre meio ambiente, saúde e longevidade, por intermédio de metodologia qualitativa (Grounded Theory) e quantitativa. Utilizando a Grounded Theory, emergiram três fenômenos, retratados a partir da experiência dos entrevistados: ANIQUILANDO A VIDA, GERANDO VIDA e FALTANDO CONTROLE SOCIAL E DO ESTADO. Esses longevos percebem o aniquilamento atual do meio ambiente, da ferrovia e até da própria vida, desencadeado pela falta de controle social e do Estado, aliado à falta de consciência coletiva, empreendido pelo movimento da ideologia capitalista do lucro a qualquer custo. Percebem que vários fatores influenciam a longevidade, como: conviver em um ambiente harmônico e sem poluição; adotar estilo de vida saudável e sociável; envolver-se com o trabalho e ter renda para se sustentar; ser e estar tranqüilo e feliz; fatores biológicos e genéticos favoráveis. Por meio desta pesquisa, levantam-se três premissas: a complexidade dos fatores associados ao binômio meio-ambiente-longevidade, suas inter-relações, e a necessidade de internalização do meio ambiente no processo de saúde-doença-envelhecimento. Propõem-se nova hipótese nas teorias da longevidade: valorização das funções desempenhadas(VFD). A partir da experiência dos longevos, destacando o papel da memória, denota-se a importância em subsidiar a população idosa a empoderar-se para que possa exigir dos governantes ações mais efetivas no sentido de garantir melhor qualidade de vida. Também é importante empoderá-los para que possam lutar contra a degradação ambiental e da própria vida, contra esta cultura do imediatismo e da etnodesvalorização, em um processo dialético histórico que faz o passado representar a vida (ganhos = trabalho, tempo áureo da ferrovia) e o presente a morte (perdas = degradação ambiental, aniquilamento da ferrovia e ferroviários, doenças). / Concerns with population aging, which grows fast in developing countries, associated with the intense environmental degradation, have led to delineation this research. Initially tried to discuss, and understand individual and population aging process, studying their theories: how and why we age, and reach longevity. Emphasize the factors positively associated to longevity: food restriction, genetics, and heredity, life habits, social engagement, among others. And negative conditioners, situation of exposure opposite to these, especially highlighting pollution because of the morbimortality associated with it, can shorten the life-span. Complexity of environmental problems, and necessity to break up reductionism are outstanding, moving forward in Environmental Health and its indicators. The objective of the current study aim to comprehend the possibility of associating environmental factors with an increase in human longevity, through the perspective of a group of longevity railroaders. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to a homogeneous longevity group (30 retired ex-railroaders from Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana in Botucatu, State of São Paulo). It characterized the lives of these individuals and recovered the importance of railroad history, seeking evidences of associations among environment, health, and longevity through qualitative methodology (Grounded Theory) and quantitative one. Through Grounded Theory, three phenomena emerged, depicted from the experience of the interviewed people: ANNIHILATING LIFE, GENERATING LIFE, and LACKING SOCIAL, AND STATE CONTROL. These longevity individuals detect the current annihilation of the environment, of the railroad, and even of life itself, descending from the lack of social, and State control, allied with lack of a collective conscience, undertaken by the movement of capitalist ideology of profit at any cost. They perceive that various factors have an influence on longevity, such as living in a harmonious environment without pollution, adopting a healthful and sociable lifestyle, involving oneself in work that earns a sustainable income, becoming and staying tranquil and happy; having favorable biological and genetic factors. This research raises three premises: the complexity of factors associated to the binomial environment longevity; their interrelations; and the need to internalize environment in the health-disease-aging process. Suggest a new hypothesis of theory of longevity: Valorization of the Develop Functions (VDF). From the experience of longevity workers, emphasizing memorys role, it denotes the importance of providing the elderly population and empowering them for what they may demand from more effective governmental actions in the sense of guaranteeing a better quality of life. Also it is important to empower them for their struggle against degradation of the environment and own lives, against this culture of immediatism, and ethno devaluation, in a historic dialetic process which makes the past represent life (profits=work, golden age of the railroads) and the present signify death (losses=environmental degradation, annihilation of the railroad and railroaders, diseases).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:58:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gisela Hernandes Gomes.pdf: 2937233 bytes, checksum: 0973a1ccf1294a2d15765c9220bd29e8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of this study was to investigate aspects of Mathematics utilized in End-of-program Assessment Papers in Engineering specifically the manner in which students who attend the final terms of Mechanical Engineering and Production Engineering programs in a Brazilian university report the mathematical contents learned during the undergraduate years and which mathematical elements they apply to their End-of program Assessment Papers. Additionally, the investigation attempted to clarify how two cultures that of engineers and that of the Engineering program classroom are revealed in the discourses of students and teachers. The theoretical-methodological background of the study included aspects of mathematical thinking (Schoenfeld, 1992; Cardella, 2006), of the Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2006; Corbin & Strauss, 2008), and of Video Data Analysis (Powell, Francisco, & Maher, 2004). The findings revealed differences between the culture of engineers and that of the Engineering classroom in aspects such as mathematical rigor versus the use of approximations in the results, in addition to revealing elements of the mathematical thinking present in the assessment papers elements that can be explored in the classroom with the use of modeling and computer software / O foco desta pesquisa é a investigação da Matemática utilizada em Trabalhos de Conclusão de Curso (TCCs) de Engenharia especificamente o modo como alunos que freqüentam as etapas finais de cursos de Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia de Produção falam da Matemática aprendida ao longo da graduação e que elementos matemáticos aplicam a seus TCCs. Além desse foco, interessou-nos também entender de que maneira emergem na fala dos alunos e professores, assim como nos trabalhos finais, a cultura do engenheiro e a da sala de aula de Engenharia. O embasamento teórico-metodológico adotado foi constituído dos aspectos do pensamento matemático (Schoenfeld, 1992; Cardella, 2006), da Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2006; Corbin & Strauss, 2008) e da Análise de Vídeo (Powell, Francisco, & Maher, 2004). Os resultados revelam diferenças entre a cultura do engenheiro e a da sala de aula de Engenharia, como o rigor matemático e a aproximação de resultados, além de apontarem aspectos do pensamento matemático nos TCCs que podem ser explorados em sala de aula nos cursos de Engenharia através da modelagem e do uso de softwares

