Från redaktören : Att utvärderas

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologförbundet har ordet : Att tillsätta tjänster och fördela medel

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

I skuggan av kulturella stereotypier : perspektiv på forskning om genus, jämställdhet och etniska relationer i Sverige

In the shadow of ethno-cultural stereotypes: gender, equity and ethnic relations in Sweden Scientific debates about cultural differences between ”Swedes” and migrants/ethnic minorities in Sweden have fuelled stereotypical categorizations and a socio-cultural demarcation between ”us” and ”them”. The authors argue that this development has underpinned constructions of foreignness. In the light of a critical review of the current debate on honour related violence, the authors discuss – inspired by Georg Simmel’s and Erving Goffman’s classic texts on the stranger, the stigma and the construction of foreignness – alternative understandings of culture and politics of belonging with a focus on gender, agency and identity formation. Formation of cultural and ethnic identity should be related, the authors conclude, to a dynamic interplay between the past and the present. Moreover, the social dimension should be highlighted, in order to avoid a stigmatizing culturalism.

Från redaktören : Det redaktionella arbetet

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologförbundet har ordet

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Från redaktören : Från Göteborg till Yokohama

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Från redaktören : Politisk höst

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Kung slår dam : våldsforskningsmetodologi i ett våldsamt jämställt Sverige

King captures queen. Methodology in research on violence in violently equal Sweden Research and debate on violence against women in a Swedish context is here discussed from a perspective that focuses on the different understandings and epistemological claims behind existing positions. I crystallize a dominant perspective on violence, centred around fragmentation/deviance, and a challenging feminist understanding, centred around coherence/normality. I relate these understandings to a wider set of methodological choices and epistemological claims within research on violence against women, captured in what I call a discourse on partner violence (fragmentation) and a feminist discourse on men’s violence against women (coherence). The article also examines the reactions, in media and academic life, that a quantitative study on men’s violence against women in Sweden provoked, Captured queen, men’s violence against women in equal Sweden. A prevalence study (Lundgren et al 2001). By applying a coherent methodological approach, stemming from the feminist discourse on violence against women, the study seems to have placed itself outside what was comprehensible for many voices in the debate (from media and the academic field). I discuss the hostile reactions the study aroused, in relation to its methodology and the above presented conflicting understandings that occupy the research field “violence against women”.

Från redaktören : Datoriserad manuskripthantering

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologförbundet har ordet

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Den kroppsliga differentieringens praktik : övervikt och nätdejting på intimitetens marknad

The practice of bodily differentiation: Overweight and internet dating on the market of intimacy With the emergence of Internet dating, the procedure for choosing a partner has been radically changed. Given the initial invisibility of the body when Internet dating, one might presume that looks become less important when searching for partners online. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Based on twelve interviews with Internet daters of which six define themselves as overweight, the reproduction of bodily distinction in both mediated and direct communication is here being studied. A recurrent theme among the interviewees is the disappointment of the first date face to face. Ironically the importance of looks (or bodily capital) appears to be even more vital when dating on Internet than when building relationships “in real life”. Besides the disappointment of the first date in real life, the obese women in this study could also gather information of their value on the market of intimacy through being met by serious harassments and in exclusively being treated as sexual objects. Despite its strong association with the physical body, bodily capital can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from other forms of capital. From this point of view, the possibility of less repressive forms of intimacy is discussed.

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Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Cathepsin S as a biomarker of low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance, and cardiometabolic disease risk

Cathepsin S is a protease important in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigen presentation and also in degrading the extracellular matrix. Studies, most of them experimental, have shown that cathepsin S is involved in different pathological conditions such as obesity, inflammation, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.    The overall hypothesis of this report is that high levels of circulating cathepsin S, is a biomarker that reflects pathology induced by inflammation and obesity. The overall aim of this report was to investigate possible associations between circulating cathepsin S, inflammation, glucometabolic disturbance, and its associated diseases in the community. As cathepsin S appears to be a novel risk marker for several pathological conditions, we also wanted to examine the effect of dietary intervention on circulating cathepsin S concentrations.    This thesis is based on data from three community-based cohorts, the Uppsala longitudinal study of adult men (ULSAM), the prospective investigation of the vasculature in Uppsala seniors (PIVUS), and a post-hoc study from the randomized controlled NORDIET trial.    In the first study, we identified a cross-sectional positive association between serum cathepsin S and two markers of cytokine-mediated inflammation, CRP and IL-6. These associations were similar in non-obese individuals. In longitudinal analyses, higher cathepsin S at baseline was associated with higher CRP and IL-6 levels after six years of follow-up. In the second study, we identified a cross-sectional association between increased serum levels of cathepsin S and reduced insulin sensitivity. These associations were similar in non-obese individuals. No significant association was observed between cathepsin S and insulin secretion. In longitudinal analysis, higher cathepsin S levels were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes during the six-year follow-up. In the third study, we found that higher serum levels of cathepsin S were associated with increased mortality risk. Moreover, in the ULSAM cohort, serum cathepsin S was independently associated with cause-specific mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. In the fourth study, we identified that adherence to an ad libitum healthy Nordic diet for 6 weeks slightly decreased the levels of plasma cathepsin S in normal or marginally overweight individuals, relative to the control group. Changes in circulating cathepsin S concentrations were correlated with changes in body weight, LDL-C, and total cholesterol.    Conclusion: This thesis shows that circulating cathepsin S is a biomarker that independently reflects inflammation, insulin resistance, the risk of developing diabetes, and mortality risk. Furthermore, a Nordic diet moderately reduced cathepsin S levels in normal-weight and overweight men and women. This effect may be partially mediated by diet-induced weight loss and possibly by reduced LDL-C concentrations. 

