Contextual Analysis Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This paper analyzes the prehistory of the War on Terror to explore how the meanings counterterrorists attributed to “terrorism” in the 1990s. A Tom Clancy novel, Rainbow Six, read in the context American cultural shifts in the 1990s... more

This paper analyzes the prehistory of the War on Terror to explore how the meanings counterterrorists attributed to “terrorism” in the 1990s. A Tom Clancy novel, Rainbow Six, read in the context American cultural shifts in the 1990s surrounding capitalism, technology, globalization, and gender, reveal a counterterrorist fantast of mirroring terrorist dissociation from state institutions to engage in extralegal practices. These tactics range from breaking international law to torture, anticipating the War on Terror. The paper concludes with a consideration of the possibility that 9/11 may have slipped into a pre-existing cultural narrative rather than starting a new one.

This article contributes to the theoretical and methodological discussion on textual-contextual analysis in political communication and media research. It argues that taking into consideration both text and context throughout an analysis... more

This article contributes to the theoretical and methodological discussion on textual-contextual analysis in political communication and media research. It argues that taking into consideration both text and context throughout an analysis of the process of production enables the observation of the relation between the social and the linguistic. It opens up a non-deterministic perspective for the analysis of the above relation. The article rests upon an empirical study on the production of discourses for the campaign of European Parliament elections. The use of such a multilevel approach adds important elements to the research findings, particularly in terms of showing on the one hand how power relations within ‘Europarties’ results in the construction of common European identities in different European Union (EU) states, and on the other hand how professionalization of political communication reinforces discursive dissimilarities between parties of the same ideological family in different EU states.

ABSTRACT: During the cartographic generalisation process, geographic objects cannot just be considered one by one. The way objects are processed clearly depends on their spatial context. In this paper, we first study the nature of spatial... more

ABSTRACT: During the cartographic generalisation process, geographic objects cannot just be considered one by one. The way objects are processed clearly depends on their spatial context. In this paper, we first study the nature of spatial context encountered during map generalisation. We differentiate three kinds of relations that an object ,can have with its environment: being part of a ,significant

Abstract Hanna Ojamo: Arts Organizations of a New Era - A Case Study of the Changes in Funding and Leadership in State-Subsidized Arts Organizations in Finland (Working title of PhD Thesis 2017–2021) How do changes in funding affect the... more

Abstract
Hanna Ojamo: Arts Organizations of a New Era - A Case Study of the Changes in Funding and Leadership in State-Subsidized Arts Organizations in Finland (Working title of PhD Thesis 2017–2021)
How do changes in funding affect the leadership of the state-subsidized orchestras, theaters and art museums in 2017⏤2019? The research uses critical social theory and sociology to study the changes in leadership and funding in the arts organizations in the populist neoliberal political era and the state-subsidy system’s renewal process of 2016⏤ (VOS). Extensive background material was collected in 2015⏤2017 during the predoctoral study phase at the University of the Arts Helsinki. The emphasis of the research is in media analysis. Reports, social media conversations in the media, ministry documents, statistics, social policy documents, newspaper articles, interviews in the organizations as well as field observations of the researcher are analyzed in-depth. To understand the phenomenon and to put it in context, it studies the shift from the welfare arts policy discourse of the 1960s to the 2020’s competition society. The current state subsidy system favors some arts organizations heavily while leavings others outside. In the new legislation suggestion of 2018, incentives and choices were introduced in funding instead of even distribution of money. After he Finns party took over the Ministry of Education in Finland, May 2017, the renewal process has become politically ever more complex putting the new legislation in practice earliest in 2020. The framework of the study is critical social theory, J. Habermas’s theory of communicative action according to which active social parties form communication in the society. The method is critical discourse analysis (DA) combined with political context analysis and autoethnograpgy.
The research suggests that state-subsidized orchestras and art museums are experiencing great indirect and direct pressure in their leadership styles as a result of the changes in funding. Subsidies are under constant threat, the established arts institutions must endure the pressure of constant change. This in turn, reflects into organizational culture and has possible long-term effects on the identity and curricula of the institutions. The study suggests that leadership has not yet been fully adapted to meet the needs of the changing climate of funding, incentives and quality criteria. More flexibility, creativity and collaboration is needed for securing basic funding and keeping the subsidies in the future. The legitimacy of the arts is challenged by the populist coalition government. Audience development programs and fundraising are encouraged by the state. The research brings new knowledge on cultural policy, funding and leadership of orchestras and art museums of the mid-2010s for future managers when they navigate change. Preliminary findings of the study suggest that cultural policy and power in is a two-way discourse from the ministry level to the organizational level when negotiating funding for future arts organizations. The PhD thesis was started 1. September, 2017 and the estimated doctoral defense takes place in 2021.
Keywords: cultural policy; funding; arts organizations; leadership; critical social theory; sociology; change
Supervisors: Professor Tanja Johansson (PhD Sc.Econ.), Head of the Doctoral School, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki; sub-supervisor PhD Pauli Rautiainen, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University Faculty of Management

