This dissertation investigated the relationship between news coverage of immigration and readers' reaction to such coverage. Quantitative content analysis was used to study the subject with a comparative approach across regions that constitute borderlands between first and second world countries: the state of Arizona in the United States of America and Italy in the European Union. Coders analyzed content of 800 stories published by four daily newspapers in 2013. Degree of antipathy or sympathy for immigrants was assessed from 1,470 online comments posted by readers of those stories. Hypotheses stemming from theories of national identity were tested to evaluate frames used to talk about immigration in the outlets considered and audiences' feedback while controlling for regional particularities. News coverage of immigration was generally unfavorable to immigrants in both Arizona and Italy. Readers commenting online on immigration did generally not empathize with immigrants. No statistically significant correlation was found between degree of antipathy or sympathy for immigrants expressed in online comments and stories' degree of unfavorableness or favorability to immigrants. The study also concluded that the Associated Press style change banning "illegal immigrant" from a journalist's vocabulary resulted in a sharp decrease of use of the phrase in the pair of Arizona dailies examined. Frames criminalizing immigrants appeared with comparable frequency across all four newspapers considered. Nationalistic and patriotic attitudes recorded in the studies carried out across multiple countries did not provide the sociological lens suited to explaining the tone of journalistic coverage of immigration addressed in this study and the public's reaction to such coverage. However, stories framed episodically provided more positive representations of immigrants than stories framed thematically, and readers' reaction seemed less antipathetic to immigrants. Previous comparative research of immigration coverage recommended that journalists write fewer human interest stories and more articles providing context and analysis of the issue. Representations of immigrants in the four dailies and attitudes emerging from online comments analyzed in this study, instead, suggest that journalists should focus on human interest stories to reframe immigration issues and reverse the often stereotypical nature of immigration coverage.

Thesis advisor: Zine Magubane / Using content analysis of the three largest United States Newsweeklies this thesis explores representations of young women's sexuality during the early 2000's. While popular culture during this period is focused on "Girls Gone Wild" causing widespread feminist concern over the "third wave's" definition of a feminist sexuality, no young women with sexual agency are presented in the magazines. Instead the women presented, who are overwhelmingly white, are either too pure to posses any information regarding sexual activities, engaged in sexual activities that they are coerced or forced into, or are celibate. The combination of these discourses expose a narrative of female empowerment through chastity that mirrors the Victorian-era ideals of white womanhood. Using post-colonial theory the thesis argues that this representation, combined with the erasure of all other alternatives is indicative of a identity crisis within the collective United Sates conscious. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Objetivo: avaliar a percepção da dor na fibromialgia por meio de técnica metodológica quantitativa e qualitativa. Métodos: 30 clientes foram avaliadas por meio de uma entrevista analisada através de análise de conteúdo temática e do Instrumento de Descritores de Dor, sendo que para os dados resultantes foram calculados a média aritmética e o desvio padrão para determinar quais descritores caracterizam melhor a dor na fibromialgia. Resultados e discussão: a análise de conteúdo resultou na construção de categorias de análise referentes às percepções de: diagnóstico, motivações, doença, sentimentos, pensamentos e repercussões na qualidade de vida. Já o Instrumento de Descritores de Dor revelou que os descritores de maior atribuição na caracterização da dor foram incômoda, que espalha, latejante, desconfortável e persistente e os de menor atribuição foram desgraçada, demoníaca, maldita, aterrorizante e assustadora. Os dois instrumentos mostraram tendência das clientes em perceber e relatar a dor, principalmente relacionada às características sensorialdiscriminativas. Além disso apresentaram dados relativos à importância do papel da família e do profissional de saúde no manejo da dor. Conclusão: percebeu-se a necessidade de estimular a percepção e a expressão das clientes com relação à dor, abarcando sua multidimensionalidade e que, o manejo da dor deve ser realizado levando-se em conta a tríade equipe de saúde - cliente - família, face à complexidade do fenômeno. / Objective: Evaluate the perception of pain in the fibromyalgia through the quantitative and qualitative methodological technique. Method: A total of 30 clients were assessed through an interview analyzed by the thematic content and through the instrument Descriptors of Pain. Arithmetic mean and standard error were used to determine which descriptors better characterize the pain in the fibromyalgia. Results and Discussion: The result of the content analysis was the construction of categories of analysis regarding the perceptions of: diagnosis, motivation, disease, feelings, thoughts and repercussions on the quality of life. The Descriptors of Pain instrument revealed the descriptors of higher attribution in the characterization of pain were inconvenient, spreading, pulsating, uncomfortable and persistent and the descriptors with the lower attribution were miserable, demoniac, cursed, terrifying and frightening. The two instruments showed the clients\' tendency in perceiving and reporting the pain regarding to the sensorialdiscriminating characteristics. In addition, data related to the importance of the family\'s and the health professional\'s roles in managing the pain were presented. Conclusion: The need to stimulate the perception and expression of clients regarding the pain in its multidimensionality was perceived. It is concluded that the management of pain must be performed considering the complexity of the phenomenon in terms of the triad health team - client - family.

