Methods for Answer Extraction in Textual Question Answering

In this thesis we present and evaluate two pattern matching based methods for answer extraction in textual question answering systems. A textual question answering system is a system that seeks answers to natural language questions from unstructured text. Textual question answering systems are an important research problem because as the amount of natural language text in digital format grows all the time, the need for novel methods for pinpointing important knowledge from the vast textual databases becomes more and more urgent. We concentrate on developing methods for the automatic creation of answer extraction patterns. A new type of extraction pattern is developed also. The pattern matching based approach chosen is interesting because of its language and application independence. The answer extraction methods are developed in the framework of our own question answering system. Publicly available datasets in English are used as training and evaluation data for the methods. The techniques developed are based on the well known methods of sequence alignment and hierarchical clustering. The similarity metric used is based on edit distance. The main conclusions of the research are that answer extraction patterns consisting of the most important words of the question and of the following information extracted from the answer context: plain words, part-of-speech tags, punctuation marks and capitalization patterns, can be used in the answer extraction module of a question answering system. This type of patterns and the two new methods for generating answer extraction patterns provide average results when compared to those produced by other systems using the same dataset. However, most answer extraction methods in the question answering systems tested with the same dataset are both hand crafted and based on a system-specific and fine-grained question classification. The the new methods developed in this thesis require no manual creation of answer extraction patterns. As a source of knowledge, they require a dataset of sample questions and answers, as well as a set of text documents that contain answers to most of the questions. The question classification used in the training data is a standard one and provided already in the publicly available data.

Efficient search for statistically significant dependency rules in binary data

Analyzing statistical dependencies is a fundamental problem in all empirical science. Dependencies help us understand causes and effects, create new scientific theories, and invent cures to problems. Nowadays, large amounts of data is available, but efficient computational tools for analyzing the data are missing. In this research, we develop efficient algorithms for a commonly occurring search problem - searching for the statistically most significant dependency rules in binary data. We consider dependency rules of the form X->A or X->not A, where X is a set of positive-valued attributes and A is a single attribute. Such rules describe which factors either increase or decrease the probability of the consequent A. A classical example are genetic and environmental factors, which can either cause or prevent a disease. The emphasis in this research is that the discovered dependencies should be genuine - i.e. they should also hold in future data. This is an important distinction from the traditional association rules, which - in spite of their name and a similar appearance to dependency rules - do not necessarily represent statistical dependencies at all or represent only spurious connections, which occur by chance. Therefore, the principal objective is to search for the rules with statistical significance measures. Another important objective is to search for only non-redundant rules, which express the real causes of dependence, without any occasional extra factors. The extra factors do not add any new information on the dependence, but can only blur it and make it less accurate in future data. The problem is computationally very demanding, because the number of all possible rules increases exponentially with the number of attributes. In addition, neither the statistical dependency nor the statistical significance are monotonic properties, which means that the traditional pruning techniques do not work. As a solution, we first derive the mathematical basis for pruning the search space with any well-behaving statistical significance measures. The mathematical theory is complemented by a new algorithmic invention, which enables an efficient search without any heuristic restrictions. The resulting algorithm can be used to search for both positive and negative dependencies with any commonly used statistical measures, like Fisher's exact test, the chi-squared measure, mutual information, and z scores. According to our experiments, the algorithm is well-scalable, especially with Fisher's exact test. It can easily handle even the densest data sets with 10000-20000 attributes. Still, the results are globally optimal, which is a remarkable improvement over the existing solutions. In practice, this means that the user does not have to worry whether the dependencies hold in future data or if the data still contains better, but undiscovered dependencies.

Ohjelmiston käyttöliittymään kohdistuvat riskit määrittelyvaiheen käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun jälkeen