This paper focuses upon two issues. Firstly, the question of identifying diachronic trends, and more importantly significant outliers, in corpora which permit an investigation of a feature at many sampling points over time. Secondly, we... more

This paper focuses upon two issues. Firstly, the question of identifying diachronic trends, and more importantly significant outliers, in corpora which permit an investigation of a feature at many sampling points over time. Secondly, we consider how best to combine more qualitatively oriented approaches to corpus data with the type of trends that can be observed in a corpus using quantitative techniques. The work uses a recently completed ESRC-funded project as a case study, the representation of Islam in the UK press, in order to demonstrate the potential of the approach taken to establishing significant peaks in diachronic frequency development, and the fruitful interface that may be created between qualitative and quantitative techniques.

This paper presents findings from the implementation of an integrated information system, Project Genesis, at Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), USA. While the development and implementation was riddled with problems, the project... more

This paper presents findings from the implementation of an integrated information system, Project Genesis, at Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), USA. While the development and implementation was riddled with problems, the project was still labeled as successful. The case study identifies a range of issues in the organization and evaluates these based on different interpretations of various stakeholders. In a final synthesis, a contextual analysis of the emergent issues is conducted. Considerations for defining and managing the relative success of an implementation are presented.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to contribute to a fuller understanding of cinema in processes of national development and social change. The study explores the use of cinema as an educational strategy in post-revolutionary Cuba.... more

The purpose of this qualitative study is to contribute to a fuller understanding of cinema in processes of national development and social change. The study explores the use of cinema as an educational strategy in post-revolutionary Cuba. The research focuses closely on the experience of women filmmakers' and their participation in the production of cultural meaning and creation of a national Cuban cinema. My central thesis is that cultural renewal is primarily an epistemological task and the study of cinema as a way of knowing can inform the practices of education and development. The themes of representation, culture and development are explored using interviews with women filmmakers, Cuban films, primary source documentation from Cuba's historic archives, participant observation during a women's conference on film and video, and the methodology of film elicitation during a filmmakers' focus group, which evoked taken-for-grant cultural meaning. These data are presented in a contextual analysis that illustrate cinema is a rich context for studying culture and representations of social change processes.

In the Greek jurisprudence verbal abuse is an offence against honour, unclear regarding its linguistic determination. The aim of the present research is to examine the function of the contextual factors and lexicogrammatical choices of... more

In the Greek jurisprudence verbal abuse is an offence against honour, unclear regarding its linguistic determination. The aim of the present research is to examine the function of the contextual factors and lexicogrammatical choices of verbal abuse, as an offence against honour according to the penal code. The material is based on judgments from the Legal Data Bank "Isocrates". The results of the analysis have shown that there are not only objective evaluative characterizations that mark the style as abusive, but mainly contextual elements, which attribute a certain quality to speech and are perceived as insulting for the honour of the victim. This does not mean that there are no lexical elements carrying independently abusive meaning, but the mere existence of such elements is not a sufficient condition for proving verbal abuse. Conversely, there are cases of judgments in which the relationships, the intentions, the communication norms and paralinguistic elements play the main role.