This thesis investigates corporate social responsibility reporting in Mexico. It is built across three studies. First, we analysed the content and semantic properties of annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate websites of 73 Mexican and foreign companies operating in Mexico to describe the extent to which these companies disclose their corporate social responsibility. Second, with the data gathered in the first study, we built thirteen disclosure scores to explore whether corporate governance and corporate social responsibility reporting in annual reports can be seen as complementary mechanisms used by companies to enhance relations with stakeholders. Third, we conducted an in-depth case study of a Mexican company acquired by a multinational company; we analysed the sustainability reports and news items during the time prior to and after the purchase to investigate the changes in corporate social responsibility reporting as a result of the acquisition. Our study contributes to the scarce literature exploring corporate social responsibility reporting in Mexico and adds to the methodological research in the field by conducting a survey of corporate social responsibility reporting across industries and reporting media and by utilising a content analysis approach of considerable measurement detail. We provide empirical evidence to previous literature suggesting that foreign ownership may have a positive impact on themes of disclosure such as the environment, but have a negative impact on community. We also contribute to corporate social responsibility reporting research in the context of mergers and acquisitions, by providing empirical evidence which suggests that company responses in the form of corporate social responsibility disclosure to institutional pressures consider both stakeholders salience and business culture.

A década de 70 foi caracterizada por grande atividade de construtoras brasileiras no exterior, particularmente na África e no Oriente Médio. Nos anos 80, as organizações brasileiras destacaram-se pelo grande fluxo de investimentos realizados no exterior, e na década de 90, em conseqüência da abertura comercial que houve em nosso país, as empresas brasileiras foram buscar atualização tecnológica no exterior, para enfrentar competidores estrangeiros. Esse movimento de internacionalização caracterizou-se principalmente pelo deslocamento de empresas do setor industrial; a internacionalização das empresas de varejo é um fenômeno mais recente. Pesquisas sobre o processo de internacionalização da empresa varejista brasileira ainda não são muito numerosas no país, o que talvez se deva ao fato de que esse fenômeno ainda é relativamente recente no cenário brasileiro. Nesse contexto o estudo objetivou investigar a relação entre as teorias sobre internacionalização de empresas e o processo de expansão de empresas de varejo brasileiras para países estrangeiros e identificar o que leva uma empresa a se deslocar para outros países, para onde se desloca (por que escolhe determinados locais em detrimento de outros), quais são os modos de entrada selecionados e como as empresas se adaptam aos novos locais, sob os conceitos de internacionalização de empresas. O estudo utilizou dados secundários provenientes de teses, dissertações, artigos e Internet, além de dados primários coletados em entrevistas em profundidade com os principais gestores de dez empresas de varejo brasileiras. A metodologia de pesquisa empregada englobou a Análise de Conteúdo e a Análise de Correspondência. Um dos resultados do trabalho foi a proposta de uma Taxonomia de Encadeamento Teórico sobre a internacionalização de empresas. A análise dos dados mostrou que todas as estruturas teóricas registradas nesta tese foram identificadas no processo de internacionalização das empresas de varejo brasileiras pesquisadas. / The decade of 1970 was characterized by the intense activity of Brazilian construction companies abroad, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. In the eighties, Brazilian organizations stood out because of the large flow of investments they made abroad and in the nineties, as a result of the trade opening made in our country, Brazilian companies sought updated technology abroad to face foreign competitors. However, the movement of internationalization is primarily characterized by the displacement of industrial companies. The internationalization of retail businesses is a more recent phenomenon. Studies on the process of internationalization of Brazilian retail companies are not numerous yet in the country. This may be due to the fact that this is a still relatively recent phenomenon in the Brazilian scene. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the internationalization theories and the expansion process of Brazilian retail companies towards other countries. Additionally, by using the concepts of international business, this work sought to identify why companies go global, where they head, which entry modes they employ and how they adapt themselves to new locations. This work has utilized secondary data retrieved from theses, dissertations, articles and internet, besides primary data collected through in-depth interviews with executives from 10 Brazilian retail companies. Content Analysis and Correspondence Analysis techniques were employed. Findings a taxonomy for theoretical comprehension of the phenomenon under investigation. Data analysis showed that all theoretical frameworks employed in this work were present in the internationalization process of Brazilian retail companies.

