<p>In this thesis we study a scalar uniform and non-uniform quantization of random processes (or signals) in average case setting. Quantization (or discretization) of a signal is a standard task in all nalog/digital devices (e.g., digital recorders, remote sensors etc.). We evaluate the necessary memory capacity (or quantization rate) needed for quantized process realizations by exploiting the correlation structure of the model random process. The thesis consists of an introductory survey of the subject and related theory followed by four included papers (A-D).</p><p>In Paper A we develop a quantization coding method when quantization levels crossings by a process realization are used for its coding. Asymptotical behavior of mean quantization rate is investigated in terms of the correlation structure of the original process. For uniform and non-uniform quantization, we assume that the quantization cellwidth tends to zero and the number of quantization levels tends to infinity, respectively.</p><p>In Papers B and C we focus on an additive noise model for a quantized random process. Stochastic structures of asymptotic quantization errors are derived for some bounded and unbounded non-uniform quantizers when the number of quantization levels tends to infinity. The obtained results can be applied, for instance, to some optimization design problems for quantization levels.</p><p>Random signals are quantized at sampling points with further compression. In Paper D the concern is statistical inference for run-length encoding (RLE) method, one of the compression techniques, applied to quantized stationary Gaussian sequences. This compression method is widely used, for instance, in digital signal and image processing. First, we deal with mean RLE quantization rates for various probabilistic models. For a time series with unknown stochastic structure, we investigate asymptotic properties (e.g., asymptotic normality) of two estimates for the mean RLE quantization rate based on an observed sample when the sample size tends to infinity.</p><p>These results can be used in communication theory, signal processing, coding, and compression applications. Some examples and numerical experiments demonstrating applications of the obtained results for synthetic and real data are presented.</p>

In this thesis we study a scalar uniform and non-uniform quantization of random processes (or signals) in average case setting. Quantization (or discretization) of a signal is a standard task in all nalog/digital devices (e.g., digital recorders, remote sensors etc.). We evaluate the necessary memory capacity (or quantization rate) needed for quantized process realizations by exploiting the correlation structure of the model random process. The thesis consists of an introductory survey of the subject and related theory followed by four included papers (A-D). In Paper A we develop a quantization coding method when quantization levels crossings by a process realization are used for its coding. Asymptotical behavior of mean quantization rate is investigated in terms of the correlation structure of the original process. For uniform and non-uniform quantization, we assume that the quantization cellwidth tends to zero and the number of quantization levels tends to infinity, respectively. In Papers B and C we focus on an additive noise model for a quantized random process. Stochastic structures of asymptotic quantization errors are derived for some bounded and unbounded non-uniform quantizers when the number of quantization levels tends to infinity. The obtained results can be applied, for instance, to some optimization design problems for quantization levels. Random signals are quantized at sampling points with further compression. In Paper D the concern is statistical inference for run-length encoding (RLE) method, one of the compression techniques, applied to quantized stationary Gaussian sequences. This compression method is widely used, for instance, in digital signal and image processing. First, we deal with mean RLE quantization rates for various probabilistic models. For a time series with unknown stochastic structure, we investigate asymptotic properties (e.g., asymptotic normality) of two estimates for the mean RLE quantization rate based on an observed sample when the sample size tends to infinity. These results can be used in communication theory, signal processing, coding, and compression applications. Some examples and numerical experiments demonstrating applications of the obtained results for synthetic and real data are presented.

