Orientadora: Rosa Monteiro Paulo / Resumo: Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar, nas escolas da rede pública estadual de São Paulo, a atualização do Programa um Computador por Aluno (Prouca), ação de política pública que visa à inserção das tecnologias no ambiente escolar. A metodologia assumida foi a da pesquisa qualitativa em uma abordagem fenomenológica. O estudo inicia-se com leituras para conhecer o Prouca, quer seja no âmbito de sua proposta ou a partir de trabalhos que o tematizam. Tendo clareza do sentido do Prouca fomos às escolas entrevistar professores, gestores/diretores ou estagiário que o vivenciaram. As entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas para serem analisadas seguindo os procedimentos da pesquisa fenomenológica que envolve a análise ideográfica, cuja intenção é explicitar o sentido que o Programa tem para cada um dos sujeitos entrevistados e a análise nomotética em que se expõe a compreensão geral do Prouca. Nesse movimento destacamos as Ideias Nucleares que convergem para três categorias abertas: Formação Humana, Infraestrutura Física e Infraestrutura Política que, ao serem discutidas, nos permite dizer dos modos de atualização do Prouca nas escolas consideradas / Abstract: This research has the objective to investigate in public schools of the state of São Paulo the update of the "One Computer Per Student Program (PROUCA)", a public policy which aims to insert technology in the school environment. The methodology of this researches qualitative with a phenomenological approach. The study begins with literature review for a first insight of PROUCA, whether it is in the scope of its proposal or of works approaching this theme. After studying the objective of PROUCA we went to schools to interview teachers, principals and interns that were related to the program. The interviews were recorded and transcribed to be analyzed according to the procedures of the phenomenological research which is composed by the idiographic analysis, whose aim is to explain the meaning of the program to each of the interviewed and the nomothetic analysis in which the general understanding of PROUCA is exposed. In this movement we highlight the Nuclear Ideas that converge to three open categories: Human development, Physical Infrastructure and Political Infrastructure, that, after the discussion, possibilitates us to say the update's means of PROUCA in the schools researched / Mestre

Orientador: Ricardo Dahab / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T09:03:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Piva_FabioRogerio_D.pdf: 7931626 bytes, checksum: 2a9d167e0a1fd625d636fd24d4c0028e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: O projeto de soluções criptográficas seguras a partir de uma perspectiva puramente teórica não é suficiente para garantir seu sucesso em cenários realistas. Diversas vezes, as premissas sob as quais estas soluções são propostas não poderiam estar mais longe das necessidades do mundo real. Um aspecto frequentemente esquecido, que pode influenciar em como a solução se sai ao ser integrada, é a forma como o usuário final interage com ela (i.e., fatores humanos). Neste trabalho, estudamos este problema através da análise de dois cenários de aplicação bem conhecidos da pesquisa em Segurança da Informação: O comércio eletrônico de itens digitais e Internet banking. Protocolos de trocas justas tem sido amplamente estudados, mas continuam não sendo implementados na maioria das transações de comércio eletrônico disponíveis. Para diversos tipos de itens digitais (e-goods), o modelo de negócios atual para comércio eletrônico falha em garantir justiça aos clientes. A validação de itens é um passo crítico em trocas justas, e recebeu pouca atenção dos pesquisadores. Nós acreditamos que estes problemas devam ser abordados de forma integrada, para que os protocolos de trocas justas possam ser efetivamente implementados no mercado. De forma geral, acreditamos também que isso seja um reflexo de paradigmas de projeto orientado a sistemas para soluções de segurança, que são centrados em dados em vez de usuários, o que resulta em métodos e técnicas que frequentemente desconsideram os requisitos de usuários. Contextualizamos como, ao subestimar as sutilezas do problema da validação de itens, o modelo atual para compra e venda de itens digitais falha em garantir sucesso, na perspectiva dos compradores, para as transações ¿ sendo, portanto, injusto por definição. Também introduzimos o conceito de Degradação Reversível, um método que inerentemente inclui o passo de validação de itens em transações de compra e venda com a finalidade de mitigar os problemas apresentados. Como prova-de-conceito, produzimos uma implementação de Degradação Reversível baseada em códigos corretores de erros sistemáticos (SECCs), destinada a conteúdo multimídia. Este método é também o subproduto de uma tentativa de incluir os requisitos do usuário no processo de construção de métodos criptográficos, uma abordagem que, em seguida, evoluímos para o denominado projeto de protocolos orientado a itens. De uma perspectiva semelhante, também propomos um método inovador para a autenticação de usuários e de transações para cenários de Internet Banking. O método proposto, baseado em Criptografia Visual, leva em conta tanto requisitos técnicos quanto de usuário, e cabe como um componente seguro ¿ e intuitivo ¿ para cenários práticos de autenticação de transações / Abstract: Designing secure cryptographic solutions from a purely theoretical