This mini-dissertation presents a discussion of the qualitative study exploring how South African youth, between the ages of 18 and 35, who are active listeners of Heavy Metal music experience this genre of music. The sample in the present study consists of 26 South African youths, living in various parts of the country, who listen to Heavy Metal music. Participants were recruited from attendees of the Heavy Metal music festival, Witchfest, which took place in Newtown, Johannesburg during 3-5 April 2015. An explorative qualitative research design was used. Three methods were used to gather data for the research study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants, and one focus group session was also carried out. Participants were approached at random times throughout Witchfest. Interview questions for both the semi-structured interviews and for the focus group session consisted of themes relating to the participants’ introduction to Heavy Metal music, how they experience Heavy Metal music, whether or not the music influences their relationships, and whether they experience Heavy Metal music as dangerous or violent in nature. Data was also gathered using unstructured nonparticipant observation, and therefore the behaviour and appearance of festival attendees was also observed at varying times throughout Witchfest. The results show that many participants were introduced to Heavy Metal music via their families and friends. This was mostly because these family members and friends listened to Heavy Metal music themselves. This, participants stated, was a very important factor in their experiences of Heavy Metal music because the commonality of listening to the music brings people closer together and strengthens the bonds between them. Apart from the music enhancing their relationships, participants also noted that Heavy Metal music evokes positive emotions within them and contributes to their well-being, owing to the fact that they often experience the act of listening to this genre of music as therapeutic and as an outlet for their negative feelings. These findings contradict dominant views held by non-listeners of Heavy Metal music, namely that this music causes dangerous and negative feelings and behaviours, and shed light on the influence that this genre of music has on South African youth. On the other hand, findings also showed that the social setting surrounding Heavy Metal is associated with the frequent consumption of drugs and large amounts of alcohol. Although participants claimed that drugs and alcohol tend to enhance their experiences of Heavy Metal music festivals and of the music itself, the potentially harmful consequences of this practice cannot be ignored and requires additional investigation. The mini-dissertation is concluded with a chapter that outlines the conclusions and limitations related to the study, and on this basis, several recommendations were proposed for future research and practical application of the findings. Some of these recommendations include that future studies include a broader range of data gathering, and a wider variation of participants. It is suggested that future researchers attend one or two more Heavy Metal music festivals to attain this varied sample. Also, due to the fact that most Heavy Metal music listeners are older in age, further studies on the topic could increase the age in the sample selection criteria to 35 and above. Also, in order to avoid including participants that are intoxicated in any way, prospective studies could obtain participants by means other than from Heavy Metal music festivals, in settings free from drugs and alcohol.

This mini-dissertation presents a discussion of the qualitative study exploring how South African youth, between the ages of 18 and 35, who are active listeners of Heavy Metal music experience this genre of music. The sample in the present study consists of 26 South African youths, living in various parts of the country, who listen to Heavy Metal music. Participants were recruited from attendees of the Heavy Metal music festival, Witchfest, which took place in Newtown, Johannesburg during 3-5 April 2015. An explorative qualitative research design was used. Three methods were used to gather data for the research study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants, and one focus group session was also carried out. Participants were approached at random times throughout Witchfest. Interview questions for both the semi-structured interviews and for the focus group session consisted of themes relating to the participants’ introduction to Heavy Metal music, how they experience Heavy Metal music, whether or not the music influences their relationships, and whether they experience Heavy Metal music as dangerous or violent in nature. Data was also gathered using unstructured nonparticipant observation, and therefore the behaviour and appearance of festival attendees was also observed at varying times throughout Witchfest. The results show that many participants were introduced to Heavy Metal music via their families and friends. This was mostly because these family members and friends listened to Heavy Metal music themselves. This, participants stated, was a very important factor in their experiences of Heavy Metal music because the commonality of listening to the music brings people closer together and strengthens the bonds between them. Apart from the music enhancing their relationships, participants also noted that Heavy Metal music evokes positive emotions within them and contributes to their well-being, owing to the fact that they often experience the act of listening to this genre of music as therapeutic and as an outlet for their negative feelings. These findings contradict dominant views held by non-listeners of Heavy Metal music, namely that this music causes dangerous and negative feelings and behaviours, and shed light on the influence that this genre of music has on South African youth. On the other hand, findings also showed that the social setting surrounding Heavy Metal is associated with the frequent consumption of drugs and large amounts of alcohol. Although participants claimed that drugs and alcohol tend to enhance their experiences of Heavy Metal music festivals and of the music itself, the potentially harmful consequences of this practice cannot be ignored and requires additional investigation. The mini-dissertation is concluded with a chapter that outlines the conclusions and limitations related to the study, and on this basis, several recommendations were proposed for future research and practical application of the findings. Some of these recommendations include that future studies include a broader range of data gathering, and a wider variation of participants. It is suggested that future researchers attend one or two more Heavy Metal music festivals to attain this varied sample. Also, due to the fact that most Heavy Metal music listeners are older in age, further studies on the topic could increase the age in the sample selection criteria to 35 and above. Also, in order to avoid including participants that are intoxicated in any way, prospective studies could obtain participants by means other than from Heavy Metal music festivals, in settings free from drugs and alcohol.

