<p>The main purpose of this study is to establish a socio-pragmatic categorization of politeness and impoliteness activities in informal interactions. In doing this, we describe the communicative strategies related to (im) politeness phenomena and how they are used to produce certain <i>social effects</i> in face-to-face interaction through the ongoing negotiation of participants’ <i>face </i>(Goffman, 1967). This study is based on informal conversations extracted from a <i>corpus </i>of spoken Spanish gathered in the metropolitan area of Valencia, Spain (Briz and Val.Es.Co. Group, 2002). Focusing on methodology, this study combines a qualitative method inspired in CA with a DA interpretative approach that analyzes communicative acts (Allwood 1995; Bravo, e. p.1). <i>Face</i> contents such as <i>autonomy </i>and<i> affiliative face, role face, group</i> and <i>individual face, </i>are a resource for analyzing what happens during interaction along with the resulting interpersonal effects. The integration of the analysis of context, which includes the co-text, the situational context and the socio-cultural context (cultural settings and shared assumptions), is equally important in this study. The empirical analysis of both the conversations and a questionnaire on impoliteness bring us to propose a series of categories of (im) politeness. The categories are as follow: Strategic Politeness (within this category we find <i>attenuating politeness </i>and<i> reparatory politeness</i>), Enhancing Politeness, Group Politeness, Ritual Politeness (here we differentiate between meeting situations and visit situations) and Discursive Politeness (we divide this category into <i>conventional </i>and <i>thematic</i>). Concerning Impoliteness, we find situations in informal conversation in which impoliteness is expected (<i>normative impoliteness</i>) and when threatening acts (reproaches, criticism, etc.) do not imply directly, <i>per se</i>, a negative personal effect. We next find two types of impoliteness: one produced by threats to the <i>face </i>of the speaker which are neither mitigated nor amended and the other caused by a break from the normal rules of politeness. </p>

The main purpose of this study is to establish a socio-pragmatic categorization of politeness and impoliteness activities in informal interactions. In doing this, we describe the communicative strategies related to (im) politeness phenomena and how they are used to produce certain social effects in face-to-face interaction through the ongoing negotiation of participants’ face (Goffman, 1967). This study is based on informal conversations extracted from a corpus of spoken Spanish gathered in the metropolitan area of Valencia, Spain (Briz and Val.Es.Co. Group, 2002). Focusing on methodology, this study combines a qualitative method inspired in CA with a DA interpretative approach that analyzes communicative acts (Allwood 1995; Bravo, e. p.1). Face contents such as autonomy and affiliative face, role face, group and individual face, are a resource for analyzing what happens during interaction along with the resulting interpersonal effects. The integration of the analysis of context, which includes the co-text, the situational context and the socio-cultural context (cultural settings and shared assumptions), is equally important in this study. The empirical analysis of both the conversations and a questionnaire on impoliteness bring us to propose a series of categories of (im) politeness. The categories are as follow: Strategic Politeness (within this category we find attenuating politeness and reparatory politeness), Enhancing Politeness, Group Politeness, Ritual Politeness (here we differentiate between meeting situations and visit situations) and Discursive Politeness (we divide this category into conventional and thematic). Concerning Impoliteness, we find situations in informal conversation in which impoliteness is expected (normative impoliteness) and when threatening acts (reproaches, criticism, etc.) do not imply directly, per se, a negative personal effect. We next find two types of impoliteness: one produced by threats to the face of the speaker which are neither mitigated nor amended and the other caused by a break from the normal rules of politeness.

This research paper illustrates the social effects of social media and selfie posting on older age generations. These generational groups are called “Baby-boomers” and “Baby-busts” and are born before the existence of Internet and social media and therefore have had to adapt to the online context. The goal of this study is to make comparison between younger and older generations in terms of experiences, beliefs and feelings they encounter when posting and observing self-photos.  By using Semi-structured Qualitative interviews, which is set up as an interview guide based on questions designed to give open ended answers, we had the possibility to obtain a deeper understanding of the topic studied. This study has shown different perspectives of how generations born before the Internet era have adapted to social platforms and how they understood the selfie culture. Results identified have proven older age generations have higher level of self-esteem and prefer posting real and honest selfies, whereas the younger ones are interested in their looks and appearance on social media and they value their popularity by the number of likes received for their self-photos. As we discovered that likes and followers have no value for participants in our study, we concluded there is no reason like popularity seeking beneath their selfie posting habits. The target group in this study is instead using social media accounts as a source of inspiration, communication channel or a marketing tool for their professional life.