Nabta Playa basin offers an unprecedented longitudinal view on the emergence, consolidation and complexification on human-livestock relationships, from the early stage of the Early Holocene (c. 11,000 cal. B.P.) to 6000 B.P. The problem... more

Nabta Playa basin offers an unprecedented longitudinal view on the emergence, consolidation and complexification on human-livestock relationships, from the early stage of the Early Holocene (c. 11,000 cal. B.P.) to 6000 B.P. The problem of cattle domestication in Northeastern Africa is considered and hopefully ''solved'' in the light of new mtDNA evidence which suggest an early late Pleistocene split between African, Asian, and Eurasian wild Bos populations. The paper presents a contextualized analysis of almost all the components of archaeological investigation, including climatic change, culture history of Early to Mid-Holocene Nabta-Playans, the development of social differentiation, and probably ranking with ''labor-consuming'' megalithic features with the emergence of characteristic features of pastoral ideology and religions. As far as the emergence and adoption of new foodways are concerned, the cultural development outlined with the Nabta Playa archaeological record is important for the understanding of the Holocene prehistory of Africa as a whole.

This study aimed to provide a thorough description of hugot: its characteristics and purpose in the context of the millennials of the academe which became the basis on the extraction of the hugot lines in the selected Philippine films and... more

This study aimed to provide a thorough description of hugot: its
characteristics and purpose in the context of the millennials of the academe which
became the basis on the extraction of the hugot lines in the selected Philippine
films and has helped to reach the objective of the study. Thus, the objective of this
study is to identify the linguistic functions of the extracted hugot lines in the
selected Philippine films and how these reflect the existing Filipino identities
through identifying various registeral characteristics particularly its prosodic
phonological features given in a particular context and situation as represented in
the films.
Based from the collected data from random students of MSU-IIT, the
researchers have come up to a holistic definition of “Hugot.”. It has been found
out that Hugot is a social construct that are casually used in the Philippines. In
terms of characteristics, hugot is usually indirectly stated phrases or sentences that
are related to the speaker’s past experiences in life that is relatable to anything that
can possibly be correlated to their feelings, which can imply double meanings to
simple things. Finally, hugot can be used in any purpose depending on the
speaker’s intentions.
Moreover, this study is primarily grounded on Michael Halliday’s
Systemic Functional Linguistics applying contextual and prosodic analysis. The
researchers were able to identify the various registers of the extracted hugot lines:
the functions and prosodic phonological characteristics of hugot in the Philippine
context given a particular context and situation provided by the films. In addition,
through contextual approach, the researchers were able to identify the existing
Filipino identities, which have influenced the emergence of hugot in the
Philippine context such as being compassionate, regretful, defensive and
sentimental, contended, hopeful and others – details of which will be expanded on
at length further on.

Over the long haul, there has been a consistent expansion in most Indian enterprises, the emergency is a consequence of helpless working conditions, rigid principles, poor and deferred instalment of laborers' wages and compensations.... more

Over the long haul, there has been a consistent expansion in most Indian enterprises, the emergency is a consequence of helpless working conditions, rigid principles, poor and deferred instalment of laborers' wages and compensations. Again, the emergencies likewise result from the disappointment of the top administration to appreciate to the human component as the most pivotal element and the determinant of accomplishment of objectives and destinations this outcome into dissatisfaction which shows itself distinctively by individual or laborers. It is a perspective on this that this exploration expects to check out the impact of inspiration on worker execution in an association taking India packaging organization plc as a contextual investigation.

