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Syftet med studien var att få en insikt i vad det är som gör att kvinnor söker sig till yrket last-bilsförare, och hur de ser på yrket. För att närma mig syftet har jag under arbetets gång använt mig av deltagande observationer, fokusgruppintervjuer och enkäter som skickats ut till kvinn-liga lastbilsförare. Dessa tre olika sätt att få information på användes för att ge en övergripande bild på kvinnornas syn på yrket, och vägen in i yrket. Sammanlagt har jag varit i kontakt med 35 lastbilsförare, 18 kvinnor och 17 män. Som teoretisk referensram använde jag mig av teorier baserade på genus och könsmärkningsprocess från framför allt Hirdman, Westberg – Wohl-gemuth. Detta har hjälpt mig att skapa en förståelse kring de utmaningar och problem som kvinnorna inom lastbilsföraryrket kan ställas inför. Studien visade att majoriteten av de kvinnor som deltog i studien hade anhöriga eller vänner och bekanta som kör lastbil. Det är på detta sätt som de har närmat sig yrket och fått en förståelse för yrket när de var yngre. Lastbilsföraryrket är ett yrke de trivs med och de vill inte byta yrke. Känslan av frihet och att de i viss mån kan planera sin dag själva, ingen dag är den andra lik är saker som lyfts fram som positiva. I undersökningen framkom det även att de ser yrket som tungt och slitsamt, men att allting går att lösa. Stress från yttre faktorer som de inte själva rår över nämns som mindre positiva inslag i yrket. / The purpose of the study was to get an insight into what it is that makes women seek out the profession of truck driving, and how they view upon the profession. I have during the work used participant observation, focus group interviews and questionnaires sent out to the female truck drivers. These three ways to get information was used to give an overall picture of women's views on the profession, and the way into the profession. Altogether, I have been in contact with 35 truck drivers, 18 women and 17 men. As a theoretical framework, I have used the theories based on gender and gender marking process from primarily Hirdman, Westberg - Wohlgemuth. This has helped me to create an understanding of the challenges and problems that women in the truck driving industry may be facing. The study showed that the majority of women in the study have relatives or friends and ac-quaintances that drive a truck. It is in this way that they have approached the profession and gained an understanding of the profession when they were younger. Truck driving profession is a profession they enjoy and they do not want to change profession. The feeling of freedom and to a certain extent, the possibility to be able to plan their day themselves, is highlighted as posi-tive things about their work. The study showed that even though they see their profession as heavy and tiring, everything can be solved. Stresses from external factors that are beyond their control are mentioned as less positive aspects of the profession.

Critics of Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) have argued that participatory approachesand trade-offs are key to effective development interventions for rural populations living adjacent to protected areas. Based on an actor-interface framework, this thesis explores among other things, the discontinuities and/or linkages between those formalized narratives surrounding the creation andmanagement of Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP), and their actual implementation, where there are multiple actors with divergent rationalities and interests. Specifically, this thesis examines the experiences and perceptions of the Park’s rural populations vis-à-vis the participatory-driven socio-economic development of their rurality. Interview results show that while the socio-economic potentials of the Park’s conservation to the rural poor have been touted, the fragmented and ad hoc nature of these benefits seriously undermine their poverty-alleviating capacity for marginalized communities. Furthermore, this thesis shows that while participatory approaches may constitute a major technique for involving rural populations in decision-making processes that affect their lives, the benefits fall largely to influential local elites, and that community participation is sometimes sought only for less important decision-making activities. This thesis concludes that in order for ICDPs to contribute effectively to eliminating poverty traps for marginalized communities, development interventions must not only be the result of rural people’s expressed priorities, but development practitioners must also have the necessary training to understand poverty traps and development problems as nested issues that must be addressed in a comprehensive and holistic manner. The paper also suggests that ICDPs must develop rural people’s capacity in conservation activities such that they can benefit from ecotourism and other conservation-related employment, in meaningful ways.