Ohjelmiston loppukäyttäjiä suoraviivaisesti tukevan toiminnallisuuden ja tietosisällön määrittely on haastavaa, ja muutokset ohjelmiston määrityksiin aiheuttavat usein merkittäviä lisäkustannuksia ohjelmistoprojekteissa. Vaatimusmäärittelyn kattavuutta voidaan parantaa kartoittamalla käyttäjien työtehtävät sekä suunnittelemalla valmis käyttöliittymäratkaisu jo määrittelyvaiheen alussa, jolloin määritellyn tietosisällön ja toiminnallisuuden toimivuus loppukäyttäjien työtehtävien yhteydessä voidaan testata käyttöliittymäprototyyppien avulla. Testauksen lisäksi käyttöliittymäratkaisun näyttökuvia voidaan käyttää asiakkaan ja toimittajan välisenä neuvottelu- ja sopimusvälineenä, jonka perusteella valmistuneen ohjelmiston käyttöliittymäratkaisu voidaan hyväksyä projektin päätteeksi. Käyttöliittymän testauksesta huolimatta käyttöliittymäratkaisuun kohdistuu projektin aikana vielä useita riskejä. Koska yksittäiset näyttökuvat eivät kuvaa kattavasti käyttöliittymän toimintalogiikkaa, käyttöliittymän toteuttaminen pelkkien näyttökuvien perusteella johtaisi helposti väärinymmärryksistä aiheutuviin hallitsemattomiin muutoksiin käyttöliittymäratkaisussa. Väärinymmärrysten välttämiseksi käyttöliittymän toimintalogiikka kannattaa kuvata erikseen käyttötilanteiden etenemistä esittävien näyttökuvasarjojen avulla. Näyttökuvasarjojen laatiminen on kuitenkin työlästä, ja yksinkertaisistakin käyttötilanteista syntyy usein pitkiä kuvasarjoja. Tässä työssä kehitettyjen sanallisten käyttösekvenssikuvausten avulla yksinkertaisten käyttötilanteiden toimintalogiikka on mahdollista dokumentoida näyttökuvasarjoja tiiviimmin. Lisäksi toteutustyötä voidaan helpottaa täydentämällä dokumentaatiota tässä työssä kehitetyillä komponenttikohtaisilla toimintalogiikan kuvauksilla. Tässä tutkielmassa arvioidaan määrittelyvaiheessa suunniteltuun käyttöliittymäratkaisuun projektin aikana kohdistuvia riskejä sekä riskien minimointia erityisesti käyttöliittymän dokumentoinnin avulla. Esimerkkitapauksena käytetään NCC Rakennus Oy:n tuntitietojen kirjausohjelmiston kehitysprojektia, jonka toteutus on tarkoitus tehdä osana monille toimialoille suunnattua WM-data Oy:n tuotekehitysprojektia. Aiheluokat (Computing Reviews 1998): D.2.1, H.5.2

Näkövammaisten tietokoneavusteinen tiedon hankinta

The study examines various uses of computer technology in acquisition of information for visually impaired people. For this study 29 visually impaired persons took part in a survey about their experiences concerning acquisition of infomation and use of computers, especially with a screen magnification program, a speech synthesizer and a braille display. According to the responses, the evolution of computer technology offers an important possibility for visually impaired people to cope with everyday activities and interacting with the environment. Nevertheless, the functionality of assistive technology needs further development to become more usable and versatile. Since the challenges of independent observation of environment were emphasized in the survey, the study led into developing a portable text vision system called Tekstinäkö. Contrary to typical stand-alone applications, Tekstinäkö system was constructed by combining devices and programs that are readily available on consumer market. As the system operates, pictures are taken by a digital camera and instantly transmitted to a text recognition program in a laptop computer that talks out loud the text using a speech synthesizer. Visually impaired test users described that even unsure interpretations of the texts in the environment given by Tekstinäkö system are at least a welcome addition to complete perception of the environment. It became clear that even with a modest development work it is possible to bring new, useful and valuable methods to everyday life of disabled people. Unconventional production process of the system appeared to be efficient as well. Achieved results and the proposed working model offer one suggestion for giving enough attention to easily overlooked needs of the people with special abilities. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): K.4.2 Social Issues: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities I.4.9 Image processing and computer vision: Applications Keywords: Visually impaired, computer-assisted, information, acquisition, assistive technology, computer, screen magnification program, speech synthesizer, braille display, survey, testing, text recognition, camera, text, perception, picture, environment, trasportation, guidance, independence, vision, disabled, blind, speech, synthesizer, braille, software engineering, programming, program, system, freeware, shareware, open source, Tekstinäkö, text vision, TopOCR, Autohotkey, computer engineering, computer science

Julkisen avaimen menetelmä ja ETSI:n MSS-määritys

Julkisen avaimen menetelmä on ollut käytössä Suomessa jo jonkin aikaa esimerkiksi HST-korteilla, joissa on Väestörekisterikeskuksen myöntämä kansalaisvarmenne. Kansalaisvarmenteella voidaan tehdä mm. laillisesti sitovia digitaalisia allekirjoituksia ja salata sähköpostia. Viime aikoina myös eri matkapuhelinoperaattorit ovat alkaneet tarjota mobiilia kansalaisvarmennetta, jossa salainen avain on sijoitettu matkapuhelimen SIM-kortille. Tässä pro gradu -työssä kuvataan ensin julkisen avaimen menetelmä ja sen käyttöalueet. Lisäksi mainitaan muutamia julkisen avaimen algoritmeja ja julkisen avaimen menetelmiin liittyviä ongelmia. Tämän jälkeen kuvataan ETSI:n MSS-määritys. ETSI:n MSS-määritys kuvaa palvelun rajapinnan, jossa loppukäyttäjältä pyydetään digitaalinen allekirjoitus. Lopuksi kuvataan Valimo Wireless Oy:n toteutus ETSI:n MSS-määrityksestä.