We examine the differences in the sentencing of those who plead guilty and those convicted by jury trial among defendants convicted of serious violent offenses. Drawing from a focal concerns and court communities perspective on court... more

We examine the differences in the sentencing of those who plead guilty and those convicted by jury trial among defendants convicted of serious violent offenses. Drawing from a focal concerns and court communities perspective on court decision making, we develop several hypotheses about jury trial penalties for serious violent offenders, and how such penalties may vary by offense characteristics, defendant characteristics, and court contexts. Our hierarchical models using Pennsylvania sentencing data from 1997 to 2000 reveal that defendants are substantially penalized if they exercise their right to a jury trial and then lose. Furthermore, this jury trial penalty is not evenly assessed, but depends on the seriousness and type of offense, defendant criminal history, and court contextual characteristics such as caseload, court community size, local violent crime rates, and the size of local black populations.

The emphatic particle =pat ‘only/precisely/the (very) same’ in Hittite seems to be a rare case of the enclitic with the free distribution in the clause. Generally, Hittite enclitics are Wackernagel second position enclitics. Is =pat... more

The emphatic particle =pat ‘only/precisely/the (very) same’ in Hittite seems to be a rare case of the enclitic with the free distribution in the clause. Generally, Hittite enclitics are Wackernagel second position enclitics. Is =pat really free or is it bound by some syntax reasons or information structure? What is its function in the information structure of the Hittite clause?

Participatory Action Research (PAR)-a method of conducting research that involves researchers and the constituencies of the research as equal partners in all phases of the research-requires an understanding and respect for the unique... more

Participatory Action Research (PAR)-a method of conducting research that involves researchers and the constituencies of the research as equal partners in all phases of the research-requires an understanding and respect for the unique perspectives and resources that each PAR team member brings to the effort. PAR can be particularly challenging when it involves a research institution from the mainstream academic culture and culturally and linguistically diverse families and students with disabilities from underserved communities. In this paper, we (a) provide an overview of participatory action research; (b) provide a contextual analysis of cultural and linguistic issues that must be addressed in research endeavors, we describe the nature of the research partnership; (d) highlight partnership challenges; and (e) highlight partnership promises.

Synopsis --In Judaism, the ancient laws of impurity in regard to menstruation are known as the laws of niddah, and their realized form as the ritual of impurity, niddah. These laws continue to retain their symbolic power, with a shift in... more

Synopsis --In Judaism, the ancient laws of impurity in regard to menstruation are known as the laws of niddah, and their realized form as the ritual of impurity, niddah. These laws continue to retain their symbolic power, with a shift in meaning from a state of impurity related to sacrificial rites to a state of impurity related to sexual prohibitions in the private family sphere. This means that, during a period of 14 days, the Jewish woman must avoid any sexual contact with her husband. Based on textual and contextual analysis of manuals which teach and explain to women the practice of niddah, we claim that, with the establishment of the modern state of Israel the meaning of niddah has been expanded to the public national domain. Religious Zionism in Israel has enlisted the experiences of menstrual defilement and purification to the Jewish struggle over national boundaries and collective identity. Women are told that by practicing niddah, they take on responsibility not only for purity of the family, but also for the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the preservation of the holy scriptures, the Torah. This rhetorical linkage politicizes both the body of women and the practice of niddah, in fact, the practice has become a discourse of national revival.

