This study explores the social approval of internet dating through the ranking of vignette scenarios. The scenarios are manipulated by the conditions of face-to-face interaction, presence of mutual acquaintance, and use of internet technology. Measures of legitimacy, predicted longevity, and social perception test for changes in attitudes of the varied ways in which a hypothetical couple meets. One of seven randomly distributed scenarios was ranked by a total of 346 undergraduates to disentangle the above conditions and test for an effect on social approval. Situated in the framework of cultural adaptation, script theory and the saturated self, support is found for low cultural approval of internet dating. Conditions of face-to-face interaction, issues of trust, and affinity to the internet demonstrate clear effects on the approval of relationships formed through internet dating.

This autoethnography narrative examines my journey as a first-generation Mexican immigrant woman from birth, through completion of the doctorate degree at California State University, San Bernardino. The purpose in writing this autoethnography is to present a personalized account of my experiences growing up, in communicating between two languages, the structural and personal motivators behind maintaining a heritage language (Spanish), and to reflect, in my experience, how I have negotiated with multiple social identities, including ethnic, academic, and bilingual identities. In this self-study, I bring the reader closer to Mexican-American identity, language, and culture. Specifically, this qualitative analysis of Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) and identity will examine the following questions: a) How did I perceive and negotiate my bilingual identity?; b) What obstacles did I face when speaking English, Spanish or both?; c) What role does SHL have in identity development? I have chosen a qualitative approach, specifically an autoethnography, to answer these questions in order to add to existing literature rooted in the lived experience of Spanish heritage language maintenance. This approach allows me to be the researcher, subject, and narrator of the study, and allows me to reflect on my education as a bilingual and bicultural immigrant student. The autoethnographer’s subjective experiences (my stories) become the primary data and encompass looking at a culture through the lens of the researcher. While searching for themes written in vignettes, my journey is an account of two worlds, which coexist, in the infinite intricacy of language learning, speaking, thinking, and being.

This exploratory research study examines changes in food and foodways (food habits) among Arab migrant families in a small community in Tampa, Florida. It also explores how those families’ children may play a role in the process of change. Within this community, I conducted my research study at a private school, where I recruited families with children between the ages of eight and seventeen. In applying the ecological model of food and nutrition and the developmental niche theoretical framework, this research draws on qualitative methods, including structured interviews with parents; focus group discussion with parents; a food survey; and children’s focus groups that included engaging activities such as vignettes (role playing), free-listing and sorting, and one-day food menus. I used MAXQDA 18 software for qualitative data analysis, and the results show that the main factors aiding in post-migration food and foodways changes are time constraints (lifestyle), ingredients, and availability and accessibility of permissible food (halal). Parent did not mention their children as a main factor; however, they perceive influence of their children. Feeding practices such as rewarding, restriction, forcing, and family meals were emerging themes, and children express their agency around those practices. Children developed their own agency regarding food because of their social and physical environments. Older children perceived their influence on their families’ food and foodways by introducing food items to their own families.

The focus of this thesis is the factorial survey approach as a method for studying professional judgements in social work. The factorial survey approach, which was first introduced in the social sciences around the beginning of the 1980s, constitutes an advanced method for measuring human judgements of social objects. At the general level, this quasi-experimental approach involves presenting respondents with fictive descriptions of social objects (vignettes), in which selected characteristics describing the objects to be judged are simultaneously manipulated. This thesis consists of four studies: In Study I, I explore the general use of the factorial survey approach in sociology between 1982 and 2006. Study II and Study III consist of factorial survey applications in the field of professional judgement in Swedish substance misuse treatment, as organized by the social services. To be more specific, the aims of these papers are to disentangle predictors of social work practitioners’ choices of inpatient or outpatient substance misuse treatment (Study II), and of social work practitioners’ judgements about eligibility for compulsory care (Study III). Finally, in Study IV, I present a conceptual and an analytical framework for the application of the factorial survey approach to the study of professional judgements in social work.

Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-49).

