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abstract: This qualitative research study explores the experiences of two foreign-born Asian students in a U.S. higher education institution. The data collected includes written responses to interview questions as well as guided questions from the participants, personal vignettes and reflections written by the participants along with data from informal interviews with each participant. Data was analyzed to address issues related to Asian identity, Discourse and cultural capital. The research approach used in this study was narrative analysis. Data collected through interview and guided questions were analyzed to determine themes participant vignettes and reflections were based on. The main purpose in using narrative analysis is to capture lived experiences of participants through their lenses, from their perspectives, and in their own words and voices. The analysis of data surfaced themes related to identity and discourse as well as cultural models. From these themes emerged issues related to identity struggles, disparity in discourse as well as negative self-perception. The main conclusion drawn from this research is the lack of clarity present for foreign-born Asian students to navigate their way through U.S higher education expectations and Discourses. The research uncovers the lack of support at the institutional level and proposes more collaboration between institutions, faculty and students in order to establish a more supportive learning environment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

abstract: This longitudinal exploratory research study examines a Russian language online community of creative writers who refer to themselves as Real Padonki. Grounded theory was used as the method of data collection and analysis. Based on analysis of the texts published on udaff.com and interactions between the members of this community several conclusions were made. It is proposed that udaff.com should be viewed as an online resource for writers who have created a new form of literature: post-Soviet Russian literature. This new of form literature is characterized by several features that distinguish it from previous forms. This new form of literature is based on the cultural model of a Real Padonak - a new kind of person that embodies both the writer and the hero (a new archetype) created by this writer. In the same way as dissident writers made criminal argot a part of Russian literature, the writers of udaff.com rely on the use of Albanskij, a linguistic innovation, a variation of the Russian language that they have created. Finally, this new literature uses the Internet as its main medium of publication. As a new archetype, Real Padonak represents a continuum of characters (real life people as well as invented literary characters) created by udaff.com writers. From the perspective of Discourse analysis, the cultural model of Real Padonak is shown as multiglossia of Discourses that represent beliefs, attitudes, values, and practices that exist in contemporary Russian society. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2015

There have been fewer studies performed to understand real-world software-testing practice than for other areas of software engineering, such as software requirements, design and development. In particular, surprisingly little is known about global software-testing practices---the practice of outsourcing testing activities to a company offshore---which is currently a large industry and is continuing to grow rapidly. Hence, it is important to study this practice. Moreover, research and anecdotal records provide evidence suggesting that cultural factors greatly impact aspects of the global software-engineering practice (e.g., quality and productivity). The evidence indicates that culture appears to have a greater influence on global software-engineering practice than originally envisioned. Thus, it is important to understand culture's influence particularly on the global-software testing practice. Most of the global software practice studies have used the cultural-dimensions (e.g., Hofstede's dimensions) approach to understand culture’s influence on this practice. However, such dimensional perspectives of culture significantly limit the meaning of culture. Hence, it is important to study culture's influence on global software-testing practice by adopting a non-dimensional perspective of culture so that hidden cultural facets can be identified and uncovered. In this dissertation research, I conducted three ethnographically-informed studies at different Indian vendor organizations, who provided software-testing services to their respective clients in a global setting, to better understand what and how cultural factors influence the global software-testing practice. I used the “culture as models” perspective, adapted from the cultural anthropologist Bradd Shore, to analyze the data from these studies. The dissertation provides a detailed description of the study design, the data analysis, and the insights that emerged from the study. The study provided insights into four embedded cultural models that have emerged from this practice---Agreement, Trust, Flexibility, and Global Software Delivery Cultural Models -- which are described and discussed in detail. This dissertation makes the following contributions. First, it describes a framework that facilitates conducting culture-based studies in the global software- engineering domain. Second, it exposes significant cultural models that are embodied in the specific global software-testing practices investigated to better understand the affordances and clashes of cultural facets of such practices more widely. Third, it presents a ``thick description'' of the role and interplay of these cultural facets in the global software-testing practices investigated. Finally, based on the study insights, the dissertation provides implications for practice and future research.