En stor del av jorden består av vatten och hela 7% av biodiversiteten på jorden är stödd av färskvattensystem. Detta gör dessa system till mycket värdefulla och det är viktigt att en hållbar utveckling främjas för att inte äventyra dessa system. Vattenkraft och dammar utgör idag ett av de största hoten för den biologiska mångfalden i sjöar och vattendrag. Då effekterna på miljön av vattenkraftverk blivit alltmer uppmärksammade och nya krav ställs på att vattenkraftverk ska följa EU:s miljökrav kommer avveckling och utrivning av vattenkraftverk och dammar troligtvis att bli vanligare. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur allmänheten ser på att avveckla och riva ut vattenkraften och dammar i Nyköpingsån, detta kan bidra med en bild av huruvida befolkningen bemöter förändring i närområdet och en förbättrad kunskap kring hur olika faktorer påverkar riskuppfattning hos medborgare. Enkätstudie har genomförts, enkäten har varit tillgänglig via internet och totalt kom 51 svar in. Datat analyserades med hjälp av korstabeller och chi-två test. Resultatet visade att det geografiska avståndet inte hade någon signifikant påverkan. Utbildningsnivån hade inte heller någon signifikant påverkan även om en något lägre riskuppfattning hos individer med högre utbildningsnivå fanns. Nuvarande elavtal hade en signifikant påverkan på riskuppfattningen. Studien visade att individer uppfattar risk på olika sätt, för framtida studier skulle det vara önskvärt att fördjupa med kvalitativ studie. / A large part of the earth consists of water and 7% of all biodiversity on earth is supported by freshwater systems. This makes these systems very valuable, and it is important that sustainable development is promoted as not to jeopardize these systems. Hydropower and dams are among the biggest threats to biodiversity in lakes and rivers. As the effects on the environment from hydropower gained more attention and new requirement are set on hydropower to meet EU: s environmental requirements, removal of hydropower and dams will likely become more common. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the public perceives the removal of hydropower and dams, this could contribute to a picture of how the public meets change in the local area and improve knowledge of how different factors affect the risk perception among citizens. A survey was conducted, the survey was accessible through internet and a total of 51 was received. The data were analysed with the help of crosstabs and chi-square test. The results showed that the geographical distance did not have a significant effect on risk perception. The level of education did not have a significant effect though a slightly lower risk perception among individuals with higher education levels existed. Currants electricity contract did have a significant effect on the risk perception.

I takt med ett allt hårdare klimat på arbetsmarknaden och ett ökat tryck på individen i arbetslivet har forskningen börjat titta närmare på positiva och hälsofrämjande effekter av kultur- och fritidsrelaterade effekter kopplat till arbetet. Föreliggande kvalitativa studie undersöker upplevelser och erfarenheter av kulturaktiviteter ur ett medarbetarperspektiv inom två större organisationer, samt försöker synliggöra effekter av kultur kopplat till arbetet både för individen och organisationen. Resultatet pekar dels på sociala effekter som känslan av samhörighet och trivsel samt god arbetsmiljö och välbefinnande, kopplade till att delta i kulturaktiviteter tillsammans med sina kolleger och arbetskamrater. Vidare beskrivs effekter genererade mer direkt av själva innehållet i kulturaktiviteter, med betoning på konstnärliga uttrycksformer, som fördjupade tankar och reflektioner, avslappning, kreativitet och ett innovativt klimat. Utifrån både sociala och innehållsmässiga upplevelser och erfarenheter av kultur uppstår olika former av samtal och kommunikation på arbetsplatsen. Kommunikation som kommer att utgöra en central del i de värdeskapande processer som genereras av kultur kopplat till arbetet både för den enskilde individen och organisationen som helhet. Tid framstår också som en avgörande faktor för hur kulturaktiviteter förmedlas och når ut till den enskilde medarbetaren inom organisationen. Här pekar resultatet på värdet av att organisationen erbjuder ett brett spektrum av kulturrelaterade aktiviteter, både enkla och mer utmanande, i syfte att fånga så många medarbetare som möjligt. / Along with increased strain on the individual in many of today´s work settings the positive impact of cultural activities on health and well-being at work has achieved increased attention among scholars. The present qualitative study focus on experiences from cultural activities from a co-worker´s perspective within two major organizations. It also aims at pointing at effects from culture activities at work both from an individual and organizational perspective. The result indicates social effects such as cohesiveness, positive work environment and well-being from taking part in cultural activities together with colleagues. Furthermore the result points at the mere content of culture activities related to fine arts, as something that generates reflections, detachment, creativity and an innovative approach within the organizational body. As an effect of these two categories of experiences from cultural activities various forms of communication emerge at work. This communication appears to be a central part of the processes that generate different kinds of value from culture for the individual as well as the organization. Time resources also turn out to be crucial to the way employees take part in culture activities related to work. The result emphasizes the value and importance of a broad spectra of cultural-related activities distributed within the organization in order to reach out to everyone of its employees.

