[Truncated abstract] It is well established that anxiety vulnerability is characterised by two biased patterns of selective information processing (Mathews & MacLeod, 1986; Mogg & Bradley, 1998). First anxiety is associated with an attentional bias, reflecting the selective allocation of attention to threatening stimuli in the environment (Mathews & MacLeod, 1985; MacLeod, Mathews & Tata, 1986; MacLeod & Cohen, 1993). Second anxiety is associated with an interpretive bias, reflecting a disproportionate tendency to resolve ambiguity in a threatening manner (Mogg et al., 1994). These characteristics are shown by normal individual high in trait anxiety (Mathews, Richards & Eysenck, 1989; Mogg, Bradley & Hallowell, 1994; Mathews & MacLeod, 1994), and by examining clinically anxious patients who repeatedly report elevated trait anxiety levels (MacLeod, Mathews & Tata, 1986; Mogg & Bradley, 1998). '...' Two alternative hypotheses regarding this relationship are proposed. One hypothesis is that attentional and interpretive biases are concurrent expressions of a single underlying biased selectivity mechanism that characterises anxiety vulnerability (the Common Mechanism account). In contrast, a quite different hypothesis is that attentional and interpretive biases are independent cognitive anomalies that represent separate pathways to anxiety vulnerability (the Independent Mechanisms account). The present research program was designed to empirically test the predictions that differentiate the Common Mechanism and Independent Mechanisms accounts. The general methodological approach that was adopted was to employ bias manipulation tasks from the literature that have been developed and validated to directly modify one class of processing bias (i.e. attentional bias or interpretive bias). The effect of these direct bias manipulation tasks on a measure of the same class of processing bias or the other class of processing bias was then examined. The Common Mechanism and Independent Mechanisms accounts of the relationship between attentional and interpretive bias generate differing predictions concerning the impact of directly manipulating one class of processing bias upon a measure of the other class of processing bias. The central difference between the alternate accounts is their predictions regarding cross-bias transfer, that is the transfer of training effects from direct manipulation of one class of processing bias to a measure of the other class of processing bias. Whereas the Common Mechanism account predicts that such cross-bias transfer will occur, the Independent Mechanisms account does not predict such transfer. A series of seven studies is reported in this thesis. There was some difficulty achieving successful bias modification using bias manipulation approaches established in the literature; however when such manipulation was achieved no cross-bias transfer was observed. Therefore the obtained pattern of results was consistent with the Independent Mechanisms (IM) account, and inconsistent with the Common Mechanism (CM) account. A more detailed version of the IM account is developed to more fully accommodate the specific results obtained in this thesis.

This study explores the notion of contestation in environmental education. Contestation is a process in which self-interested individuals and groups in a social organisation cooperate, compete and negotiate in a complex interaction aimed at solving social problems. A "framework for critique" is developed, comprising technicist, liberal<interpretive and critical paradigms in each of scientific knowledge, educational innovation, educational research and education itself. This framework forms the basis from which a critique is mounted of contesting perspectives in environmental education at international, national and local levels. The thesis argues, firstly, that contestation takes place in the domains of (a) language or "policy in environmental education; (b) organisational strategies aimed at initiating or improving environmental education; (c) educational practices conducted in the name of environmental education; and (d) within perspectives between these domains. The thesis argues, secondly, that the presently dominant techniqist models of innovation expressed in the organisation of environmental education are part of an hegemonic relationship which acts to "technologise" the innovation: they provide an organisational strategy for establishing environmental and educational progress without offering a theory for self-reflection and ideology-critique. The incompatibility of certain contesting perspectives and practices is masked, thus contributing to continuity, rather than reform. The thesis characterises this "educational problem of environmental education" as a series of theory-practice gaps at all levels, where "theory" is the set of beliefs and assumptions held by individual practitioners, and in. terms of which they understand their educational practices. An educational problem exists because these theory-practice gaps exist; the educational problem continues because these theory-practice gaps exist unacknowledged within the infrastructure of environmental education due to the effects of false consciousness and hegemony. The thesis addresses the issue of which of several contesting forms of educational research offers the most coherent response to the educational problem of environmental education, and argues that, for the time being, approaches grounded in the critical social sciences are both the best justified and most promising approaches . to educational research for environmental education.

