Narration, Visualization and Mind : Movies in everyday life as a resource for utopian self-reflection

The paper is analyzing how people in late modern society characterized by de-traditionalization, use moving images as a cultural resource for the construction of meaningful subjective world views. As a theoretical concept with several dimensions, “sacralization of the self” (Woodhead & Heelas 2000: 344), is related to media theory. With a critical focus on ‘the self’, as a core aspect in contemporary media society Eric W. Rothenbuhler labels the individual self as one of “the sacred objects of modern culture” (Rothenbuhler 2006: 31).I want to emphasize the need for case studies in order to undertake a critical investigation about ‘the self’ and how consumption of fiction film is interconnected to spectator´s creation of self images, but also to understand how film engagement elicits self-reflection (Giddens 1991, Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009a). The paper make use of empirical data to illustrate and theoretically develop perspectives on how the audience uses fiction film in every-day life for the construction of the self, as well for the construction of more profound and long-lasting ideas of being part of a moral community (Brereton 2005, Jerslev 2006, Klinger 2008, Mikkola et al. 2007, Vaage 2009b). Some empirical findings support a conclusion that moving images creates a transitional space for the human mind, with the capacity of transporting the spectator from real life to fiction and back to real life again, helping the individual with an ongoing process of transforming the self, dealing with who you actually are, and who you want to become (Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009b).

The "reflection protocol" - a way to develop learning and independent thinking?

It is now-a-days more and more common in the academic world to use new forms of “learning-tools”. One of those is the “reflection protocol”, which usually consist of a few pages of freely written text, related to something the students have read. There seems to be a lot of different opinions about the value to use this method. Some teachers and students are enthusiastic and others are rather critical. To write a “reflection protocol” is not in the first place to do a summery, a review, not even to analyze a text. Instead it is about to write down thoughts and questions that comes up as a result of the reading. It is also about doing associations, reflections and to interpret a text and relate this to a theme of some kind. The purpose to use “reflection protocols” is, as we see it, mainly for the student to practice independent thinking from a scientific point of view, but it also gives a possibility to a better understanding of another person’s thinking. This seems to open up for a fruitful dialogue and a way to learn. We will in this paper discuss if that could be the case.

Meta-theories in research: positivism, postmodernism, and critical realism

No scholar or researcher is able to provide robust evidence that counters the scant reflection on metatheory – mostly ontology and epistemology – underlying management studies in general, and industrial marketing and purchasing research in particular. This paper is a contribution to the indispensable discussion of metatheoretical alternatives in research, and most importantly, the strengths and shortcomings thereof, and respective implications on research questions, objectives, and findings.

A simple method to measure critical angles for high-sensitivity differential refractometry

A total internal reflection-based differencial refractometer, capable of measuring the real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index in real time, is presented. The device takes advantage of the phase difference acquired by s- and p-polarized light to generate an easily detectable minimum at the reflected profile. The method allows to sensitively measuring transparent and turbid liquid samples. (C)2012 Optical Society of America

Unanticipated Partial Behavioral Reflection: Adapting Applications at Runtime

Dynamic, unanticipated adaptation of running systems is of interest in a variety of situations, ranging from functional upgrades to on-the-fly debugging or monitoring of critical applications. In this paper we study a particular form of computational reflection, called unanticipated partial behavioral reflection, which is particularly well-suited for unanticipated adaptation of real-world systems. Our proposal combines the dynamicity of unanticipated reflection, i.e. reflection that does not require preparation of the code of any sort, and the selectivity and efficiency of partial behavioral reflection. First, we propose unanticipated partial behavioral reflection which enables the developer to precisely select the required reifications, to flexibly engineer the metalevel and to introduce the meta behavior dynamically. Second, we present a system supporting unanticipated partial behavioral reflection in Squeak Smalltalk, called Geppetto, and illustrate its use with a concrete example of a web application. Benchmarks validate the applicability of our proposal as an extension to the standard reflective abilities of Smalltalk.

