Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Elaine M. Johannes / For the past decade, family poverty has been growing steadily by 24.3% within the state of Kansas. The increase in poverty has inspired community-based efforts and volunteer-driven initiatives to grow to support families and to increase social connection and access to resources. Prior research has found that families in chronic poverty experience higher stress, higher conflict, and lower means of social connection. In the present study, a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach was used to explore the "lived experiences" of parents and adolescents in poverty and the role of social capital and hardiness as a way to cope with the stresses associated with living in poverty. Separate semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents and their adult parents from three communities across Kansas. The research team transcribed the interview data. Qualitative data analysis through grounded theory was used to code the transcripts into separate themes. The results from the study reveal that a) building social capital (ie., bonding and bridging) is different between adolescents and parents and b) hardiness is developed through learned positive coping and the social connections with others. This research has future implications on policy development and strengths-based approaches to address the stress of living in poverty for individuals and families.

Thesis advisor: C. Shawn . McGuffey / Thesis advisor: Zine . Magubane / This dissertation analyzes the impact of U.S. law on women of color at home and abroad, as well as the ways in which women of color respond to and resist U.S. law. In their resistance, they challenge the domestic failings of the U.S. criminal justice system as well as the systems which connect state violence internationally. The first article of this project explores the space of the sentencing hearing as a site for rhetorically reclaiming Black motherhood in the face of its pathologization. I use the case of Marissa Alexander to show how the defendant and her family resist the exclusionary politics of legal protection. The second article examines the relationship between police militarization and strategies of black digital resistance and theorizes Black Lives Matter as a cyborg feminist social movement that can serve as a base for a global, intersectional resistance against systems of state violence. The third article challenges the dominant narrative of liberal imperialism in the U.S. anti-human trafficking project which positions U.S. as sole capable leader in the fight against “modern-day slavery” and the liberation of poor women of color in the global South and East. Though each article employs a slightly different framework, my dissertation is grounded in a qualitative sociological approach to content analysis and is informed by interdisciplinary concepts from legal studies and critical rhetorical approaches. My research centers multiple feminisms, including Critical Race Feminism, cyborg feminism, and postcolonial legal feminism, and incorporates important scholarship on technology and social movements. In this project, I demonstrate affinity between feminist theoretical approaches. More broadly, I contribute to bodies of research that challenge the notion that institutions such as the criminal justice system, digital spaces, and humanitarian aid are designed to protect and provide remedies for victims of domestic and state sponsored violence. I propose framework of feminisms in dialogue for both analyzing and resisting the hegemony of U.S. law which legitimizes and reproduces interlocking systems of racism, sexism, and imperialism. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Due to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, millions of people had to leave their home country. As a neighbor of Ukraine, Hungary is highly affected by this crisis and thousands of volunteers help refugees in this difficult situation. As their role is central in emergency response, the health and wellbeing of volunteers are of high importance. The aim of this study was to examine the sense of coherence among Hungarian volunteers working with Ukrainian refugees. Sense of coherence is a core concept in Aaron Antonovsky’s salutogenic model (1979), and reflects on the psychological, social and cultural resources which help people to cope with everyday stressors. In order to explore how this theory can be applied in the context of volunteering, 6 semi-structured interviews were conducted and a deductive qualitative analysis was made with the sense of coherence theory as a framework. It resulted in three predetermined categories based on the three dimensions of sense of coherence: (1) Comprehensibility, (2) Manageability and (3) Meaningfulness. The analysis of qualitative data resulted in a total of twelve themes within the three categories (e.g. Effective communication and information flow are important to me.; Supportive team spirit and collaboration are important to me.; A strong sense of service gives me strength.; I believe helping others is its own reward.). The findings suggest that the concept of sense of coherence can be applied in the context of volunteering, revealing key aspects of comprehending, managing and making sense of volunteer work. Therefore, interventions based on this salutogenic approach would improve the mental health and well-being of volunteers through enabling them to cope with the challenges of volunteer work.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Currently, it is common for the risks in construction projects to generate significant budgetary deviations due to their null or insufficient identification and quantification. In relation to this point, and with the focus on improving the competitiveness of construction companies when developing and complying with their budgets, it is essential to have an accurate methodology for estimating the contingency associated with risks from an early stage. This allows the contingency amount not to be exceeded, resulting in better reliability and adjustment of the budget assigned for the project, and therefore guaranteeing the expected profitability. This objective can be achieved using applications such as the Monte Carlo method, since through the probabilistic simulations that can be developed through it, it is possible to precisely establish the value of the contingency associated with project risks in study. It is recommended to carry out these evaluations and analyzes before the project starts. In this sense, this research focuses on establishing a sequential methodology that serves as an application tool for any type of construction project, ensuring the optimization of the budget by minimizing the risks associated with the project.