政策執行研究自肇始至今均以實證研究途徑為主，實證途徑的學術目的在建構執行的中程理論，然目前執行研究仍處於多元主義的狀態，建立中程理論的基礎必須從概念著手，實證途徑的基本假定忽略了執行研究中的主要變數「人」的影響力，執行研究的領域自限在具體的領域中，執行研究總是一種直線式的行政過程，明顯的忽略執行過程中人心的影響力，筆者以為執行研究應採納詮釋途徑的認識邏輯，以人為主的研究途徑，從基本假定（人性論、認識論、方法論、本體論）上從新預設，將執行實體納入人類心靈活動的領域，改變執行研究的思惟策略，對執行的概念提出更周延的定位。詮釋途徑所建立的執行觀，相對的也有一套完整的研究過程與研究方法，本文中有簡單的介紹，對執行研究而言，研究方法的選擇固然必須慎重，但掌握執行研究的對象才是研究的開始，筆者引用美國學者Dr. Yanow的符號理論，將符號視為執行研究的對象，從符號所代表的意義來查探人類集體行動的本質、執行組織的變動，引用三個個案來說明符號作為執行研究對象所得的執行觀點以印證詮釋途徑的執行觀。

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

<p>The dissertation Reading Texts or ”Reality” investigate teachers use of interpretive communities in teaching literature in secondary school. It discusses how different learning outcomes generates from three interpretory frames for reading. Teachers can be looked upon as critics when they show unexperienced readers why and how they read an interprete literary texts. In their teaching,they don´t relate only to their students but also to thier own conception of subject matter and to a broader discourse in society that deals with questions of why and how we read literature. Following voices of the discourse are included in the study: eight teachers, curriculum texts, a journal for the profession and a journal för scholors.</p><p>Teachers combine several aims in their teaching of literature. They use literature to discuss life, gender and problems related to young people, text as faction. But, they also try to teach their students about narrathology and how to understand and interpretate fictional texts, text as fiction and a world of signs. The curriculum, however, means that literature is read only to gain knowledge about the world,oneself and other people. A contradiction is that one of the criterias for assement includes knowledge of texts and methodology from the academic subject. One of the other voices in the discourse, a journal for scholors, talk about the literary texts but very seldom about teaching the texts. Another voice, a journal for teachers in Swedish, follows the curriculum closely and discusses reading literature as a way to get knowledge of the world.</p><p>Research in subject matter didactics can investigate teaching, relate different aims to different outcomes and show possibilities for teaching literature and reading comprehension. If we choose only one interpretive community, we get one kind of reading comprehension.If we combine two in a complex teaching strategy, we extend learning and reading comprehension of our students.</p>

The Mark 0. Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) public education opportunities include interpretive programs offered along the Estuary Nature Trail. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of three informal education programs, interpretive signs, a self-guided trail brochure, and guided naturalist walks, in imparting information on the ecology of estuaries to visitors. A second objective was to determine visitors attitudes towards estuarine and wetland conservation issues. A questionnaire including knowledge and attitude statements and demographics was distributed to 901 participants. Results show that the three programs are effective in teaching visitors about estuarine ecology, with the naturalist walks being the most effective. Knowledge of estuarine ecology and attitudes towards estuarine and wetland conservation issues were associated with visitor characteristics such as level of education, membership in a conservation organization, residence proximity to wetlands, awareness of local wetland controversies, and previous visits to an estuary trail. Observations of visitor behavior along the estuary trail showed that visitor groups spent an average of 16 minutes on the trail. At each interpretive sign between 54 and 77% of the visitors were observed reading the information; those reading times ranged from 16 to 33 seconds per sign. / Graduation date: 1994

