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The central investigative concern of this thesis is the culture of genetic counselling in Canada--a specialized health service providing information and assistance to families at risk from genetic disorders. In particular, this study describes the variability that exists in the way in which genetic counsellors view their profession and explores the factors that contribute to this variability. The genetic counsellors' training, division of roles, view of their responsibility toward clients, and the historical and contemporary context in which they practise contribute to understanding the "individuals' versions of the culture of [genetic counselling]'' (Hahn 1985:53). Three means of inquiry are utilized: extensive library research, responses from a Canada-wide questionnaire sent to genetic counsellors, and ethnographic interviews. The history of genetic counselling has been described as a series of changes from research to medicine to psychosocial concerns. Current definitions of adequate genetic care, however, stress attention to both the medical genetic and psychosocial aspects of genetic disorders suggesting that both a medical and a psychosocial paradigm now exist in genetic counselling. I argue that the association between these two paradigms is unclear, thus producing tension and ambiguity for practitioners. Genetic counsellors divide themselves into three groups--MD/MD-PhDs who are the central caregivers, PhD geneticists who are primarily involved in research, and nonMDs/nonPhDs such as nurses, social workers and master's level genetic associates who are often doing clinic-oriented clerical jobs. Nevertheless, indicative of the uneasy relationship between the paradigms of genetic counselling, considerable debate exists in the field about who should be providing genetic counselling. A further example of this paradigmatic tension concerns the implementation of genetic counselling goals, especially for physician geneticists, the central caregivers. In particular, genetic counsellors face the problematic task of "doing something" for their clients, making them aware of their options, without influencing the client's decision making. The contemporary context of genetic counselling is predominantly a medical one; although psychosocial concerns are acknowledged as important for adequate genetic care, the means for dealing with them are not clear. I suggest that the response to the underlying tensions in genetic counselling is ultimately an individually-constructed response, based on the individual practitioner's experience, interpretation of the facts, and notion of the boundaries of their responsibility in medicine. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The structure of an education system and its curricula reflects the influence of a specific paradigm. Since the onset of colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa about everything in the South African society, including the education system and curricular issues in particular, have been shaped in accordance with the macro paradigm: the modern Western paradigm. The emergence of a new paradigm: the postmodern paradigm, created the possibility of a new order of thinking which influenced all societal domains and aspects and propelled the society into the new millennium. Since 1994 a new approach forms the corner stone of all the new South African policy documents on education. It is for this reason that the issue of an arts education curriculum is investigated from a paradigmatic point of view with reference to the modern, the postmodern and the African paradigms. Various components, roles and dynamics of educational curricula cast in the modern paradigm framework are compared with characteristics of their counterparts in the postmodern paradigm framework, and how they can influence the design of curricula, especially arts education. The contribution of an African paradigmatic perspective is accounted for. A new approach to curriculum development based on the ideals of a learner-centred education approach, an outcomes-based education approach and the integration of subjects into specific learning areas has officially been adopted as the approach for transforming education and curricular issues, resulting in the present Curriculum 2005. Within the context of the Arts and Culture learning area of this Curriculum, the study concentrates on and emphasises the integration of the four art forms of dance, drama, music and visual art in order to overcome the legacy of fragmentation of a curriculum. The study culminates in a proposed integrated arts education outline for curriculum development that defines the rationale and vision for South African arts education. The researcher contends that there is sufficient scope for arts education to contribute its unique aesthetic values to the new national curriculum in South Africa and that integration of these art forms does not in any way diminish the unique character of each. / Didactics / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The structure of an education system and its curricula reflects the influence of a specific paradigm. Since the onset of colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa about everything in the South African society, including the education system and curricular issues in particular, have been shaped in accordance with the macro paradigm: the modern Western paradigm. The emergence of a new paradigm: the postmodern paradigm, created the possibility of a new order of thinking which influenced all societal domains and aspects and propelled the society into the new millennium. Since 1994 a new approach forms the corner stone of all the new South African policy documents