The project will put the issue of Yugoslavia wars as a fracture in the fabric of European civilisation. This requires a decisively new slant driven by free inquiry and unlimited interrogation in order to explore the operating mechanism of... more

The project will put the issue of Yugoslavia wars as a fracture in the fabric of European civilisation. This requires a decisively new slant driven by free inquiry and unlimited interrogation in order to explore the operating mechanism of our common civilisation. The events organised in the project will be the venue for difficult conversations about crucial questions on Yugoslav wars, European common identity, memory and values. The project, planned for 18 months, consists of (net)working meetings, workshops, conferences, exhibitions, and radio/multimedia programs aimed at a) generating a critical reflection on the past, with a European dimension through quality debates, interactions fostering exchange with other Europeans and awareness of the Union’s history, identity and aim; b) working towards the construction of European collective memories in the plural, which strive for a growing understanding of diversity and enduring challenges, c) fostering the identification with Europe as a complex and in progress reality which also implies engaging with our wounds and working through the feelings and thoughts associated with them.
On the Phenomenon of War, on the Culture of Peace: Reflections, Analyses, Experiences; the first project conference will be held on February 6th-8th, 2017 at the University of Kragujevac More: http://www.kg.ac.rs/vest.php?vest_je=1308
http://www.filum.kg.ac.rs/
Consortium members: Sapienza University Department of Philosophy, University of Kragujevac, Ramon Llull University, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

The Behavior Expression Animation Toolkit (BEAT) allows animators to input typed text that they wish to be spoken by an animated human figure, and to obtain as output appropriate and synchronized nonverbal behaviors and synthesized speech... more

The Behavior Expression Animation Toolkit (BEAT) allows animators to input typed text that they wish to be spoken by an animated human figure, and to obtain as output appropriate and synchronized nonverbal behaviors and synthesized speech in a form that can be sent to a number of different animation systems. The nonverbal behaviors are assigned on the basis of actual linguistic and contextual analysis of the typed text, relying on rules derived from extensive research into human conversational behavior. The toolkit is extensible, so that new rules can be quickly added. It is designed to plug into larger systems that may also assign personality profiles, motion characteristics, scene constraints, or the animation styles of particular animators.

Introduction: This paper argues that, by understanding the socio-cultural and political context within which disclosure or non-disclosure of sexual abuse takes place, we are better able to develop an analytical framework that might shape... more

Introduction: This paper argues that, by understanding the socio-cultural and political context within which disclosure or non-disclosure of sexual abuse takes place, we are better able to develop an analytical framework that might shape culturally sensitive social policy towards sexual abuse and thereby reduce it. Method: The data for the study were extracted from records available on 38 cases of sexually abused Palestinian girls, as well as interviews conducted with victims and their parents whenever possible. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 professionals who dealt with these 38 cases. Findings: Contextual analysis of the data revealed that acknowledgment of sexual abuse took place only in situations where the abuse was extremely traumatic, publically apparent, and the victim absolved of blame. Disclosure resulted in approximately 10% of the cases in the killing of the victim. Responses involving measures such as hymen reconstruction, marriage to the rapist, and abortion were used by family and society to "nullify" sexual abuse. The intricacies bearing on the decision to disclose or not disclose sexual abuse were discussed within a socio-cultural and political frame of reference. A paradigm of analysis is provided to clarify this complex relationship.

Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. I explore how tana ulen has been used and interpreted by local communities and WWF staff in relation to emerging issues of community rights and conservation of biodiversity in the area. In doing this, I... more

Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. I explore how tana ulen has been used and interpreted by local communities and WWF staff in relation to emerging issues of community rights and conservation of biodiversity in the area. In doing this, I argue that without an account that discloses the ways in which forms of forest management are variably affected by and effecting the social, economic, and ecological circumstances in which they are situated, we would be unable to understand local practices and, consequently, would be unprepared to design viable policy alternatives with regard to community-based management of conservation areas.