A influência da cultura na adaptação individual tem sido uma questão de considerável importância na psicologia, antropologia e em outras ciências sociais; no entanto, dificuldades teóricas e metodológicas têm limitado a possibilidade de investigar diretamente esses processos. A investigação de modelos da vida familiar faz-se importante devido ao papel estrutural da família na sociedade brasileira e sua relação com a saúde mental e desenvolvimento dos indivíduos. Na antropologia cognitiva, modelos culturais servem como uma função diretiva para o comportamento, construindo processos de significação para os indivíduos. O conceito de consenso cultural refere-se ao modo em que os modelos culturais são compartilhados e valorados pelos indivíduos. Enquanto que o conceito de consonância cultural foi proposto para descrever o grau com que o indivíduo, em seu próprio comportamento ou percepção, se aproxima do modelo cultural compartilhado. O presente estudo propôs-se a identificar a presença de modelos culturais na vida familiar, a existência de um consenso cultural acerca desses modelos e analisar a consonância cultural da população urbana estudada em Ribeirão Preto. Este trabalho integrou o Projeto “Cultura e Adaptação Individual" (CADI) e analisou parte dos dados relacionados à vida familiar. Participaram desta pesquisa 295 habitantes de Ribeirão Preto, com idades entre 18 a 67 anos. No método foram empregados técnicas cognitivas (lista livre, agrupamento livre e entrevista de consenso cultural), grupo focal e a Escala de Consonância Cultural da Vida Familiar desenvolvida pela equipe do projeto CADI. Os dados foram analisados utilizando modelos estatísticos apropriados e a análise temática de conteúdo. Nos resultados verificou-se que há um único modelo de vida familiar sendo compartilhado, há um bom compartilhamento desse modelo e uma valorização de elementos afetivos em detrimento de uma dimensão relacionada à estrutura familiar. O modelo cultural da vida familiar foi composto por elementos positivos e negativos aos vínculos familiares. Os elementos positivos puderam ser relacionados à estrutura familiar e ao funcionamento afetivo e qualidade das relações familiares. Os elementos negativos puderam ser distribuídos em um “continuum de poder prejudicial aos vínculos familiares e aos indivíduos". Sendo que “vício", “violência" e “irresponsabilidade" foram os elementos relacionados como potencialmente mais destrutivos aos vínculos familiares e às funções protetivas que a família poderia desempenhar. A configuração familiar vem sendo afetada por transformações sociais, relacionadas principalmente à evolução tecnológica, ao desejo por um novo estilo estilo de vida e a entrada da mulher no mercado de trabalho. A consonância cultural da vida familiar não apresentou diferenças significativas entre os quatro bairros estudados o que demonstra que os sujeitos se percebem vivendo a vida familiar independentemente das diferenças sócio-econômicas. O método empregado mostrouse adequado para a investigação dos objetivos do projeto. Espera-se que este trabalho possa contribuir para um melhor entendimento da família no Brasil e assim auxiliar na adequação e efinição de políticas públicas em nossa sociedade. / The influence of culture on individual adaptation has been a question of considerable importance in Psycology, in Anthropology and other social sciences; however, theoretical and methodological difficulties have limited the ability of researchers to directly investigate these processes. The investigation of familiar life models is important due to the structural role of a family in the Brazilian society and its relation with mental health and the development of individuals. In cognitive Anthropology, cultural models construct meaning for individuals and serve as a directive function for individual behavior. The term cultural consensus has been defined as the way cultural models are shared and rated by individuals. Whereas the concept of cultural consonance has been proposed to describe the degree to which an individual, in their own behavior or belief, approximate shared cultural model in some domain. The present work has been proposed to identify the presence of cultural models in familiar life, the existence of a cultural consensus related to these models and analyze the cultural consonance of the urban population studied in Ribeirão Preto. This work integrated the project “Culture and Individual Adaptation" (CADI- in Portuguese) and analyzed part of the data related to familiar life. Two hundred and ninety-five inhabitants from Ribeirão Preto, between 18 and 67 years old, participated in this research. In the methodology, cognitive techniques were used (free list, pile sort and cultural consensus interview), focal group and the Cultural Consonance Scale of Familiar Life developed by the team of the CADI project. The data was analized using appropriate statistical models and the thematic analysis of contents. In the results, it was observed that there is a single model of familiar life being shared, there is a good division of this model and a valorization of affective elements instead of a dimension related to familiar structure. The cultural model of the familiar life was composed by positive and negative elements in terms of family bonds. The positive elements could be related to familiar structure and the affective functioning and the quality of family relations. The negative elements could be divided into a “continuum of power which is harmful to family bonds and individuals", while “addiction", “violence" and “irresponsibility" were the elements reported as potentially more harmful to family bonds and the protective functions that a family could perform. The familiar configuration has been affected by social changes, due mainly to technological evolution, the desire of a new life style and the growing role of women in the working market. The cultural consonance of familiar life has not shown significant differences among the four neighborhoods studied, a fact that shows that individuals are aware of familiar life no matter the social and economical differences. The methodology applied has proved to be appropriate for the investigation of the goals of the project. This work is expected to contribute to a better understanding of families in Brazil and then, help to fit and define the public politics in our society.