on education. It is for this reason that the issue of an arts education curriculum is investigated from a paradigmatic point of view with reference to the modern, the postmodern and the African paradigms. Various components, roles and dynamics of educational curricula cast in the modern paradigm framework are compared with characteristics of their counterparts in the postmodern paradigm framework, and how they can influence the design of curricula, especially arts education. The contribution of an African paradigmatic perspective is accounted for. A new approach to curriculum development based on the ideals of a learner-centred education approach, an outcomes-based education approach and the integration of subjects into specific learning areas has officially been adopted as the approach for transforming education and curricular issues, resulting in the present Curriculum 2005. Within the context of the Arts and Culture learning area of this Curriculum, the study concentrates on and emphasises the integration of the four art forms of dance, drama, music and visual art in order to overcome the legacy of fragmentation of a curriculum. The study culminates in a proposed integrated arts education outline for curriculum development that defines the rationale and vision for South African arts education. The researcher contends that there is sufficient scope for arts education to contribute its unique aesthetic values to the new national curriculum in South Africa and that integration of these art forms does not in any way diminish the unique character of each. / Didactics / D. Ed. (Didactics)

In the theoretical part of the thesis, we will describe word-formation in Czech from the traditional point of view. Then we will dwell on automation of word formation based on derivational rules, which we will generate from a~given dictionary. The quality of new-found words will be evaluated using four different estimations. Finally, we will review achieved results.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a world of increased mobility, a growing number of people find themselves in places other than those that they originate from. While a strong case has been made in various disciplines for the experiences of alienation and disruption emanating from the politically tinctured notion of exile, this thesis argues that these experiences affect all émigrés alike, be it the consequence of forced or voluntary migration. It is this study’s aim to nuance the understanding of displacement and explore the ways in which the exile discourse informs a general, less extreme discourse of voluntary displacement with specific reference to the composer John Joubert and his opera Silas Marner. In the first chapter, displacement is theorized as a doubleness or ambivalence that is important in understanding creative work done by those who have been displaced and that is informed, in the South African composer’s case, by the relationship between the centre of ‘the’ art music tradition in Europe and Britain and its ‘peripheral’ practice in South Africa. The second chapter argues the ways that notions of nationality still inform thinking about composers and their aesthetic in a time that nationality is no longer a monolithic, stable denominator. This is done with specific reference to the composer John Joubert. In the third and fourth chapters, the focus narrows to Joubert’s opera Silas Marner (op. 31), and explores displacement as a theoretical paradigm for reading and studying of the opera. The third chapter discusses the choice of subject matter of the opera and the significance of Eliot’s novel as basis for an operatic text. Finally, the fourth chapter provides a brief analysis of the opera, its conception and reception history as well as a critical discussion of the ways in which notions of displacement is present in this work. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ‘n wêreld wat meer toeganklik as ooit tevore is, bevind mense toenemend hulself in plekke elders as waar hulle vandaan kom. Terwyl die konsep van ballingskap, met sy politiese konnotasies, al deur verskeie dissiplines bestudeer en geteoretiseer is, argumenteer hierdie tesis dat die gevoel van vervreemding en ontwrigting wat daaruit spruit deur alle emigrante beleef word, synde die gevolg van willekeurige of onwillekeurige emigrasie. Hierdie studie stel homself ten doel om die begrip van ontheemding te nuanseer en die verskeie maniere waarop die ballingskapdiskoers tersaaklik is vir ontheemding, te belig. Dit sal gedoen word met spesifieke verwysing na die komponis John Joubert en sy opera, Silas Marner (op. 31). In die eerste hoofstuk word ontheemding geteoretiseer as ‘n dubbelsinnigheid wat belangrik is in die verstaan van die ontheemde se kreatiewe werk. Die verhouding tussen die sentrum van ‘die’ kunsmusiektradisie in Europa en Brittanje en die ‘periferale’ beoefening daarvan in Suid- Afrika word as bydraend tot hierdie dubbelsinnigheid gesien. Die tweede hoofstuk argumenteer dat nasionaliteit nie meer ‘n eenduidige, stabiele aspek in die beskouing van musiek en musiekestetika verskaf nie en bedink die maniere waarop nasionaliteit steeds betrekking op musiekstudie kan hê. Dit word met spesifieke verwysing na John Joubert gedoen. In die derde en vierde hoofstukke vernou die fokus na Joubert se opera Silas Marner en word die wyses waarop ontheemding tot ‘n lesing van die opera kan bydra verken. Die derde hoofstuk behandel die keuse van onderwerp vir die opera en die belang van Eliot se roman as operateks. Die vierde hoofstuk bespreek die ontstaans- en resepsiegeskiedenis van die opera, analiseer die opera kortliks en verskaf ‘n kritiese bespreking van die wyses waarop nosies van ontheemding in die opera teenwoordig is.