Ympäristöluvan ja kasvihuonekaasujen päästöluvan yhdentäminen : Lupajärjestelmien oikeudellisen integroinnin tarkastelu

Ympäristönsuojeluoikeudellisessa sääntelyssä on sekä kansainvälisesti että kansallisesti viime vuosikymmeninä tavoiteltu lupajärjestelmien yhdentämistä. OECD:ssä esitettiin jäsenmaille suositus pilaantumiskontrollin lainsäädännölliseksi yhtenäistämiseksi vuonna 1991. Samaan aikaan EU:ssa alettiin valmistella ohjausvälinettä yhdennettyyn pilaantumisen ehkäisemisen ja vähentämisen sääntelyyn, IPPC- eli YPEV-direktiiviä (96/61/EY). Suomessa direktiivi saatettiin voimaan ympäristönsuojelulainsäädännön uudistuksen yhteydessä ympäristönsuojelulailla (86/2000, YSL). Sittemmin maailmanyhteisön keskiöön yltänyttä, YK:n ilmastopuitesopimukseen ja edelleen Kioton pöytäkirjaan pohjaavaa kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen vähentämistä säännellään EU:ssa erillisellä päästökauppadirektiivillä (2003/87/EY). Direktiivi on Suomessa implementoitu päästökauppalailla (683/2004, PKL). Mainitut direktiivit sisältävät kumpikin lupajärjestelmän: YPEV-direktiivi ympäristölupajärjestelmän ja päästökauppadirektiivi kasvihuonekaasujen päästölupajärjestelmän. Näiden synergistä koordinointia tai sovittamista toisiinsa painotetaan toistuvasti päästökauppadirektiivin valmisteluasiakirjoissa. Päästökauppadirektiivin 8 artiklassa säädetään lupajärjestelmien koordinoinnin ja samalla tämän työn kysymyksenasettelun kannalta keskeisesti direktiiveihin pohjaavien lupien keskinäisestä sovittamisesta. Ympäristölupasäännöstö ja kasvihuonekaasujen päästölupasäännöstö (päästöoikeussäännöstö) ilmentävät kuitenkin kahta perustaltaan erilaista päästökontrollin ohjausvälinettä. Ympäristölupajärjestelmä on osa perinteistä hallinnollista sääntelyjärjestelmää, jossa yksittäisillä laitoskohtaisilla lupapäätöksillä ja niihin sisältyvillä lupamääräyksillä ohjataan toimintojen ympäristöllisiä vaikutuksia. Päästöoikeussäännöstö puolestaan rakentuu uudemman, markkinapohjaisiin mekanismeihin pohjaavan sääntelyn varaan. Päästöoikeuslupa nähdään valvonnallisena ja informatiivisena hallinnollis-teknisenä lupana, joka ei itsessään sisällä päästörajoituksia, vaan edulliset ympäristövaikutukset välittyvät päästökauppajärjestelmässä säännellyn päästöoikeuksien kokonaismäärän kautta. Ympäristölupa ja kasvihuonekaasujen päästölupa ovat siten oikeudelliselta luonteeltaan varsin eriäviä. Tässä työssä on selvitetty oikeudellisen integroinnin näkökulmasta, miten mainittujen kahden lupajärjestelmän yhdentäminen ilmenee tai miten sen mahdollisesti tulisi ilmetä yhtäältä säädössystematiikassa ja toisaalta hallintotyön organisoinnissa. Eräänlaisena hypoteettisena lähtökohtana työssä on ollut integroinnin edullisuus, joka taas heijastuu integroidun päästösääntelyn ympäristön ja sen elementtien kokonaisuuden painotuksessa. Tutkimuskysymystä on käsitelty lainopillisesti ja oikeusvertailevasti, lisäksi on haastateltu ympäristö- ja päästökauppaviranomaisen edustajaa sekä toiminnanharjoittajatahon edustajaa. Kummankin lupajärjestelmän kansainvälistä, yhteisöoikeudellista ja kansallista säädöspohjaa on tarkasteltu. YSL:n ja PKL:n keskeisiä käsitteitä on analysoitu säädösten soveltamisalojen leikkauskohtien selvittämiseksi. Oikeusvertailevassa osuudessa on tutkittu Ruotsin, Saksan ja Alankomaiden ympäristölupa- ja päästökauppalainsäädäntöä. Vertailtavat maat on valittu siten, että käytetyt implementointiratkaisut edustavat tutkimuskysymyksen kannalta erilaisia vaihtoehtoja. Työn tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että lupajärjestelmien menettelyllinen integrointi on mahdollista. Käsiteanalyysissä ei tullut esille seikkoja, jotka estäisivät säännöstöjen yhdentämistä merkittävien soveltamisalaeroavaisuuksien takia, joskin katvealueitakin esiintyy. Tarkastelluista käsitteistä esimerkiksi toiminnanharjoittajan käsite oli likipitäen identtinen kummassakin normistossa, päästön käsite puolestaan määrittää molempia säännöstöjä, mutta sisällöllisesti kuitenkin eroavasti. Toimialakohtaisia eroavaisuuksia sitä vastoin tuli esiin; näihin on tosin vireillä muutoksia sekä yhteisössä että Suomessa. YPEV-säännöstössä niin keskeinen pilaantumisen käsite puuttuu päästökauppanormistosta. Asiantuntijahaastatteluista kävi ilmi, että kaikki tahot pitivät nykyisiä lupajärjestelmiä toimivina; tilanne voi muuttua jos päästökauppajärjestelmä tulevaisuudessa kattaa muita kasvihuonekaasuja. Vertailevan aineiston perusteella havaittiin, että Saksassa lupajärjestelmät on yhdennetty, kun taas Ruotsin eriytetty päästökauppalainsäädäntö vastaa jokseenkin kotimaista. Alankomaiden ratkaisu poikkeaa edellisistä siinä, että kasvihuonekaasujen päästökauppajärjestelmä on yhdistetty jo ennestään säänneltyyn typen oksidien kauppaan. Hollannissa näyttäisi lisäksi olevan valmisteilla mittava lupajärjestelmien uudistaminen, yhdentävään suuntaan. Lupajärjestelmät ovat siis menettelyllisesti yhdennettävissä, mutta aineelliseen integrointiin sen sijaan tarvittaisiin kokonaan uusi lupainstrumentti.

