This research explores how computers may be used by individual researchers engaged in cognitive activity and creating original outputs, specifically, how one of the emerging information technologies, hypertext, is able to provide suggestions for the understanding to support and empower human cognitive activity.The study investigates the possibility of a new model within which to approach that part of research that seeks to make connections to what has been done previously, and to stimulate new thoughts.Imagine swimming in a vast sea of potentially useful information. How can one possibly begin to make sense of it? Engage in a phenomenological experience in which the data is permitted to speak to you. Immerse yourself, navigate around with the ability to backtrack, search, explore trails of associative thought, all with a prepared mind. The mind is prepared, or sensitised, due to the previous research and learning ? the culture to which one belongs. The process will gradually cause an uncluttering of the sea of information resulting eventually in what in this thesis is termed Generative Conceptualisation. The tools and techniques used to do this (for it is impossible to work unaided with large amounts of data) will have provided the empowerment to generate and create. The tyranny of linear order has been replaced by the dynamically varying structure of selected, sometimes hierarchical and othertimes herterarchic or network views of the data, forming or exposing (primarily through juxtaposition) insights, new ideas, and new knowledge. These are some characteristics of working in a hypertext paradigm.Generative Conceptualisation is introduced to describe the intermingling of human mind and computer hypertext, which, it is argued, results in a greater degree of original output by researchers. A hypertext paradigm, the definition of which emerges in the thesis, is ++ / suggested as being an environment for Generative Conceptualisation. A theory (substantive) of knowledge creation is offered in the concluding chapter, in the light of which existing formal theories of knowledge creation may be reviewed or elaborated.

In Western society competing in physically demanding sport is not considered the domain of older people. For the majority of the twentieth century older people were stereotyped as frail, socially withdrawn and dependent on health and social welfare systems. Competitive athletes on the other hand are commonly viewed as being young, strong, aggressive, physically competent and independent. Although today’s older generation are encouraged to be physically active, society does not recognise serious competition or physically intense sports as age-appropriate activities for them. If older people choose to participate in sport they are expected to be doing it to have fun, make friends and keep fit. The growing leisure phenomenon of older athletes who compete to win, achieve a personal best, break world records or push their bodies to the limit presents a challenge to these orthodoxies. The purpose of this thesis is to explain why competing in physically demanding sport is significant to some older people given the accepted view that it is not their domain. In particular, the thesis explores the multiple ways in which a group of older people negotiate conflicting discourses of both sport and ageing, as well as the contradiction between their identity as an athlete and their ageing bodies, as they talk about and experience competing in physically strenuous individual and team sports. The key themes through which this negotiation process is played out relate to friendship and fun, competition, youthfulness, and the ageing body. It is revealed that the process of competing in sport can be simultaneously empowering and problematic at both the individual and social levels. The thesis draws on insights from post-structural theories of resistance and empowerment, traditional and postmodern understandings of identity management in later life, and life-stage theories to interpret the phenomenon of older people competing in physically demanding sport. To achieve the above aims, a qualitative study exploring the experiences of a group of Masters athletes aged over 55 years who regularly compete in physically strenuous individual or team sports was undertaken. It was found that despite age-appropriate norms, competition is significant to many of the participants. Study participants embrace the ideologies and practices of competitive sport and use them to define ageing in terms of youthfulness, physical ability and personal empowerment. Simultaneously however, a denial of, or desperate resistance to, the physical ageing process accompanies this feeling of empowerment. The participants in this study were not only competing in sport, but also ‘competing for life����. It is argued that a multi-faceted and conflicting interplay of resistance and conformity, empowerment and denial, identity and the ageing body is embedded in the phenomenon of older people competing in physically demanding sport. These contradictory findings expose alternative ways of understanding sport, competition, ageing and older people in the West and raise many questions requiring further investigation. The study also points to potential applications of these findings to policy-making and provision of leisure services for older people. / PhD Doctorate

