Community Experiences of Sectarianism

We present here our findings from the qualitative study commissioned by the Scottish Government (Justice Analytical Services) to provide an understanding of the nature of sectarianism in a range of communities across Scotland, including those where it may be most visibly prevalent. The team of academics commissioned to carry out this research were drawn from the disciplines of law, music, social geography, cultural studies, and communication and media studies. The study was commissioned on 14 March 2014, to conclude in spring 2015.

Alcohol-Related Problems in Eastern Europe : A Comparative Perspective

This thesis investigates the association between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm in Eastern Europe. The main aim was to estimate to what extent changes in per capita alcohol consumption have an impact on different forms of alcohol-related mortality, and to put the results in an international comparative perspective. The thesis includes four papers; the first two papers use aggregate time-series analysis to assess how changes in per capita consumption affect rates in suicide mortality and fatal non-intentional injuries in several Eastern European countries, respectively. The third paper applies the same methodological approach to analyse the population-level relationship between alcohol and homicide in Russia and the U.S.. The fourth paper employs survey data to assess how the risk of experiencing alcohol-related problems in relation to volume of consumption in the Baltic countries compares to Sweden and Italy. The results of the first three papers suggests: (i) that changes in per capita consumption are significantly related to changes in mortality rates of suicide, non-intentional injuries and homicide in the countries under study; (ii) that the relationship is stronger for men than for women, and (iii) that the relationship tends to be stronger in the countries with more detrimental drinking patterns, e.g. Russia. The results of the fourth paper suggest that the risk of experiencing alcohol-related problems in relation to level of drinking in the Baltic countries is similar to the corresponding risk in Sweden, but considerably stronger than in Italy. In conclusion, the findings support the significance of a public health approach to alcohol-related problems in Eastern Europe, i.e., policy measures directed towards total alcohol consumption. In addition, strategies aimed at reducing the occurrence of binge drinking seem to have great potential for reducing alcohol-related harm and mortality in Eastern European countries.

A Biocultural Examination of Student Learning Behaviors in Large Undergraduate Lectures

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

O idoso e as ações sociais em prol desse grupo etário: um estudo sobre a qualidade de vida na Terceira Idade e o Projeto Saúde e Cidadania na Melhor Idade

The present study regards an applied qualitative social research (descriptive) which approaches the matter between old age and Brazilian social actions performed in social projects, aiming a qualified life and citizenship for this group of age. The objective of the study is to evaluate the contribution of Project Health and Citizenship in Old Age regarding social actions from the government directed to old age individual treatment for life quality improvement. The theoretical fundamentals of this work is, in a first moment, about old age and certain existing theories about aging process, as well as the differences and perspectives that come up throughout this process. In a second moment, some reflections are developed about the relation between life quality and leisure regarding old age, with the conception and historical rescue about these questions, as well as the evidence of leisure as an instrument of well-being feasibility and a better life quality in old age. Then the study contextualizes Brazilian government treatment to old age individuals, cutting off the Constitution of Republic from 1988 and some social attitudes taken by the government in a try to reach this specific group. Finally, the study presents the Project Health and Citizenship in Old Age , as a social program which belongs to extension activities from Federal Center of Technological Education of Rio Grande do Norte (CEFET-RN), which aims old age treatment and their citizenship and life quality. After the application of a semi-structured interview using the technique of Analysis of content for the Analysis and Discussion of Results, it is possible to conclude that the Project Health and Citizenship in Old Age fulfils its objective regarding contribution, through offered leisure activities, for old age well-being and life quality improvement. Hence, on this regard, it is possible to observe the importance and value of government actions, social projects and programs assisting old age individuals, for they are able to provide this group the opportunity to live out activities that allow their citizenship and socialization, regarding well-being and life quality improvement.

Racionalidade substantiva no processo decisório: um estudo em instituições que lidam com o tratamento oncológico infantojuvenil na cidade de Natal-RN

The present study regards an applied social research (qualitative) performed in two institutions which lead children s cancer treatment in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. The main goal of this study is, as of a literature review at works which characterizes the first generations of study about substantive rationality, to detect Decision Making process related aspects that may serve as a basis to elaborate analysis categories from decision making process, aggregating them into a new study that may provide an advance to the theme in administrative science. The academic works based on the analysis model created by Mauricio Serva served as a basis to deep research into such theme, which verifies the predominant rationality in eleven administrative internal processes in productive organizations. This dissertation intends to go beyond the identification of the predominant rationality by elaborating new categories of analysis, and making possible the continuity of the subject in administrative science. Based on Guerreiro Ramos s work, which sees a kind of ideal organization, as known as isonomies, this study still calls upon Karl Polanyi s thoughts, which with the objective of comprehending the independent economic phenomenon of the value that allows considering non-market economies, find that the economy of the men is submerged in his social relations; it also rescues the studies from Max Weber who investigates the meaning of social action to better understand the rationality, and refers to the study of Jürgen Habermas, who proposes a broader conception about rationality, within the theory of communicative action. As a result of this theme s review, seven analysis categories of the decision making process have been formulated. They were applied in the institutions that had been chosen and helped to detect the type of predominant rationality in the categories of the decision making process. The results confirm that, although the decisions making process involves rational elements, such as information, identification of alternatives, there are also specific values of each individual with his experience and view oh the world, permeated not only by instrumental rationality, but also by substantive rationality. The study has verified that two similar institutions may show different types of rationality in the decision making process, when decision factors may tend to instrumental rationality, according to administration classic way, as well as they may emerge from substantive rationality, thus contributing to the process of emancipation of the human being in his sphere of work