The aim is to study and reach an understanding of how upper secondary school students perceive the subject of physical education and health through the assessment practice they experience. Part of the interest concerns the content of the assessment practice and the picture of the subject emerging from this. Another part is to study what students perceive to form the basis of the actual assessment. A third field of interest is directed towards the assessment practice at large and the ways in which students perceive how far this gives them equal opportunities of showing their knowledge and skills. Focus group interviews were carried out inspired by different vignettes, based on various dilemmas identified through earlier research. Four upper secondary schools from southern Sweden are represented, with 38 interviewed students. To further understand and analyze student perceptions, a New Institutional perspective is applied focusing on normative, regulative and cultural conditions1 (Scott 2008). The regulative and normative conditions are understood on the basis of different policy documents, and the cultural conditions are interpreted through previous research in the field. It can be established that institutionalized club sport receives priority both before school policy documents and the less institutionalized health field. Some normative elements are perceived to be important, especially those linked to club sport, like cooperation, consideration, understanding and fair play, while other normative and regulative requirements are neglected or not mentioned at all, like outdoor education. The interpretation may be that above all the culturally based requirements in the form of sport affect students’ perception of the subject of physical education and health. The interviewed students perceive physical education and health as an unfair subject. There are those students who have learned to perform ”correctly” according to sport norms, while at the same time there are those who do not have these skills, and none of the students perceive that they master the sport norms correctly. / Syftet är att undersöka och förstå hur elever på gymnasienivå uppfattar ämnet idrott och hälsa genom den bedömningspraktik de erfar. Ett delintresse utgörs av innehållet i bedömningspraktiken och vilken bild av ämnet som därigenom framträder. Ett andra delintresse är vad eleverna uppfattar ligger till grund för själva bedömningen. Ett tredje delintresse är riktat mot bedömningspraktiken i stort och på vilka sätt eleverna uppfattar i vad mån denna ger dem likvärdiga förutsättningar att visa vad de kan. Elevernas uppfattningar har studerats med hjälp av fokusgruppsintervjuer med inspiration i tre olika vinjetter. I studien deltog 38 elever på fyra olika gymnasieskolor. För att vidare kunna förstå och analysera elevernas uppfattningar användes ett nyinstitutionellt perspektiv där normativa, regulativa och kulturella villkor står i förgrunden (Scott 2008). De regulativa och de normativa villkoren förstås utifrån olika styrdokument och de kulturella villkoren utifrån tidigare forskning om ämnet. Analysen visar att den institutionaliserade föreningsidrotten får företräde framför både skolans styrdokument och ett mindre institutionaliserat hälsoområde. Vissa normerande inslag uppfattas som viktiga, speciellt de som kan kopplas till fostrande aspekter så som exempelvis samarbete, hänsyn, förståelse och fair play, medan andra normerande och reglerande villkor negligeras eller nämns inte alls, som exempelvis friluftsliv. Detta skulle kunna förstås som att det framför allt är de kulturella villkoren i form av föreningsidrott som påverkar elevernas uppfattningar om ämnet idrott och hälsa. De intervjuade eleverna uppfattar idrott och hälsa i stora drag som ett orättvist ämne. Det finns de elever som kan ”rätt” idrott och samtidigt finns de som inte har dessa färdigheter och ingen av eleverna uppfattar att de kommer till sin rätt i ämnet.

This thesis is focused on research of school undiscipline (misbehaviour) by using the anchoring vignettes method. The results obtained of qualitative research (focus groups and in-depth interviews) were used for the compilation of the vignettes and questionnaire. In its theoretical part, the thesis introduces with multi-dimensional concept of school discipline and with works of the other authors. Further the thesis presents an overview of research methods for measuring of school discipline. The practicle parts presents the results of the author's own survey. These results have led for construction of the questionnaire with anchoring vignettes. These ones were compiled by using results of focus groups with 13 - 15 years old pupils and in-depth interviews with their teachers. The final questionnaire will be standardized within author's doctoral studies a thesis. Even so, it appeals that the anchoring vignette method takes its place in educationas scienses. KEYWORDS school discipline/undiscipline, anchoring vignettes method, fosuc group, in-depth interview, self-assessment