Kutsu kuuliaisuuteen : James I. Packerin liittonomistinen raamattukäsitys

This dissertation examines James I. Packer s view of the Bible as the book of God s revelation. However, this study could not be complete without discussion of his background ideas about God, man and the foundations of theology. The research method used in this dissertation is systematic analysis. I analyse key theological concepts in the data, such as inerrancy, God s word and the covenant of grace, and examine Packer s concepts primarily in the context of the reformed tradition that he represents. Although the dissertation presents the philosophical premises of Packer s thought, the focus is on an analysis of theological concepts. Packer claims to approach theological issues broadly and to reject legalism. However, he also considers Calvinist thinking to be best suited to theological work and emphasises the central role of law in his view of the Bible. My dissertation pays particular attention to the status of law in Packer s theology and especially in the covenant of grace. The dissertation shows that the fundamental theological structure of Packer s view of the Bible is based on Puritan covenant theology, which consists of the temporally successive covenant of works and covenant of grace. Covenant theology stresses the connection and friendship between God and man. Man s highest goal according to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) is to glorify the triune God and to rejoice in him for all eternity. After the fall of man, this friendship between God and man can only take place in the covenant of grace. For Packer, the covenant of grace encompasses not only the time of the Gospel, but also the time of the law before the Gospel. Consequently, the covenant of grace incorporates in its very essence the demand of obedience to God s law. Covenant theology forms the foundation for both his view of the Bible and his idea that a believer lives in a covenant of grace, the key aspects of which are God s commandments and man s works. Law and the Gospel are not considered fundamental opposites in the covenant of grace, unlike in justification. In the covenant of grace, man has become God s friend who obeys the law as the law of Christ in a way which differs from Luther s view of obedience to the faith . For Packer, covenant theology is a Puritan instrument to link predestination and sanctification. Works committed in obedience show that the believer belongs to the covenant of grace and will be among the saved. Although voluntary obedience to God s commandments is not a direct instrument to achieve salvation, it is a pivotal sign of predestination. God calls the predestined to salvation with an effectual calling, the reliable message of the Bible. In sanctification, God guides a believer living in the context of covenantal nomism. In that sense, the Bible is above all an instrument of law guided by reason. In man s obedience, God completes man s nature and restores the imago Dei in man.

