This study is dealing with the adoption of Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) by Swedish farmers during the last 20 years. SRWC is considered as an innovation in land use. An exploratory case study was set up by interviewing Swedish farmers and land owners to find out (1) about their decision process and reasons to start with Salix cultivation and (2) their opinions from today’s (time of interview, 2008) point of view about that decision. The aim is to improve German investigations in this field, to find out about reasons for farmers to decide in favour of or against SRWC. The development of Salix cultivation in Sweden seemed successful in the beginning of the 1990s as the total area of SRWC increased considerably until 1995. With the entry to the EU and participation in the common agricultural policy (CAP) in 1995 the positive development ended and has remained on the same level until this investigation. The study is based on 14 interviews with farmers who have been involved in SRWC. The interviews are part of the appendix A (Anhang A). On the basis of these 14 cases reasons and aspects for making decisions are evaluated in a qualitative method. Important factors for decision making in Sweden were in this study: agricultural policy before 1995, income from Salix, workload, service enterprise Agroenergi AB, hunting, site quality, and some miscellaneous aspects more. Further investigations should consider the type of farmer referring to his personal income structures as SRWC seems suitable for landowners who are financially independent from agricultural income. Another topic for further investigations should be the transfer of the obtained knowledge in Sweden to Germany.:Abbildungs- und Tabellenverzeichnis........................................................................... 6 Abkürzungsverzeichnis .................................................................................................. 7 1 Einleitung ........................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Problemstellung................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Ziel der Diplomarbeit .......................................................................................... 11 1.3 Untersuchungsgebiet ........................................................................................... 12 1.3.1 Geografie, Klima und Politik .................................................................. 12 1.3.2 Landwirtschaft......................................................................................... 15 1.3.3 Salixkultivierung in Schweden................................................................ 16 1.4 Begriffsabgrenzung und deduktiv entwickelte Faktoren..................................... 19 1.5 Vorgehensweise................................................................................................... 22 2 Theoretischer Rahmen...................................................................................... 23 3 Methodik ............................................................................................................ 31 3.1 Forschungsdesign ................................................................................................ 31 3.2 Datenerhebung..................................................................................................... 32 3.2.1 Befragung................................................................................................ 32 3.2.2 Erhebungsinstrumente............................................................................. 33 3.2.3 Auswahlverfahren und Interviewdurchführung ...................................... 35 3.2.4 Transkription ........................................................................................... 36 3.3 Auswertung.......................................................................................................... 37 3.3.1 Strategie................................................................................................... 37 3.3.2 Kategoriensystem, Paraphrase und Reduktion........................................ 38 3.3.3 Integration der Ergebnisse....................................................................... 42 4 Ergebnisse .......................................................................................................... 46 4.1 Die Interviewpartner............................................................................................ 46 4.2 Spektrum der Entscheidungsgründe .................................................................... 54 4.3 Entscheidungsfaktoren und Thesen..................................................................... 65 4.3.1 Agrarpolitische Faktoren vor 1995 ......................................................... 65 4.3.2 Einkommen aus SRWC........................................................................... 66 4.3.3 Faktor Dienstleister ................................................................................. 66 4.3.4 Faktor Arbeitsbelastung .......................................................................... 67 4.3.5 Faktor Jagd .............................................................................................. 68 4.3.6 Faktor Standort........................................................................................ 68 4.3.7 Weitere Faktoren ..................................................................................... 69 5 Diskussion........................................................................................................... 70 6 Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................. 82 7 Literaturverzeichnis .......................................................................................... 84 Anhang A: Fallübersichten .......................................................................................... 91 A.1 SÖD-A, 19.01.2008 ........................................................................................ 91 A.2 SÖD-B, 19.01.2008 ........................................................................................ 94 A.3 SÖD-C, 21.02.2008 ........................................................................................ 97 A.4 UPP-A, 20.01.2008....................................................................................... 100 A.5 UPP-B, 22.01.2008 ....................................................................................... 103 A.6 UPP-C, 22.01.2008 ....................................................................................... 107 A.7 ÖST-B, 12.01.2008....................................................................................... 111 A.8 ÖST-C, 13.01.2008....................................................................................... 114 A.9 ÖST-E, 15.01.2008 ....................................................................................... 117 A.10 ÖST-F, 16.01.2008 ....................................................................................... 121 A.11 ÖST-G, 16.01.2008....................................................................................... 124 A.12 ÖST-H, 17.01.2008....................................................................................... 128 A.13 VGT-A, 23.01.2008...................................................................................... 132 A.14 VGT-B, 25.01.2008 ...................................................................................... 136 Anhang B: Materialien und Informationen ............................................................. 139 B.1 Zeitstrahl ....................................................................................................... 139 B.2 Interviewleitfaden ......................................................................................... 140 B.3 Kurzfragebogen ............................................................................................ 142 B.4 Codierleitfaden ............................................................................................. 144 B.5 Materialien auf CD-ROM Anhang ............................................................... 145 B.6 Anmerkung zum Thema Gender .................................................................. 145 B.7 Glossar .......................................................................................................... 146