This analysis aims to examinate, with a comparative method, how the religions of Judaism and Islam are portrayed within three Swedish textbooks from 1979, 1998 and 2015 for use in upper secondary school. The three curriculums for upper secondary school from 1970, 1994 and 2011, will be used as to determined how appropriate the contents are in the textbooks. The three textbooks have all been used at different times and places in the Swedish upper secondary school’s subject of Religionskunskap (Religious education). This paper has three research questions: (1) How does the textbooks depict Judaism and Islam, (2) how are the believers and practitioners displayed in the contents and (3) to what extent does the textbooks correlate to the curriculums. The analysis showed that there are great differences between each textbook and how detailed the depictions are about the religions. Some of the depictions were negative stereotypes which did not fit the guidelines within the responding curriculum. / <p>Uppsats av didaktisk karaktär i Religionshistoria C</p>

This dissertation explores what it means to “Act Upon” measure-based feedback in the group therapy context. Eleven group leaders at three college counseling centers were provided feedback completed by their group members using the Group Questionnaire (GQ) and the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45). Researchers selected two a priori ways in which the feedback could be “acted upon”: via GQ Use and GQ Value. Leaders reported their use and value of the feedback using two data sources—weekly leader slips and end-of-term debrief interview transcripts. Both sources of data were content analyzed across several phases of coding. The resultant categories are intended to provide a preliminary understanding of how leaders treat the feedback received. Dimensions were then added to consolidate the meaning of the categories into a temporal pattern. Finally, using the resultant data, a scheme for quantifying the “acted upon” construct is proposed in effort to develop a potential moderator or mediator variable for future quantitative analyses. Implications of the dissertation are then discussed.

Teachers use professional journals such as Science and Children for ideas to incorporate into their own teaching. As such the purpose of this study was to investigate the support offered for integrating engineering education into science instruction. The research methodology for this was a qualitative content analysis inferring categories based on the information presented. Twenty-three issues of the journal were read, spanning two and a half volume years. The categories that emerged were mentioning, implementing, and integrating. Deeper examples of integration were found to match the mapping and infusion strategies presented by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council (NAE & NRC, 2009) in Standards for K-12 Engineering Education. The need for consistency in publication of the topic and more explanation on the subject is needed for teachers.

The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), the largest size acceptance organization (Kwan 2009), recognizes and frames fat as an identity in need of protective policies. This framing is not without complication. Both the framing techniques utilized by this organization and the political context in which this organization exists are extremely complex. As a way to uncover this dynamic relationship, I analyze NAAFA's framing techniques (Snow and Benford 1988). Employing this social movement organization (SMO) as a case study (Snow and Trom 2002), I analyze the way this organization's framing and reframing (Benford and Hunt 2003) shifts across time in the face of opposition. In particular, the First Lady's initiative, Let's Move!, is in direct contradiction of NAAFA's goals. While numerous themes, techniques and processes can be observed through the framing and reframing tools implemented by NAAFA over the years, I explore the three most pronounced primary framing tasks in relation to Let's Move!. These three themes include: (1) the dieting myth; (2) discriminatory policy; and (3) children as collateral damage. NAAFA reframes their message directly against the Let's Move! campaign, which makes their framing clearer and more relevant to public discussion. This research helps social movement scholars understand the importance of context in framing and reframing techniques.

ABSTRACT For several years, college-level remediation in English and mathematics has been of great concern for California community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. The cost of remediation has skyrocketed into the billions of dollars for postsecondary institutions. Placement tests are required for most students before they are permitted to enroll in any college courses. These placement tests determine in what English and/or math class students will begin their college experience. At issue is that many students who successfully complete high English in the 11th & 12 grades (earn an A or B) are placing into a remedial English class. In 2012, the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) reported that over 70 percent of new college students were required to take a remedial English and/or math class. The same is occurring in the California State University (CSU) system. In 2012, 18,690 (33%) CSU first-time freshmen system-wide needed remediation in English. Because of the high rate of remediation among California students in postsecondary institutions, questions have been raised concerning the disconnect between high school English and math and college-level English and math. A mixed-method study will address grades and other variables as predictors of English placement into a community college English course and common language between Common Core State Standards and college-level English course content.