Learning is enabled in an environment that promotes connectedness. This belief led me to an exploration of connectedness and the discovery that connectedness has more than one connotation in the literature. For some it means making connections within curriculum areas, which is closely associated with the understanding that connectedness means teaching and learning within a community of learners. Another body of literature understands connectedness as a person’s sense of belonging within the family, school and wider community. Embedded in all these understandings of the term is either implicit or explicit reference to empowerment.An exploration of learning necessarily involves an exploration of students and teachers perceptions of effective learning. The exploration of learning focuses on: teacher and students understanding of learning, student expectations and achievements within the classroom, the opportunities for participation and contribution. The various understandings of connectedness, empowerment and learning are linked in the exploration of the following themes within the classroom: Building caring relationships, Setting high and achievable expectations and Providing opportunities for participation and contribution (Bernard, 1991; 1997; MindMatters, 2000). The context is the middle years of schooling as the last 10 years has produced research that delivers findings asking teachers in the middle years to negotiate a curriculum that is based on people. Effective teaching and learning is essential if students are to achieve their potential, should be cooperative and be fostered within a reflective community atmosphere. Relationships are to the fore in all concepts of effective middle schooling and this case study explores relationship as they exist at Garden College in year seven. It is these relationships that promote a sense of belonging to and empowerment within the learning community, thus enabling learning. If schools are to “expedite the development of effective middle schooling” (Schools Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, 1993, p. 65), by addressing the issues highlighted above, I believe the concepts of connectedness, empowerment and learning must be fully explored by the community of learners in each school.

The study explores the motivations and experiences of young single women migrating to work in the garment and footwear industries in Vietnam and the impact of migration on their lives and future prospects. The key issues investigated were the impact on the young women's working lives, their material and emotional well-being, agency and empowerment and personal life trajectories. Based on a questionnaire survey and interviews with young women factory workers in Hanoi, the research found that young women are motivated by the desire for a stable income and the lack of alternative employment options in rural areas, which are constrained by gendered patterns of vocational training and labour market opportunities. Migration into factory work brings young women increased incomes and opportunities for empowerment through a broadening of their horizons. As a result of migration young women gain confidence and increased capacity to achieve their personal life goals, and as such, are empowered by the experience. Their marriage opportunities, however, are limited by factory employment and this places young women at odds with the expectations of their families and rural tradition. How women negotiate this divergence from traditional work and marriage expectations in Vietnam has mixed implications for young women's well-being and empowerment, and calls for a reconsideration of the nature of women's empowerment as represented in gender and development discourse.

<p>Denna uppsats görs en utvärdering av Agerus PrestationsIndex, ett verktyg för att mäta prestation i organisationer utifrån empowerment. PrestationsIndex är ett självskattningstest och bygger på en modell för empowerment med fem psykologiska rekvisit för självgående. Testet prövas psykometriskt för reliabilitet och validitet. Därutöver testas två hypoteser, dels om PrestationsIndex kan predicera prestation och dels om ojämnhet mellan de psykologiska rekvisiten kan påverka prestationen negativt. Resultaten visar starkt stöd för den första teorin när det gäller att predicera individuell prestation, men kan inte belägga PrestationsIndex som en prediktor för gruppresstation, när man har rensat för miljöfaktorer såsom trivsel och lust till arbetet. Den andra hypotesen får inget stöd i uppsatsen. Utöver de testade hypoteserna fann författaren intressanta relationer mellan stöd i arbetsgruppen, lojalitet med arbetsgivaren och den individuella prestationen.</p>

<p>Studiens syfte var att ta reda på om elever med invandrarbakgrund får samma förutsättningar att klara sina studier och om lärarna tar hänsyn till elevernas olika bakgrund vid planering och utformning av lektionernas innehåll. Studien ska ge svar på om alla elever får en likvärdig chans till att klara kursmålen och om lärarna inkluderar och strävar efter att motivera elever som inte faller inom ramen för lärarens egen bakgrund och omvärldsperspektiv.</p><p>     Genom en kvalitativ och en kvantitativ studie i form av intervjuer med lärare och analys av undervisningsmaterial har jag försökt att ta reda på hur verksamheten utformas för att inkludera och stärka alla elever samt motivera och uppmuntra till vidarestudier. Hur och om man involverar elevernas erfarenheter, intresse och bakgrund för att motivera, engagera och inkludera eleverna i undervisningen.</p><p>     Resultatet av min studie visade på att lärarna inte tar hänsyn till elevernas olika bakgrunder när de selekterar stoffurvalet och när de planerar innehållet av lektionerna. Studien visade att lärarna inte är medvetna om att ett sådant behov kan finnas.</p>

<p>Medarbetarskap har fått mer betydelse i det svenska arbetslivet under de senaste decennierna. Många organisationer strävar efter att förbättra samarbetet inom och över avdelningsgränserna samt chefens och medarbetarens relation. Arbetstagaren har till stor del övergått till att ta en mer aktiv roll i arbetet. Enkätundersökningen (<em>N</em> = 139) genomfördes i en statlig myndighet där medarbetarskap undersöktes utifrån F. Hällstén och S. Tengblads (2006) modell. Medarbetarskap kopplades till arbetsmotivation och lojalitet mot organisationen även intressanta likheter och skillnader undersöktes. Resultatet visar hur det rådande medarbetarskapet ser ut och kan utvecklas. Ett positivt samband uppvisades mellan medarbetarskap och arbetsmotivation samt lojalitet mot organisationen. Studien fann att upplevelsen av medarbetarskap är högst individuellt. Tidigare forskning har utgått ifrån ledningens och chefens perspektiv medan vår studie som kontrast utgick ifrån medarbetarens perspektiv. Detta uppmanar framtida forskning att undersöka båda perspektiven i en studie för att få en sammanfattande helhetsbild av fenomenet medarbetarskap.</p>

