The past fifteen years have yielded numerous studies of girls and the struggles they face in today's society. This dissertation examines the ways that preadolescent girls, "tweens," understand what it means to be a girl and the factors that shape their identity as a girl. Through thematic content analysis of data collected through 22 focus groups and one-on-one interviews, I argue that girlhood is a socially constructed phenomenon. The girls' perceptions of girlhood are influenced by their media consumption, their families, and their social interactions. Their understanding of girlhood includes both physical and psychological characteristics. The girls' understanding of girlhood is also reflective of stereotypical myths of femininity. The experience of girlhood, as described by the participants, is an experience of transition from child to adolescent, an experience of liminality, and includes dialectical tensions that the girls must attempt to negotiate. The girls’ experience of girlhood differs from their perceptions of ideal girlhood, and often the girls indicate that the perceptions are “real” and their personal experiences are not.

The past fifteen years have yielded numerous studies of girls and the struggles they face in today's society. This dissertation examines the ways that preadolescent girls, "tweens," understand what it means to be a girl and the factors that shape their identity as a girl. Through thematic content analysis of data collected through 22 focus groups and one-on-one interviews, I argue that girlhood is a socially constructed phenomenon. The girls' perceptions of girlhood are influenced by their media consumption, their families, and their social interactions. Their understanding of girlhood includes both physical and psychological characteristics. The girls' understanding of girlhood is also reflective of stereotypical myths of femininity. The experience of girlhood, as described by the participants, is an experience of transition from child to adolescent, an experience of liminality, and includes dialectical tensions that the girls must attempt to negotiate. The girls’ experience of girlhood differs from their perceptions of ideal girlhood, and often the girls indicate that the perceptions are “real” and their personal experiences are not.

This study focuses on the conceptualization of video evidence as constructed by judges in their written decisions in Canadian criminal courts and the impact this conceptualization has on understandings of truth. Recent years have seen substantial developments in video recording technology and in the cultural practices that support its use. Of particular interest to this study is the mobilization of video as a means of legitimizing truth claims. Using a qualitative content analysis of 52 recent (2005-2015) Canadian criminal court decisions, this study seeks to understand the way in which judges discuss video evidence in their decisions and the impact these discussions have on discourses of truth. The results of this analysis illustrate that the features typically associated with video evidence coincide closely with specific and longstanding discourses of objectivity, reliability, and credibility that are used to evaluate competing claims in criminal courts—discourses that have traditionally been developed with reference to evaluating testimony. Judges’ adoption of these particular criteria over any others results in video achieving an eminent position in the hierarchy of evidence before the courts. The way in which judges conceptualize video evidence both reflects the historic discourses that shape the current judicial approach to video evidence and (re)creates discourses that will be relied on in future. Given the influential role of courts as official arbiters of truth, the discourses adopted by judges have important implications both within and beyond the legal system.

In this study, I use SCOT (Social Construction of Technology) theories to trace the history of lysergic acid diethylamide-25, which is commonly known as LSD. I show how the technological system of LSD corresponds to phases designated by SCOT theorist Thomas Hughes, specifically invention, development, innovation, growth, competition, and consolidation. I explain the importance of Timothy Leary and the CIA in the social construction of the LSD system, and their influences on the transformation of LSD from a chemical technology to a highly controversial drug. Finally, I discuss the fate of LSD research today, its usage among members of the public, especially youngsters, and the usefulness of SCOT theories for this study. / Master of Science

The goal of this research project was to understand better how classroom teaching, as purposeful social construction, can influence student attitudes in the direction of increased sensitivity to the diversity and complexity of issues involving human sexuality and individual choices. To develop this understanding, pre- and post-semester attitudes about the topics of gender, sexual orientation, sex education, and sexual coercion were gathered along with demographic information. Written end-of-class comments regarding the four topics were coded for evidence of level of moral development and factors contributing to cognitive effort and commitment to one's opinion. Demographic influences on attitudes included sex, in which women scored higher on average attitudes than men in the topics of gender, sexual orientation, and sexual coercion. Self-described religious background was significant in that religiously conservative participants scored lower in attitudes about sexual orientation than liberals or those with no religious background. Women scored significantly higher regarding the gender topic on relevance to own life, in favorability toward the presentation, and level of affect. Attitudes about sexual orientation and, to a lesser extent, sexual coercion changed over the semester in a direction of increased sensitivity to diversity and individual choice. Semester attitude differences were significantly higher than differences recorded for the single multimedia session early in the semester for sexual orientation, sex education, and sexual coercion, and for the single multimedia session late in the semester for sexual orientation. Attitudes were not influenced by affect or commitment to one's opinion, but attitude scores were significantly related to personal relevance, especially regarding gender and sexual orientation, life experience regarding sexual orientation, and favorability toward the class presentation for all topics. Repetitive exposure to information about sexual coercion was significant for higher attitude scores for participants reporting little prior exposure and considerable prior exposure, and lower attitude scores for participants reporting only some prior exposure. Level of moral development, significantly higher for women regarding sexual orientation and sexual coercion, was significantly and positively related to overall attitudes about sexual orientation and sexual coercion. Level of moral development scores were significant also regarding gender perspective-taking, favorability toward the class presentations on sexual orientation and sex education, repetitive exposure to a topic, distraction from the sexual orientation presentation, and cognitive effort exerted in considering the messages of the gender, sexual orientation, and sex education presentations. / Ph. D.