Every product has economic, environmental, and social impacts whether or not those impacts are explicitly considered. These impacts affect society and are an important part of engineering design. "Triple Bottom Line Sustainability" focuses on economic, environmental, and social sustainability and has become an important goal for those designing products. Economic considerations are an established part of the engineering design process. Environmental considerations are increasingly being considered in design including the development of design standards and widely used methodologies. Social impact considerations, however, lack the standardization and wide inclusion of economic and environmental considerations. This results in reduced and unbalanced consideration of social impacts compared to economic and environmental impacts. Improved consideration of social impacts in engineered products would benefit society in many areas of life. While many tools and methodologies for assessing social impact exist and are used in the social science and development fields, these tools are not broadly used in the engineering community. Some reasons these methods are not more standardly practiced include designers not being aware of the methods, methods not being widely applicable or adaptable, methods being too complicated or time intensive to use, or methods not being useful in product development processes. The purpose of this research is to classify and organize design tools for social impact and create methods that fill holes in the social impact design tool space. The classification and organization is done through the classification of 374 papers in the EGD literature along several dimensions including method purpose, industry sector, social impacts considered, sustainable development goals, paper setting, and data inputs required. This will increase awareness of available methods and help designers find relevant research to aid them. Additionally, this research describes two methods developed by the author to fill specific gaps identified in the literature.

The corporal punishment of children is being widely challenged today. Christians have traditionally followed the "spare the rod and spoil the child" approach and must respond to the new situation. Corporal punishment is part of the wider disciplinary process. It can lead to corporal abuse, but this is not a reason per se to reject it. Parents have a right to discipline their children, including the use of reasonable corporal punishment. Teachers can also use corporal punishment to enforce discipline, although its use will soon be banned in all South African schools, following world trends. Corporal punishment in the home and at school satisfies the criteria of both the deontological and teleogical approach to theological ethics. It should be retained as part of a multi-faceted approach to discipline. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Theological Ethics)

The corporal punishment of children is being widely challenged today. Christians have traditionally followed the "spare the rod and spoil the child" approach and must respond to the new situation. Corporal punishment is part of the wider disciplinary process. It can lead to corporal abuse, but this is not a reason per se to reject it. Parents have a right to discipline their children, including the use of reasonable corporal punishment. Teachers can also use corporal punishment to enforce discipline, although its use will soon be banned in all South African schools, following world trends. Corporal punishment in the home and at school satisfies the criteria of both the deontological and teleogical approach to theological ethics. It should be retained as part of a multi-faceted approach to discipline. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Theological Ethics)

This study analyses the practice implemented by the government of Mozambique immediately after independence, from 1975 to 1985, of placing secondary school teachers around the country. Such practice consisted of putting teachers born in the south of the country to teach either in the central, or in the northern region, on the one hand; on the another, those who were born in the centre of the country were being placed to work or in the south, or in the north; and those born in the north were being sent to teach in the central or southern part of the country. The government’s arguments in so doing were to mould a nation. The study explores whether this practices was a deliberate policy. The presupposition that it may have been a formal policy comes from the fact that during the struggle for the liberation of Mozambique, the then movement leading the war, Frelimo, had as its guiding principle to ‘kill the tribe for the nation to be born’; so people from different regions of the country were compelled to work closely together in every activity of the movement. The theoretical framework includes a discussion of the concepts of ‘ethnic group’, ‘nation’, ‘nationalism’ and ‘nation-state’. Throughout the literature review, the way nations have been historically constituted worldwide, the way African leaders tried to build their nations, the philosophy behind the idea of ‘nation-states’ they developed are discussed at length. Given that education has been considered as a key pillar to achieve this specific end, the contribution of this sector to the processes of building a nation is brought to the fore. The study is a qualitative analysis and exploratory in essence. Fifty persons – including high ranking officials and teachers – who designed and implemented or were involved in the practice, were interviewed as the main foundation of the research. The outcomes of the analysis as well as the analogy itself are multidisciplinary. It concludes that the practice was not a policy in the classical meaning, that is a core of written principles and practices approved by a competent social institution and followed in a certain community, it existed only in speeches. Secondly, that in fact the practice contributed to the nation building process, people involved in it gained awareness of the vastness and ethnic diversity of the country. Finally, it reveals that de facto the policy had unintended interpretations. Given that the majority of the people sent throughout the country were southerners – something which the headmasters of the practice apparently were not aware of –, the unbalance of educated cadres that began during the colonial period were simply perpetuated and not critically addressed. As a result, “Southern dominance” in the administration of the country (in this instance the education system) provided the basis for dissatisfaction in other areas of the country. The study agrees with Connor (1990) that nation-building is a process, and concludes that Mozambique is on the road to nation formation, to which the practice contributed to a considerable degree. / Dissertation (M (Social Science in Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Sociology / unrestricted