This PhD thesis explores issues around acquired brain injury, focusing particularly on changing relationships between patients and carers and the trajectories they follow from the point of injury or diagnosis as a reconstructed life unfolds. Patients are identified as having strategies of adaptation and carers as taking on levels of agency, both of which shift according to time, context and other complex interactions. Each impacts on the other to produce an internal dynamic, the functionality of which is explored. Issues of care delivery are also raised, including the effects of mismatched expectations and of sharing or restricting information. This research is qualitative and based on the principles of grounded theory. 62 interviews were conducted involving 82 people (52 patients and 30 carers) and additional evidence was gathered from professional records, media reports and personal diaries. Themes were developed that can be linked together to form a trajectory of care, inside of which there is a finely balanced ecology. It is proposed that this trajectory although developed around data from people with brain injury is also applicable to other chronic conditions.

Despite their long trajectory in the social sciences, few systematic works analyze how often and for what purposes focus groups appear in published works. This study fills this gap by undertaking a meta-analysis of focus group use over the last 10 years. It makes several contributions to our understanding of when and why focus groups are used in the social sciences. First, the study explains that focus groups generate data at three units of analysis, namely, the individual, the group, and the interaction. Although most researchers rely upon the individual unit of analysis, the method’s comparative advantage lies in the group and interactive units. Second, it reveals strong affinities between each unit of analysis and the primary motivation for using focus groups as a data collection method. The individual unit of analysis is appropriate for triangulation; the group unit is appropriate as a pretest; and the interactive unit is appropriate for exploration. Finally, it offers a set of guidelines that researchers should adopt when presenting focus groups as part of their research design. Researchers should, first, state the main purpose of the focus group in a research design; second, identify the primary unit of analysis exploited; and finally, list the questions used to collect data in the focus group.