Excavations at the Neolithic site of Avgi (Middle-Late Neolithic, circa 5700-4500 cal. BCE) in the Kastoria region, northwestern Greece, brought to light one of the largest ground stone assemblages known from Neolithic Greece. More than... more

Excavations at the Neolithic site of Avgi (Middle-Late Neolithic, circa 5700-4500 cal. BCE) in the Kastoria region, northwestern Greece, brought to light one of the largest ground stone assemblages known from Neolithic Greece. More than 8000 ground stone tools and objects, raw materials and by-products comprise a valuable record for investigating various aspects of ground stone technology (production, consumption, discard), while their rich contextual information provides an ideal opportunity for addressing its significance for Neolithic societies. This paper examines the presence of grinding tools (stable grinding slabs and mobile grinders, their raw materials and by-products) within different spatiotemporal contexts (habitational phases, buildings, open areas, pits). Through the detailed technological and contextual analysis of the grinding artifacts we seek to explore different aspects of their biographies, related to their manufacture, use, maintenance, destruction and discard, within the context of a single Neolithic community. The goal is to shed light on the multiple ways through which the Neolithic society of Avgi consumed those technological products in various social occasions, practices and places (e.g., daily routine activities, special events of communal or symbolic character, individual houses and communal activity areas) and explore their role in the formation of social identities and the production of social meaning.

This paper offers a new method for benchmarking e-Government services. Government organizations no longer doubt the need to deliver their services on line. Instead, the question that is more relevant is how well the electronic services... more

This paper offers a new method for benchmarking e-Government services. Government organizations no longer doubt the need to deliver their services on line. Instead, the question that is more relevant is how well the electronic services offered by a particular organization perform in comparison with those offered by others. Benchmarking is currently a popular means of answering that question. The benchmarking of e-Government services has reached a critical stage where, as we argue, simply measuring the number of electronic services is not enough and a more sophisticated approach is needed. This paper details the development of a Contextual Benchmark Method (CBM). The value of CBM is that it is both benchmark-and context-driven. .

In this paper we examine some of the properties of the speeches by Prime Minister José María Aznar held in Spanish parliament in 2003 legitimating his support of the USA and the threatening war against Iraq. The theoreti- cal framework... more

In this paper we examine some of the properties of the speeches by Prime Minister José María Aznar held in Spanish parliament in 2003 legitimating his support of the USA and the threatening war against Iraq. The theoreti- cal framework for the analysis is a multidisciplinary CDA approach relating discursive, cognitive and sociopolitical aspects of parliamentary debates. It is argued

The adoption of various control mechanisms in interfirm relationships has been studied extensively. This paper suggests that the inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between various control mechanisms are due, in part, to the... more

The adoption of various control mechanisms in interfirm relationships has been studied extensively. This paper suggests that the inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between various control mechanisms are due, in part, to the omission of a contextual analysis. The paper propose that a manufacturer's long-term orientation (LTO) toward its supplier may serve as a key contextual factor in explaining the relationships between two control mechanisms, i.e. unilateral and bilateral control mechanisms. The result shows that a LTO is a key factor in explaining the positive relationship between a manufacturer's use of the unilateral control mechanism and the bilateral control mechanism. This paper found that the use of plural control mechanisms increases the manufacturer's satisfaction with its supplier.

Based on the idea that schools are important socializing settings for adolescents (Gottfredson, 2001), the school contextual version of General Strain Theory (Agnew, 1999) is tested in this article. The main hypothesis of this study is... more

Based on the idea that schools are important socializing settings for adolescents (Gottfredson, 2001), the school contextual version of General Strain Theory (Agnew, 1999) is tested in this article. The main hypothesis of this study is that strain at the school level affects individual offending by creating individual strain. Findings suggest that school contextual effects differ: convincing contextual effects are found for violent offending but not for general offending. Furthermore, although the school mean level of strain does significantly affect individual violent offending, this effect does not proceed by creating individual strain. It is therefore suggested that the school mean level of strain either has a direct effect on violent offending or influences other important individual offending mechanisms such as social learning or lifestyle risks.