In Sweden, an increasing number of pupils are defined as having some form of difficulties in school. In order to receive special support measures in school, these difficulties must have been subject to a pedagogical examination that state that the pupil is in need of special support measures. This work of identifying and defining difficulties implies that questions about normality and deviance inevitably come into play in school. There has been an increasing demand in school politics to identify these difficulties as early as possible, and this demand has placed further pressure on school personnel in this issue. Furthermore, the personnel’s perspective on the difficulties is also important, i.e., in terms of their origin, because this has importance for the design and content of the special support measures. The overall aim of this thesis is to analyse the tension between normality and deviance that is manifested in the school’s work procedures for pupils with special educational needs. Related to the overall aim, four overarching research questions are addressed. How have pupils with special educational needs and special education been articulated in national policy documents during recent decades? What perspective on school difficulties are being portrayed in schools’ individual educational plans for pupils with special educational needs? How do school personnel identify and differentiate pupils with special educational needs from “normal” pupils? How do pupils with special educational needs and their parents experience the special support measures that they receive in school and what seems to be the main concern of such support measures? The thesis consists of four studies that are based on different empirical materials such as policy documents, individual educational plans (IEPs) and qualitative interviews with school personnel, pupils and parents. The methods that are used for analysing the material are policy analysis, content analysis and grounded theory. The results show that the target group for special support measures has been ascribed with different meanings (over time) in policy documents, something that has affected the recommendations of the support measures and the choice of actors who are assigned to provide such support. Furthermore, the IEPs, as well as the interviews, reveal that an individual perspective on school difficulties seems to be deeply rooted in school.  The identification process of special educational needs followed three models: a pedagogical model, a social model, and a medical/health model.  However, the process of sorting out and defining these pupils invoked ambivalent feelings in the school personnel and the school class usually became the frame of reference for normal or deviant behaviour. Finally, the pupils’ and parent’ main concern of special support measures in school were described as a struggle for recognition and inclusion. The results are discussed with theoretical perspectives on school difficulties and special education. In the concluding discussion, it is argued that pupils with special educational needs have to balance between normality and deviance in school, but also between a pedagogical and a medical discourse by means of having a medical diagnosis in school.

This thesis studies the Second-order Least Squares (SLS) estimation method in regression models with and without measurement error. Applications of the methodology in general quasi-likelihood and variance function models, censored models, and linear and generalized linear models are examined and strong consistency and asymptotic normality are established. To overcome the numerical difficulties of minimizing an objective function that involves multiple integrals, a simulation-based SLS estimator is used and its asymptotic properties are studied. Finite sample performances of the estimators in all of the studied models are investigated through simulation studies. / February 2009

The study’s purpose is to find out how important cultural competence is for the guidance of people with multicultural backgrounds. I also want to illustrate that what is seen as normal in one culture may mean something different in another culture. The study will also in some extent explore culture clashes and its problems in the guidance context. The method used in the study is qualitative and the five respondents were all practicing Muslims. The theoretical point in the study is the constructivist. The thesis shows that the individuals compromise with their religious beliefs in order to meet their daily needs. A conclusion is that cultural competence is necessary, but also that the counselors approach proved to be of significant importance. / Undersökningens syfte var att ta reda på hur viktig kulturell kompetens är i vägledning av personer med multikulturell bakgrund. Jag vill även belysa att vad som ses som normalt i en kultur kan betyda något helt annat i en annan. Undersökningen går även in på kulturkrockar och dess problematik i samband med vägledning. Metoden som använts i undersökningen är kvalitativ, och de fem respondenter som intervjuades var alla praktiserande muslimer. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i undersökningen är den konstruktivistiska. Undersökningen visar att individerna på olika sätt kompromissar för att få deras vardag att gå ihop med sin religiösa trosuppfattning. En slutsats som drogs är att kulturell kompetens till viss del är nödvändig, dock är det vägledarens förhållningssätt som är avgörande för om det blir ett lyckat möte.