Kirkon vai valtion kirjat? : Uskontokuntasidonnaisuuden ongelma Suomen väestökirjanpidossa 1839-1904

The Population Register – run by the Church or the state? The problem posed by the obligation to belong to a religious community in the registration of births and deaths in Finland between 1839 and 1904 The Lutheran Church of Finland is the nation’s largest church; approximately 82 per cent of Finns were members in 2007. The Church ran an official register of its members until 1999, when the state then undertook this task. The registration of births and deaths by the Church has a long history dating back to the 17th century, when Bishop Johannes Gezelius Sr. decreed that all parish members would have to be recorded in parish registers. These registers were used to control how well parish members knew the Christian doctrine and, gradually, also if they were literate. Additionally, the Church attempted to ensure by means of the parish registers that parish members went to Holy Communion annually. Since everyone was a member of the Lutheran Church, the state also took advantage of the parish registers and used them for the purposes of tax collection and conscription. The main research theme of “The Population Register – run by the Church or the state?” goes back to these times. The actual research period covers the years of 1839–1904. At that time Finland was under Russian rule, although autonomous. In the late 19th century the press and different associations in Finland began to engage in public debate, and the country started moving from a submissive society to a civic one. The identity of the Lutheran Church also became more prominent when the Church Act and the General Synod were realised in 1869. A few years earlier, municipal and parish administrations had been separated, but the general registration of births and deaths was left to the Church to see to. In compliance with the constitution of the country, all the inhabitants in principle still had to be Lutheran. In practice, the situation was different. The religious and ideological realms diversified, and the Lutheran concept of religion was no longer acceptable to everyone. The conflict was reflected in the registration of births and deaths, which was linked to the Lutheran Church and its parish registers. Nobody was allowed to leave the Church, there was no civil register, and the Lutheran Church did not consent to record unbaptized children in the parish registers. Therefore such children were left without civil rights. Thus the obligation to belong to a religious community had become a problem in the registration of births and deaths. The Lutheran clergy also appealed to the 1723 privileges, according to which they had been exempted from the drawing up of additional population registers. In 1889 Finland passed the Dissenters Act. By virtue of this act the Baptists and the Methodists left the state Church, but this was not the case with the members of the free churches. The freethinkers had to retain their church membership, as the law did not apply to them. This meant that the unbaptized children of the members of the free churches or those of freethinkers were still not entered in any registers. The children were not able to go to school, work for the state or legally marry. Neither were they able to inherit property, as they did not legally exist. The system of parish registers was created when everyone was required to be a member of the Lutheran Church, but it did not work when liberal attitudes eventually penetrated the sphere of religion, too. The government´s measures to solve the problem were slow and cautious, partly because Finland was part of Russia, partly because there were only about 100 unbaptized children. As the problem group was small and the state´s resources were limited, no general civil register was established. The state accepted the fact that in spite of the problems, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the congregations of dissenters were the only official establishments to run populations registers in the country, and for social purposes, too. In 1900 the Diet of Finland finally approved a limited civil register, which unbaptized children and unregistered foreigners would be recorded in. Due to political reasons the civil register did not come into existence until 1917, after the actual research period.

E. G. Gulinin ekumeeninen työ ja ajattelu

This study explores ecumenical activity of professor and bishop E. G. Gulin (1893 1975). Gulin was one of the key figures in the Finland s Evangelical Lutheran Church during the twentieth century. He was also one of the leading persons who imported ecumenical influences from abroad. However, unlike other churches, the Church of Finland did not recognise his importance. For example, in the 1950s Gulin was seen by the Anglicans as a future archbishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Gulin s career as an ecumenist can be divided to three parts. Between 1917 and 1929, Gulin learned ecumenical working methods in Finland s World Student Christian Federation. He had a background in the revivalist movement, and his parents supported him in his studies. The Evangelical Lutheran Church did not originally play a major role for Gulin, although he was a member. Between 1930 and 1944, Gulin had more and more responsibility as a leading ecumenist in Finland. He became a member of Finland s ecumenical board, Yleiskirkollinen toimikunta. During the Second World War Gulin tried to solicit assistance for Finland s war effort at theological conferences, where Finnish theologians often discussed cooperation among Christians. A third period started in 1945, when Gulin became the bishop of Tampere. His new status in the Evangelical Lutheran Church placed him in a challenging position in ecumenical questions. He had responsibility for inter-church aid in Finland. He also participated in the World Council of Churches (WCC) assemblies in Evanston in 1954 and in New Delhi in 1961. Gulin s role was quite insignificant in those meetings. Closely related to Gulin s texts about ecumenism is kokemus, experience. Gulin wrote about his ecumenical experience or ekumeeninen kokemus. He believed that it was vital for the churches to appreciate their own experiences, since experience was the basis for further development. Yet Gulin mentioned very little about Christian dogma. The main reason seems to have been that he did not believe that a union between churches could be built on dogma.

