| 1. |
- Adamsson, Mathias
(författare)
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Non-image-forming effects of light : Implications for the design of living and working environments
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Seasonal variation in mood and subjective well-being are common at geographical locations further away from the equator. The 24-h light-dark cycle is the main time cue for synchronizing the human circadian clock to the external day and night.Nowadays, people spend more of their waking day indoors, with less exposure to the natural daylight cycle, relying on artificial lighting which differs to daylight in a number of aspects, including intensity, spectral composition and light exposure pattern.In parallel with the technology development that has been mainly driven by energy-saving reasons, it is important to investigate the non-image-forming effects of different properties of the daily and seasonal light exposure.The overall aim of the thesis was to identify characteristics of the daily light exposure that are important to support physiological and psychological needs of humans. To achieve this objective a number of research questions were posed concerning daily and seasonal light exposure, seasonal variation in physiological processes and psychological parameters, and evaluation of light exposure with respect to non-image-forming effects. The research questions were investigated in a longitudinal research design with measurements conducted each month during the year at a high latitude with large seasonal variation in day lengths.Self-report diaries and instruments for ambulatory- and static measurements were used to examine daily and seasonal light exposure in the working and living environments and for investigating the relationship between different parameters that can be used for evaluating light exposure according to non-image-forming effects of light. Seasonal variation in daily light exposure and regarding the pattern of light exposure was observed. Also, the results indicate a seasonal variation concerning the quality (i.e. spectral composition of the visible radiation) of the exposing light.Two biological markers, melatonin and cortisol, were used for investigating seasonal variation in physiological processes relating to the circadian clock. The results showed higher morning melatonin concentrations and peak level of melatonin during the winter although no seasonal change was observed concerning the phase position of the melatonin rhythm.Seasonal differences in mood and sleep-activity were studied by means of selfreport diaries and questionnaires. Seasonal variations were observed for both parameters. The results showed higher ratings of mood in the summer, particularly 6 in the evening, and a relationship between bedtime and evening light exposure and photoperiod length. Furthermore, longer sleep times was observed in the winter.Appraisal of lighting conditions in the offices during the year was rated by the use of a questionnaire. The results showed some seasonal differences concerning the perceived qualities of the light and some associations between characteristics of the lit environments and positive affect were found.Two methods, static- and ambulatory measurements, were used for recording lighting conditions in the working environments. Taken together, the results showed weak associations between the two methods.Research have demonstrated an increased need for taking non-image-forming effects into consideration when designing working and living environments, especially at geographical locations with large variations in day length where people are exposed to much of the daily light exposure at the workplace. Laboratory research has provided a good understanding of the basic concepts. However, more field research is needed. Also, current research has demonstrated that new methods of measuring and evaluating lighting conditions are needed.
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| 2. |
- Anderberg, Elsie
(författare)
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The relation between language and thought revealed in reflecting upon words used to express the conception of a problem
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The way relationships between symbols and thoughts are created is a general problem in learning, mainly described as "how students' learn to mean". This general problem raises some basic questions concerning how students' relate understanding to words used in learning. The present research provides an alternative perspective on the relationship between thought and language derived from the phenomenographic tradition and from the later philosophy of Wittgenstein. The general aim of the thesis is to analyse, describe and discuss aspects of learning and understanding concerning the relationship between thought and language. In the empirical investigation twenty-seven students from two institutes of higher education, a school of nursing and a teacher training college, participated. Qualitative interviewing was the instrument used both to stimulate students' reflection on their expressed conceptions of a particular problem presented and to document their reflection. Contextual analysis was the method used. The results of the empirical analyses are presented in related descriptive categories focusing on to three aspects of learning and understanding concerning relationships between words used and conceptions of a problem; 1) the character of relationships experienced 2) the different qualities in the process of students reflecting on relationships 3) the change of conceptions The theoretical investigation concerns, on the one hand the principle differences between understanding objects of knowledge and understanding language meaning in relation to learning and on the other hand the relationship between thought and language in theories of language meaning and understanding in the philosophy of language. One of the main conclusions drawn is that the proposed identity between thought and language within the theory of representationalism, well represented in social constructivism and individual constructivism, can not be presupposed in an educational perspective on learning as it focuses too much on learning to understand language meaning more than learning to understand objects of knowledge.