Abstract Syftet med denna uppsats är att med hjälp av närläsning, analysera Växjö fattigstyrelses protokoll och föredragningslistor med rapporter. Ambitionen har varit att försöka urskilja vilka individer som var i kontakt med fattigvårdsstyrelsen och vilka ärenden de hade. Vidare också om vem som sågs som rätt respektive orätt fattig och vad för värderingar som kunde skönjas i materialet. Likaså om vilka makt- och kontrollfunktioner som utövades av Fattigvårdsstyrelsen och de som var knutna till den. Det vill säga hur makten kom att manifisteras. Ambitionen har också varit att pröva min hypotes om att gifta och ogifta kvinnor och deras barn behandlades olika och där de sistnämndas vandel påverkar deras möjligheter till ersättning negativt. Materialet analyserades utifrån ett barn-, familje och maktperspektiv i ljuset av Michel Foucaults teori om normalitet och avvikelse. Källmaterialet har bestått av rapporter, föredragningslistor och framförallt protokoll från Växjö Fattigvårdsstyrelse för åren 1857, 1876 och 1919. Denna undersökning visar bland annat att familjernas vandel påverkade utfallet av ansökningarna till Fattigvårdsstyrelsen. Exempelvis behandlades ogifta kvinnor och deras barn sämre än gifta kvinnor och änkor. Vidare visar resultaten att de klienter som var i kontakt med fattigvården fick redovisa allt vad de ägde och tjänade och de fick endast ersättning för existentiella behov i form av pengar till mat, kläder, konfirmationskläder, skodon, bränsle och i enskilda fall även till begravningskostnader. De klienter som var i kontakt med Fattigvårdsstyrelsen var främst ensamma familjeförsörjare som av olika skäl hade svårigheter med att försörja sina familjer, fosterföräldrar som begärde högre fosterlega eller klienter vars omgivning skickat in skrivelser om barn de misstänkte for illa.   Nyckelord: Ogifta [unmarried], gifta [married], oäkta barn [bastards], fosterbarn [foster children], vandel [repute], fattigvård [poorhouse], normalitet [normality], avvikande [abnormal], värderingar [values]

This thesis explores how the body and femininity are constructed by starting from the subjective experiences of 12 young women labelled with an intellectual impairment. The methodological approach is inspired by so-called participatory research. The study combines the concepts of (dis)ability and gender from a sociological perspective. It shows how the young women negotiate norms regarding the body and femininity to pursue the coveted body and femininity ideals, but also to do the opposite: resist these ideals. The thesis is based on the following four articles: Theorizing the Body: Conceptions of Disability, Gender and Normality addresses different perspectives on the body in relation to conceptions of disability, gender and normality. The article highlights the importance of integrating disability and gender when exploring an understanding of conceptions and constructions of the body. Negotiating Normality: The Complexity of Showing (off) Bodies identifies four different strategies the young women use to make themselves visible as fashionable young women of today, e.g. as non-disabled. It shows that these strategies comply with conceptions of fashion, and that they are at the same time expressions of different marks of resistance.                                                                            Risky Transitions in an Ableist Environment: The Experience of Frequent Critical Looks presents an exemplification of social construction of the body by focusing on critical looks. The concept of critical looks is analysed from an intersectional perspective, specifically in relation to how (dis)ability, gender and, to some extent, age interact. It shows how the body is made visible by being stared at, both to oneself and to others depending on place and interactions. Reflections on Collaborative Research: to What Extent, and on Whose Terms? discusses the possible methodological and ethical dilemmas found in different research phases, and in relation to the participants, in collaborative research within disability research. It shows that collaborative research can benefit from being problematized and discussed further regarding the categorization of disability as well as participation.

This thesis is an ethnographic exploration of institutions for small children, i.e. the pre-school institution.The overall aim of the study is to investigate what is characteristic for some Swedish preschoois,and how childhood is formulated and realized within those institutions. Of centralimportance are questions. which concern how pre-schools are constructed, negotiated andmaintained by the actors within the pre-school settings. Another aim is to explore contemporarymeanings of pre-school and pre-school children as they appear in interviews and everyday talk. Thedata were collected by participant observations for almost one year in two pre-schools. Data consistof audio- recordings of everyday life and parental talks, interviews with children, pre-schoolteachers and parents. Points of departure are ideas from interactionism and social constructionism.The analyses draw upon concepts from integrative theories; agency-structure, social practice, socialorder and normality in relation to the institution. The results show that pre-school is takcn for granted and is almost considercd as compulsory andpart of normal childhood. Pre-school is legitimated as an interest of and a question for society,families and parents, but also in the best interest of children here and now and for the future. Inaddition, pre-school is also understood as a social and a social pedagogical question for individualsand for society. Moreover, the study shows howeveryday life in pre-school is zoned andpedagogized in time and space. The institution is characterized by schedules, routines and predefinedrooms and artifacts, as weil as by planned activities and unplanned, occasional and situatedactivities, respectively. Children and adults have to deal with the social order of the institution, andthis study shows that the actors constantly break and negotiate the social order - they are doing preschool.The institutions and the interactions are characterized by complexitics and hybridities andthere are different activitics and discourses in action at the same time. This also concerns theintermediate domain between private and public and the relations between parents and pedagogues.None of them are in controi of children's everyday life, and they have to share information. viewsand sometimes also decisions. Parents have to contribute to the construction of a pre-school chiid,by delivering a child ready for prc-school, a chiId with certain competences. In everyday activitiesand in parental talks, the adults articulate and negotiate the picture of a "normal" pre-school chiId,i.c. demands related to a situated institutionaI normality . The study shows how children act indifferent ways in relation to social context and social order in different situations. They act as "normal pre-schoolchildren" but they also construct their own social order in relation to theinstitution, alone or together with other children and adults.