perspective is not enough to guarantee their success in a realistic scenario. Many times, the assumptions under which these solutions are designed could not be further from real-world necessities. One particular, often-overlooked aspect that may impact how the solution performs after deployment is how the final user interacts with it (i.e., human factors). In this work, we take a deeper look into this issue by analyzing two well known application scenarios from Information Security research: The electronic commerce of digital items and Internet banking. Fair exchange protocols have been widely studied, but are still not implemented on most e-commerce transactions available. For several types of digital items (e-goods), the current e-commerce business model fails to provide fairness to customers. A critical step in fair exchange is item validation, which still lacks proper attention from researchers. We believe this issue should be addressed in a comprehensive and integrated fashion before fair exchange protocols can be effectively deployed in the marketplace. More generally, we also believe this to be the consequence of ongoing system-oriented security solution design paradigms that are data-centered, as opposed to user-centered, thus leading to methods and techniques that often disregard users¿ requirements. We contextualize how, by overlooking the subtleties of the item validation problem, the current model for buying and selling digital items fails to provide guarantees of a successful transaction outcome to customers, thus being unfair by design. We also introduce the concept of Reversible Degradation, a method for enhancing buy-sell transactions concerning digital items that inherently includes the item validation step in the purchase protocol in order to tackle the discussed problems. As a proof-of-concept, we produce a deliverable instantiation of Reversible Degradation based on systematic error correction codes (SECCs), suitable for multimedia content. This method is also the byproduct of an attempt to include users¿ requirements into the cryptographic method construction process, an approach that we further develop into a so-called item-aware protocol design. From a similar perspective, we also propose a novel method for user and transaction authentication for Internet Banking scenarios. The proposed method, which uses Visual Cryptography, takes both technical and user requirements into account, and is suitable as a secure ¿ yet intuitive ¿ component for practical transaction authentication scenarios / Doutorado / Ciência da Computação / Doutor em Ciência da Computação

Orientador: Marko Synesio Alves Monteiro / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T20:43:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cheida_RodrigoSaraiva_M.pdf: 1113812 bytes, checksum: 155c5970a533817b929a2fd0540757f6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Esta dissertação tem como objetivo investigar a "biologização" do Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção/Hiperatividade (TDA/H) na vertente organicista de doença mental da psiquiatria no Brasil, a partir do recorte metodológico dos Estudos Sociais da Ciência e Tecnologia (ESCT), especificamente os aportes teóricos da construção social da doença. O objetivo do estudo é investigar histórica e sociologicamente a forma pela qual o transtorno veio a ser investigado como uma patologia de origens biológicas pelas práticas psiquiátricas brasileiras. Para identificar os sentidos históricos pelos quais as fronteiras diagnósticas do transtorno possuem bases biológicas, foi feito um levantamento histórico para retomar as principais tradições da vertente organicista de pesquisa das doenças mentais da Psiquiatria no Brasil. Outro levantamento histórico buscou identificar, a partir do próprio conhecimento biológico do TDA/H, as contingências sociais do transtorno. A proposta de ambas as historiografias é investigar quais atores sociais mobilizaram técnicas e conhecimentos científicos oriundos da neurologia e da biologia até a sua atual classificação no Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Distúrbios Mentais em sua quarta versão revisada - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM-IV/RT - e a Classificação Internacional de Doenças - CID-10. Em seguida, foi realizada uma investigação em artigos coletados na base científica SCIELO para identificar quais os principais atores sociais, as técnicas e o conhecimento científico que são mobilizados para investigar o TDA/H, entre os anos de 2007 e 2012, no Brasil. Foi possível verificar que, em sua maioria, o conhecimento da patologia é produzido por pesquisadores das áreas da Psiquiatria e das Neurociências que utilizam técnicas baseadas em paradigmas neurocientíficos para a investigação de doenças mentais. Interpreta-se que o conhecimento neurológico do transtorno, por sua vez, licencia que a prática médico-psiquiátrica trate determinados fenômenos sociais como problemas médicos e faça o controle social dos indivíduos desatentos "anormais" para recuperá-los em sua condição "normal". Acredita-se que investigações que utilizam o metilfenidato, principal fármaco da terapia da patologia, pode ser uma forma de controle social pela ciência psiquiátrica brasileira, quando definem os comportamentos através do conhecimento neurocientífico como TDA/H. Também foi possível constatar que os estudos sobre o TDA/H, em sua maioria, foram financiados por indústrias farmacêuticas, ator social hegemônico na produção do conhecimento científico do TDA/H. A relação