Ao longo da história, o Museu foi uma instituição de muitas características, finalidades e motivações, acompanhando as mudanças sociais de seu tempo. Ele possui hoje, um papel fundamental em diversos aspectos contemporâneos, compondo parte estruturante para o desenvolvimento da sociedade. Contudo, ele enfrenta grandes desafios para manter-se vivo e ativo em suas funções, o que nos leva a refletir se as instituições museais contemporâneas de fato cumprem a sua função social. Diante disso, o objetivo principal dessa dissertação foi analisar as transformações da instituição Museu, apresentando a sua trajetória a partir das mudanças dos paradigmas do conhecimento da sociedade. Como desdobramento desse objetivo e em virtude do movimento da Nova Museologia, a pesquisa teve como objetivo específico apresentar o Museu contemporâneo sob o prisma das novas formas de diálogo com a sociedade, trabalhando com a hipótese de que, essa mudança na postura museológica aproxima o museu da sociedade, contribuindo para o alcance e aprimoramento de sua função social. Buscando atingir tais objetivos, o método de pesquisa constituiu-se de uma abordagem qualitativa, exploratória e explicativa onde os procedimentos metodológicos foram aplicados as pesquisas bibliográfica e documental. Deste modo, a partir dos questionamentos: O que é conhecimento? O que é Museu? A que se destina? e A quem se destina? expostos em cada paradigma: Greco-Romano, Judaico-Cristão, Ciência Racional e o Paradigma Atual, elaboramos quadros com as respostas consolidadas para fundamentar reflexões acerca do passado, do presente e do futuro dos museus. Destacamos que em sua trajetória paradigmática de transformações e (re) transformações, o museu encontrou no movimento da Nova Museologia a busca pelo aprimoramento de sua função social. Nesse sentido, as análises feitas do passado, no Capítulo 2, e do presente, no Capítulo 3, nos permitiu que, no Capítulo 4 delineássemos a perspectiva de três novas formas de diálogos do museu com a sociedade: Diálogos por meio do Lazer Cultural, Diálogos por meio da Educação Não Formal e Diálogos por meio do Patrimônio Cultural, que a nosso ver, fazendo uso da criticidade e do desenvolvimento recíproco, favoreceriam o alcance das três finalidades prima do Museu (estudo, educação e lazer) e, consequentemente, o alcance e o aprimoramento de sua função social, razão de sua existência e objeto de estudo dessa pesquisa / Throughout history, the Museum was an institution of many characteristics, purposes and motivations, accompanying the social changes of its time. Today, it has a fundamental role in several contemporary aspects, forming a structuring part for the development of society. However, it faces great challenges in order to remain alive and active in his functions, which leads us to reflect on whether contemporary museological institutions actually fulfill their social function. Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation was to analyze the transformations of the Museum institution, presenting its trajectory from the changes of the paradigms knowledge of the society. As a result of this objective and due to the New Museology movement, the research had as its specific objective to present the contemporary Museum under the prism of the new forms of dialogue with the society, considering the hypothesis that, this change in the museological methodology approaches the museum society, contributing to the achievement and improvement of its social function. In order to reach these objectives, the research method consisted of a qualitative, exploratory and explanatory approach where the methodological procedures were applied to bibliographical and documentary research. Thus, from the questions: What is knowledge? What is Museum? What is it for? and Who is it for? in each paradigm: Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, Rational Science and the Current Paradigm, we elaborate tables with the consolidated answers to support reflections about the past, the present and the future of the museums. We emphasize that in its paradigmatic trajectory of transformations and (re) transformations, the museum found in the movement of the New Museology the search for the improvement of its social function. In this sense, the analyzes of the past in Chapter 2 and in Chapter 3 have allowed us to delineate the perspective of three new forms of dialogues between the museum and society in Chapter 4: Dialogues through Cultural Leisure, Dialogues through Non-Formal Education and Dialogues through Cultural Heritage, which, in our view, making use of criticality and reciprocal development, would favor the achievement of the three primary purposes of the Museum (study, education and leisure) and, consequently, the scope and improvement of its social function, reason for its existence and the object of study of this research