Genetic Heteroscedasticity for Domestic Animal Traits

Animal traits differ not only in mean, but also in variation around the mean. For instance, one sire’s daughter group may be very homogeneous, while another sire’s daughters are much more heterogeneous in performance. The difference in residual variance can partially be explained by genetic differences. Models for such genetic heterogeneity of environmental variance include genetic effects for the mean and residual variance, and a correlation between the genetic effects for the mean and residual variance to measure how the residual variance might vary with the mean. The aim of this thesis was to develop a method based on double hierarchical generalized linear models for estimating genetic heteroscedasticity, and to apply it on four traits in two domestic animal species; teat count and litter size in pigs, and milk production and somatic cell count in dairy cows. The method developed is fast and has been implemented in software that is widely used in animal breeding, which makes it convenient to use. It is based on an approximation of double hierarchical generalized linear models by normal distributions. When having repeated observations on individuals or genetic groups, the estimates were found to be unbiased. For the traits studied, the estimated heritability values for the mean and the residual variance, and the genetic coefficients of variation, were found in the usual ranges reported. The genetic correlation between mean and residual variance was estimated for the pig traits only, and was found to be favorable for litter size, but unfavorable for teat count.

Kvinnors upplevelser av fosterrörelser i slutet av graviditeten

Bakgrund: Det finns begränsad kunskap om hur kvinnor upplever fosterrörelser i slutet av graviditeten. Ökad kunskap om fosterrörelser kan bidra till bättre möjligheter att identifiera foster som riskerar att dö intrauterint. Syfte: Att utforska hur gravida kvinnor upplever fosterrörelser i slutet av en okomplicerad graviditet samt hur mammor som mist ett barn i livmodern upplevt kontakten med barnet tiden före beskedet att barnet hade dött. Metod: Delstudie I, djupintervjuer med 26 mammor vars barn dött före födelsen, efter 28 fullgångna graviditetsveckor. Delstudie II, frågeformulär till 393 kvinnor med okomplicerad graviditet som besvarades i graviditetsvecka 37 till 42. Svaren analyserades i båda studierna med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: 22 mammor i delstudie I beskrev att de hade haft en föraning om att något kunde ha hänt deras barn innan de fick besked att barnet dött intrauterint. Föraningen grundades på att mammorna hade upplevt minskade eller uteblivna fosterrörelser. Det är något som inte stämmer; formulerades som ett sammanfattande tema på mammornas föraning. Processen mot insikten om att deras barn dött beskrivs i olika steg; Inte känna kontakt med barnet; Känna oro; Känna att något är fel; Inte begripa det ofattbara; Vilja få besked; Vara säker på att barnet har dött. I delstudie II beskrev 383 (96 %) kvinnor i fullgången okomplicerad graviditet olika rörelser som klassificerades som kraftfulla rörelser. De flesta kvinnorna beskrev flera typer av rörelser, tio (4 %) kvinnor beskrev fosterrörelser som inte inkluderade någon rörelse i kategorin kraftfulla rörelser. Konklusion: Mammor som mist sitt barn före födelsen hade känt en föraning om att deras väntade barn kunde må dåligt, de hade upplevt att de tappat kontakten med barnet innan de fick besked att barnet hade dött i livmodern men normaliserade känslan. De flesta kvinnor med okomplicerad, fullgången graviditet, beskriver att barnet rör sig med kraft och tryck, få kvinnor beskriver rörelser som inte kan kategoriseras som kraftfulla. Implikationer: Blivande mammor bör uppmanas att lita på sin upplevelse av att det är något som inte stämmer och kontakta sjukvården direkt om de är bekymrade över sitt ofödda barns rörelser. Bedömning av fosterrörelser i fullgången graviditet kan inkludera: förekomst, frekvens och intensitet. Nyckelord: Innehållsanalys, fosterdöd, fosterrörelser, fullgången graviditet, upplevelser