The AIMS of this study are to: (1) Explore the perceptions and experiences of diabetes consultations from the perspectives of Pakistani patients, health professionals and interpreters (when one was involved). (2) Identify the processes and mechanisms which hinder or foster effective communication between healthcare professionals and their patients. (3) Provide recommendations for ways in which communication can be improved between healthcare professionals and their Pakistani patients STUDY DESIGN: A prospective qualitative study was developed, comprising three sequential components; namely: In-depth interviews with patients prior to a diabetes consultation; observation of the consultation; and, in-depth interviews with patients, health professionals and interpreters (when one was involved) following the consultation. Data were collected in the form of 10 detailed case studies. Each case study involved a Pakistani patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), their practitioner (s) involved in the consultation and an interpreter (if one was used). SAMPLE: Five male and five female Pakistani with T2DM (aged 41-80 years), 12 practitioners (some patients consulted with two people) and three interpreters (two professional and one lay) were recruited through health services and personal contacts within Edinburgh’s Pakistani community. Individual case studies were thematically analysed before all the case studies were compared/contrasted to identify cross-cutting themes. FINDINGS: Alongside language, a range of barriers and issues were identified which impacted upon communication between patients and health professionals in the consultations observed. Because of previous experiences of attending consultations in the UK and also in Pakistan, patients tended to come to their diabetes consultations with limited expectations; namely, to have their medication reviewed and receive test results. Consequently, patients tended not to raise health concerns and other issues unless they perceived these to be directly relevant to the consultation. In some cases, this resulted in patients not disclosing important information relating to their diabetes management and led to health professionals making inappropriate treatment recommendations. The routine and predictable nature of these diabetes review consultations meant that patients could be passive, offer very little information and ‘get by’ in their consultations; for instance, by offering responses after guessing what the professional was asking. As a result, some health professionals were unaware of patients’ poor English and of how little they had understood during the consultation. Health professionals found it difficult to establish understanding and rapport with patients who adopted a passive role in their consultations. This hindered them from identifying, and appropriately addressing, gaps in patients’ diabetes knowledge and any concerns they may have had. Interpreters did not always address the language barrier and edited and misinterpreted information. This is partly because they struggled to interpret medical terminology. However, this research also revealed how interpreters can experience dilemmas and role conflicts by virtue of being members of the same closely-knit Pakistani community as the patients they interpret for. Some of the barriers identified during this study also arose because patients tended to see different professionals at every visit which discouraged patient-provider relationships from being established. CONCLUSION: Patients would benefit from receiving ‘continuity in care’ and education and training on how to use their consultations more effectively. Providers would also benefit from education and training on more effective ways to communicate with these patients.

The overall aim of this study is to explore how health visiting and mothering practices have been shaped by the implementation of Health for All Children (Hall). ‘Hall’ denotes a programme of work around child health surveillance and promotion published in four reports between 1989 and 2003. The fourth Hall report (Hall 4) marked a shift towards a more targeted approach to service provision, predominantly through the work of health visitors, yet aimed to meet the needs of all families with young children. The study explores how health visitors’ work practices have been shaped by this new policy context, including how it has influenced their relationships with families as well as the profession as a whole. It also examines the experiences of mothers, their relationships with health visitors, and how they negotiate and manage their children’s health and well-being. A review of Scottish policy reveals an early years agenda focused on risk and early intervention; and that community nursing has been at the centre of, and shown resistance to, a number of policy directives over the last decade. A review of the existing literature explores the relationship between evidence and Hall and identifies health visitors as the profession charged with its implementation. Literature on mothering and fathering exposes a focus on parenting in policy which belies the gendered nature of caring for children. The empirical study reported in this thesis is located theoretically in relation to the shifting emphasis in disciplinary practices shaping child health from normality to risk. The study uses a qualitative approach and took place within the Lothian region of Scotland. Initially, discussions with policy-makers and practitioners working in the early years, nationally and locally, were carried out to scope the context for the study. Semi-structured interviews with 16 health visitors and 20 mothers were then undertaken and analysed thematically, with the findings chapters shaped through an iteration between theory and grounded analysis of the accounts of the health visitors and mothers. The health visitors’ accounts reveal the changing nature and form of their knowledge and expertise and the implications of this for their practice and profession. The discussions of health visiting practice identify the important roles of observation and relationships work with families, in homes and clinics over time, and how these activities enable health visitors to construct knowledge of families. The interviews with mothers suggest a blurring between lay and professional knowledge where normality is defined by mothers themselves and through their relationships with health visitors. While the mothers work to construct themselves as morally adequate, attention to the stories mothers tell, and, in particular, the emotion in them, suggests that vulnerability can be experienced by any mother. This phenomenon sits in contrast to increasing attention by professionals placed on the monitoring and policing of ‘vulnerable’ families while opportunities for observation and relationships work diminish. The study concludes by exploring key conceptual issues. It considers shifts between normality and risk and how these are shaping how vulnerability is constituted through health visiting practice. In conjunction, it explores the implications of changing health visiting practices, for health visitors, as a profession. Finally, the scope for the health visiting profession to shape policy and practice are considered.