O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a relação das atuais experiências agroecológicas desenvolvidas no Brasil com a orientação para uma transição paradigmática de desenvolvimento rural. Buscou-se avaliar a aproximação destas experiências com a abordagem da Ecologia de Saberes, apresentada por Boaventura de Sousa Santos, onde se propõe o diálogo e o encontro entre a pluralidade epistemológica existente. À esta abordagem se atribui o potencial de transição paradigmática visto as diferentes cosmovisões e respectivas relações estabelecidas entre as sociedades e o ambiente, portanto, possivelmente distintas da racionalidade moderna ocidental onde o homem se vê separado da natureza e capaz de submetêla a seus valores e interesses. Os referenciais teóricos utilizados para ancorar esta análise baseiam-se nas ideias desenvolvidas por Thomas Kuhn sobre os processos de transição paradigmática e na abordagem teórica de Pierre Bourdieu através do conceito de praxiologia e a proposta de mediação entre o agente social e a sociedade. Como metodologia, utilizou-se da observação de campo e da aplicação de entrevistas semiestruturadas a atores sociais que atuam em distintas instituições e contextos. Aprofundou-se a análise com a realização de um estudo de caso na Unidade de Referência - Assentamento 17 de Abril, Restinga/SP, implantado pelo projeto Rede de Agroecologia Leste Paulista - Alta Mogiana do Edital Redes ECOFORTE. Na investigação, procurou-se analisar as concepções e modos de atuação sob a perspectiva agroecológica, identificando-se também os desafios e potencialidades atribuídos às experiências realizadas. A análise dos dados coletados permitiu constatar a relação dos fatores: histórico e perfil de atuação das instituições, formação e motivação dos profissionais, presença e participação dos movimentos sociais e tempo de convivência entre técnicos e comunidades, com o desenvolvimento de processos horizontais e dialógicos orientados para a construção coletiva da aprendizagem. Pôde-se concluir que nas instituições públicas de ATER, assim como nas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento, prevalecem atuações ancoradas sob o viés difusionista, com orientação para a transferência de conhecimentos e tecnologias consideradas mais sustentáveis, afastando-se, portanto, da proposta conferida à Ecologia de Saberes. Nas experiências desenvolvidas pelo terceiro setor e que atuam juntamente a movimentos e organizações sociais da agricultura familiar verificou-se uma orientação voltada para o encontro e diálogo entre a pluralidade epistemológica existente aproximando-se, portanto, dos elementos contidos na proposta da Ecologia de Saberes. Nestes casos, as experiências apresentam o potencial de transição paradigmática de desenvolvimento rural, uma vez que favorecem a emergência de distintas formas de compreensão da realidade e de organização socioprodutiva, notoriamente distintas das estratégias difundidas pelo paradigma moderno ocidental. / The goal of this research is to analyze the relationship of the current agroecological experiences developed in Brazil with the orientation towards a paradigmatic transition of rural development. This study aimed to evaluate the approximation of these experiences to the approach of Ecology of Knowledge, presented by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, where the dialogue and the encounter between existing epistemological plurality are proposed. This approach is based on the paradigmatic transition potential given the different cosmosvisions and its respective relationships established between societies and the environment, therefore, possibly distinct from modern Western rationality where man sees himself separated from nature and capable of subjecting it to his values and interests. The theoretical references used to anchor this analyses are based on ideas developed by Thomas Kuhn on the paragmatic transition processes and the theory approach of Pierre Bourdieu thru the concept of praxiology and the proposal of mediation between the social agent and society. As methodology, it was used field observation and the application of semi-structured interviews to social actors who work in different institutions and contexts. The analysis was deepened with the accomplishment of a case study in the Reference Unit - Settlement Aprl 17th, Resting/SP, implemented by the East Paulista Agroecology Network project - Alta Mogiana from the public notice, ECOFORTE. In the research I sought to analyze the conceptions and modes of action from the agroecological perspective, also identifying the challenges and potentialities attributed to the experiences made. The analysis of the data collected allowed us to verify the relationship between the factors: history and performance profile of the institutions, training and motivation of the professionals, presence and participation of social movements and time of coexistence between technicians and communities, with the development of horizontal and dialogic oriented processes for the collective construction of learning. It could be concluded that ATER\'s public institutions, as well as those of research and development, are anchored under the diffusionist bias, with a view to the transfer of knowledge and technologies considered more sustainable, thus diverging from the proposal given to the Ecology of Knowledge. In the experiences developed by the third sector and which work together with the social movements and organizations of family agriculture, there has been an orientation directed towards the encounter and dialogue between the existing epistemological plurality, thus approaching the elements contained in the proposal of the Ecology of Knowledge. In these cases, the experiences present the potential of paradigmatic transition of rural development, since they favor the emergence of different forms of understanding of reality and socio-productive organization, notoriously different from the strategies spread by the western modern paradigm.