Influence of household remittance on childhood stunting in Nepal

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Native Women, Intimate Partner Violence, and Drug Use and Consequences: Prevalence and Associations Among Tribal College and University Students

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Peer Relationships in School-Age Children with Autism: Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Participatory filmmaking with Qur’anic students in Kano, Nigeria: ‘speak good about us or keep quiet!’

‘Participatory’ research is often presented as a means to ‘empower’ stigmatised groups by addressing shame and by promoting attitude changes. Drawing on experiences producing a ‘participatory’ docudrama with traditional Qur’anic students (almajirai) in Kano, northern Nigeria, I reflect on the limits of ‘participatory’ research as a tool for ‘empowerment’. I describe the risks stigmatised groups may incur by participating, and consider to what extent, if at all, it can foster social change. The almajirai have attracted negative attention as presumed victims of child neglect and as ‘cannon fodder’ for Islamic radicalisation. Their participation in the filmmaking gave them an opportunity to voice their concerns and to rebuke those treating them heedlessly. At the same time, they became vulnerable to accusations and suspicions within their communities. To escape the negative connotations of poverty, they deemphasised its role for almajiri enrolment, thus concealing structural inequalities.

INVISIBLE LABOR FOR DATA: INSTITUTIONS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND VIRTUAL SPACE

Americans are accustomed to a wide range of data collection in their lives: census, polls, surveys, user registrations, and disclosure forms. When logging onto the Internet, users’ actions are being tracked everywhere: clicking, typing, tapping, swiping, searching, and placing orders. All of this data is stored to create data-driven profiles of each user. Social network sites, furthermore, set the voluntarily sharing of personal data as the default mode of engagement. But people’s time and energy devoted to creating this massive amount of data, on paper and online, are taken for granted. Few people would consider their time and energy spent on data production as labor. Even if some people do acknowledge their labor for data, they believe it is accessory to the activities at hand. In the face of pervasive data collection and the rising time spent on screens, why do people keep ignoring their labor for data? How has labor for data been become invisible, as something that is disregarded by many users? What does invisible labor for data imply for everyday cultural practices in the United States? Invisible Labor for Data addresses these questions. I argue that three intertwined forces contribute to framing data production as being void of labor: data production institutions throughout history, the Internet’s technological infrastructure (especially with the implementation of algorithms), and the multiplication of virtual spaces. There is a common tendency in the framework of human interactions with computers to deprive data and bodies of their materiality. My Introduction and Chapter 1 offer theoretical interventions by reinstating embodied materiality and redefining labor for data as an ongoing process. The middle Chapters present case studies explaining how labor for data is pushed to the margin of the narratives about data production. I focus on a nationwide debate in the 1960s on whether the U.S. should build a databank, contemporary Big Data practices in the data broker and the Internet industries, and the group of people who are hired to produce data for other people’s avatars in the virtual games. I conclude with a discussion on how the new development of crowdsourcing projects may usher in the new chapter in exploiting invisible and discounted labor for data.

Do you what I say? people reconstruct the syntax of anomalous utterances

We frequently experience and successfully process anomalous utterances. Here we examine whether people do this by ‘correcting’ syntactic anomalies to yield well-formed representations. In two structural priming experiments, participants’ syntactic choices in picture description were influenced as strongly by previously comprehended anomalous (missing-verb) prime sentences as by well-formed prime sentences. Our results suggest that comprehenders can reconstruct the constituent structure of anomalous utterances – even when such utterances lack a major structural component such as the verb. These results also imply that structural alignment in dialogue is unaffected if one interlocutor produces anomalous utterances.

Comunidad universitaria de unidades de información especializadas en ciencias sociales: una experiencia exitosa

Una de las características de los países de capitalismo dependiente – periférico es la escasa inversión en el campo de la investigación científica. En particular, en el ámbito de las ciencias sociales, esta situación se manifiesta en los muy limitados recursos para el desarrollo de centros de documentación y bibliotecas especializadas como soporte necesario para el desarrollo eficiente y eficaz de la investigación social sobre las realidades nacionales. La Comunidad Universitaria de Unidades de Información Especializadas en Ciencias Sociales es una experiencia exitosa en la educación superior, que provoca romper, a su vez, la lógica de mercantilizar la información, potenciando el uso de los limitados recursos que las universidades públicas costarricenses invierten en el campo de la información para investigación social, por medio de la coordinación de tareas y la integración de procesos técnicos entre distintas unidades de información participantes. Abstract One of the characeristics of peripherial capitalism dependant countries is the scant investment in scientific research particulary, in the field of Social Sciences; this situation is shown in the limited resources available for the development of specialized documentation centers and libraries as necessary support for the efficient and effective development of the social research on the national realities. The University Community of Specialized Information Units on Social Sciences is a successful experience in the university education field; this experience induces a break on the logic of commercialization of information by strengthening the use of the scarce resources that Costarican universities invest in this area. This action is carried out by means of coordinating the tasks and the integration of the technical processes between the different information units involved