Darbo tikslas yra aptarti egzistuojančias romantinės meilės teorijas ir tyrimus bei ištirti jaunų žmonių kultūrinius romantinės meilės modelių vaizdinius Lietuvos kontekste. Siekiant šio tikslo, sprendžiami šie uždaviniai: (1) aptariamos romantinės meilės universalumą postuluojančios teorijos; (2) nagrinėjamos romantinės meilės istoriškumą ir kultūriškumą teigiančios teorijos; (3) aptariamos sociologines romantinę meilę naginėjančias teorijas ir pateikiamas jų empirinis pagrįstumas; (4) aptariamos kultūrinių romantinės meilės modelių teorines prielaidos; (5) derinant skirtingus metodus, aptariama, kokie kultūriniai romantinės meilės vaizdiniai vyrauja tarp jaunų žmonių Lietuvos kontekste. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros ir antrinių duomenų analizė, kiekybinio bei kokybinio tyrimo duomenų analizė. Darbe analizuojamos romantinės meilės teorijos, siekiant išnarplioti romantinės meilės termino daugiareikšmiškumą. Evoliucinė perspektyva romantinę meilę įpina į platesnį poravimosi ir palikuonių auginimo strategijos mechanizmą. Feministinė teorija romantinę meilę laiko represyviu diskursu įkalinančiu moteris tradiciniuose lyčių vaidmenyse. . Darbe romantinę meilę tirsiu kaip kultūrinį modelį, remiantis prof. Victoro de Muncko teorinėmis prielaidomis apie kultūrinį modelį. Sociologinė tarpasmeninių santykių teorinė analizė fiksuojanti intymumo kaitos procesą, darbe tarnauja kaip kontekstas, kuriame kultūriniai romantinės meilės modeliai veiksmų strategijoms suteikia naujas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of the study is to discuss the existing theories and researches on the issues of romantic love and to explore the images of cultural models of romantic love among young people in Lithuanian context. In order to achieve this goal, the study aimed to: (1) discuss theories, which postulate the universality of romantic love; (2) analyze theories, which maintain historical and cultural value of romantic love; (3) discuss and give empirical ground to the theories, which examine sociological aspects of romantic love; (4) discuss the premises of the cultural patterns of romantic love; (5) combining different methods, to discuss what cultural images of romantic love dominate among young people in Lithuanian context. Research methods: the analysis of the academic literature and secondary data, the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative research data. The study analyses the existing theories of romantic love, in order to understand the polysemy of this concept. From an evolutionary perspective romantic love is part of more global mating and caretaking strategies. Feminism considers romantic love to be a repressive discourse, which imprisons women in traditional gender roles. In this study romantic love will be analyzed as a cultural model, according to the theory of cultural model offered by Prof. Victor de Munck. Theoretical analysis of social interpersonal relationships, exploring intimacy tendencies, serves as a context in which cultural models of romantic love... [to full text]

A influência da cultura na adaptação individual tem sido uma questão de considerável importância na psicologia, antropologia e em outras ciências sociais; no entanto, dificuldades teóricas e metodológicas têm limitado a possibilidade de investigar diretamente esses processos. A investigação de modelos da vida familiar faz-se importante devido ao papel estrutural da família na sociedade brasileira e sua relação com a saúde mental e desenvolvimento dos indivíduos. Na antropologia cognitiva, modelos culturais servem como uma função diretiva para o comportamento, construindo processos de significação para os indivíduos. O conceito de consenso cultural refere-se ao modo em que os modelos culturais são compartilhados e valorados pelos indivíduos. Enquanto que o conceito de consonância cultural foi proposto para descrever o grau com que o indivíduo, em seu próprio comportamento ou percepção, se aproxima do modelo cultural compartilhado. O presente estudo propôs-se a identificar a presença de modelos culturais na vida familiar, a existência de um consenso cultural acerca desses modelos e analisar a consonância cultural da população urbana estudada em Ribeirão Preto. Este trabalho integrou o Projeto “Cultura e Adaptação Individual” (CADI) e analisou parte dos dados relacionados à vida familiar. Participaram desta pesquisa 295 habitantes de Ribeirão Preto, com idades entre 18 a 67 anos. No método foram empregados técnicas cognitivas (lista livre, agrupamento livre e entrevista de consenso cultural), grupo focal e a Escala de Consonância Cultural da Vida Familiar desenvolvida pela equipe do projeto CADI. Os dados foram analisados utilizando modelos