entre indústria farmacêutica e produção científica é um meio de legitimar a administração do psicofármaco metilfenidato como terapia principal no tratamento do transtorno. Desta forma, a relação entre indústria e doença é um fenômeno social no qual a ciência possui papel preponderante na aferição das categorias que podem ser consideradas "doença" / Abstract: This dissertation aims to investigate the development of research on Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the organicist dimension of mental illness of psychiatry in Brazil, with the methodological approach of the Social Studies of Science and Technology (SSST), specifically the theoretical contribution of the social construction of illness. The objective of the study is to investigate historically and sociologically how the disorder came to be investigating with biological causes by Brazilian psychiatric practices. To identify the historical by which the boundaries of the disorder has a biological basis, a historical survey is done to resume the main research traditions of organicist shed of mental illness of Psychiatry in Brazil. Another historical survey seeks to identify the social contingences from the biological knowledge of ADHD. The proposal to investigate both historiographies is to analyses which social actors mobilized technical and scientific knowledge from neurology and biology to its current classification in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM-IV/RT and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Then an investigation is carried out on the basis of scientific articles collected in SCIELO to identify the main social actors, the technical and scientific knowledge that are mobilized to investigate the ADHD, between 2007 and 2012, in Brazil. It was possible to verify, in most of the articles, that the knowledge of the pathology is done by researchers from the fields of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, which uses techniques based on neuroscientific paradigms for mental illness researches. It is interpreted that the neurological knowledge of the disorder, in turn, licenses the medical-psychiatric practices to treat certain social phenomenon as medical problems, under a social control of the individuals with the disorder treated as "abnormal" to get them back into their "normal" condition. It is proposed as an analysis that methylphenidate, the main drug therapy to the pathology, is a form of social control by Brazilian Psychiatry when they define the behaviors as ADHD. It also appeared that the studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies, the hegemonic social actor in the production of the scientific knowledge of ADHD. The relationship by the pharmaceutical industry and the scientific production is a way of legitimizing the administration of psychotropic drug methylphenidate as primary therapy in the treatment of the disorder. Thus, the relationship between industry and disease is a social phenomenon in which science has leading role in gauging the categories that can be considered disease / Mestrado / Politica Cientifica e Tecnologica / Mestre em Política Científica e Tecnológica

This thesis sets out to answer the following central research question: what are the influences, challenges, benefits and costs of the Central Admission System (CAS) as an e-Governance initiative in improving undergraduates’ admissions service delivery and quality assurance in Tanzania’s higher education institutions?’ In answering this key question, three sub-questions were explored: (1) To what extent and in what ways does the implementation of the CAS influence the organisation of admissions work and workplace relations in higher education institutions? (2) What are the sociotechnical challenges of implementing the CAS? (3) What are the advantages of the CAS in improving admissions service delivery and quality assurance in higher education institutions? The sociotechnical theoretical framework is an ideal for exploring these issues as it accommodates the understanding of dual relationship between social and technological aspects of the CAS in line with the contextual issues in its implementation. The focus of the thesis is on Tanzania’s higher education institutions where the CAS is being implemented. The study is informed by data collected through interviews and documentary analysis. Data organization and analysis was done using NVivo 10 QSR software. The study demonstrates that, notwithstanding the fast development and uptake of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the implementation of the CAS in Tanzania is hampered by the fact that most of the end-users of CAS (particularly applicants) have relatively low access to the ICT infrastructure. Several factors continue to have a significant effect on the implementation of CAS, which in turn lead to implications for the uptake of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. A digital divide, resistance to change by some higher education institutions (HEIs), poor ICT skills among applicants, the costs of internet services, unreliable electricity supply, and inadequate IT experts continue to frustrate the objective of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. As a technological innovation in the workplace, the CAS has led to a restructuring of admissions work tasks among admissions officers, a need to review job descriptions, introduced tighter controls over admission work processes, and has shaped admission workers’ professional identities and self-presentations.