The overall purpose of this interview-study is to increase the knowledge and understanding of persons with Asperger syndrome. For each participant has common and unique aspects been described. The ambition has been to illuminate their perspective of their situation in life and develop the understanding of their quality of life. The participants’ experiences of their diagnosis, and its consequences in their life has been studied. Several aspects of their everyday life have been reported, i.e. schooling, occupational problems, spare time and interests. The results show that the participants may experience their life as hard, as seemingly uncomplicated chores prove to be exhausting. Not fitting with the norms they believe other people in society have, is one aspect of experienced difference. The diagnostic process has proved to be an important event in the life of the participants. It has been described as a way of taking control over one’s life. Their experienced difference may be acceptable to them, if it is in the form of an Asperger diagnosis. Experiences of chock, denial and ambivalence after receiving their Asperger diagnosis were also reported. However, all participants have accepted their diagnosis. The participants’ biologically different way of being has given them consequences. Both psychological and social consequences have been illustrated, as well as interpersonal and societal. Disability research theory (Danermark, 2005; Rönnberg &amp; Melinder, 2007) and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979) have been used to illustrate the outcome of a diagnosis like Asperger syndrome. The study shows the participants’ experiences of their different way of being. / Den här avhandlingen är en intervjustudie, med det övergripande syftet att öka kunskapen om individer med Asperger syndrom. Gemensamma och unika synsätt hos varje deltagare med diagnosen Asperger syndrom har undersökts. Ambitionen har varit att fånga deras perspektiv på sin livssituation och utveckla förståelsen för deras syn på livskvalitet. Avhandlingen har undersökt hur deltagarna uppfattar sitt funktionshinder och hur diagnosen har påverkat deras liv. Deltagarna har beskrivit sina vardagsliv utifrån flera infallsvinklar, där skolgång, försörjningsmöjligheter, sysselsättning och fritid har skildrats. Resultaten visar att flera beskriver sin vardag som arbetsam, exempelvis kan ett till synes enkelt moment upplevas som ansträngande. Att inte passa in i de normer som de uppfattar att andra i samhället har är en aspekt av upplevt annorlundaskap. Diagnostiseringen har i visat sig vara en betydelsefull händelse i deltagarnas liv. Den har beskrivits som ett sätt att ta kontroll över sin livssituation. Genom att få diagnosen blir avvikelsen legitim. Deltagarna beskriver den som ett acceptabelt sätt att skilja sig från mängden. Det finns även skildringar av chock, förnekande och ambivalens när de har fått diagnosen om sitt funktionshinder. Samtliga av studiens deltagare säger sig dock acceptera sin aspergerdiagnos. Deras annorlunda sätt att vara biologiskt har visat sig ge konsekvenser i hela deras livsvärld. Både psykologiska och sociala konsekvenser har illustrerats, liksom interpersonella och samhälleliga. Handikappvetenskaplig- och ekologisk systemteori har använts för att visa på vidden av de konsekvenser som Asperger syndrom kan ge. Studien visar på deltagarnas upplevelser av sitt annorlunda sätt att vara.

This thesis studies the Second-order Least Squares (SLS) estimation method in regression models with and without measurement error. Applications of the methodology in general quasi-likelihood and variance function models, censored models, and linear and generalized linear models are examined and strong consistency and asymptotic normality are established. To overcome the numerical difficulties of minimizing an objective function that involves multiple integrals, a simulation-based SLS estimator is used and its asymptotic properties are studied. Finite sample performances of the estimators in all of the studied models are investigated through simulation studies.