Despite research connecting the meaningfulness of work with positive organizational outcomes, such as increased employee well-being, job satisfaction, engagement, and retention, there remains a lack of adequate, inclusive research explaining differences in women's perceptions of the meaningfulness of work. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to address this gap in the literature by developing a theory about the formation of perceptions of the meaningfulness of work and about the impact of those perceptions. Research questions explored perceptions that women from diverse social classes have of the meaningfulness of work, what influenced those perceptions, the impact of those perceptions on their career choices, and the influence of those perceptions on workplace experiences and behaviors. Data for this study were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 25 women from different social classes. Transcribed interviews, results from a demographic screening survey, and researcher memos were analyzed using constant comparison in open, axial, and selective coding phases. Results indicated that perceptions of the meaningfulness of work are primarily defined by the potential impact of meaningful work and that the type, scope, and target of that impact are influenced by contextual and experiential factors, filtered through personal identity. The analogy of a stream was used to demonstrate the theory that blockages caused by negative workplace experiences and behaviors may prevent work from having a meaningful impact, but that channels can be created to bypass these blockages. Positive social change occurs when these channels allow employees' goals for impact to be realized, leading them to experience their work as meaningful and to engage in organizational citizenship behavior.

This qualitative research study aims to facilitate a better understanding of the process of transition from secondary school to community college for students identified with autism. Previous research indicates that though most students identified with autism report that they have strong intentions of pursuing a postsecondary education, comparatively few achieve this goal. Prior research on transition has focused on strategies utilized by secondary schools to facilitate success for students identified with autism or postsecondary institutional approaches utilized once a student has arrived at the school. This bifurcated approach has resulted in a gap in the research in that virtually no studies have considered transition from a unified perspective, nor has any serious attention been given to the summer “gap” that exists between secondary school and community college. Through a grounded theory exploration, the experiences and perspectives of college-bound students identified with autism, their parents/caregivers, high school and community college faculty and other stakeholders resulted in the emergence of foundational elements central to understanding what critical factors influence these students and how these students and stakeholders experience this transition. Furthermore, these foundational elements provide, within the confines of this study, a preliminary model of transition for students identified with autism.