New ruralities – old gender dynamics?: A reflection on high-value crop agriculture in the light of the feminisation debates

While a remarkable continuity in smallholder agricultural production has been identified, the shift from subsistence orientation towards more wage dependence appears in a different light when analysed under a gender perspective. "Feminisation" has been a catchphrase to characterise some of these processes; however, the debate has been subject to overgeneralisation, and can only inadequately grasp the gender dynamics in what has been referred to as "new ruralities". Illustrated for high-value crop production as an expression of agricultural transition in the Global South, this contribution offers a critical account of the feminisation thesis. Instead of discarding the notion of feminisation, it advocates a reassessment of its potential as a comprehensive framework against which empirical findings can be reflected. While conventional uses of the feminisation thesis have, in their great majority, come up with the conclusion that for women it can always only get worse, I propose a perspective which reveals gains and risks and how they are shared between men and women as they engage in new agricultural labour markets. This perspective rests on a methodology for case-based, comparative studies developed in this paper as a contribution for assessing the nature of agricultural transition and to investigate the qualitative change associated with new ruralities. A distinctive appreciation of the substance of agricultural change for different members of the rural society – namely men and women, but also different men, and different women – is the premise for overcoming barriers to shared development, and for framing effective governance in the context of global development.

A unique behavior of sub-critical hydrocarbon permeability in activated carbon at low pressures

In our study on sub-critical hydrocarbon permeation in activated carbon, a minimum in the total permeability (B-T) at low pressure has been observed for only long-chain hydrocarbons such as n-hexane and n-heptane. Such an observation suggests that the minimum appearance depends on the properties of permeating vapors as well as the porous medium. In this paper a permeation model is presented to explain the minimum behavior with the allowance of the collision-reflection factor in the Knudsen diffusivity to be a function of surface loading. Surface diffusion was found to be very significant compared to other transport mechanisms such as Knudsen diffusion and gaseous viscous flow at low pressures. Since the gaseous viscous flow contributes negligibly to the B, at low pressures, the minimum appearance in the B, is mainly attributed to the interplay between Knudsen diffusion and surface diffusion. Also, the molecular structure of adsorbates plays an important role in the minimum appearance.

Reflective analysis: Techniques for facilitating reflection

This paper describes a number of techniques for facilitating reflective critical analysis as a means of eliciting in-depth reflections on practice. The authors have previously used similar techniques in the research context, to assist practitioners to identify and analyse the basis of their work with clients. The techniques presented in this paper have been adapted for use in social work education, including in class-based and field education contexts, and to professional supervision.

Positionality and Comparisons: Critical Views on Qualitative Research across Asia

Ce cahier est basé sur la réflexion autobiographique de deux chercheuses ayant effectué des recherches qualitatives et ethnographiques, de 2008 à 2014, en Asie centrale et du Sud-­‐Est. Les expériences sur le terrain constituent des moyens de comparaisons dans le présent document. En mettant l’accent sur le positionnement sur le terrain, l’étude montre que, d’abord, il est essentiel de détenir une poste intermédiaire et de parler une langue locale afin de garantir un accès et de mener des activités de recherche sur le terrain. Deuxièmement, différentes régions prédéterminent des contextes culturels et politiques ponctuels qui, à leur tour, façonneraient la recherche en sciences sociales. Troisièmement, le fait d’être une femme présente à la fois des avantages et des inconvénients. Enfin, en termes de méthodologie, les stages et les entrevues se sont avérés des méthodes fiables pour la collecte des données empiriques sur les régions ci-­‐dessus mentionnées, sans pour autant permettre de bâtir la confiance.

Positionality and Comparisons: Critical Views on Qualitative Research across Asia

Ce cahier est basé sur la réflexion autobiographique de deux chercheuses ayant effectué des recherches qualitatives et ethnographiques, de 2008 à 2014, en Asie centrale et du Sud-­‐Est. Les expériences sur le terrain constituent des moyens de comparaisons dans le présent document. En mettant l’accent sur le positionnement sur le terrain, l’étude montre que, d’abord, il est essentiel de détenir une poste intermédiaire et de parler une langue locale afin de garantir un accès et de mener des activités de recherche sur le terrain. Deuxièmement, différentes régions prédéterminent des contextes culturels et politiques ponctuels qui, à leur tour, façonneraient la recherche en sciences sociales. Troisièmement, le fait d’être une femme présente à la fois des avantages et des inconvénients. Enfin, en termes de méthodologie, les stages et les entrevues se sont avérés des méthodes fiables pour la collecte des données empiriques sur les régions ci-­‐dessus mentionnées, sans pour autant permettre de bâtir la confiance.

Critical incident analysis: reflections of a teacher educator

As a teacher educator I consider myself an advocate for research-informed education, and strongly believe that it starts with one’s own critical self-reflection and analysis of one’s own teaching practice. Critical incident analysis is a pedagogical theory developed by Tripp (1993), whose analytical approaches allow reflection on teaching situations – ‘the critical incident’ – so that teachers can develop their professional judgments and practices. This article examines the concept of critical incident analysis through a teaching situation, with the aim of improving the teaching practice of students on teacher education programmes. I conclude that although critical incident analysis is a useful tool in navigating teaching practices, often challenges need to be addressed at much broader levels than the teaching context itself.