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills shortage is of national and international concern. Modern business practices require the implementation of new technologies supported by a workforce with current and diversified ICT skill-sets. Acquiring suitable ICT skills has become a difficult task and employers are seeing government intervention at all levels. The school system in South Africa is under increased pressure and is faced with continuously declining matriculation pass rates, specifically in subjects such as science and mathematics. Schools are experiencing a decline in the number of scholars (learners) enrolling for the Information Technology (IT) school curriculum. The IT curriculum at school level is being criticised; under-prepared teachers are blamed and lack of suitable facilities highlighted. Surveys conducted amongst grade 9 and grade 12 scholars in the Eastern Cape have shown that scholars are not considering careers in ICT. Teachers, career/guidance counsellors and parents contribute to scholars' career decisions and are not encouraging scholars to pursue careers in ICT. Tertiary institutions in South Africa and internationally, are experiencing a decline in student enrolments and in pass and throughput rates. Industry is holding tertiary institutions responsible for not providing the “correct” ICT graduate skill-sets and passing an insufficient number of quality ICT graduates desperately required by industry. The accreditation of computing degree programs, such as Computer Science (CS), Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT), collectively referred to as CIT, offered by tertiary institutions is becoming an international requirement. The ICT industry is constantly changing and new job requirements and new career opportunities are frequently introduced. Graduates entering the ICT industry should have acquired knowledge about ICT career tracks in order to specialise and choose a suitable career path. Tertiary CIT degree programs should further be linked to specific career tracks and provide a multi-disciplined education to graduates. ii ICT graduates working in industry utilise skills obtained in under-graduate and post-graduate CIT degree programs. The ICT graduates have also obtained valuable skills working in industry, including business skills and soft skills. ICT skill surveys have identified the graduate skills gap, indicating ICT skills industry requires from graduates completing tertiary level qualifications. ICT graduates working in industry, for example indicated that programming in some cases is over-emphasised at school and tertiary level and that soft skills are ignored by tertiary institutions. An ICT Graduate Skills Classifications Framework is developed to address the graduate ICT skills gap and highlight important business skills, soft skills, technical skills and programming skills required by industry. In this thesis, an Industry ICT Value Chain Model is further developed that suggests a holistic approach to the problems experienced at all levels of ICT skills development, including government, industry, tertiary education institutions and at school level. Results from a number of research surveys conducted along the proposed Industry ICT Skills Value Chain Model indicated that problems exist at all stages in the value chain and that the problems can only be addressed involving government, industry and tertiary institutions collectively. A number of interventions is required and the support from industry is essential in achieving overall success in addressing the ICT skills shortage in South Africa. A proposed Industry ICT Skills Value Chain Model that can be utilised to address the ICT skills shortage in South Africa is presented.

Orientadora: Gisele Maria Schwartz / Coorientador: Wilson do Carmo Júnior / Banca: Giselle Helena Tavares / Banca: Priscila Carneiro Valim-Rogatto / Resumo: Este estudo, de natureza qualitativa, teve por objetivo analisar os diferentes tipos de vídeos postados no site do YouTube®, referentes ao indivíduo idoso. O estudo foi desenvolvido utilizando-se pesquisa exploratória, realizada por meio de análise documental videográfica. Para a seleção dos vídeos, foram utilizados os termos "idoso" e "mídia" no site YouTube®. Como critérios de inclusão na pesquisa, foram levados em consideração apenas os vídeos brasileiros, entre os que continham apenas imagens e os que continham linguagem oral expressa em português, postados no período entre 2011 e 2012. Os 60 vídeos amostrais foram selecionados em 5 diferentes categorias: 1) Reportagens (30 vídeos), 2) Vídeos de Imagens e Filmes (13 vídeos), 3) Propagandas (12 vídeos), 4) Entrevistas (3 vídeos) e 5) Outros (2 vídeos). Posteriormente, foram analisados os conteúdos neles apresentados, por meio de 3 eixos temáticos, assim como propõe a Técnica de Análise de Conteúdo e incluíram: Eixo 1 - Falas, Eixo 2 - Expressão Corporal, Eixo 3 - Participação nos vídeos e contextos periféricos. Os resultados encontrados no Eixo 1 demonstram que a maior parte dos assuntos abordados envolvidos nos vídeos incluiu as temáticas violência e a prática de atividades diversas. Foram observadas tonalidades de voz forte e animadas, mas também, fracas e trêmulas e os significados das falas dos participantes dos vídeos evidenciaram, tanto tendências negativas, como positivas. Porém evidencia-se que as tendências negativas tiveram maior incidência quando provinham de pessoas periféricas do que dos idosos. Para o Eixo 2, foram encontrados predominância de movimentos reduzidos dos idosos, que, na maior parte das situações, estavam sentados dando uma entrevista. Tinham expressão facial marcada por sorrisos, risadas e gargalhadas predominantemente e postura ereta na maior parte