This thesis provides a contextual analysis of my creative practice as a visual artist. An overview of the social and historical relationships of the individual in societal organisations, and in relation to what Stuart Hall refers to as... more

This thesis provides a contextual analysis of my creative practice as a visual artist. An overview of the social and historical relationships of the individual in societal organisations, and in relation to what Stuart Hall refers to as tendential lines of force, the dominant structures of religion and the state (Hall, 1996), set the context for a selfreflexive analysis of my practice. In carrying out a contextual analysis of my practice, it is the intention of this thesis to map a context by which Australian national identity is manufactured. This context is the hegemonic processes that seek to maintain a cultural and political dominance using systems of representation and symbolic power to do so. I have framed this subject against the United Nations as an international body with which the nation-state needs to negotiate. This thesis draws on the debates surrounding the history wars in Australia under the former Howard government, with particular reference to the Australian War Memorial and the National Museum Australia, and their particular responses to the histories of frontier warfare. The significations of state power on Anzac Day are examined, as are the state embodied mechanisms that have censored the representation of Australia's history. This is supported by a visual register of historical images from the archives of various state libraries depicting frontier violence in Australia over the first 160 years of European settlement. This thesis is supported by visual documentation of my exhibition Signing Off on the State held at the Fremantle Arts Centre in 2005. Seminal texts I have referred to are; Pierre Bordieu's Language and symbolic power (1991), Stuart Hall, Critical dialogues in cultural studies (1996), Adolpho Sanchez Vazquez Art and Society: Essays in Marxist aesthetics (1973), John Connor's The Australian frontier wars (2002), and Mckernan and Browne, Australia-two centuries of war and peace (1988).

Risk management in urban planning is of increasing importance to mitigate the growing amount of damage and the increasing number of casualties caused by natural disasters. Risk assessment to support management requires knowledge about... more

Risk management in urban planning is of increasing importance to mitigate the growing amount of damage and the increasing number of casualties caused by natural disasters. Risk assessment to support management requires knowledge about present and future hazards, elements at risk and different types of vulnerability. This article deals with the assessment of social vulnerability (SV). In the past this has frequently been neglected due to lack of data and assessment difficulties. Existing approaches for SV assessment, primarily based on community-based methods or on census data, have limited efficiency and transferability. In this article a new method based on contextual analysis of image and GIS data is presented. An approach based on proxy variables that were derived from highresolution optical and laser scanning data was applied, in combination with elevation information and existing hazard data. Object-oriented image analysis was applied for the definition and estimation of those variables, focusing on SV indicators with physical characteristics. A reference Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was created from census data available for the study area on a neighbourhood level and tested for parts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. For the evaluation of the proxy-variables, a stepwise regression model to select the best explanatory variables for changes in the SVI was applied. Eight out of 47 variables explained almost 60% of the variance, whereby the slope position and the proportion of built-up area in a neighbourhood were found to be the most valuable proxies. This work shows that contextual segmentation-based analysis of geospatial data can substantially aid in SV assessment and, when combined with field-based information, leads to optimization in terms of assessment frequency and cost.

and various addictions; it was named Threats to Safety factor. Factor 2 comprised social equality issues. The country context explained 12.5% of the variance of the safety factor and 7.9% of the equality factor. Conclusions: Despite some... more

and various addictions; it was named Threats to Safety factor. Factor 2 comprised social equality issues. The country context explained 12.5% of the variance of the safety factor and 7.9% of the equality factor. Conclusions: Despite some cultural variation in the gravity assessments, the central core of the social representation of addictive behaviors tends still to be linked with 'badness' since they were mainly grouped with various forms of criminal behavior in all these countries.

This article is critical of monological research accounts that fail to accommodate polyvocal narratives of organizational change, calling for more fully informed case studies that combine elements of a narrative approach with... more

This article is critical of monological research accounts that fail to accommodate polyvocal narratives of organizational change, calling for more fully informed case studies that combine elements of a narrative approach with processual/contextual analysis. We illustrate how contrasting versions of the same change event by different stakeholders and by the same stakeholder for different audiences, raise theoretical and methodological issues in the analysis and presentation of data on organizational change. Our argument is that research narratives (that seek to develop understanding of change processes) are necessarily selective and sieved through particular discourses that represent different ways of engaging in research. They are authored in a particular genre and written to influence target audiences who become active co-creators of meaning. Organizational change viewed from this perspective is a multi-story process, in which theoretical accounts and guides to practice are authored consistent with pre-selected narrative styles. These, in turn, are purposefully chosen to influence target audiences, but this subjective crafting is often hidden behind a cloak of putative objectivity in the written and oral presentations of academic research findings.