Self-reported health depends on the internal frame of reference and on response styles. One way of studying this dependency is using anchoring vignettes. Response shift effects are assumed to induce a negative correlation between self-reported health and the health assessments attributed to the vignettes. Method: A representative sample of the German adult population (N = 2,409) was selected. Participants were asked to rate their health state and the health states of two rather complex vignettes representing patients with several health complaints on a 0-100 scale. Results: The mean score of self-assessed health was M = 76.20 (SD = 20.6). There was a very small positive correlation between the assessment of the vignettes and the self-assessed health state (r = .12). After controlling for a proxy of objective health, measured in terms of chronic conditions, the relationship remained slightly positive. Chronic conditions were only marginally associated with the assessments of the vignettes (0 conditions: M = 44.8; ≥ 2 conditions: M = 42.2). Conclusions: The lack of the postulated association between self-reported health and vignettes’ ratings means that we cannot derive tools to correct the subjective ratings for differential use of frames of reference.

Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Department of Psychology Richard Lukáš Psychology students' attitudes towards adoption of children by same-sex couples (Master Thesis) Consultant: PhDr. Lenka Krejčová, Ph.D. Praha 2018 Abstract: Same-sex parenting (homoparentality) is new, yet still not well explored phenomena in Czech Republic. Purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes of Czech psychology students (N=337) to homoparentality. The vignettes, i.e. model stories describing the situation of a couple preparing to adopt a child, were used. The sexual orientation of the couple and child's gender varied. After reading one of the six versions of the vignette, participants assessed the parental competences and child's future development after adoption. The factor analysis of dependent variables was performed with 8 scales as a result. Independent variables were traditional and modern homophobia, beliefs about etiology of homosexuality, gender roles attitudes etc. Results indicate that students view homoparentality rather positively. However, the homoparental and heteroparental families were rated differently. The participants were more concerned about normative sexual development and victimization of children from homoparental families. On the other hand, children from heteroparental families...

Bakgrund: Forskning om missförhållanden visar att äldre som bor på särskilda boenden utsätts för olika former av missförhållanden. De olika formerna av missförhållanden som sker inom äldreomsorgen kommer till uttryck på olika sätt, såsom psykisk och fysisk vanvård samt försummelse. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur omvårdnadspersonal uppfattar eventuella missförhållanden inom äldreomsorgen och varför de tror att missförhållanden uppstår på särskilda boenden. Syftet var även att utifrån Theory of Reasoned Action tolka omvårdnadspersonalens potentiella agerande i situationer då det uppstår missförhållanden. Metod: Studien nyttjade en kvalitativ forskningsmetod i form av en vinjettstudie medfokusgrupper. Materialet analyserades genom tematisk analys. Resultat: Resultatet visade att omvårdnadspersonalen hade olika uppfattningar kring missförhållanden. Brist i arbetsmiljö såsom tidsbrist, personalbrist och stress var troliga orsaker till missförhållanden. Genom Theory of Reasoned Action indikerades att kollegors påverkan, så kallade ”subjektiva normer” och egna attityder kan bidra till en förståelse om varför missförhållanden uppstår på särskilda boenden. / Background: Research on elder abuse shows that elderly people living in nursing homes are exposed to various forms of abuse. The various forms of abuse that occur in elderly care are expressed in different ways, such as mental and physical abuse, and neglect. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate how nursing staff perceive possible elder abuse in elderly care and why they believe that elder abuse occurs in nursing homes. The aim was also to interpret the nursing staff's potential actions in situations where elder abuse occurs based on the Theory of Reasoned Action. Method: The study used a vignette methodology with four focus group interviews. The material was analysed through thematic analysis. Results: The results showed that nursing staff had different perceptions of elder abuse. The respondents believed that, among other things, deficiencies in the work environment such as lack of time, staff shortages and stress were likely reasons for elder abuse. The Theory of Reasoned Action indicated that colleagues' influence, also known as "subjective norms" and their own attitudes can contribute to an understanding of why elder abuse occurs in nursing home.