das situações. Também foram observadas... / Abstract: This qualitative study aims to analyze the different types of Brazilian videos posted on the Youtubesite, referring to the elderly. The study was developed by exploratory research through documentary videographic analysis. The videos were selected by the terms "idoso" and "mídia" at the Youtubesite). As research inclusion criteria, only Brazilian videos were considered which contained images and speeches that were expressed in Portuguese language and posted during the period of 2011 to 2012. The 60 videos were selected according to five different categories: 1) Reports (30 videos), 2) Videos with images and movies (13 videos), 3) Advertisements (12 videos), 4) Interviews (3 videos) and 5) Others (2 videos). Subsequently, their contents were analyzed by three thematic axes as proposed by the Content Analysis Technique : Theme 1 - Speech, Theme 2 - Body language, Theme 3 - Videos participation and peripheral contexts. The Theme 1 results show that most of the issues involved in the videos included the thematic aggression and the practice of various activities. Strong and lively voice tones were observed, but also weak and trembling voices were noted and the meanings of participants' speech in the videos showed, both negative and positive trends. However, it is evident that the negative trends had a higher incidence when came from peripheral people than the elderly. To the Theme 2, it was found the prevalence of the reduced movements by the elderly, which in the most of the situations, were seated during interview. They had their facial expression marked by smiles and laughter predominantly and, they got an upright posture in the most of the situations. Also, it was observed physical characteristics that demonstrated the elderly predominantly with white or brown skin, white, gray or dyed hair and older people wearing simple clothes, with light or dark colors and smooth. There was a predominance of the use of decorative objects... / Mestre

Orientador: Gisele Maria Schwartz / Coorientador: Afonso Antônio Machado / Banca: Cheng Hsin Nery Chao / Banca: Cinthia Lopes da Silva / Banca: Silvia Deutsch / Banca: Danielle Ferreira Auriemo Chrsitofoletti / Resumo: Este estudo, de natureza qualitativa, teve como objetivo, analisar a usabilidade e a atratividade de sites de empresas que oferecem atividades de aventura para idosos, com o intuito de identificar como as empresas divulgam a oferta dessas atividades para esse público consumidor, em seus websites. O estudo também se propôs a investigar a própria visão dos idosos, em relação às informações contidas nesses sites e a percepção desse setor empresarial, em relação à oferta de atividades de aventura para os idosos. Para tanto, o estudo foi realizado em duas etapas. A primeira foi referente a uma pesquisa bibliográfica a respeito das temáticas que envolvem o problema pesquisado. A segunda, atinente a uma pesquisa exploratória, a qual foi realizada em três momentos diferentes do estudo. Primeiramente, foram analisados 83 sites de empresas de atividades de aventura do setor do Ecoturismo e Turismo de Aventura, em relação ao oferecimento destas atividades para idosos, com o auxílio de um diário de campo, para registros dos dados relevantes à pesquisa. Em um segundo momento, foi aplicado um questionário contendo questões abertas, a uma amostra intencional composta por 06 empresas associadas à Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Ecoturismo e Turismo de Aventura, para verificar a percepção do setor empresarial em relação à oferta de atividades de aventura para idosos. Em outro momento, foi aplicado o Inventário de Usabilidade de Sites sobre Lazer (IAUSLA-21+), adaptado para este estudo,... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This qualitative study, aimed to analyze the usability and the attractiveness of company's websites that offer adventure activities for seniors, in order to identify how the companies disclose the offer of these activities for this consumer public, on their websites. This study also proposed to investigate the elderly own perspective regarding the information that are in these websites and the perception of this business sector related to the offer of adventure activities for seniors. Therefore, the study was conducted in two stages. The first one was a bibliographic research about the issues involving the researched problem. In the second stage, an exploratory research was made, which was performed at three different occasions of the study. Firstly, 83 adventure activities companies' websites were analyzed, both in the Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism sector, regarding the range of activities offered focusing on elderly, that was done by the use of a diary to register the relevant data to the search. In a second moment, it was applied a questionnaire with open questions to an intentional sample of 06 companies associated to the Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism to verify the perception of the business sector about the offer of adventure activities to seniors. Finally, the Inventory Usability Sites of Leisure (IAUSLA-21 +) was used, which was adapted for this study and applied to a sample of 30 elderly, both genders, selected by convenience for the reason that they were able to use the internet alone and use the computer as a search tool for information, so they could evaluate 02 business websites of the Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism sectors. All data were analyzed by Content Analysis technique and indicated that the usability of the websites of these adventure activities companies, of the... (Complete abstract electronic access below) / Doutor

No description available.