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| 3. |
- Carlsson, Leif Å
(författare)
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Round Trips to Heaven : Otherworldly Travelers in Early Judaism and Christianity
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the beginning of the Common Era, a number of religious texts were written recounting heavenly journey adventures. These narratives have come to constitute a recurring theme in research regarding ancient religions. Round Trips to Heaven features several early Jewish and Christian heavenly journey texts. Most of them are included in the apocalyptic literature. During the earlier research, the heavenly journey motif was understood to be one of many elements in this literature. It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that the stories of the heavenly journeys were treated as a type of their own among these texts. The approach of this study serves to illuminate the function of the texts and the circumstances and settings in which they were composed and later passed on, something which scholars have only recently begun to acknowledge. Of vital importance is the status of the heavenly travelers as well as their relationships with other members of the Tradition Group considered to have authored the texts. Two main types of heavenly journeys appear in the accounts. One type has the function of providing an identity for the heavenly traveler, and the other constitutes a paradigm for the events awaiting mankind after death. The concluding section of the book is a relatively long exposition of 3 Baruch. This text, which in its entirety portrays a heavenly journey, informs the reader about death. In common with a number of other heavenly journey texts, 3 Baruch has both Jewish and Christian elements. Moreover, it clearly reflects a universal perspective. A similar perspective is also found in several of the other heavenly journey narratives which provides a reasonable explanation for how they could be used in both Jewish and Christian contexts.
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| 4. |
- ENGBERG, ARON
(författare)
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Walking on the Pages of the Word of God : Self, Land, and Text Among Evangelical Volunteers in Jerusalem
- 2016. - 1st
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the last thirty years, the Evangelical relationship with the State of Israel has drawn much academic and popular attention, particularly from historical, theological, and political perspectives. This dissertation engages with this literature but also complements it with an ethnographic account of the discursive practices of Evangelical Zionists through which, it is suggested, much of the religious significance of the contemporary state is being produced. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork among Evangelical volunteer workers in Jerusalem, focusing on their stories about themselves, the land, and the biblical text. The volunteers are located at three Christian ministries in Jerusalem – the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), theBridges for Peace (BFP), and the Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) – all of which consider their work in Israel a natural consequence of biblical promises to Israel and their responsibility as Christians to “bless the Jewish people”. After introducing the theoretical and socio-cultural context in which this study is located, Chapter Three analyses the volunteers’ “coming-to-Israel” stories and the ways in which agency and selftransformation are understood therein. The analysis suggests that the ritual-like performance of these narratives situates the encounter with Israel as a religious conversion process and Israel as a religious symbol. Chapter Four discusses the volunteers’ narrative production of Israel as a sacred space that has a unique ability to mediate divine presence. It also shows how Israel’s special status is being negotiated both in relation to the encounter with material realities and with ideas about religious fetishism. The final analytical chapter focuses on “biblical literalism” as a textual ideology and on how this ideology becomes manifest in discourses about Bible prophecy and the “Hebraic roots of Christian faith”. It is suggested that these two discursive domains are deeply embedded in contestations about the authenticity of Evangelical religious forms: while the former often serves as empirical evidence for the truth of the biblical scripture, the latter constructs a historical narrative within which Evangelical Zionism is positioned as a rediscovery of authentic biblical faith. Ultimately, this study suggests that the beliefs and practices of Evangelical Christians engaged with Israel not only represent a recalibration of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism and between faith and politicsthemselves, but also a more fundamental reordering of the ways in which God is understood to relate to the world. While deeply embedded in Evangelical narrative traditions, the ideational and physical encounter with Israel also requires a renegotiation of Evangelical religion. This process involves questions of biblical reading practices and the meanings of signs and their social functions, and it invites Evangelical Zionists to negotiate the proper location of human and divine agency as well as the relationship between materiality and divine presence. For the volunteers the “realization of Israel’s spiritual significance” is a highly transformative experience, but rather than being a definite rupture from the past it is part of a broader process of increasingreligious commitment.
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| 5. |
- Evansluong, Quang V. D.