The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyse and understand how children in preschool construct cultural diversity in their interaction. A wide definition of culture is being used, thereby stressing the cultural background of all children. The study is based on observations and conversations with children in three Swedish preschools. In observing and talking to the children the main interest has been on the extent to which experiences from the children’s individual backgrounds, called cultural impulses, are discernible in their play and interaction. In the analysis a theoretical framework of childhood sociology has been used in order to understand what meaning the children’s actions in their peer cultures have in the construction of cultural diversity. The activities going on in the peer culture have also been studied in relation to the pedagogical context. The findings show diversity within the peer group when it comes to gender and competencies but the actions within the peer cultures contain power game and inclusion as well as exclusion. These are results of hierarchies in the group, building on for example status and social position. These hierarchies are strong in the processes in which it is determined which of the cultural impulses from the children that will be a part of the play and which ones that will be rejected. In Swedish preschool one part of the pedagogical context is the seldom-questioned "fri lek". This is a period of varied length during which the children play by themselves with little or no interference from the pedagogues. The results from the observations indicate that this kind of play has very different meaning for the children. For some it is a possibility to make use of their own experiences in their peer culture and for some it means subordinating to those with higher rank in the hierarchy. / Felaktigt serienummer (#44) i avhandlingen.

Systems thinking. Systems theory. The systems approach. All these concepts have in various guises been claimed as central to logistics management, since its dawning in the mid twentieth century. Such claims are the starting point of this dissertation, the purpose of which is to contribute to an increased understanding of systems thinking in logistics management research, both present and for future advances. The primary unit of analysis in this dissertation is thus logistics management research. The purpose is pursued through a strategy of triangulation of research approaches, via two research objectives: To describe the nature of systems thinking in logistics management research. To explore the merits for logistics management research of an interpretive approach to actors’ systems thinking. The term systems thinking in this dissertation denotes any somewhat ‘organised’ bodies of thought with aspirations to be ‘holistic’ in the sense of aiming for comprehensiveness. This part relates mostly to the systems part of the term. With regard to the other part, systems thinking is also regarded as a term that encompasses thinking about, and in terms of, systems; either that of researchers or that of actors in logistics practices. Systems thinking can sometimes be theorised on in such a way that it seems fair to label it as systems theory. Another term that is also frequently employed is systems approach. This denotes any approach to intervene in and/or conduct research on enterprises, with a holistic ambition. Such approaches can or cannot be informed by systems theory. By approach is meant the fundamental assumptions of the effort, such as ontological and epistemological positions, views on human nature, and methodologies. This dissertation employs an approach informed by a strand of systems theory labelled Critical Systems Thinking (CST). This builds on a pluralist strategy, which entails an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of all types of systems approaches, and thus strives towards putting them to work under such circumstances in which they are best suited. The first objective is pursued by means of a combined inductive-deductive approach presented mainly through two peer-reviewed, published journal articles. The first is an extensive literature review of academic publications in logistics management; the second is a survey of logistics management academics. Results show that the systems thinking within the discipline most often is not informed by systems theory, and is oriented towards a narrow section of the available systems approaches. This is an approach that builds on an objective world-view (realist ontology), and which seeks knowledge in terms of different kinds of law-like regularities. There are variations to the kinds of knowledge that are sought, in the sense that some search for deeper, underlying generative mechanisms (structuralist epistemology), some seek causal relationships among observable phenomena (positivist epistemology). The common view on human nature is determinist, and methodologies are often quantitative. It is concluded that logistics management employs a functionalist systems approach, which implicitly assumes homogeneity in actors’ systems thinking in mutual contexts (i.e. shared logistics practices). The second objective is pursued by adopting an interpretive systems approach, thus embracing a nominalist ontology and interpretivist epistemology, in order to explore what benefits such a perspective can lend to logistics management. Informed by the pluralist commitment of CST, theoretical constructs and methods grounded in cognitive psychology are employed to study logistics management practitioners’ systems thinking through cognitive mapping. If this reveals heterogeneities in systems thinking among actors of a mutual context, in which a high degree of homogeneity can be expected, the rationale is that the dominant homogeneity assumption is insufficient. The study, presented through an unpublished working paper, concludes that actors’ systems thinking can differ in ways that render the assumptions of the functionalist systems approach inadequate. More thought, debate, and research on an interpretive systems approach within logistics management is called for. With constant expansions in the scope of ambition for logistics management in mind – towards larger enterprise systems in the spirit of supply chain management, towards more goals for enterprises than the traditional financial ones, and towards new application areas (e.g. healthcare) – it is recognised that more and more actors become stakeholders in the practices that logistics management research seeks to incorporate within its domain of normative ambitions. This leads to an expanding scope of voices that ought to be heard in order to legitimise efforts to improve logistics management practices. This in turn motivates that we should seek to accommodate not only interpretive systems approaches, but also emancipatory, in order to ensure normative prescriptions that are legitimate from the perspectives of as many stakeholders as possible, not only from the common a priori efficiency perspectives of functionalist logistics management research.