A evolução da tecnologia da informação, tanto em hardware quanto em software, na última década, proporcionou ao mundo globalizado mudanças significativas na Gestão das organizações privadas e governamentais, permitindo a integração do fluxo de informações de operação ao fluxo de informações de gestão dos processos de produção, através de uma linguagem de programação específica como o CAD e CAM. Como resultado desse processo de evolução, a partir da década de 90, surgiram os Sistemas Integrados de Gestão (ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning) os quais passaram a incorporar os processos de negócio das empresas induzindo-as a mudanças significativas no ambiente de operação, desde os procedimentos mais simples até os mais complexos. É nesse contexto que pesquisadores e profissionais envolvidos com a implantação de tais sistemas constataram que o custo de aquisição, incluindo investimentos em inovações tecnológicas e treinamento, necessários à operação desses sistemas, por si só não garantiu o custo benefício e o retorno dos investimentos realizados, resultados esses não compatíveis com as expectativas geradas no período de implantação, causando em alguns casos perda de eficiência e frustração por parte dos usuários desses sistemas. Tal evidência induziu o autor do presente trabalho ao objetivo geral de elucidar as causas dos insucessos, partindo para a pesquisa descritiva de diferentes empresas, de segmentos distintos, que implantaram os sistemas ERP de diferentes fornecedores disponíveis no mercado. A pesquisa descritiva de campo permitiu esclarecer no âmbito de operação dessas empresas as suas peculiaridades quanto à estrutura do departamento de planejamento e controle da produção e sua integração com suas técnicas auxiliares. Nesse contexto foi possível avaliar a implantação desses sistemas pelas unidades produtivas pesquisadas que tiveram o objetivo de garantir ganhos significativos quanto à redução do tempo de resposta ao atendimento das necessidades dos clientes, com a possibilidade do apontamento de indicadores de desempenho mais precisos, direcionando a pesquisa para a avaliação do papel do PCP como agente facilitador do processo de implantação e como responsável pela aderência ou não desses sistemas ao sistema produtivo. Logo, um estudo mais aprofundado dos conceitos elucidados na literatura quanto aos tempos de processo e, conseqüentemente, aos tempos de resposta de todo o processo de fabricação, enfatizou a necessidade de se estudar a evolução do processo de manufatura ao longo das últimas décadas. A condução da pesquisa ao estudo das fases inerentes ao processo de evolução da manufatura nas últimas décadas, apontou para a divisão do processo de evolução em quatro fases: 1. Manufatura em Massa; 2. Manufatura Enxuta; 3. Manufatura Ágil; 4. Manufatura Responsiva. Nesse cenário, um dos objetivos específicos do trabalho é o de apontar as deficiências dos sistemas ERP em operação nas empresas que tiveram como meta reduções significativas de tempo de processo, com base no estudo das fases descritas, das técnicas auxiliares do PCP e da relação da função tempo com o contexto atual, além dos sistemas de gestão integrada. A revisão bibliográfica detalhada e cinco estudos de caso aqui apresentados formam o corpo deste trabalho. / The evolution of the technology of information, both in hardware and software, during the last decade, have provided to the globalized world significant changes in the Management of private and governmental organizations, allowing the integration of the flow of information of operation with the flow of information of production management processes, by means of specific programming language as CAD and CAM. As a result of this cycle of evolution, which started in the 90\'s, the ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning - was incorporated to the processes of business in companies leading them to significant changes in the operation environment, from the most simple to the most complex procedures. It is in this context that researchers and professionals, involved with the implantation of such systems, had evidenced that the acquisition cost, including investments in technological innovations and training so necessary to the systems operation, did not guarantee the cost benefits and the return of the investments. These results were not compatible with the expectations generated in the implantation period causing, in some cases, loss of efficiency and frustration on the part of the users of these systems. Such evidences lead the author of the present paper to the general objective of elucidating the causes of the failures. The work started from the descriptive research of different companies of distinct segments, which had implanted ERP systems of different available suppliers in the market. The descriptive field research allowed the clarifying of some peculiarities in the scope of operation of the companies as to the structure of their planning department and production control and the integration with supporting techniques. In this context it was possible to