This thesis is an ethnological study of the truck-driver profession and an examination of the prerequisites for sexual equality and diversity in the haulage branch. The aim is to: from a cultural perspective, with a special focus on gender and masculinity, study truck-drivers as an occupational group. A main question deals with male dominance within the haulage business. What supports this dominance and what possibilities exist for change? The cultural phenomena within the trucking business are analysed with a particular focus on class. The collective idea, that I found among truck-drivers and haulage firm owners, of a kind of self-imposed “underdog identity’* is important to my analyses. Within the group, however, disloyal competition is widespread. The employment process for drivers is built on responsibility. The driver must prove himself sufficiently reliable before the employer will hand over responsibility for truck, cargo and the assignment itself. Since those who lack the collectively accepted indicators of competence/responsibility have difficulty gaining employment, a kind of “catch 22” situation is created, which is reinforced by the truck-drivers’ “underdog identity”. Those who share the values and outer features with the majority receive considerable advantages in the employment process,which adds to what is already a widespread male dominance and strengthens the cultural homogeneity. The truck-drivers* relationship to freedom forms a “key symbol” in the analysis. The Swedish haulage branch is investigated using Yvonne Hirdman’s gender contract, which makes visible how perceptions of masculinity have been given normative status within the haulage business. Another theme in the analysis is the “masculine manuscript” — embodied by a wellbehaved and reliable, middle-aged, white (Swedish), heterosexual man with a working class upbringing. The manuscript functions as a kind of ideal with which drivers are compared. Those who fit the manuscript are afforded considerable advantages, above all in the recruitment process. In order to draw attention to different types of power within the haulage business, Robert W. Connels’ term hegemonic masculinity is used. With some reservations one can express the long-distance truck-driver as an ideal with hegemonic status within the context of haulage. This category of driver has considerable influence on the definition of how a “real” driver should be and on ideas of how transport work is best organised. This group of drivers is relatively small, but its symbolic influence is large. From a gender perspective, the aim is to “grapple” with the images of truck-drivers, both within and outside of the business. The attitude to the trucker myths is critical. The masculinity ideal of the trucker myth is about the right to seek personal freedom and to live exclusively in and for the truck. Possible explanations for the interest in truck-drivers are discussed with the help of the concept of “masculinity crisis” and George L. Mosses* figure of thought: “the male stereotype”. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Univ., 2003</p> / digitalisering@umu

Gait disturbances such as slow walking speed and step-to-step variability have been reported among people with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and as risk factors for functional decline, dependency, and falls. Additionally, AD-related emotional reactions and decreased initiative can lead to physical inactivity. The aims of this thesis, therefore, were to explore how the ability to be physically active is affected in the early years of AD, and how people with mild AD and their cohabitants reason about physical activity as part of their everyday life. To meet the aims, an approach inspired by mixed methods research was used, covering measurements, observations and subjective experiences. Data were collected from different sources in parallel. Participants with mild AD were recruited at the Memory Clinic, Uppsala University Hospital. In Study I, a case study with two couples in which one member had AD, in-depth interviews and participating interviews were performed. Physical activity such as walking was viewed as a meaningful routine improving well-being. Participants were positive about making adjustments to enable physical activity. In Study II, the 25 participants with AD showed a significant lower walking capacity (10 m comfortable walk test, 6-minute walk test, Timed-up-and-Go test) at baseline compared to controls. The decline continued during the subsequent two years. The influence of a cognitive task on walking was distinct, despite this, participants maintained a health-promoting level of physical activity during the two-year study-period. In Study III, gait testing in the motor laboratory of 21 participants with AD showed a marked impact on gait parameters (e.g. slowed speed, decreased step length) by a cognitive task. Additionally, specific dual-task gait disturbances were frequent. In Study IV, in-depth interviews with 14 participants with AD indicated that physical activity was viewed as a meaningful activity, used as a means to maintain well-being and selfhood, and contributed to continuity in life. In conclusion, walking capacity deteriorates and declines in the early stages of AD. A simple cognitive task can have a substantially negative impact on walking already in mild AD. In contrast, people with AD can also gain “self-promoting benefits” from physical activity beyond the common health-promoting benefits.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether adolescents make use of an ethical decision–making framework when they make choices in relation to sexual activities and the elements that make up this ethical decision–making framework. The adolescent stage of development is characterized by physical and cognitive changes, of which the development of sexual characteristics and morality are only parts. Both these developments are discussed at length within the context of adolescent sexual activity, and cognitive and moral development. Different influences on the morality of adolescents were identified, of which the faith community of adolescents were one. These elements also influence the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents on sexual activity. The influence of the religious community on the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents was also investigated on the basis of the faith community's message about sexual activities and the perceptual influence of the religious community on the morality