In this paper we present an analytic essay in a functional-contextual conceptualization based on the recent research on verbal behavior, behavior-behavior relations and derivation of psychological functions. Classical conceptualizations... more

In this paper we present an analytic essay in a functional-contextual conceptualization based on the recent research on verbal behavior, behavior-behavior relations and derivation of psychological functions. Classical conceptualizations are viewed with predictive value although reduced implication for preventing and altering the developmental process of personality. In a functional perspective, the basic elements are defined in terms of responses

In this paper the historically persistent mismatch between the information systems development and security paradigms is revisited. By considering the human activity systems as a point of reference rather than a variable in information... more

In this paper the historically persistent mismatch between the information systems development and security paradigms is revisited. By considering the human activity systems as a point of reference rather than a variable in information systems security, we investigate the necessity for a change in the information systems security agenda, accepting that a viable system would be more user-centric by accommodating and balancing human processes rather then entertaining an expectation of a one sided change of behaviour of the end user. This is done by drawing upon well established information systems methodologies and research.

The present paper explores two aspects of national context: national-culture and business dynamics for the implementation of the e-HR strategy. Emphasis is placed on the implications of personal network and social contracts in relation to... more

The present paper explores two aspects of national context: national-culture and business dynamics for the implementation of the e-HR strategy. Emphasis is placed on the implications of personal network and social contracts in relation to e-recruitment and e-training in Mexico. The Mexican business dynamic is presented in order to set the contextual analysis to this study. Empirical evidence from three firms in the service industrial sector is provided to explore the relation and implication of national context to the e-HR strategy. We identify directions for future studies in this perspective and implications for practitioners.

Signing Off on the State is creative research project looking at nation and national identity in Australia under the Howard government. The focus of the research is on how nation, identity and narrative are constructed and used to... more

Signing Off on the State is creative research project looking at nation and national identity in Australia under the Howard government. The focus of the research is on how nation, identity and narrative are constructed and used to perpetuate a privileged mainstream history ...

In multilevel modeling (MLM), group level (L2) characteristics are often measured by aggregating individual level (L1) characteristics within each group as a means of assessing contextual effects (e.g., group-average effects of SES,... more

In multilevel modeling (MLM), group level (L2) characteristics are often measured by aggregating individual level (L1) characteristics within each group as a means of assessing contextual effects (e.g., group-average effects of SES, achievement, climate). Most previous applications have used a multilevel manifest covariate (MMC) approach, in which the observed (manifest) group mean is assumed to have no measurement error. This paper shows mathematically and with simulation results that this MMC approach can result in substantially biased estimates of contextual effects and can substantially underestimate the associated standard errors, depending on the number of L1 individuals in each of the groups, the number of groups, the intraclass correlation, the sampling ratio (the percentage of cases within each group sampled), and the nature of the data. To address this pervasive problem, we introduce a new multilevel latent covariate (MLC) approach that corrects for unreliability at L2 and results in unbiased estimates of L2 constructs under appropriate conditions. However, our simulation results also suggest that the contextual effects estimated in typical research situations (e.g., fewer than 100 groups) may be highly unreliable. Furthermore, under some circumstances when the sampling ratio approaches 100%, the MMC approach provides more accurate estimates. Based on three simulations and two real-data applications, we critically evaluate the MMC and MLC approaches and offer suggestions as to when researchers should most appropriately use one, the other, or a combination of both approaches.