Bakgrund: Fall är en bidragande anledning till fallskador som kräver sjukhusvistelse för den äldre populationen. Det finns i dagsläget flera olika balanstest som genomförs i klinik, däremot finns det inget som är undersökt för att tillämpas självständigt i hemmiljö. Studien undersöker tankar och känslor hos hemmaboende äldre personer utan hemtjänst kring att, självständigt genomföra ett 30 chair stand test (30CST) i hemmiljö då det finns en kunskapslucka gällande äldres tankar kring hemtestning. Syfte: Att utforska äldre personers tankar om att teoretiskt självständigt genomföra 30CST i hemmet. Metod: Studien var en kvalitativ deskriptiv intervjustudie baserad på ett strategiskt urval bestående av fem äldre personer 75-85 år som fick ta del av testinstruktioner som låg till grund för de semistrukturerade intervjuerna. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys applicerades för att analysera data. Resultat: Kvalitativa innehållsanalysen resulterade i tre kategorier och fem underkategorier. Kategorierna var följande: Egenskaper hos situation och person som påverkar äldre vid en testsituation, Äldres hälsa, Upplevda för- och nackdelar med testinstruktionerna. Slutsats:  Det framkom av analysen att deltagarna i studien uppfattades positiva till tanken på att genomföra testet samtidigt reflekterades kring nyttan utav en testledare som kan säkerställa reliabiliteten men ej som krav för genomförande. Studien möjliggör inblick i faktorer för hur framtida hemtestning kan utformas och undersökas. Studien genomfördes på ett begränsat antal deltagare och fler studier bör genomföras för att ytterligare undersöka huruvida 30CST kan genomföras självständigt i hemmiljö Nyckelord: 30CST, Hometest, Balance, Elderly, Qualitative analysis / Background: Falls is a major factor of injuries that requires hospitalization amongst the elderly. Multiple balance tests exist that’s used in clinic however none that’s utilized independently in home environments. This study explores the thoughts and feelings of community-dwelling elderly to perform a 30 second chair stand test (30CST) without supervision. There´s lack of research regarding thoughts among older adults about physical home test. Objective: The objective is to explore community-dwelling elderly people’s thoughts and reflections to theoretically perform a 30CST without supervision in their homes. Method: The study was a qualitative descriptive interview study based on a strategic sample of five elderly people aged 75-85. They received instructions for 30CST before the interview which the interviews were based on. A qualitative content analysis was used to comprehend data.  Results: The qualitative content analysis resulted in three categories and five subcategories. The categories were Elders health, Perceived advantages and disadvantages with the test instructions, Characteristics in situations and persons that affect elderly during a test situation. Conclusions: The analysis indicate that the participants had positive attitude to perform 30CST meanwhile the participants had thoughts about the need of test-leaders to ensure reliability but not as demand to follow through with the test. The study indicated factors that could be implicate in future home-testing. This study was performed on a limited sample and more studies needs to be concluded to furthermore explore whether a function test can be conducted independently by community-dwelling elderly people. Keywords: 30CST, Hometest, Balance, Elderly, Qualitative analysis

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Most training performance measurement tools rely heavily on quantitative metrics that do not consider factors impacting knowledge transfer and behavioral change such as social relationships and company culture. This study observed a training performance measurement tool for a major U.S.-based airline. Analysis of the measurement tool consists of: a pilot study providing a baseline for the current gaps in training performance measurement, a survey of flight attendants to understand how company cultural and social factors impact learning and knowledge transfer, and focus groups to provide an in-depth analysis of what the underlying company cultural and social factors are. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis were utilized to identify the impact of cultural factors and social relationships on performance measurement to provide in-depth understanding of the role of tacit knowledge transfer in the training environment. Results show that cultural factors such as empathy, coaching, and on-the-job training, negatively impact the accuracy of flight attendants' ability to measure learning and knowledge transfer. A second finding shows social factors, personality, and agreement, show a strong trend towards negatively affecting the ability to accurately measure learning and knowledge transfer. The proposed knowledge transfer measurement model was further modified to reflect the findings and the results of this study. Further recommendations include altering the measurement tool, prioritization of skills, and communicating purpose.

This study “Ma Oftedal, New Age practices and religious legitimacy: The feminization ofChristian ethics and theology” has a stated purpose in researching how New Age practices arelegitimized in a Christian context. This is done through looking at the writings of the Swedishclerical minister Ma Oftedal, in her autobiographical book “Doxa: Till hela härligheten” andexcerpts from the interorganizational supervisory body for the Church of Sweden known asDomkapitlet. This study is conducted from a qualitative inductive content analysis basis, witha theoretical framework of feminization. This method is used to look for how Ma Oftedallegitimized her New Age practices with her Christian background, and how her experiencesas a woman has affected her relationship with New Age. The result of this study shows thatMa Oftedal has an idiosyncratic relationship with Christianity that puts emphasis on theindividual choice, and less so on any adherence to norms within a particular group, and whereher female identity plays a substantial role in how she interacts with New Age. / Folkkyrkans nya ansikten – levd religion, nyandliga praktiker och teologisk legitimitet.

Yes / Research investigating behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia has concentrated on identifying and quantifying people’s difficulties; yet few studies have considered how people with behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia make sense of their difficulties. Five participants were interviewed and interpretive phenomenological analysis used to analyse the data. Two superordinate themes emerged: ‘Bewilderment’ and ‘Relationships with others’. ‘Bewilderment’ reflected the feelings of the participants from the start of their dementia, and was divided into two main themes (1) ‘Awareness of change: What’s the problem? and (2) Threats to self: This is not me. The superordinate theme, ‘Relationships with others’, reflected difficulties with social relationships and comprised two main themes (1) ‘Family and friends: Things haven’t changed… but do I say anything wrong?’ and (2) Coping with threats to self: Blame others or just avoid them. The themes were discussed in relation to literature evaluating the difficulties associated with behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia together with implications for clinical practice.

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