of adolescents. The sexual activity of adolescents, adolescents? perceptions about these sexual activities as well as the messages and sources of information that are available to adolescents with regard to sex was identified by making use of Participant Observation Research. A small group of participants and observers used the PIRASH program to identify the above–mentioned information. The participants also identified the obstacles that adolescents must overcome to establish a healthy sexual life, and what their definition of a healthy sexual life is. Participants in this study agreed that their faith community did not provide enough information to adolescents about sex and sexual activities. Participants indicated this lack of information as their reason for using other sources of information about sexual activities. These messages conveyed by other sources, including those of the media, friends and parents vary from those the faith community has about sex. Adolescents have easier access to these other sources; therefore there is a difference between the faith community's view on sexual activity and that of the adolescents who form part of the faith community. It is concluded that it is necessary, almost urgently, for faith communities to establish the actual view of adolescents who form part of the community, on sexual activity, and to have a stronger influence on the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents. The ethical decision–making framework of adolescents can only be influenced if the faith communities speak more comfortably and more extensively with their adolescents about sex and sexual activities. Postmodern adolescents have access to a variety of sources with a variety of messages about sex and the importance of moral messages from the faith community cannot be underestimated. A secondary outcome of this study was to explore the possibility of Participant Observation Research as research methodology within Theological Ethics. / Thesis (M.A. (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether adolescents make use of an ethical decision–making framework when they make choices in relation to sexual activities and the elements that make up this ethical decision–making framework. The adolescent stage of development is characterized by physical and cognitive changes, of which the development of sexual characteristics and morality are only parts. Both these developments are discussed at length within the context of adolescent sexual activity, and cognitive and moral development. Different influences on the morality of adolescents were identified, of which the faith community of adolescents were one. These elements also influence the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents on sexual activity. The influence of the religious community on the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents was also investigated on the basis of the faith community's message about sexual activities and the perceptual influence of the religious community on the morality of adolescents. The sexual activity of adolescents, adolescents? perceptions about these sexual activities as well as the messages and sources of information that are available to adolescents with regard to sex was identified by making use of Participant Observation Research. A small group of participants and observers used the PIRASH program to identify the above–mentioned information. The participants also identified the obstacles that adolescents must overcome to establish a healthy sexual life, and what their definition of a healthy sexual life is. Participants in this study agreed that their faith community did not provide enough information to adolescents about sex and sexual activities. Participants indicated this lack of information as their reason for using other sources of information about sexual activities. These messages conveyed by other sources, including those of the media, friends and parents vary from those the faith community has about sex. Adolescents have easier access to these other sources; therefore there is a difference between the faith community's view on sexual activity and that of the adolescents who form part of the faith community. It is concluded that it is necessary, almost urgently, for faith communities to establish the actual view of adolescents who form part of the community, on sexual activity, and to have a stronger influence on the ethical decision–making framework of adolescents. The ethical decision–making framework of adolescents can only be influenced if the faith communities speak more comfortably and more extensively with their adolescents about sex and sexual activities. Postmodern adolescents have access to a variety of sources with a variety of messages about sex and the importance of moral messages from the faith community cannot be underestimated. A secondary outcome of this study was to explore the possibility of Participant Observation Research as research methodology within Theological Ethics. / Thesis (M.A. (Ethics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-128). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-146). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The following essay presents a case study based on participant observation of a group of Swedish secondary school students’ interaction in English. The study focused on what is commonly referred to as communicative competence, or more specifically strategic competence, which represents how language speakers overcome linguistic breakdowns or gaps in their communicative skill. The aim of the study was to better understand how students use linguistic fillers in different situations. By observing students in two different situations, one stressful and one regular conversational situation, it was found that when in a stressful situation, students are more likely to use linguistic fillers in general and also that some students rely on their first language, Swedish, when using linguistic fillers. In this case study, it was found that some students experience difficulties in using English linguistic fillers. Based on these findings, there is a need for teachers to address this problem if students are to develop confidence and skill in using them. For this reason, there is a need for further research on developing and testing different teaching methods on the use of linguistic fillers.   Keywords: communicative competence, EFL, language didactics, linguistic fillers, participant observation, secondary school students, strategic competence.