Latino men, particularly those who have sex with other men, have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Scholars have sought for nearly two decades to understand how various social and cultural factors in the Latino community exacerbate HIV risk among these men. Although following the advent of life-sustaining medications in 1996, HIV is often regarded as a manageable chronic illness, as opposed to a death sentence, scant attention has been devoted to how HIV-positive Latino men experience managing the illness. Among studies that have focused on HIV-positive persons' illness management, few Latino men have participated. Using the Appraisal framework from Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics, with Bucholtz and Hall's theory of social identity (2004, 2005), this discourse analysis sought to explore intersubjective relations as reported by five HIV-positive Latino men, three native-born and two immigrants, in semi-structured interviews that attempted to avoid preconceived expectations about salient structures. While structures such as homophobia, machismo, and stigma emerged in each interview, the native-born men's discourse differed from that of the immigrants in that the former did not address financial concerns with regard to HIV medications, whereas the latter represented their agency as having been constrained by low income requirements for obtaining assistance in accessing expensive HIV medications. This finding tentatively suggests that the issue could be more salient for immigrants than native-born Latinos and warrants additional, more focused research on the effects of the structures of benefit programs on HIV-positive Latino immigrants.

Doctor of Philosophy / Electrical and Computer Engineering / Steven Warren / Linear Systems (a.k.a., Signals and Systems) is an important class in an Electrical Engineering curriculum. A clear understanding of the topics in this course relies on a well-developed notion of lower-level mathematical constructs and procedures, including the roles these procedures play in system analysis. Students with an inadequate math foundation regularly struggle in this class, as they are typically able to perform sequences of the underlying calculations but cannot piece together the higher-level, conceptual relationships that drive these procedures. This dissertation describes an investigation to assess and improve students’ higher-level understanding of Linear Systems concepts. The focus is on the topics of (a) time-domain, linear time-invariant (LTI) system response visualization and (b) Fourier series conceptual understanding, including trigonometric Fourier series (TFS), compact trigonometric Fourier series (CTFS), and exponential Fourier series (EFS). Support data, including exam and online homework data, were collected since 2004 from students enrolled in ECE 512 - Linear Systems at Kansas State University. To assist with LTI response visualization, two online homework modules, Zero Input Response and Unit Impulse Response, were updated with enhanced plots of signal responses and placed in use starting with the Fall 2009 semester. To identify students’ conceptual weaknesses related to Fourier series and to help them achieve a better understanding of Fourier series concepts, teaching-learning interviews were applied between Spring 2010 and Fall 2012. A new concept-based online homework module was also introduced in Spring 2011. Selected final exam problems from 2007 to 2012 were analyzed, and these data were supplemented with detailed mid-term and final exam data from 77 students enrolled in the Spring 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters. In order to address these conceptual learning issues, two frameworks were applied: Bloom’s Taxonomy and APOS theory. The teaching-learning interviews and online module updates appeared to be effective treatments in terms of increasing students’ higher-level understanding. Scores on both conceptual exam questions and more traditional Fourier series exam questions were improved relative to scores received by students that did not receive those treatments.