(författare)
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Opportunity creation as a mixed embedding process : A study of immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Entrepreneurial opportunities are frequently noted and addressed in the literature of immigrant entrepreneurship; however, little is known about how these entrepreneurial opportunities come into existence and how immigrant entrepreneurs create such opportunities. The purpose of this thesis is to examine why and how immigrant entrepreneurs create entrepreneurial opportunities through embedding processes in the home country and the host country.Sweden was chosen as the country of residence of immigrant entrepreneurs from Lebanon, Syria, Cameroon and Mexico. Four cases were selected in this study. Each case illustrates an opportunity creation process in a different industry, between a different home country and Sweden as the host country and by immigrant entrepreneurs with different backgrounds.By using the mixed embeddedness perspective as the theoretical lens in combination with the literature on entrepreneurial opportunity and immigrant entrepreneurship, this thesis develops a model of entrepreneurial opportunity creation as an integration process. The findings suggest that entrepreneurial opportunity creation can be considered as a process of local integration by immigrant entrepreneurs into the host country and a re-integration of these entrepreneurs into the home country. At the beginning of the opportunity creation process, immigrant entrepreneurs feel socially excluded in the host country. Throughout the opportunity creation process, immigrant entrepreneurs interact with different actors in the host country and gradually move from being socially excluded to socially included, which illustrates a local integration process. In this process, immigrant entrepreneurs become localized through different activities that embed them in the local context. The process of entrepreneurial idea and business concept development and the refinement of the business concept in this thesis illustrates an ongoing and non-linear process of: being locally integrated through creating trust in the local people, acculturating and creating a sense of belonging; and being re-integrated to the home country through maintaining and establishing new links to the home country.The study contributes to the mainstream entrepreneurship and immigrant entrepreneurship in several ways. First, it contributes to studies on immigrant entrepreneurship by investigating why immigrants embark on a journey to be entrepreneurs and how immigrant entrepreneurs create entrepreneurial opportunities through embedding processes in the home and the host country. The study demonstrates how an entrepreneurial opportunity is created as a social integration process.Second, the study contributes to literature on entrepreneurship and immigrant entrepreneurship by incorporating the entrepreneurial opportunity creation process with acculturation strategies. It illustrates how the entrepreneurial opportunity creation process intertwines with the four strategies of acculturation.Third, the study contributes to the mixed embeddedness perspective by adopting the process approach and proposing mixed embedding as a new concept which centers on the interplay between the home and the host country’s influences on immigrants’ business activities; by extending mixed embeddedness from the national level of the home country or the host country to the transnational level between the home country and the host country; and by proposing an alternative way to view an entrepreneurial opportunity as a creation process instead of being discovered.Fourth, the study contributes to the immigrant entrepreneurship literature in Sweden by furthering the understanding of entrepreneurial opportunity creation by immigrant entrepreneurs in Sweden.Furthermore, the study suggests some implications for practice. The study proposes some embedding mechanisms which can be implemented in business support programs for immigrant entrepreneurs and in integration programs for immigrants in general. The design of the business support programs can aim to help immigrant entrepreneurs to: create credibility through contacts and experiences that they establish and gain in the local community; create familiarity to the local community through associating business concepts with well-known values; engage in the local life to understand customers’ mindsets, master the local language to understand local customers’ needs; and establish new/strengthen connections to the home country. The design of integration programs can aim to undertake activities that help immigrants increase the interaction between the local people and themselves. This type of interaction could be increased by organizing meetings and activities in which immigrants are introduced to different local sports clubs and hobby clubs. An approach in which the host country’s language is practiced and mastered anywhere and anytime should be adopted in the integration programs.
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| 6. |
- Gudmundsson, David
(författare)
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Konfessionell krigsmakt. Predikan och bön i den svenska armén 1611-1721
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The broad aim of this thesis is to explain the fundamental themes and function of Swedish field sermons and field prayers, and so to re-examine the view in earlier research that field sermons were primarily ‘Old Testamentary’ in nature. Inspired by more recent international research, I hold that the sermons’ basic functions were twofold: discipline and comfort. What matters, is to understand the disciplinary aspects in terms of the fundamental Lutheran view of the social order, which was expressed in the doctrines of the three estates and of vocation. The army needed disciplined soldiers, and this the sermons answered for, but not primarily in response to the needs of the army, but as a reflection of Lutheranism’s worldview and self-understanding. The main expression of the sermons’ comforting function was the Gospel of Christ. This meant that the soldiers should not fear death, because if they were to die, it would be the will of God, and after death awaited eternal life. The basic themes seen in the sermons cannot be described as being ‘Old Testamentary’. The sermons were not primarily based on passages from the Old Testament, nor did martial themes and the Decalogue dominate at the expense of the Gospel. The more specific aim of the thesis is to understand the ways in which preaching might have helped shape the self-image and worldview of both officers and men in the Swedish Army. A key analytical perspective is provided by Thomas Kaufmann’s thesis on ‘Lutheran confessional culture’. Kaufmann emphasizes Lutheranism’s outward boundaries–towards other confessions–but also its internal pluralisation. I have coined the methodological term ‘offered identification’ in order to study the self-image presented to Swedish soldiery. The premise here is that a person’s self-image consists of multiple identifications, while the word ‘offered’ signals the fact that I examine ideals, but not their eventual appropriation by the soldiers. In my analysis I examine three offered identifications. A confessional Lutheran identification as the correct sort of Christian was set against those I term ‘the confessional others’, most important being the Roman Catholic Church or ‘the papists’. An important part of a national identification as a Swedish subject was the belief that they were the chosen people–that Swedes were the new Israel. A professional identification as a Christian soldier was based on the Lutheran doctrines of vocation and of the three estates, which meant it was legitimate for a Christian to be a soldier. The soldierly ideal was fundamentally a Christian ideal.