<p>Denna uppsats handlar om arbetshandikappkodning som är det system arbetsförmedlingen använder sig av för att möjliggöra vissa arbetsmarknadspolitiska åtgärder för personer med nedsatt arbetsförmåga. Uppsatsens syfte var att synliggöra hur denna kodning inverkat på individens liv på väg till arbete, men också hur kodningen har påverkat övriga livet, positivt eller negativt. För att få svar på våra frågor genomförde vi fem temabaserade intervjuer. Respondenterna var alla män mellan 30 och 50 år och alla hade en eller fler koder. Som underlag för analysarbetet använde vi oss av Erving Goffmans stigmateori. Studien visade att arbetshandikappkodningen har inverkat på individens väg till arbete på så sätt att det har lett till ett arbete anpassat efter personernas förmåga. Kodningen upplevdes dock som ett hinder att göra sig gällande på den öppna arbetsmarknaden. När det gäller den andra frågeställningen kunde vi märka en viss påverkan på det övriga livet. Däremot kunde vi inte se om denna inverkan berodde på kodningen i sig eller det bakomliggande funktionshindret </p>

<p>Equality is a central aspect within development work. All development work is expected to be influenced by a gender equalty thinking, and these directions are distributed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, through Sida to Forum Syd and down to the very grasroot level, through Forum Syds local cooperation organisations.</p><p> The essays question of research is a reflection over empowerment, with other words how international organisations influence other societies understanding of the society dynamics. This aspect triggered my interest for the subject, aswell as the link between aid, equality and men, and how these factors are in need of eachother.</p><p> My study is mainly build on theoretical starting points, and not on earlier studies. The theories are split into five blocks, that are aligned along a makro/mikro scale, in order to, in the best way posssible, capture the connections between the globality of aid and its local consequences. Though the main purpose of my study is to find out how Forum Syds local cooperation organisations work towards gender equality with men, the problem is far from local.</p><p> The obvious message in my study is that globality influences locality, and because of that it is important to be aware of the complexity that stands behind development work. Development trends can never be understood without taking the global capitalist market and the western hegemony under consideration. The historical and the cultural influences, that effects and shapes our world and way of thinking, must aswell be included in the translations. </p><p> Despite all difficulties I do believe that the work of the organisations is a winning concept, because they adapt the development work to local needs, and have an understanding for cultural, historical and religious factors. Their approach eliminates the risk for their work becoming abstract and unsuccessful.</p>

<p>Studier visar att hälso- och sjukvårdens personal har olika</p><p>uppfattningar om innebörden av hälsopromotion. Hälsopromotion</p><p>inkluderar ett helhetstänkande som utgår från en salutogen</p><p>inriktning, där individen ses som en helhet. Människan ses utifrån</p><p>flera hälsodimensioner där fysiska och biologiska aspekter ingår.</p><p>Sjuksköterskan ska tillgodose patientens psykiska, fysiska, andliga,</p><p>sociala och kulturella anspråk och vid behov identifiera hälsorisker</p><p>och motivera till förändrade levnadsvanor. Syftet med</p><p>litteraturstudien var att belysa sjuksköterskors uppfattningar om</p><p>hälsopromotion i omvårdnad. En systematisk granskning av 13</p><p>vetenskapliga artiklar genomfördes. Resultatet visade att</p><p>sjuksköterskornas grundsyn hade en avgörande inverkan för hur</p><p>hälsopromotion uppfattades. Sjuksköterskorna ansågs ha en viktig</p><p>och ansvarsfull roll i det hälsopromotiva arbetet, men</p><p>organisationens miljö och kultur var en viktig påverkande aktör i</p><p>utförandet av hälsopromotion. Slutsatsen är att det krävs en</p><p>förmåga till balans mellan salutogen och patogen syn för att kunna</p><p>bedriva effektiv hälsopromotion. Sjuksköterskorna behöver</p><p>identifiera sin egen grundsyn för att kunna se för- och nackdelar i</p><p>sitt förhållningssätt gentemot patienten vid hälsopromotion.</p>