BACKGROUND:No consistent relationship exists between pre-treatment expectations and therapeutic benefit from various complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in clinical trials. However, many different expectancy measures have been used in those studies, with no validated questionnaires clearly focused on CAM and pain. We undertook cognitive interviews as part of a process to develop and validate such a questionnaire.METHODS:We reviewed questions about expectations of benefits of acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, or yoga for pain. Components of the questions - verbs, nouns, response options, terms and phrases describing back pain - were identified. Using seven different cognitive interview scripts, we conducted 39 interviews to evaluate how individuals with chronic low back pain understood these individual components in the context of expectancy questions for a therapy they had not yet received. Chosen items were those with the greatest agreement and least confusion among participants, and were closest to the meanings intended by the investigators.RESULTS:The questionnaire drafted for psychometric evaluation had 18 items covering various domains of expectancy. "Back pain" was the most consistently interpreted descriptor for this condition. The most understandable response options were 0-10 scales, a structure used throughout the questionnaire, with 0 always indicating no change, and 10 anchored with an absolute descriptor such as "complete relief". The use of words to describe midpoints was found to be confusing. The word "expect" held different and shifting meanings for participants. Thus paired items comparing "hope" and "realistically expect" were chosen to evaluate 5 different aspects of treatment expectations (back pain / back dysfunction and global effects / impact of back pain on specific areas of life / sleep, mood, and energy / coping). "Impact of back pain" on various areas of life was found to be a consistently meaningful concept, and more global than "interference".CONCLUSIONS:Cognitive interviews identified wordings with considerable agreement among both participants and investigators. Some items widely used in clinical studies had different meanings to participants than investigators, or were confusing to participants. The final 18-item questionnaire is undergoing psychometric evaluation with goals of streamlining as well as identifying best items for use when questionnaire length is constrained.

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka musiklärares definitioner gällande musikalitetsbegreppet. Studien undersöker också hur musiklärare resonerar kring sin egen, samt sina elevers musikalitet. Tidigare forskning presenteras i studien där musikalitet utifrån denna kan ses utifrån tre olika perspektiv: absolut, relativ och relationell musikalitetsuppfattning. Det sociokulturella perspektivet, med fokus på det kulturella sammanhangets betydelse för användning av begreppet musikalitet, är denna studies teoretiska utgångspunkt. Den forskningsmetod som valts för att undersöka ämnet är kvalitativa intervjuer, vilka fördes med sex musiklärare uppdelade i tre olika musikgenrer: klassisk musik, afroamerikansk musik och folkmusik. I resultatet framkommer det att musikalitet är ett svårdefinierat begrepp, det vill säga att det kan tolkas på många olika sätt. De definitioner som dock framkommer är att en musikalisk person har gott gehör och goda förmågor att kommunicera i samspel med andra musiker. Dessa förmågor kan både vara förvärvade redan från födseln eller vara utvecklingsbara. Musikalitetsbegreppet kan dessutom definieras som en företeelse som skiftar i värde beroende på i vilken situation och miljö det används i. Vad gäller resonemang gällande elevens musikalitet menar musiklärarna att det finns en osäkerhet kring att använda musikalitetsbegreppet i undervisningen. Lärarnas resonemang kring sin egen musikalitet är att de alla ser sig själva som musikaliska om de får utgå från sin egen definition av begreppet. Slutligen förs en diskussion kring de olika definitionerna på musikalitet som behandlas i resultatet utifrån det sociokulturella perspektivet och tidigare presenterad litteratur. / This study focuses on exploring how music teachers define the term musicality. The study also explores how music teachers discuss their own musicality and the musicality of their students. Previous research is presented in the study where musicality can be seen from three different perspectives: Definite-, relative- and relational perception of musicality. The sociocultural perspective, focusing on the meaning of the cultural context using the term musicality, is the theoretical premise of this study. The chosen research method to explore this subject is interviews, which were executed with six music teachers from three different music genres: classical music, improvised music and traditional folk music. The result shows that musicality is difficult to define, meaning that there are many different ways to interpret the concept. The definitions that do appear are that a person with musicality has advanced hearing and is able to communicate in interplay with other musicians. These abilities can be both acquired at birth or developed through life. The term musicality can also be defined as a phenomenon that changes in value depending on in what situation and environment it is used. In arguments about musicality in students the teachers find that they are hesitant about using the term in educational situations. Based on their own definition of the term the music teachers view themselves as musically talented. In conclusion a discussion is formed around the different definitions of musicality processed in the result using the sociocultural learning perspective and previously presented literature.