The dissertation Reading Texts or ”Reality” investigate teachers use of interpretive communities in teaching literature in secondary school. It discusses how different learning outcomes generates from three interpretory frames for reading. Teachers can be looked upon as critics when they show unexperienced readers why and how they read an interprete literary texts. In their teaching,they don´t relate only to their students but also to thier own conception of subject matter and to a broader discourse in society that deals with questions of why and how we read literature. Following voices of the discourse are included in the study: eight teachers, curriculum texts, a journal for the profession and a journal för scholors. Teachers combine several aims in their teaching of literature. They use literature to discuss life, gender and problems related to young people, text as faction. But, they also try to teach their students about narrathology and how to understand and interpretate fictional texts, text as fiction and a world of signs. The curriculum, however, means that literature is read only to gain knowledge about the world,oneself and other people. A contradiction is that one of the criterias for assement includes knowledge of texts and methodology from the academic subject. One of the other voices in the discourse, a journal for scholors, talk about the literary texts but very seldom about teaching the texts. Another voice, a journal for teachers in Swedish, follows the curriculum closely and discusses reading literature as a way to get knowledge of the world. Research in subject matter didactics can investigate teaching, relate different aims to different outcomes and show possibilities for teaching literature and reading comprehension. If we choose only one interpretive community, we get one kind of reading comprehension.If we combine two in a complex teaching strategy, we extend learning and reading comprehension of our students.

College admission tests are of great importance for admissions systems in general and for candidates in particular. The SweSAT (Högskoleprovet in Swedish) has been used for college admission in Sweden for more than 30 years, and today it is alongside with the upper-secondary school GPA the most widely used instrument for selection of college applicants. Because of the importance that is placed on the SweSAT, it is essential that the scores are reliable and that the interpretations and uses of the scores are valid. The main purpose of this thesis was therefore to examine some assumptions that are of importance for the validity of the interpretation and use of SweSAT scores. The argument-based approach to validation was used as the framework for the evaluation of these assumptions.The thesis consists of four papers and an extensive introduction with summaries of the papers. The first three papers examine assumptions that are relevant for the use of SweSAT scores for admission decisions, while the fourth paper examines an assumption that is relevant for the use of SweSAT scores for providing diagnostic information. The first paper is a review of predictive validity studies that have been performed on the SweSAT. The general conclusion from the review is that the predictive validity of SweSAT scores varies greatly among study programs, and that there are many problematic issues related to the methodology of the predictive validity studies. The second paper focuses on an assumption underlying the current SweSAT equating design, namely that the groups taking different forms of the test have equal abilities. The results show that this assumption is highly problematic, and consequently a more appropriate equating design should be applied when equating SweSAT scores. The third paper examines the effect of textual item revisions on item statistics and preequating outcomes, using data from the SweSAT data sufficiency subtest. The results show that most kinds of revisions have a significant effect on both p-values and point-biserial correlations, and as a consequence the preequating outcomes are affected negatively. The fourth paper examines whether there is added value in reporting subtest scores rather than just the total score to the test-takers. Using a method derived from classical test theory, the results show that all observed subscores are better predictors of the true subscores than is the observed total score, with the exception of the Swedish reading comprehension subtest. That is, the subscores contain information that the test-takers can use for remedial studies and hence there is added value in reporting the subscores. The general conclusion from the thesis as a whole is that the interpretations and use of SweSAT scores are based on several questionable assumptions, but also that the interpretations and uses are supported by a great deal of validity evidence.