estatísticos apropriados e a análise temática de conteúdo. Nos resultados verificou-se que há um único modelo de vida familiar sendo compartilhado, há um bom compartilhamento desse modelo e uma valorização de elementos afetivos em detrimento de uma dimensão relacionada à estrutura familiar. O modelo cultural da vida familiar foi composto por elementos positivos e negativos aos vínculos familiares. Os elementos positivos puderam ser relacionados à estrutura familiar e ao funcionamento afetivo e qualidade das relações familiares. Os elementos negativos puderam ser distribuídos em um “continuum de poder prejudicial aos vínculos familiares e aos indivíduos”. Sendo que “vício”, “violência” e “irresponsabilidade” foram os elementos relacionados como potencialmente mais destrutivos aos vínculos familiares e às funções protetivas que a família poderia desempenhar. A configuração familiar vem sendo afetada por transformações sociais, relacionadas principalmente à evolução tecnológica, ao desejo por um novo estilo estilo de vida e a entrada da mulher no mercado de trabalho. A consonância cultural da vida familiar não apresentou diferenças significativas entre os quatro bairros estudados o que demonstra que os sujeitos se percebem vivendo a vida familiar independentemente das diferenças sócio-econômicas. O método empregado mostrouse adequado para a investigação dos objetivos do projeto. Espera-se que este trabalho possa contribuir para um melhor entendimento da família no Brasil e assim auxiliar na adequação e efinição de políticas públicas em nossa sociedade. / The influence of culture on individual adaptation has been a question of considerable importance in Psycology, in Anthropology and other social sciences; however, theoretical and methodological difficulties have limited the ability of researchers to directly investigate these processes. The investigation of familiar life models is important due to the structural role of a family in the Brazilian society and its relation with mental health and the development of individuals. In cognitive Anthropology, cultural models construct meaning for individuals and serve as a directive function for individual behavior. The term cultural consensus has been defined as the way cultural models are shared and rated by individuals. Whereas the concept of cultural consonance has been proposed to describe the degree to which an individual, in their own behavior or belief, approximate shared cultural model in some domain. The present work has been proposed to identify the presence of cultural models in familiar life, the existence of a cultural consensus related to these models and analyze the cultural consonance of the urban population studied in Ribeirão Preto. This work integrated the project “Culture and Individual Adaptation” (CADI- in Portuguese) and analyzed part of the data related to familiar life. Two hundred and ninety-five inhabitants from Ribeirão Preto, between 18 and 67 years old, participated in this research. In the methodology, cognitive techniques were used (free list, pile sort and cultural consensus interview), focal group and the Cultural Consonance Scale of Familiar Life developed by the team of the CADI project. The data was analized using appropriate statistical models and the thematic analysis of contents. In the results, it was observed that there is a single model of familiar life being shared, there is a good division of this model and a valorization of affective elements instead of a dimension related to familiar structure. The cultural model of the familiar life was composed by positive and negative elements in terms of family bonds. The positive elements could be related to familiar structure and the affective functioning and the quality of family relations. The negative elements could be divided into a “continuum of power which is harmful to family bonds and individuals”, while “addiction”, “violence” and “irresponsibility” were the elements reported as potentially more harmful to family bonds and the protective functions that a family could perform. The familiar configuration has been affected by social changes, due mainly to technological evolution, the desire of a new life style and the growing role of women in the working market. The cultural consonance of familiar life has not shown significant differences among the four neighborhoods studied, a fact that shows that individuals are aware of familiar life no matter the social and economical differences. The methodology applied has proved to be appropriate for the investigation of the goals of the project. This work is expected to contribute to a better understanding of families in Brazil and then, help to fit and define the public politics in our society.