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| 7. |
- Hedman, Karl, 1967-
(författare)
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Managing Medical Emergency Calls
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a conversation analytic examination of recurrent practices of interaction in medicalemergency calls. The study expands the analytical focus in past research on emergency calls betweenemergency call operators and callers to pre-hospital emergency care interaction on the phone betweennurses, physicians and callers. The investigation is based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Swedish emergencycontrol centre. The data used for the study consists primarily of audio recordings of medical emergency calls.Fundamental procedures in medical emergency calls examined in the dissertation are: (1) questioning; (2)emotion management; (3) risk management and (4) instruction giving. Emergency call-takers ask questions toelicit descriptions by callers of what is happening and to manage symptoms of patients to help keep them safeuntil ambulance crews arrive. In the questioning practice about acutely ill or injured patients call-takers usemainly yes-no questions and clarify problems by questioning callers making a distinction between defined andundefined problems. The analysis reveals four core types of emotion management practices: (1) call-takerskeep themselves calm when managing callers’ social displays of emotions; (2) promising ambulanceassistance; (3) providing problem solving presentations including emergency response measures to concernsof callers, and (4) emphasising the positive to create hope for callers. Call-takers use seven key procedures tomanage risk in medical emergency calls: (1) risk listening through active listening after actual and possiblerisks; (2) risk questioning; (3) risk identification; (4) risk monitoring; (5) risk assessment; (6) making decisionsabout elicited risk and (7) risk reduction. Instruction giving using directives and recommendations isaccomplished by call-takers in four main ways: (1) acute flow maintaining instruction giving when callers areprocedurally out of line; (2) measure oriented instructions for patient care and emergency responsemanagement; (3) organisational response instructions and (4) summarising instruction giving. Callers routinelyacknowledge risk identifications and follow instructions delivered by call-takers to examine statuses and lifesigns of patients such as breathing, movement and pulse, and perform basic first aid and emergency responsemeasures.The findings generated from this study will be useful in emergency call-taker training in carrying out interactiveprocedures in medical emergency calls and add to the larger research programmes on on-telephoneinteraction between professionals and citizen callers. This is an essential book for pre-hospital emergency careproviders and institutional interaction researchers and students.
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| 8. |
- Jarhag, Sven
(författare)
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Planering eller frigörelse? : En studie om bemyndigande
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The legislation on rights that was presented in the final report of the commission of inquiry into handicap (SOU 1991:46), the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments, showed that, from an ethical point of view, society´s welfare is something that concerns everyone. The demand for social solidarity, according to the inquiry, meant that public measures must be designed to meet quality requirements aiming at self-determination and influence, accessibility, participation, and continuity and holism. The focus is on the problematic concept of empowerment. The aim of the study was to acquire a deeper understanding of whether this phenomenon as a process was active at three levels of society: individual, group and municipality. The methods used were interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation. Written documents, such as minutes and memoranda, were also analysed and interpreted in order to understand empowerment at these three contextual levels. The dissertation is based on three empirical studies using this method of analysis. Although society´s rule system creates new administrative categories, which in turn generate administrative paradigms, it is in the relations between the actors at these three levels that the content is developed, that is, in interaction between them at the level of actor and structure. Alberto Melucci´s (1991) discussion of the irreconcilable tension between liberation and control/repression, between the opposites of empowerment and attitudes of paternalism/disempowerment, also provided an analytical model that is used throughout the dissertation. Julian Rappaport´s (1981) analysis of empowerment phases was likewise an important component when the empowerment theory was applied to the empirical studies. The dissertation also includes a description and analysis of Beth Mount´s (1987) study of planning processes, in order to compare some Anglo-Saxon planning models with the individual plan presented in the Act (prop. 1992/93:159). The results show that the paternalistic attitudes that dominate the planning processes aimed at empowerment are ideologically associated with individual and medical explanatory models of handicap. Four shared themes are presented, representing categories which answer the research questions posed, that is, whether empowerment processes could be observed at the different levels. Regardless of what empowerment functionally impaired persons can achieve through the attitudes of the public authorities, the Act cannot conceal the fact that nothing has changed yet since the law was passed in any respects that concerns people´s influence and empowerment. In this discursive development, cooperation between the research community and the functionally impaired persons is a cornerstone.