Developing countries like Tanzania experience challenges towards utilization and acceptance of ICT; calling for a need to further research on the concept. Open Source (OS) usage is a potential strategy for addressing such challenges. However, the success of this strategy strongly relies on the strength of the promotional efforts. The study, therefore aims at assessing the OS promotional efforts in relation to ICT acceptance challenges in Tanzania. This study entailed a descriptive, mixed-methods research. A literature analysis, document analysis and observations of OS community activities were conducted in order to list the ICT acceptance challenges. The results formed a basis for survey and interview questions. The findings obtained were triangulated to determine the existing OS promotional activities and assess the effectiveness of the promotional efforts in addressing ICT acceptance challenges in Tanzania. The study also makes recommendations on how OS promotional efforts should be changed to improve their effectiveness. / Computing / (M.Sc. (Information Systems))

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study investigated the nature of a steel production process in South Africa. The Iron and Steel Corporation of South Africa (Iscor) was analysed within various theoretical approaches within the sociology of science and technology. Iscor follows the production processes that are based on a particular paradigm practiced throughout the world by steel-making organisations. The study aims to unlock this paradigm by using specific theoretical (ANT, SCOT and SSR) and disciplinary (MOT) approaches. Each approach provides a unique analytical dimension to the study: the influence of various human and non-human actors, the influence of social pressures, the historical evolution of the current practices and the management of risk. The study explores how Iscor adheres to mainstream scientific work. Hence there is a focus on endogeneous approaches - "processes of technological change and their outcomes are part of what has to be explained and understood" (Rip et ai, 1995). It is also noted that the technologies are derived from practical experiences and processes of scientific research. There is an ongoing attempt to formulate an understanding between technical and social content of steel-making processes because automated plant machinery continue to replace manual labour. Finally, the study investigates how dominant steel-making technologies within lscor's Vanderbijlpark (VP) and Saldanah Bay (SB) plants have evolved to achieve a position of stability. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie het oorsake van die staal produksie proses in Suid Afrika geondersoek. Die Yster en Staal Korperasie van Suid Afrika (Yskor) was geanaliseer binne die verskillende teoretiese benaderings in die sosiologie van wetenskap en tegnologie. Yskor volg 'n produksie wat gebaseer is op 'n spesifieke paradigm wat deur alle staal vervaardigde organisasie wereld wyd gepraktiseer word. Die studie beoog om hierdie paradigm te ontbloot, deur spesifieke teoretiese (ANT, SCOT and SSR) en disiplinere (MOT) benaderings te gebruik. Elk van hierdie benaderings sal 'n unieke analiese demensie voortbring aan die studie: die invloed van verskillende menslike en nie-menslike aspekte, die invloed van sosiale druk, die geskiedkundige evolusie van die huidige praktyke en die bestuur van risikos. Die studie ondersoek hoe Yskor riglyne volg in die wetenskaplike veld. AI te mits is daar 'n mikpunt op endogeniese benadering - "tegnologiese prosese verandering en die resultate wat deel vorm van hoe die proses verduidelik word en verstandbaar moet wees" (Rip et al, 1995). Dis is dus duidelik dat die tegnologie verkry word deur praktiese ondervinding en wetenskappe navorsing prosese. Daar is voortdurend pogings om die verwantskap tussen tegniese en die sosiale inhoud van die staal vervaardigings prosese te formuleer, deurdat auto-matiese mashienerie all deurgans oorneem van werkers. Laastens die studie ondersoek hoe die dominante staal vervaardigde tegnologie binne in Yskor Vanderbijlpark (VP) en Saldanha Baai (SB) verander het om 'n stabiele stands poort te verkry.