Rakkauden välittäjä vai moraalinvartija : Narratiivinen tutkimus Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon papeista perhe- ja seksuaalikysymysten äärellä

The research goal was to clarify how ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland construct their identities when they confront family and sexual issues, particularly as seen in their narrations about their work and the factors that influence their ways of working. The approach was a narrative one placing the emphases was on the internal story. The research material consisted of interviews of 19 ministers and the written biographies of 3 ministers who had also been interviewed. The data was analysed narratively (analysis of the narrations and a narrative analysis). The life stories were classified on the basis of the logic in each, and five different internal story types were created: the persons on the road to recovery, those within safe boundaries, those who had learnt to be critical, those with an obligation to help, and those who had grown to be open. In all of the story types was evidented a conflict between the ministry of the Church and the way it was adapted to the lives of individuals experiencing family and sexual issues. On one hand, this was a source of stress at work, but on the other, it offered a chance to create new images of ministers struggling with family and sexual issues. Life experience was found to be important when the study subjects interpreted and dealt with family and sexual issues. Those on the road to recovery felt that becoming a Christian and the personal recovery that faith had made possible had a significant impact on their personal lives. This healing effect of faith was also a strengthening factor for them when they dealt with family and sexual issues. Typically, they approached work situations by taking into account their faith and the type of psychological knowledge that was acceptable within the boundaries set by it. Those within safe boundaries worked within the limits prescribed by the revivalist movement that they had grown up in, from their childhood onwards, and their experiences in adulthood had even strengthened their commitment to the movement. Typically, they were keen to proclaim the views of the movement in public, but they were also prone to stay silent if and when felt those views would cause an uproar. Those who had learnt to be critical had previously been holistically committed to the views expressed by the Church in family and sexual matters. It was their experiences in life that had led them into conflict with the teachings of the Church. Their approach to work was one of ambivalence resulting from a conflict between their current and previous views, which was further exacerbated by their irresolution concerning how a minister should act in these situations. Those with an obligation to help questioned the church teachings marriage as the only family ideal. When they met various kinds of families and sexual identities, and also when they adopted the identity of a helper, the foundation of their ministerial identity was the Two Commandments of Love. Their work was burdened, however, by a fear of how the Church and the parishioners would take their teaching. Those who had grown to be open were more sure of themselves than the other groups. Years in the ministry as well as life-long experience had made them into persons who were following paths of their own. Openly critical of the views on family and sexual issues proclaimed by the Church, they were keen to present their personal convictions and were able to defend these publicly when necessary. Search words: Narrative research, internal story, minister, church, family, sexuality.

Q-evankeliumi ja psykohistoria : Uuden testamentin eksegetiikan väitöskirja

In the course of my research for my thesis The Q Gospel and Psychohistory, I moved on from the accounts of the Cynics ideals to psychohistorical explanations. Studying the texts dealing with the Cynics and the Q Gospel, I was amazed by the fact that these texts actually portrayed people living in greater poverty than they had to. I paid particular attention to the fact that the Q Gospel was born in traumatising, warlike circumstances. Psychiatric traumatology helped me understand the Q Gospel and other ancient documents using historical approaches in a way that would comply with modern behavioural science. Even though I found some answers to the questions I had posed in my research, the main result of my research work is the justification of the question: Is it important to ask whether there is a connection between the ethos expressed by means of the religious language of the Q Gospel and the predominantly war-related life experiences typical to Palestine at the time. As has been convincingly revealed by a number of studies, traumatic events contribute to the development of psychotic experiences. I approached the problematic nature, significance and complexity of the ideal of poverty and this warlike environment by clarifying the history of psychohistorical literary research and the interpretative contexts associated with Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and Melanie Klein. It is justifiable to question abnormal mentality, but there is no reliable return from the abnormal mentality described in any particular text to the only affecting factor. The popular research tendency based on the Oedipus complex is just as controversial as the Oedipus complex itself. The sociological frameworks concerning moral panics and political paranoia of an outer and inner danger fit quite well with the construction of the Q Gospel. Jerrold M. Post, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Political Psychology and Interna-tional Affairs at George Washington University, and founder and director of the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior for the Central Intelligence Agency, has focused on the role played by charisma in the attracting of followers and detailed the psychological styles of a "charismatic" leader. He wrote the books Political Paranoia and Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World: the Psychology of Political Behavior among others. His psychoanalytic vocabulary was useful for my understanding of the minds and motivations involved in the Q Gospel s formation. The Q sect began to live in a predestined future, with the reality and safety of this world having collapsed in both their experience and their fantasies. The deep and clear-cut divisions into good and evil that are expressed in the Q Gospel reveal the powerful nature of destructive impulses, envy and overwhelming anxiety. Responsible people who influenced the Q Gospel's origination tried to mount an ascetic defense against anxiety, denying their own needs, focusing their efforts on another objective (God s Kingdom) and a regressive, submissive earlier phase of development (a child s carelessness). This spiritual process was primarily an ecclesiastic or group-dynamical tactic to give support to the power of group leaders.