I föreliggande studie är syftet att få en djupare förståelse för hur instrumentalister i olika genrer arbetar för att memorera musik och vad som eventuellt skiljer sig mellan de valda metoderna, arbetssätten och verktygen som används. Detta undersöks utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Bakgrundskapitlet tar upp tidigare forskning om det mänskliga minnet, hur vi minns saker generellt samt om skillnader mellan klassiska musiker och folkmusiker inom processen att minnas musik. Sedan presenteras metoderna som används i arbetet. Det är semistrukturerade intervjuer och tematisk analys tillsammans med en komparativ forskningsdesign. Därefter följer resultatet som visar att det förekommer både skillnader och likheter mellan de båda genrerna och även bland intervjupersonerna inom samma genre under processen att memorera musik utantill. Vidare framkommer även vilka de två mest använda verktygen för att memorera musik utantill är och om det är möjligt att memorera musik utan ett instrument närvarande. Slutligen diskuteras resultaten med kopplingar tillbaka till de tidigare kapitlen och det valda teoretiska perspektivet. / In the present study, the aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how the musicians in different genres work to memorize music by heart and what might differ in the chosen methods, procedures and tools that is used. This must be examined on the basis of a socio-cultural perspective. The background highlights earlier research about the human mind, how we remember things in general, and about the differences between classical musicians and folk musicians in the process that is memorizing music. Thereafter is the methods used in this study presented. They include semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis together with a comparative research design. This is followed by the result which shows that there are both similarities and differences between the two genres and even among interviewees within the same genre in the process of memorizing the music by heart. Further will the two most commonly used tools for memorizing music be presented, and the answer to whether it is possible to memorize music without using an instrument. Then the results will be discussed with links back to the previous chapters and the chosen theoretical perspective.

Syftet med den här studien är att jämföra två grundskollärarens förhållningssätt till skönlitterärt läsande för att visa dess betydelse för hur elever i mellanstadiet kan uppmuntras till att läsa skönlitterära texter i skolan. Därför har semistrukturerade intervjuer använts enligt Bryman (2011) samt kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer. Resultaten av undersökningen är tvådelade. Det ena visar på att om läraren utåt sett visar eleverna ett positivt förhållningssätt till skönlitteratur kan det ha en positiv inverkan på elevens läslust. Om läraren istället visar ett negativt förhållningssätt till skönlitteratur för eleverna kan detta ha en negativ inverkan på elevens läslust. Det som inte har någon betydelse är om lärarens positiva förhållningssätt till skönlitteratur är äkta eller inte, såvida inte eleverna märker att lärarens positiva förhållningssätt inte är äkta utan lärarens personliga tycke om skönlitteratur lyser igenom. / The purpose of this study is to examine and compare two primary school teachers approach to fictional reading and to show its significance regarding how pupils in middle school can be encouraged to read fictional texts in classroom activities. Therefore semi structured research interviews have been used, according to Bryman (2011) which was used was qualitative research interviews. The results of the research are twofold. One the one hand if the teacher shows the pupils a positive approach to fictional reading the impact on pupils’ love of reading might be positive. If the teacher instead show the pupils a negative approach to fictional reading the effects can be negative. On the other hand, it does not seem important if the teachers’ positive approach to fictional reading is authentic or not, unless the pupils notice that the teachers just pretend having a positive approach and their real thoughts shine through.

This study will focus on explaining the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s national security. In explaining these dynamics, the study will consider two of Buzan’s frameworks for analysing national security. Further enhancement will be given by conceptualising specific assumptions about Saudi Arabia’s national security – these will be based on the manner in which certain features are utilised within the Saudi state. Semistructured interviews will be utilised to examine the findings from the adapted frameworks. By studying the state’s domestic, regional and international concerns, as well as the specific threats that each level pose with regards to several security sectors (including the: social, political, economic, militant and environmental), this study will provide a distinctive analysis of national security within the Saudi state. Initially, this study acknowledges that only a few studies have been conducted into Saudi Arabia’s national security; furthermore, these have focused on the internal perspective by considering Saudi national security in terms of its military and strategic partnerships. Secondly, the study proposes that Saudi Arabia is unique (and unlike any other state) as it holds various important social and religious aspects that are not fully understood by external sources. Consequently, this study conceptualises Saudi national security from the internal perspective by considering the Saudi state’s specific features.