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| 9. |
- Lundgren, Ulla
(författare)
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Interkulturell förståelse i engelskundervisning - en möjlighet
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to examine the prospects of developing intercultural understanding through English as a foreign language (EFL) education in the Swedish comprehensive school. This overall aim is split into two subordinate aims: (1) to analyse and problematize the intercultural dimension of EFL as three discourses, research discourse, authority discourse and teacher discourse; (2) to relate the above discourses to each other in order to reveal a space for the interpretation of culture teaching and learning culture in EFL.The thesis is set in a broad social constructionist frame. The study draws on perspectives applied to culture theory (Street, Hannerz, Thavenius, Sjögren), current theories about language and culture (Kramsch, Byram, Risager), critical discourse analysis (Fairclough) and curriculum theory (Svingby, Englund). The intercultural dimension of EFL form an order of discourse with competing discourses. The findings are summarized as two categories, opportunities and obstacles for developing intercultural understanding in EFL education: Opportunities promoting intercultural understanding: (1) International and national guidelines prescribe understanding of otherness across the curriculum. (2) A theoretical base is available which is in agreement with the Swedish value base. (3) EFL syllabus introduces intercultural understanding and intercultural competence. Intercultural understanding shall be assessed. (4) The interviewed teachers consider developing students' understanding of otherness and self as important issues. (5) An increasing number of multicultural students can contribute to alternative perspectives in the language classroom. Obstacles preventing intercultural understanding: (1) Current research does not reach teachers. (2) The national syllabus narrows culture to factual knowledge, uses vague concepts and offers no assessment criteria. (3) National tests do not assess intercultural understanding. (4) School organisation, obstructs cross - curricular thematic education. (5) Teachers lack time for didactic reflection and development. (6) Local microcontext is seen as main obstructions. (7) Students' lack of ability to take the perspective of the other is considered a major obstacle. Finally the three discourses are related to each other and a model is presented showing a space for the interpretation of culture teaching and learning culture in EFL.
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| 10. |
- Moodysson, Jerker
(författare)
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Sites and Modes of Knowledge Creation: On the Spatial Organization of Biotechnology Innovation
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The accelerated speed and intensity of global interconnections in all segments of society during the last couple of decades have had a profound impact on the workings of contemporary capitalism. Increased pressure is put on national and regional economies to continuously upgrade their competitive advantages, at the same time as new learning opportunities occur at a faster rate than ever. For reasons like these, knowledge is described as the most important resource, and learning the most important process, for firms and organizations, as well as nations and regions, to become and remain competitive. In parallel with the forces of globalization there are however also strong forces of localization. Empirical studies reveal that knowledge intensive industries tend to agglomerate in space, often in proximity to leading universities and research institutes, and several policy initiatives raised in attempts to meet the challenges of globalization are focused on promoting local knowledge spillovers between industry and academia. Observations like these intrigue geographers interested in the spatial organization of innovation and raises important questions about what is local and what is global in "the globalizing learning economy". This study takes these observations as point of departure and develops a conceptual framework used to analyze the spatial organization of innovation in biotechnology. Biotechnology is a suitable case for such analysis since it represents a set of activities in the intersection of science and industry which displays both globalization and localization. By combining a system perspective with in-depth focus on concrete knowledge creation activities the study explains how and why knowledge interaction between firms and related actors varies with different activities embedded in the innovation processes. Empirical focus is put the Swedish-Danish bioregion Medicon Valley. The study is reported in five articles which can also be read separately. Two of the articles focus on the aggregate of dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) composing the bioregion, while the remaining three focus on a selection of DBFs and academic research groups involved in innovation projects spanning from basic science with not yet fully identified commercial applications to more applied product development in different subfields of biotechnology related industries.
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