Cultural practices influence infant feeding choices and have a significant impact on children’s physiological growth and cognitive development. This study examined cultural knowledge of infant feeding among woman in rural and urban Bangladesh. The findings of this research indicated that there was sufficient agreement among the respondents to constitute a single shared cultural model of infant feeding among participants in Bangladesh. Results also indicated intracultural variation within this model in terms of duration of exclusive breastfeeding, age at introduction of water, and weaning practices. Better understanding infant feeding can inform future programs aimed at improving early nutrition, growth, and development by providing information about actual practices and their cultural importance.

Cette étude a permis d’analyser un aspect de la condition féminine en Gaule, en partant du présupposé qu'il y ait eu des réalités différentes, unifiées par l’appartenance à une «couche sociale» complexe, divisée à l'intérieur, mais réglé par des lois universellement admises. Non seulement les femmes, mais les hommes également ont cherchés une intégration avec la culture romaine, condition nécessaire pour maintenir leurs privilèges et pour en acquérir de nouveaux. Cette recherche a identifié, dans la mesure du possible, le rôle joué par les femmes dans chaque couche sociale, en se référant plus particulièrement à leur perception du monde romain. Les femmes qui ont habité dans la Gaule, étaient étrangers aux mores romains, et ont été considérées par les romains comme l'antithèse du modèle romain de la pia et pudica matrona. Dans les représentations de elles mêmes, les femmes barbares se représentaient comme des romaines, en suivant les stéréotypes qui on retrouve dans tout l’Empire. Nous avons donc vérifier de quelle manière les provinciales se sont adaptées au modèle romain de la lanifica, c’est à dire la summa des stéréotypes qui voyait la femme comme un annexe du mari, et comme, au contraire, elles en ont refusé quelques aspects, mais aussi de quelle manière un tel modèle culturel a pu s'introduire dans une province, par quelles voies, pour quelles raisons historiques et culturelles, et comme il ait été accepté ou refusé par quelques régions de la Gaule. Notre tentative a donc été celui de tracer le rôle joué par les femmes dans une région qui faisait partie de l'Empire, et que elle en était pour ceci influencée, mais que elle a présenté également des particularités régionales non négligeables. / This research has tried to analyse an aspect of the female condition in Gauls, based on the assumption that there were different realities, unified anyway by a complex class system that was itself divided and settled by laws universally accepted. Not only the women but also the men looked for integration with the Roman culture, the necessary condition for the provincials to maintain their privileges and to acquire new ones. This study identified the role played by the women in every sector of the society, with a particular attention to their perception of the Roman world they were living in. These women were obviously unfamiliar to the Roman mores and were considered by the Roman themselves as the antithesis of the model of pia et pudica matrona. In their own representations, the barbaric women appeared as Romains, following the stereotypes common in all the Empire. This research has also tried to verify how the provincials adapted themselves to the Roman model of the lanifica, the summa of the stereotypes, or, on the contrary, they refused some aspects of it; but also analysed how such a cultural model got into a province, the ways used to diffuse it, the historical and cultural reasons, and how it was accepted or refused by some regions of the Gauls.This work is an attempt to draw the role played by the women in a province that was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire, and was influenced by it, but also had significant regional peculiarities.

The paper addresses localization of web applications with extra focus on its principles. The goal of the paper was to design a localization methodology that might be used by startups as a handbook during development of their service that aims at customers abroad. The first partial goal was design of a questionnaire used to find out important aspects of localization from user's perspective. The second partial goal was to provide recommendations for Webgarden regarding enhancing cultural customization. The third partial goal was comparison of localization among Webgarden's competitors that represents a platform for generating websites. The main goal as well as all partial goals have been achieved. The phases of internationalization and localization were discussed in detail, therefore readers can get a good command of what needs to be done. The paper nonetheless doesn't go into much detail in technical matters. The Hofstede's cultural model has been introduced and has been used with cultural customization for different cultures. I used the methodology as well as the research results to suggest recommendations for the improvement of Webgarden's localization. It's been evaluated positive by native speakers and as such the methodology has been validated. My contribution was the design of the methodology and to provide Czech-based startups that are considering expanding to foreign markets with important information and guidance; another contribution were new recommendation for Webgarden.