Bildungsforschung ohne kritische Theorie der Bildung? Ein Gutachten von Theodor W. Adorno zur Gründung eines (Max-Planck)„Instituts für Recht, Soziologie und Ökonomie der Bildung“ aus dem Jahre 1961

Der Autor kommentiert das Gutachten von Adorno zur Gründung des Max-Planck-Instituts für Bildungsforschung in Berlin. „Das Gutachten bietet eine willkommene Gelegenheit, sich angesichts des heute vorherrschenden mainstream von ‚Bildungsforschung‘ - und in PISA-Zeiten von ‚empirischer‘ zumal - noch einmal zu vergegenwärtigen, was der Anspruch von Bildungsforschung im Lichte der Kritischen Theorie der Bildung zu sein hätte. Es geht um das Problem der Verdinglichung, vor dem Adorno gewarnt hatte. Wenn Bildung (im Sinne des Wortes) festgestellt wird - als Bildungsgut, das erworben und besessen werden kann –, dann lassen sich definierte Bildungsprodukte messen und vergleichen, und wer dem aufsitzt, als was sie sich in Sachen ‚Bildung‘ ausgeben, ist ihrer Selbstideologisierung schon aufgesessen. Eben dies wollte Becker vermieden sehen.“ (DIPF/Orig.)

Evaluation of the Working for Families Fund 2004-2008.

This report summarises the Final Evaluation Report of the Working for Families Fund (WFF) programme from 2004-08. It was carried out by the Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh, for the Scottish Government over this period. Over the four years the budget for WFF was £50 million, a total of 25,508 clients were registered, 53% of all clients (13,594) achieved hard‘ outcomes, such as employment, and a further 13% (3,283) achieved other significant outcomes.

CONSTRUCCIÓN DE ESPACIOS DE INFORMACIÓN PARA GARANTIZAR EL ACCESO AL CONOCIMIENTO EN LAS POBLACIONES INDÍGENAS: EL CASO DE COSTA RICA

Esta ponencia se basa en el proyecto CENTRO DE CONOCIMIENTO PARA GRUPOS INDÍGENAS CENTROAMERICANOS (GEIC), coordinado por la Escuela de Bibliotecología, Documentación e Información (EBDI) de la Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, (UNA), su objetivo es “proponer la construcción de espacios de información para la población indígena, a partir del proyecto CENTRO DE CONOCIMIENTO PARA GRUPOS INDÍGENAS CENTROAMERICANOS y con esta ponencia se pretende presentar las lecciones aprendidas durante 2003-2007, años de recolección y análisis de datos, de establecimiento de relaciones, de coordinar actividades y ejecutar acciones tendientes a garantizar el cumplimiento al derecho de acceso a la información de las poblaciones indígenas costarricenses.El objetivo de GEIC fue crear un Centro de Conocimiento sobre/de Grupos Étnicos Indígenas Centroamericanos que sirviera de eje central para la consolidación del desarrollo de procesos tendientes a fortalecer la temática y el desarrollo de los grupos étnicos indígenas centroamericanos.El proyecto inició en el 2003, pero al no contar con personal permanente, se interrumpe su proceso hasta enero de 2004, con el desarrollo de la primera etapa, que comprende implementar cinco objetivos en Costa Rica. En posteriores etapas se espera integrar a los demás países centroamericanos.La población indígena costarricense corresponde a 63,876 personas, representando el 1.6% de la población nacional; existen ocho grupos socioculturales indígenas distintos, Cabécares, Bribris, Ngäbe, Térrabas, Borucas, Huetares, Malekus y Chorotegas, habitan en 24 territorios y hablan en 6 idiomas indígenas. A ellos se deben sumar poblaciones indígenas migratorias como los Miskitos de Nicaragua y Ngäbes de Panamá que trabajan en la producción agrícola en distintas zonas del país. El Proyecto GEIC, buscó la ejecución de la propuesta de creación de una unidad de información especializada en asuntos indígenas, en Shiroles Talamanca, para esto se realizó una investigación diagnóstica en la zona, determinando los recursos disponibles: tecnológicos, humanos, económicos y educacionales. En la actualidad se está gestionando y buscando financiamiento en instituciones locales, nacionales, e internacionales para cubrir los costos, aspecto que resulta un poco difícil por la falta de valoración de la importancia de la información en las comunidades indígenas.Otra actividad paralela a ésta es la construcción de un portal disponible en la dirección: http://www.una.ac.cr/bibliotecología/proyectogeic, y que fue avalado por las comunidades indígenas, con la participación de los y las protagonistas. En esa oportunidad se les explicó cada sección del mismo y se les solicitó sus observaciones y comentarios al respecto para involucrarlos(as) y se sintieran apropiados(as) de la misma.