Tagging is widely adopted in so-called "collaborative-tagging" systems which are one of the Web 2.0 applications that have achieved lots of attention lately. They provide services for users to store, manage and search web resources with the help of freely chosen keywords, called "tags". Because of the high-volume usage of these systems and the annotations that users provide by their tags, these systems are regarded as good targets for disciplines like knowledge discovery. Roughly, two lines of research have been pursued so far on collaborative tagging: to study the structure of tags and to study their functionality in web search. In this research we investigated tagging structures in a popular collaborative-tagging system, called del.icio.us, by focusing on the relations of "tags", "users" and "web resources", three main components of any collaborative-tagging system. Particularly we are interested in finding whether there are social structures that could be used to increase the usability of these systems for content retrieval and navigation. Our results show that people mainly use tags for their own informational needs which are personal rather than social. Any social structure or communities around tags and users is rare and weak which suggests that collaborative tagging has not added much to personal bookmarking. However, we show some regularities in tagging behavior that could be utilized for user experience improvement. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2008-12-04 14:34:37.537

<p> This project is the first approach to address the problem of the image through a discussion between science, philosophy, art history, art theory, and fine arts based on one body of specific art work designed especially to explain the role of the image in producing future reality models.</p><p> This study is a continuation of the dialogue between important philosophers and thinkers about the image and its place in the contemporary scene.</p><p> The technical fossil medium used in painting this project crosses the boundary between scientific research with its data sheets to art theory and fine arts with their aesthetic rhetoric thus bringing many disciplines together. Seven images were created to discuss the problem.</p><p> The artwork and the academic research are both interacting in this paper in a multidiscipline discussion to uncover the role of the images in creating a new reality and in forging the hyperreal culture.</p>

<p> For the past 200 years, Latinos have comprised the largest, consistent category of immigrants in the United States. This influx has created a need for culturally competent psychological treatment of a population that suffers from acculturative stress, defined as the stress a minority member experiences while trying to adjust to the culture of the majority. Researchers have studied Latino immigrants' enduring trials as they adjust to life in the United States. Nevertheless, there is limited research on the quantification of factors contributing to acculturative stress. Based on the conceptual framework of bidimensional acculturation and Latina/o critical race theory, predictors of acculturative stress among Latino immigrants (<i>N</i> = 172) were examined in this quantitative cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a convenience sample from several public areas located in Miami, Florida. Forced entry regression analysis weighed factors such as: documentation status, experiencing prejudice, gender, income, the number of family members present, confidence in English, age, and number of years in the United States. The results demonstrated only experienced prejudice weighed significantly in the regression model (&beta; = .43, <i>p</i> &lt; .05), and was therefore correlated with acculturative stress scores. The results of this study may help to increase mental health professionals' awareness of how experiences of discrimination can impact the acculturative stress of their immigrant clients. To improve service to this community, mental health professionals and their institutions can take steps to counteract the biases associated with the acculturative stress of Latino immigrants, thereby establishing themselves as an ally to this population.</p>

<p> This study qualitatively explores women survivors of intimate partner violence and their perceptions of experiences with social institutions when seeking support. Specifically, this study explored their experiences with a) social service organizations, b) health care providers, c) law enforcement, and d) the judicial system, examining the differences between ethnic minorities and the dominant culture. While individual themes for helpful and unhelpful practices for service providers were identified for each institution, across all social institutions, common helpful practices included being resourceful and using an empowerment approach. Services that were considered unhelpful or influenced disclosure of abuse included lack of knowledge and understanding of how to serve survivors of intimate partner violence, victim-blaming, the fear of children being taken away, immigration status, indifference, and difficulty obtaining services. African American women reported being treated unfairly and community distrust.</p>

<p> Trans men have been the subject of many empirical studies in recent years that focus primarily on their engagement with masculinity within interaction. By highlighting the experiences of trans men, researchers argue that the persistent and often invisible experiences of gender inequality, specifically those of cisgender women, are made more visible. While scholars studying trans men in these scenarios categorize these interactions under the general heading of doing gender, I argue that these studies highlight experiences of doing cisgender, defined in this paper as individuals' accomplishment of gender within interaction according to cisnormative standards. However, the generalized moniker of doing gender is complicit in the marginalization of trans individuals' experiences of gender because it marks the dominant gender identification, cis, as the unnamed norm and eclipses trans-specific experiences of gender. While understanding how trans people do cisgender is an important contribution to the literature, I argue that doing cisgender is one component of trans people's experience of doing gender. My primary contention in this paper is that trans people also do transgender; that is, they are held accountable to transnormative standards that police and enforce the medical/legal/social access to trans as an identity category. To illustrate the differences between doing cisgender and doing transgender, I conduct a qualitative content analysis of nine documentary films featuring trans men, highlighting instances in the films of trans men doing cisgender and doing transgender.</p>