Ideological notions in public health care rationing : Case studies from Oregon, New Zealand and Finland

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze and explicate the ideological content, which is often implicit, in the health care rationing discussion. The phrase "ideological content" refers to viewpoints and assumptions expressed in the rationing discussion that may be widespread and accepted, but without clear evidential support. The study method is philosophical text analysis. The study begins by exploring the literature from the 1970s that affects the present-day rationing discussion. Since ideological contents may have different emphases in realm of health care, three representative cases were studied. The first was a case study of the first and best-known rationing experiment in the American state of Oregon, namely, an experimental rationing plan within the public health program Medicaid, which is designed to provide care for the poor and underprivileged. The second was a study of the only national-level public priority setting that has been conducted in New Zealand. The third examined the Finnish Care Guarantee plan introduced in March 2005. The findings show that several problematic and scientifically mostly unproven concepts have remained largely uncontested in the debate about public health care rationing. Some of these notions already originated decades ago in studies that relied on outdated data or research paradigms. The problematic ideological contents have also been taken up from one publication into another, thereby affecting the rationing debate. The study suggests that before any new public health care rationing experiments are undertaken, these ideological factors should be properly examined, especially in order to avoid repetitious research and perhaps erroneous rationing decisions.

Power and Authority. Birgitta of Sweden and her Revelations

In the High Middle Ages female saints were customarily noble virgins. Thus, as a wife and a mother of eight children, the Swedish noble lady Birgitta (1302/3 1373) was an atypical candidate for sanctity. However, in 1391 she was canonized only 18 years after her death and became a role model for many late medieval women, who were mothers and widows. The dissertation Power and Authority Birgitta of Sweden and Her Revelations investigates how Birgitta went about establishing her power and authority during the first ten years of her career as a living saint, in 1340 1349. It is written from the perspectives of gender, authority, and power. The sources consist of approximately seven hundred revelations, hagiographical texts and other medieval documents. This work concentrates on the interaction between Birgitta and her audience. During her lifetime Birgitta was already regarded as a holy woman, as a living saint. A living saint could be given no formal papal or other recognition, for one could never be certain about his or her future activities. Thus, the living saint needed an audience for whom to perform signs of sanctity. In this study particular attention is paid to situations within which the power relations between the living saint and her audience can be traced and are open to critical analysis. Situations of conflict that arose in Birgitta s life are especially fruitful for this purpose. During the Middle Ages, institutional power and authority were exclusively in the hands of secular male leaders and churchmen. In this work it is argued, however, that Birgitta used different kinds of power than men. It is evident that she exercized influence on lay people as well as on secular and clerical authorities. The second, third, and fourth chapter of this study examine the beginning of Birgitta s career as a visionary, what factors and influences lay behind it, and what kind of roles they played in establishing her religious authority. The fifth, sixth, and seventh chapter concentrate on Birgitta s exercising of power in specific situations during her time in Sweden until she left on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1349. The central question is how she exercised power with different people. As a result, this book will offer a narrative of Birgitta s social interactions in Sweden seen from the perspectives of power and authority. Along with the concept of power, authority is a key issue. By definition, one who has power also has authority but a person who does not have official power can, nevertheless, have authority. Authority in action is defined here as meaning that a person was listened to. Birgitta acted both in situations of open conflict and where no conflict was evident. Her strategies included, for example, inducement, encouragement and flattery. In order to make people do as she felt was right she also threatened them openly with divine wrath. Sometimes she even used both positive persuasion and threats. Birgitta s power seems very similar to that of priests and ascetics. Common to all of them was that their power demanded interaction with other people and audiences. Because Birgitta did not have power and authority ex officio she had to persuade people to believe in her powers. She did this because she was convinced of her mission and sought to make people change their lives. In so doing, she moved from the domestic field to the public fields of religion and politics.

Ystävä sä lapsien : Lasten virret ja hengelliset laulut suomenkielisissä kokoelmissa 1824-1938 ja niiden vaikutus vuoden 1938 virsikirjaan