Excessive teacher turnover has considerable financial, logistical, and academic implications for public education. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory (GT) that conceptualized the experiences of former Georgia public school teachers in order to better understand voluntary teacher attrition. Informed by Ryan and Deci's self-determination theory, this GT study provided insight into the process by which teachers arrive at the decision to leave public schools. Interviews with 12 former Georgia public school teachers were conducted. A constant comparative analysis was used to develop the theory of navigating the cycle of decline, which accounts for the general trend of declining motivation, well-being, and fulfillment among teachers who choose to leave the public school system. The cycle of decline consists of 4 stages: (a) embarking, in which new teachers initially experience concerns about authenticity and support in the public school context; (b) resolving, in which teachers attempt to resolve these concerns; (c) weathering, in which teachers attempt to endure or tolerate the conditions causing these concerns; and (d) opting out, in which teachers opt to leave the public school context entirely. The theory provides a useful framework for identifying and implementing strategies for retaining public school teachers. Stakeholders and policymakers in education may be able to minimize the impact of early attrition by ensuring opportunities for teachers to do authentic work in a supportive environment. The study supports positive social change by providing new insight into factors that lead to teacher turnover, and could thus help improve systemic and educational outcomes of public schools in Georgia and across the nation.

Literature has identified the need to study socially pervasive ICT in context in order to understand how user acceptability of innovation varies according to different inputs. This thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge on innovation studies (Chapter 2) and proposes a methodology for a conceptual model, for representing dynamic contextual changes in longitudinal studies. The foundation for this methodology is the 'Price of Convenience' (PoC) Model (Chapter 4). As a theory development Thesis, it deals with two related studies of socially pervasive ICT implementation: (1) voluntary adoption of innovations and (2) acceptance of new socially pervasive and ubiquitous ICT innovations (Chapters 6 and 7).

This thesis presents a grounded theory of the flow experiences of Web users engaged in information-seeking activities. The term flow refers to a state of consciousness that is sometimes experienced by individuals who are deeply involved in an enjoyable activity. The experience is characterised by some common elements: a balance between the challenges of an activity and the skills required to meet those challenges; clear goals and feedback; concentration on the task at hand; a sense of control; a merging of action and awareness; a loss of self-consciousness; a distorted sense of time; and the autotelic experience.¶ Researchers have recently proposed Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory as a useful framework for understanding the enjoyment experienced by Web users, but they have struggled to operationalise key constructs such as flow and challenge in their quantitative models. This study aimed to address that problem by providing a better understanding of the nature of flow as experienced by Web users engaged in information-seeking activities. The theory that was developed during this study encompasses the following topics:¶ - the role that curiosity and time urgency play in the formation of a Web user's information-seeking goals and subsequent navigation behaviour;¶ - the challenges that Web users face when seeking information, the skills they use in meeting those challenges, and the relationship that exists between challenges and skills;¶ - the important role that focused attention plays in the flow experiences of Web users, elements that help to focus a user's attention, and elements that are distracting; and¶ - various dimensions of the flow experiences of Web users, which include a joy of discovery, a reduced awareness of factors that are irrelevant to the task at hand, a distorted sense of time, a merging of action and awareness, a sense of control, mental alertness, and telepresence.¶ The grounded theory research method that was employed in this study is a primarily inductive investigative process in which the researcher formulates a theory about a phenomenon by systematically gathering and analysing relevant data. The purpose of this research method is building theory, not testing theory. The data that was gathered for this study primarily consisted of semi-structured in-depth interviews with informants of varying gender, age, educational attainments, occupations and Web experience who could recall experiencing flow while using the Web.¶ An important distinction between this study and other investigations into the flow experiences of Web users is the way it goes beyond sheer associations to propose explanations for how and why certain events occur - explanations that are grounded in the data rather than deduced from the literature. This study is the first of its type on this subject, and as such, it provides a useful counterpoint to previous quantitative studies.