<p> This project is a study of how various Protestant Christian subcultures construct their identity and perceptions of LGBT couples in the 21^st century United States sociopolitical context. Through an extensive content analysis of 105 sermon transcripts from www.sermoncentral.com, this project allows for a more accurate interpretation of Protestant Christian subgroups' (via individual perceptions of pastors through their sermon rhetoric) stances on the issues of gay rights in the modern United States. Additionally, I use 2012 GSS survey data as background findings to frame and illustrate the relevance of the results from the content analysis. The content analysis findings show that various pastors from the sample construct their views of gay men and lesbians by 1) alienating LGBT couples, 2) enhancing in-group Protestant identities, and 3) calling for political action to maintain group norms.</p>

Some myths of Icelandic society are examined and empirically tested in this thesis. The myths are variants of two basic themes: firstly, the idea that the Icelandic social structure is funda- mentally unique, and, secondly, the belief that the contemporary society is exceptionally egalitarian in many respects. The uniqueness theme is reflected upon by maintaining an international comparative perspective throughout the presentation, and by examining the characteristics and degree of modernization in Icelandic society. In relation to the equality theme, some important aspects of socio-economic advantages are examined. Opportunities of individuals and class formation are also assessed, and then the analysis moves to the level of organizations and labour market relations, i.e., to unionism, conflict, and inflation. The findings seriously question or discard the themes which are considered. Thus, we show that Iceland has modernized to a very high level, sharing most of the basic social structural features which have been found to produce a "family resemblance" amongst advanced societies. Iceland is also found to have an inequality structure with familiar characteristics. The degree of income inequality seems to be on level with the Scandinavian societies, but when other related advantages are also considered, such as welfare and security aspects, the net outcome is that inequality appears to be greater in Iceland. Upward mobility has been extensive, mainly due to changes in the occupational structure, but the patterns are fairly typical. The structure of the industrial relations system has signifi- cant affinities with comparable Scandinavian systems, but the level of industrial conflict has been extensive in Iceland. Inflation has similarly prevailed at a very high level for a long period. By relating inflation to distributional conflicts and the inequality structure, we offer a novel interpretation of this outstanding characteristic. Lastly, the relatively poor showing in the welfare league arid the intense distributional conflicts are explained by relating them to the distribution of political power in the society. Unlike the Scandinavian societies, Iceland has not been dominated by a large social-democratic party. The conservative Independence Party is the largest political party in the country and it has been the dominant force in governments for most of the post-war period.

<p> Especially since the "new social movements" of the 1960s and 1970s, the complexities of group status difference and oppression have posed major challenges to social movements aimed at justice and equality. This paper explores the potential for social movement organizations to approach race, class, gender, and sexuality in ways that resist essentialized identities and expose and challenge the dynamics of power by which structural oppression operates. Focusing on the Washington Peace Center&ndash;a social movement organization in the District of Columbia&ndash;as a case study, I utilize qualitative, oral history interviews to illuminate the process of group difference interrogation and anti-oppression activism over time. I find that justice-seeking social movements&ndash; through an attention to standpoint, openness to the claims of other social movements, and proper consideration of the connection between local, national, and global issues&ndash;are capable of meaningful engagement across group difference that undermines complex and interrelated oppressions.</p>

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This thesis attempts to survey the function of clothing adornment practices as a form social communication. It is shown that clothing enables the formation and distinction of social groups. The ways in which clothing becomes symbolic for a group and the way in which this system is challenged and/or destroyed are also examined. A distinction between fashion and antifashion is made to enable a repositioning of the Western system of dress into a wider context of meaning. Assumptions on the nature of appearance as related to the concept of truth are examined. Chapter One looks at the various and contradictory myths of body ideals, challenging the opposition of nature and culture. Chapter Two examines the uniform and applies its characteristics to all forms of dress. Chapter Three provides a brief summary of the history of sumptuary laws and how they operate in the social world. Throughout this work, common sense assumptions and privileged reading of particular theoretical frameworks are challenged. Theory itself is subject to fashion, allowing for a comparison to be made between human adornment and the methodologies that attempt to define its practices.