This thesis follows the research portfolio format and is carried out in part fulfilment of the academic component of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. An abstract provides an overview of the entire portfolio thesis. Chapter One contains a systematic review of published research investigating the experience of living with incurable forms of haematological malignancy. Chapter Two is an empirical study exploring adults’ experiences of living with follicular lymphoma while being maintained under the ‘watch and wait’ protocol. Both chapters are prepared for submission to the European Journal of Cancer Care, and follow their author guidelines.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Lisa Melander / This study examines the lived experiences of the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a small church based in Topeka, KS and known for engaging in extensive protesting, from the perspective of stigmatization and the subcultural identity theory of religious persistence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the congregation, exploring issues of how they perceive themselves to exist in relation to broader American society. A qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed three main themes: religion as a guiding framework, members’ relationships with others, and stigma and stigma management. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church see the world through a core Biblical framework of understanding that influences both how they relate to and disengage from interactions with others and the ways in which they negotiate stigma in these interactions. This research contributes to the body of research on stigma and stigma management as well as adds theoretically to the subcultural identity theory of religion.

Bakgrund: Behovet av sjukvård ökar internationellt och allt fler av de vårdsökande är personer med långvarig sjukdom. Detta ökar kravet på vården och vårdpersonalen men även på de vårdsökande personerna. Egenvård är ett sätt att hantera detta och tas fram tillsammans med den enskilda personen och sjukvårdspersonalen. Ett nytt verktyg inom egenvård är m-hälsa där appar används som loggbok, övervakning och ett sätt att kommunicera med personer i samma situation och med vårdpersonal. Syfte: Beskriva hur personer med långvarig sjukdom upplever användandet av m- hälsa vid egenvård. Metod: Litteraturöversikt baserad på 14 kvalitativa artiklar funna i databaserna Pubmed, Cinahl, och Medline. Resultat: Deltagarna såg m- hälsa som ett hjälpmedel vid hanteringen av sin långvariga sjukdom. Motivationen till användningen under en längre tid minskade dock och även ökad stress och ångest var förekommande bland användarna. Diskussion: M-hälsa uppfattades till stora delar som en positiv upplevelse då personerna med långvarig sjukdom fick en bättre överblick av sitt tillstånd. De kunde lättare se hur övningar gav resultat i mätvärden och se tidiga varningstecken på en försämring av sitt tillstånd. Det fanns även de som upplevde att m-hälsa skapade ett beroende av tekniken och därmed minskade själv- ständigheten i sin sjukdom. / Background: The need of healthcare is growing all over the world and the amount of people with chronic diseases increases. This causes more pressure on the healthcare and the personnel, but also on the patients. Self-care is a growing phe- nomenon in healthcare; the way to manage self-care is different for everyone and is developed with healthcare personnel and the patient. A new tool used is m-health; in the m-health applications diaries, monitoring, and a way to communicate with other people in the same situation and with healthcare personnel. Aim: Describe how peo- ple with chronic deceases experience m-health during self-care. Method: Literature review based on fourteen articles from the databases; PubMed, Cinahl, and Medline. Result: The attendants saw m-health as a tool for self-care. The motivation was though decreasing during a long-term use and increased feelings of anxiety and stress was describes from some of the users. Discussion: M-health was mostly a positive experience for the attendants and they got a better overview of their disease and early warning signs if the illness was aggra- vating. The downside of m-health was the feeling of being addicted to the technology and that was lowering the feeling of independents.

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences and similarities regarding verbal politeness in greetings and requests in Swedish and the Chilean variety of Spanish. A survey with 12 questions, both open-ended and closed-ended, has been distributed to 20 native speakers of the two languages. Thus, the questions have been analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show that the perception that the Swedes and the Chileans have about verbal politeness is similar, since the speakers of both languages see it as a way to show respect towards others. The study also shows that Swedes and Chileans share a similar view upon politeness, i.e. as a social norm that facilitates social interaction between people.