Ystävä sä lapsien. Collections of Finnish language children s hymns and spiritual songs from 1824─1938 and their influence on the Hymnal 1938. The Hymnal has been the common song book of Lutheran parishes since the 1500s. In the beginning, the congregations sang the hymns from memory led by the choir or the church musician. The fundamentals of Christian faith are taught through the hymns, both in church and in family devotions. The Hymnal was the only song book of the church in Finland until the end of the 1800s. This study attempts to clarify when and by who were spiritual songs and hymns for children written in Finland. Research materials used were all the books I could find (approximately 200), whose headings were for pupils and young children in the home and school circles. The method of study is historical and analytical. In the first chapter, it is explained that children s literature in Finland differentiated from other literature at the end of the 1700s. Eric Juvelius published a small prayer book in 1781 with the prayer Gud, som hafver barnen kär / Jumala joka Lapsia rakasta. From that, after many Finnish translations, the first verse of the hymn Ystävä sä lapsien took shape. The second chapter considers singing instruction in the folk school from the beginning of the 1860s. Textbooks, including songbooks, were produced for the pupils. Some of the first pioneers in producing these materials were the teachers P.J. Hannikainen, Sofie Lithenius, Mikael Nyberg, Anton Rikström and Aksel Törnudd, as well as Hilja Haahti, Immi Hellén and Alli Nissinen, who were all teachers gifted in writing poetry. Several new spiritual songs appeared in the folk school songbooks. Hymns were sung often, especially in connection with church year celebrations. Children s songs in Christian education are discussed in the third chapter. The Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland recognized children already in its early song collections. The illustrative teaching methods in the folk school influenced the Sunday school activities and especially the Sunday school hymns. Hymns introduced as exclusively for children and pupils which appear in the Hymnal from 1886 and the supplement to the 1923 Hymnal are explored in the fourth and fifth chapters. The study shows that the renewal of church life at the beginning of the 1900s also resulted in an increase of the number of spiritual songs for children. This is also seen in the diverse choice of songs in the supplementary materials from 1923. The final chapter deals with the School and Childhood section of the 1938 Hymnal. The Hymnal committee did not think that the already well known folk school and Sunday school songs received enough attention in the Hymnal. Those songs were, among others, Kautta tyynen, vienon yön, Oi, katsopa lintua oksalla puun, Olen Luojani pikku varpunen, Rakas Isä taivahan ja Tuolla keinuu pieni pursi. Heikki Klemetti, Ilmari Krohn, Armas Maasalo and Aarni Voipio influenced the opinion that the spiritual songs still were not suitable to be sung in church. Hymns for children and pupils were brought into the same line as the entire Hymnal. The same hymn tunes, which were mainly old ones, were used as common settings for numerous hymn texts. No special type of melody emerged for the children s hymns. It was still notable that hymns for children and pupils were collected at all. In addition, the Hymnal committee marked those verses suggested for singing in both the folk school and Sunday school with an asterisk (*) throughout the entire Hymnal.

Sankarihautaus vapaussodassa : valkoisten kaatuneiden hautaaminen Suomessa vuonna 1918

Civil War Hero Burials the funerals of the fallen White in Finland in 1918 This study focuses on the burial with honours of fallen White combatants during the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as well as on the reasons underpinning the practice. The main sources of the study included the archives of the White army, the Civil Guard organisation and the Church, as well as the newspapers. The genetic method of history research was used. Both the existing tradition of military burials and the ecclesiastical burial culture influenced the burials of those who fell during the Civil War. The first war hero funerals took place as early as the beginning of February 1918, and the first larger-scale collective funerals were organised in Laihia and Vaasa in the Ostrobothnia province, with the latter attended by the supreme civil and military leaders of White Finland. From early on, these funerals assumed their characteristic features, such as the lion flag a design for the Finnish national flag proposed immediately upon the declaration of the country s independence military parades, lines of honour guards, eulogies, salutes and common war hero graves. As a result of the general offensive begun in mid-March 1918, the numbers of the fallen multiplied, so special organisations were established to handle the burials of the fallen. At the same time, the war hero funerals became more frequent and diffused, and the numbers of the buried grew throughout the country. In early March, the advocates of the republican system of government published their appeal in the newspapers, requesting that collective graves for those who fell in the war prepared in every locality. They motivated their request by stating that it was the funerals in particular that had inspired many men to join the ranks voluntarily in the first place, and that the large collective soldiers graves increased the numbers of those who answered the call and left for the front. The Civil Guard organisation arranged the burials of war heroes. The clergy contributed by officiating the religious service and by clearly aligning themselves with the Whites in their eulogies. The teachings of the Lutheran Church suggest that they found the Whites to be the temporal authority instituted by God, and therefore authorised raising the sword against the Reds. Speaking at the funerals with great pomp and sentimental power, the leaders of the Civil Guard and the exponents of the learned classes instigated their audiences against the Reds. The funeral speeches idealised the war hero s death by recalling military history since the times of ancient Greece. Being of the emblematic colour of the Whites, the white coffin assumed a particular importance connected to ideas of biblical purity and innocence. By the end of May 1918, almost 3,300 Whites were buried in the soldiers graves prepared by the burial organisation in some 400 localities. Only about 200 men remained missing in action or unidentified. The largest common graves accommodated over 60 fallen combatants. Thus, the traditions of the 1918 Civil War directly influenced war hero burial practices, which continued into the Finnish Winter War of 1939.