<p>In the last three decades, complexity theory has gained a lot of importance in several scientific disciplines like astronomy, geology, chemistry etc. It has slowly extended its usage in the field of project management. While trying to understand the managerial demands of modern day projects and the different situations faced in projects, the term ‘complexity’ is progressively becoming a benchmark term. In the recent past some of the challenging projects that have been completed are the Heathrow Terminal 5 and the construction of venues for the Beijing Olympics. But can we call these projects complex?It is probably too simplistic to classify projects as complex or non-complex. What is particularly important is to identify the source of the complexity, the level and also the implications of the complexity. Several academicians have studied the different dimensions and established different classifications of complexity. These are put together into models of complexity.But is this classification well-grounded in reality? This is what we aim to explore through this research. The specific questions that we wish to explore by conducting this research are:</p><ul><li>How does the understanding of project complexity in actuality conform to the theoretical complexity models?</li></ul><p>In an effort to answer the primary question, our study will also throw some light on factors of complexity across different sectors. We hope that this distinction will pave way for further research within these sectors. This now brings us to our sub-question:- How do the factors that contribute to complexity compare across different sectors?At the outset of this research, the literature on complexity was reviewed. An attempt was made to understand what complexity means with a focus on the field of project management.It was observed that there is a new wave of thinking in this field and a camp which believes that regular project management tools and techniques cannot be used for complex projects.</p><p>This has drawn several academicians to generate models of complexity based on various factors. In this research we have focused on some important models like that of Turner and Cochrane, Ralph Stacey, Terry Williams, Kahane and Remington and Pollack. We have tried to see if any of these models fit in with how practitioners understand complexity.To find out how practitioners comprehend complexity, we followed a grounded theory approach and also used quantitative methods to supplement the results in accordance in a mixed methodology. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine project managers from different sectors and different  geographical locations. The interviews were analyzed and the data was broken down to different categories referred to as open coding where labelling was done. This was followed by Axial coding where we describe the properties and build relations between these categories. The final stage is selective coding where the emerged theory is integrated and refined.Quantitative data was collected through a short questionnaire which listed out some factors which could cause or lead to complexity in projects. A total of 29 responses were obtained for the questionnaires. By analyzing this data we were able to determine the factors that project managers thought caused complexity in projects. A new dimension was also added by analyzing it sector-wise. Since we collected data from two different sources, via interviews and through questionnaires, it gave us the opportunity to triangulate the findings. Wesincerely hope that this piece of work will pave way for future research on similar areas like models of complexity and perception of complexity in project management</p>

<p>This is a case study influenced by Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. Its focus is on a small group of pupils isolated both geographically and socially from the ordinary school. The composition is written from the children’s perspective. Observations and interviews have made it possible to study both the interaction between the children and also the adults, how the children are described by the adults working with them and what expectations they have on the children. </p><p>In the light of earlier research, our case study can be seen as an example how the school is dealing with the children’s problems. The children’s school day seems to be characterized by frames that differ from between tight to and wide. Tight, in the sense that thesepupils are located in a restricted part of the school, together with just a few other pupils and adults. Wide in the sense that these pupils behaviour are all the same whether it is break or lesson. The social interaction between the children and the adults aims to be directed to show the pupils what they <i>are</i>, instead of what they can <i>become</i>. This attempt indicates that the teacher thinks that the children’s problems are caused by the individual child. The children’s individual biographical schemes are seen as the cause of the problem. Even if the children not have been moved from their originally classes only because of this problem, it is still mentioned as a strong argument for not letting the children return to their original classes. The school thinks that these children have bad influence on so called “normal children”, they even speak in terms as "risk of infection".</p>

<p>The welfare of the elderly population is one of the most important goals of the public health services. At macro level the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare state that the premier goal is for elderly people to have dignified and comfortable lives. They should have a life with a sense of value and feel confident. These ethical values which are expressed on macro level or as normative ethics are expected to prevail at micro level. In our study the micro level is the caring encounter between the elderly patient, next of kin and nurses. Ethical values and morals are important aspects that influence the quality of care, videlicet in empiric ethics.</p><p>The aim of study (I) was to identify and describe the ethical values experienced by the older person in the daily interaction with nurses in a ward for older people during caring encounters. In study (II) the aim was to identify and describe the governing ethical values that next of kin experience in interaction with nurses who care for elderly patients at a geriatric clinic. Study (I) which was an empirical observational study included follow-up interviews. Twenty-two older people participated voluntarily. In study (II) interviews with fourteen next of kin were conducted. In both studies Constant comparative analysis, the core foundation of grounded theory was used.</p><p>Five categories; Being addressed, receiving respect, desiring to participate, increasing self-determination and gaining self-confidence formed the basis for the core category in study (I): Approaching. Approaching concerns the way people become closer to each other in a physical space .It also includes how people become closer to each other in a dialogue, which involves verbal or bodily communication. Approaching indicates the ethical values that guide nurses in their caring encounters with older people. This ethical value is noted by the older person and has an individual value, as well as leading to improved quality of their care. The older person will be confident and satisfied with the caring encounter if the desired components in the nurse’s approaching are exhibited.</p><p>Four categories were identified in study (II): Receiving, showing respect, facilitating participation and showing professionalism. These categories formed the basis of the core category: “Being amenable”, a concept identified in the next of kin’s description of the ethical values that they and the elderly patients perceive in the caring encounter. Being amenable means that the nurses are guided by ethical values; taking into account the elderly patient and next of kin. Nurses who focus on elderly patients’ well-being as a final principle will affect next of kin and their experience of this fundamental situation.</p>