Popular discourses and current government policy focus on the need for individuals and families to make healthy food choices, without acknowledging the social and cultural milieu in which these are embedded. A neo-liberal focus on responsible individualism is part of a middle class habitus that ensures foodwork and foodplay are located within distinct heteronormative cultural fields. In my thesis I explore narratives from seventy-five mainly middle class respondents who engaged in a series of asynchronous online interviews over nine months beginning in November 2010. The themes that emerged aligned with public policy debates on the family, healthy eating, eating disorders, ‘fat’ bodies and elite foodways. Hence, feeding the family ‘healthy’ meals ‘prepared from scratch’ was considered a means of acquiring social, symbolic and cultural capital. ‘Fat’ talk and ‘lipoliteracy’ or learning to read the body were ways of performing femininity, whilst elite foodways were utilised as forms of hegemonic masculinities. Hence, in a challenge to the individualisation thesis my research demonstrates the complexity of food relationships beyond individual consumer choice. Throughout I adopt an auto/biographical approach that stresses the interconnectedness of biography and autobiography, focuses on researcher reflexivity and is sensitive to respondent subjectivities. Respondents used a common vocabulary of individuality, whilst simultaneously embedding themselves in family and kinship relations. Indeed, family, gender, and class, were the means of anchorage in a sea of remembering that engendered a sense of ontological security. Foodways are, thus, part of a habitus that is gendered, classed, temporal and historical. Women in the study conformed to cultural scripts of heteronormative femininity, whilst men resorted to hegemonic masculinities to distance themselves from feminised foodways and care work. These identities were not part of a negotiated family model, but located in cultural fields that reinforced and naturalised gendered divisions, they were bound by gender and class.

The issue of standards for household latrines is complex because discussions related to standards for latrines in literature from the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector tend to focus on the negative aspects of standards and highlights cases where the miss-application of standards in the past has caused problems. However, despite concerns about the constraints that standards can seemingly impose, there is an acknowledgement that standards can play a more positive role in supporting efforts to increase access to household latrines. The World Health Organisation has long established and widely recognised standards for water supply quality and quantity but there are no equivalent standards for sanitation services and there is currently no guidance that deals with the topic of standards for household latrines. Household latrines are a small component of the wider sanitation system in a country and by considering how standards for household latrines operate within this wider sanitation system the aim of this research is to understand what influences standards can have on household latrines and explore how the negative perceptions about standards and latrine building can be overcome. The development of guidance on how to develop well written standards is the core focus of this research. This research explores the factors that can influence the development and use of a standard for household latrines in Rwanda using three data collection methods. Document analysis using 66 documents, including policies and strategies, design manuals and training guides from 17 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa was used in conjunction with the Delphi Method involving an expert panel of 27 from Rwanda and 38 semi-structured interviews. The research concludes that perceptions about standards for household latrines are fragmented and confused with little consensus in Rwanda on what need a standard should meet and what role it should play. The study has found that the need for a standard must be considered in the context of the wider sanitation system otherwise it can lead to duplication of efforts and increased confusion for all stakeholders. The study also found that there is an assumed link between standards and enforcement of standards through regulation and punishments which creates the negative perceptions about standards in Rwanda. However, despite this aversion to standards, there are still intentions to promote the standardisation of latrine technologies and designs, led by national government in Rwanda and in other Sub-Saharan African countries. The contribution to knowledge of this research includes a decision process presented at the end of the study which can be used by decision makers who are interested in developing a standard for household latrines. The decision process acts as a tool for outlining how a standard can operate within the national sanitation system. This understanding provides decision makers with the basis for continuing the debate on what a well written standard looks like in the national context and supports the development of a standard that is fit for purpose and provides a positive contribution to the sector.