Environmental decision-making is a tournament of competing conservation agendas in which some values and beliefs are held up and exalted, others are dismissed and ignored, and still others are implicit and unnoticed. Stakeholders compete in the tournament to advance their value systems through the science they advocate or practice, through the constructs of environmental quality they use or study, and through the management goals they champion. It is our contention that participants who hope to compete successfully in this tournament should understand the rules of the game, which includes recognizing the values and ambiguities of the language used to discuss and describe nature - in particular the terms used to describe ecological conditions that become the goals and policies of forest management - and acknowledging the "middle nature". / Master of Science

<p>The purpose of this study is to contribute to thedevelopment of the Logistics Management discipline. A motivefor the study is that I have found actors being very anonymousin the Logistics Management literature. I have found this to bein contrast to my practical experiences where actors are highlyessential. On the basis of an interview study and a literaturestudy I want to give some thoughts and ideas for thedevelopment of the discipline. The interview study wasconducted with 48 actors operating across a supply chain withindifferent business areas of a multinational Swedish company.The actors views of the organisation, problems associated withit and logistical variables were focused. In the literary studyI focused on fundamental ideas and characteristics. I alsofocused on scientific foundations and points of departure inLogistics Management research.</p><p>In the text I strive to view the world as sociallyconstructed and in my writing I have the effort to beinterpretative and reflective. With these points of departure Itry to use approaches seldom used in research within thelogistics management discipline.</p><p>In my work I present thoughts and ideas which are importantto notice with regard to the aim of the discipline to benormative and contribute to the development of one or manyorganisations. The first issue that I highlight is that in theinterview study it was apparent that there existed clusterswith different perspectives across the supply chain. Theseperspectives provided different sorts of understanding for theorganisation and problems associated with it. I found this tobe a reason for problems within the organisation. In theliterature, however, I found the insight about this is low ornot outspoken, which motivates further studies. As aconsequence of the different views and understanding, I noticedthat the interviewees put different meaning into concepts likecustomer focus and holistic vision. The different meaningseemed to be a reason for problems within the organisation.Since I regard the concepts as central and obvious within thediscipline, more attention could be given to the concepts andhow they are used. The interviewees also emphasised awell-functioning organisation and the importance ofimplementing solutions. Implementation issues could thereforebe highlighted to a larger extent, to elucidate obstacles andpossibilities for successful change management and to highlightproblems that need to be treated. In the interviews people andtheir behaviours were seen as central. Therefore human andtheir behaviours could be given more attention. Understandingfor people’s behaviour as a foundation for changemanagement processes could be emphasised even more. As aconsequence, I consider reference to other disciplinesnecessary to reach a higher understanding of these behaviours.Since the studied company was far from the best practicestudies that now dominate the area and the study has proven tobe fruitful, the discipline could strive to be more balancedand use other cases to elucidate problems and highlight theseproblems.</p><p>Some authors’opinions that other paradigms and viewsthan the ones dominating the discipline should be used todevelop it, has been strengthened by the study, especially withregard to paradigms and views with a focus on actors.</p>

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The notion that pregnancy can, for some women, be a time of unhappiness and depression has only recently been recognized in media and by the general public. Researchers and clinicians have begun to study antenatal depression with regards to prevalence, associated factors, and treatment. Most of the research regarding antenatal depression has been quantitative in method. Qualitative inquiry would provide the rich description of womens lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with six women who scored 10, 11, or 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, indicating mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Participants were interviewed individually regarding their experiences of depression during pregnancy. Data generated in the form of transcripts were analyzed and five themes emerged: disconnection vs. new connection and/or reconnection; loss of identity vs. new identity; fatigue and illness vs. vitality and wellness; anxiety and insecurity vs. confidence and security; and sadness and hopelessness vs. joy and expectation. The overarching shared meaning of these experiences was ambivalence. Findings provided rich, thick descriptions of the lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. Future research and implications for counselling practice are discussed.

The notion that pregnancy can, for some women, be a time of unhappiness and depression has only recently been recognized in media and by the general public. Researchers and clinicians have begun to study antenatal depression with regards to prevalence, associated factors, and treatment. Most of the research regarding antenatal depression has been quantitative in method. Qualitative inquiry would provide the rich description of womens lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with six women who scored 10, 11, or 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, indicating mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Participants were interviewed individually regarding their experiences of depression during pregnancy. Data generated in the form of transcripts were analyzed and five themes emerged: disconnection vs. new connection and/or reconnection; loss of identity vs. new identity; fatigue and illness vs. vitality and wellness; anxiety and insecurity vs. confidence and security; and sadness and hopelessness vs. joy and expectation. The overarching shared meaning of these experiences was ambivalence. Findings provided rich, thick descriptions of the lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. Future research and implications for counselling practice are discussed.