Design as a critical research

Historically the imaginary and the hegemonic thinking, in the Western globe north, has been marked by the epistemology and capitalists archetypes. Notwithstanding the design seem as a practice and discipline shielded on a simplistic discourse of functional / communicative efficiency, wandering through by multiple aestheticism apparently neutral in relation to the symbolic, but in fact they never are, because what really hapens is that the aesthetic appearance of the generated forms will always be a review of the powers ruling. We start from the understanding that the act of creating an aesthetic artifact, will also be a movement of inscription in a discursive platform (that precedes it), is in itself an narrative act and that fact represent a certain take place in relation to certain symbolic reality. On reflection shown if it sees design as a discipline and / or an instrument of action, whose operational relevance tends to question and simultaneously rehearsing a response, in which more than why interests answer to why. Apparently the design is a content mediator, but also, it is structure, is body, is idea. We think a design praxis as discipline and enrollment tool of critical thought and social transformation. For guiding research in this text, we propose the following question: Can the Design want for themselves an engagement with the symbolic in order to be an active part in the production of critical thinking in the place where it belongs? Methodologically our argument will be present in two differents moments: 1. a first, exploratory nature where we rescue the draw issues in the practice of design and 2. a second analytical nature concerning the subject issues (graphic and / or utility ) design and how it incorporates formal rites, political events and social practices of contemporary everyday life. We consider the praxis of design as a discipline and critical thinking enrollment tool as agents of social transformation. With this study we seek for contribute phenomenology design by studying the artifacts of configuration as well as the possible messages they convey and what impact they may have on the social network.

[theoretical Construction In The Sociology Of Health: A Reflection On Its Trajectory].

The scope of this paper is to reflect on the theoretical construction in the constitution of the sociology of health, still called medical sociology in some countries. Two main ideas constitute the basis for this: interdisciplinarity and the degree of articulation in the fields of medicine and sociology. We sought to establish a dialogue with some dimensions - macro/micro, structure/action - that constitute the basis for understanding medicine/health in relation to the social/sociological dimension. The main aspects of these dimensions are initially presented. Straus' two medical sociologies and the theory/application impasses are then addressed, as well as the dilemmas of the sociology of medicine in the 1960s and 1970s. From these analyses the theoretical production before 1970 is placed as a counterpoint. Lastly, the sociology of health is seen in the general context of sociology, which underwent a fragmentation process from 1970 with effects in all subfields of the social sciences. This process involves a rethinking of the theoretical issues in a broadened spectrum of possibilities. The 1980s are highlighted when theoretical issues in the sociology of health are reinvigorated and the issue of interdisciplinarity is once again addressed.

[collective Health Paradigms: A Brief Reflection].

The article discusses the possibility of applying Kuhn's concept of paradigm to collective health. The concept and its use in epidemiology, planning and the social sciences are reviewed briefly. The study stresses the multi-paradigmatic character of collective health, resulting from the convergence of multiple epistemologies and the involvement of diverse fields such as the biological sciences, philosophy, the social sciences and humanities.

Molecular Variations In Aromatic Cosolutes: Critical Role In The Rheology Of Cationic Wormlike Micelles.

Wormlike micelles formed by the addition to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) of a range of aromatic cosolutes with small molecular variations in their structure were systematically studied. Phenol and derivatives of benzoate and cinnamate were used, and the resulting mixtures were studied by oscillatory, steady-shear rheology, and the microstructure was probed by small-angle neutron scattering. The lengthening of the micelles and their entanglement result in remarkable viscoelastic properties, making rheology a useful tool to assess the effect of structural variations of the cosolutes on wormlike micelle formation. For a fixed concentration of CTAB and cosolute (200 mmol L(-1)), the relaxation time decreases in the following order: phenol > cinnamate> o-hydroxycinnamate > salicylate > o-methoxycinnamate > benzoate > o-methoxybenzoate. The variations in viscoelastic response are rationalized by using Mulliken population analysis to map out the electronic density of the cosolutes and quantify the barrier to rotation of specific groups on the aromatics. We find that the ability of the group attached to the aromatic ring to rotate is crucial in determining the packing of the cosolute at the micellar interface and thus critically impacts the micellar growth and, in turn, the rheological response. These results enable us for the first time to propose design rules for the self-assembly of the surfactants and cosolutes resulting in the formation of wormlike micelles with the cationic surfactant CTAB.