evaluate the implantation of these systems, in the considered productive units, which had aimed at guaranteeing significant profits as to the reduction of time of response to customer needs, with the possibility of pointing to more precise performance indicators, thus directing the research to the evaluation of the role of PCP as a facilitator agent in the implantation process and as a responsible one for the observance or not of these systems to the productive scheme. As a result, a broaden study of the concepts, focused on the specific literature, referring to the time of processing and, consequently, to the time of response of all the manufacturing procedures, emphasized the necessity of studying the evolution of the manufacturing process during the last decades. The conduction of the research to the study of inherent phases of the evolution process of manufacturing in the last decades, pointed to the division of the of evolution process in four phases: 1. Mass Manufacturing; 2. Lean Manufacturing (just in time); 3. Agile Manufacturing; 4. Responsive Manufacturing. In this scenario, one of the specific targets of this work is to spot the deficiencies of ERP systems currently in use in the companies which had as a goal significant reductions of processing time, based on the study of the mentioned paradigms, the PCP supporting techniques, and the relation of the function time with the current context, besides the systems of integrated management. The detailed bibliographical revision and five case studies, herein presented, compose the corpus of this work.

Este trabalho contribui para o estudo da construção do pensamento contábil brasileiro aplicando a abordagem da sociologia da tradução para entender as mudanças de paradigmas que nortearam o pensamento contábil no Brasil no século XX e início do século XXI. Esta análise abrangeu dois processos de mudanças de paradigmas. O primeiro refere-se ao crescimento da influência da escola americana de contabilidade em detrimento da influência da escola italiana que se iniciou em meados do Século XX e se consolidou na década de 1970. O segundo, mais recente e ainda em curso, refere-se à substituição da abordagem normativa pela abordagem positiva na pesquisa contábil acadêmica, nesse início do Século XXI. A abordagem da sociologia da tradução foi inicialmente concebida para analisar processos de construção da ciência e da tecnologia e posteriormente foi estendida para outros campos do conhecimento, notadamente aqueles preocupados com a análise de processos de mudança organizacional. Sua utilização é particularmente indicada para a situação problema em estudo, já que tem sido largamente utilizada na análise de processos de mudança, embora ainda não tenha sido aplicada na análise da mudança de paradigmas em contabilidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de verificar se a abordagem da sociologia da tradução é eficaz para fornecer uma explicação empírica e teoricamente fundamentada para os processos de mudança de paradigmas na contabilidade brasileira. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que essa abordagem efetivamente descreve e fornece uma explicação para os processos de mudanças de paradigmas na contabilidade, da mesma forma que explica os processos relatados pela literatura sobre a construção de fatos científicos e mudanças organizacionais. / This study is a contribution for the research of the Brazilian accounting thought construction, employing the approach of the sociology of translation to understand the paradigm changes that have guided the accounting thought in Brazil on the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. This analysis has covered two paradigm change processes. The first is related to the growth of the American accounting school influence in detraction of the Italian school, starting at the mid 20th century and consolidating during the 70?s. The second, more recent and still ongoing, is related to the substitution of the normative approach by the positive approach in the academic accounting research during the beginning of the 21th century. The sociology o translation approach was originally conceived to analyze science and technology construction processes, being later extended to other knowledge areas, mainly those concerned with the analysis of organizational change processes. Its use is particularly suited for the problem situation under study, as it has been amply used in the analysis of change processes, even if it has not yet been applied for the analysis of the changes in accounting paradigms. The objective of this study was that of ascertaining whether the sociology of translation approach is effective to supply an empirical explanation that is theoretically substantiated for the process of changes of paradigms in Brazilian accounting. The results attained have revealed that this approach does effectively describe and provide an explanation for the accounting paradigms change processes, as well as explaining the processes described in literature on the construction of scientific facts and organizational changes.