Apartheid and identity redefinition : a conflictual analysis

Includes bibliography.This study has attempted to examine how the imposition of Apartheid identity constructs has adversely impacted upon the processes of and to describe the extent to which the participants have allowed the present hegemony to influence the structuring of their consciousness. The structural inequalities inherent in the system of Apartheid have required the conceptualization of identity construction as a process mediating important choices, rather than - the uncritical acceptance of the existing structural arrangements. The conflictual perspecive adopted facilitated a more complex and differentiated picture of social representation , on the assumption that individuals and groups be understood in terms of being constituted through the social domain and actively engaging with and challenging the restrictive aspects embodied in it. The qualitative phase sought to examine the extent to which two levels of consciousness, the personal or systemic causal attribution of their circumstances , had influenced their agendas. A self-administered interview schedule, consisting of open-ended questions, provided the basic demographic information with regard to age, sex and organisational affiliation. The major issues which were perceived to cause both personal difficulty and which presented problems for their cohort were also elicited. An analysis of the reasons which induced both pessimism and optimism about the present condition of society provided an account of the trepidations with which oppressed youth view adult society. The descriptive categorisations of the three societal components, I, We, and They, as South Africans now , were intended to further clarify how the sample perceived the sociopolitical arrangements of our polarised and estranged society

Conservation on farms: Conflicting attitudes, social pressures and behaviour

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, conservationists' concern about the loss of wildlife habitat on farmland escalated into open conflict with farmers, the conflict being heightened by controversy surrounding the passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1981. An improved understanding of the attitudes of farmers and conservationists would help ensure the most appropriate measures are adopted to resolve or avoid such conflict. This research therefore compared the attitudes of farmers and conservationists in Bedfordshire in two pairs of surveys. In the first, free-ranging interviews were used to establish the range of opinions on farming and conservation held by the two groups. In the second, Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action was used as the framework for a more detailed comparison of the differences in attitudes between the two communities. The correlation of attitudes and social pressures with farmers' behaviour was also explored for three conservation-related activities about which there was conflict: hedge management, pesticide use and straw disposal. The first survey revealed a complex matrix of shared, complementary and conflicting beliefs and values between and within the two communities. Examples of conflicting values included those concerning land ownership and freedom of individual action versus stewardship, and pride in an efficient, productive and tidy farm versus a wilder countryside. The second survey showed that while farmers agreed with conservationists about the advantages of conservation expressed in general terms, once decisions about specific farm practices were involved, attitudes to conservation and wildlife were far outweighed by attitudes to farming and business considerations. Social pressures on farmers from conservationists were minimal; the strongest social pressures came from within the farming community itself and these generally served to perpetuate the dominant farming values. Although the theory of reasoned action provided a valuable means of exploring the role of attitudes, social pressures and behaviour in the conflict, some limitations in the use of the model in these complex circumstances were found. In particular it did not allow a distinction to be made between self-interested and deeply held values; the recommended method of constructing and scoring a behaviourial index was inappropriate where value judgements were involved; and respondents experienced difficulty in distinguishing between beliefs and values when evaluative opinion statements were used. Some suggestions for overcoming these limitations are made

Architecture and space for thought

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 21/11/1988.This thesis is concerned with the description of individual experiences of (architectural) space in a social milieu. Architecture, while considered to be primarily concerned with space as its medium, has a very impoverished (or occasionally, very contorted) verbal language in which to discuss space. The author, as a beginner teacher, noted this in attempts to explore spatial experience with students of architecture, and resolved with their help to generate an appropriate verbal vehicle. The main body of the thesis relates this attempt and accounts for its failure. The Thesis, thus, follows three intertwined streams. 1) A scientific investigation into means for the description of human experience of (architectural) space, using methods developed from Kelly's Personal Construct Theory Repertory Grids. 2) A partially developed spatial analytic language, my personal response to 1) above, which is to be seen as the start of a new research programme that may last many years (the future of which is outlined). 3) An account of a personal learning experience both from, around and through each of these. These streams are organised into three parts. Part 1: Background Studies - into work in associated areas and fields, with an assessment of their relevance to the undertaking presented here. Part 2: The Experiments - attempting (and failing) to create a language, and the transition from verbal to visual, with critical arguments and observations. Part 3: A New Beginning - learning from the failure of Part 2, and the argument for and commencement of a new research programme

The Ph.D. as a learning process

The main question being addressed by this research was 'how do postgraduate research students experience the process of doing a Ph.D.?' The way this question was investigated was to discover how the students involved solved the problems which confronted them when doing a research degree. Seven case studies of Ph.D. students and their supervisors are reported. The student and supervisor pairs came from different disciplines and two universities. The case studies were conducted through interviews and the repertory grid was used as a tool throughout the three years of field work. Additional methods used included rating forms and free writing. The focus of the study was the postgraduates' changing perceptions of their Ph.D. The topics investigated in order to monitor these changes included: 1) The students' relationship with their supervisors 2) The difference between what they expected to accomplish in a given time and what they actually did accomplish 3) Writing up the results of their work. Results indicated that the process was similar in these respects for Arts and Science students. It was found that: a - it was necessary for students to develop an ability to evaluate their own work. The rate of this development appeared to be related to the degree to which the students were allowed to remain dependent on their supervisors. It is suggested that some kind of 'weaning' process should be introduced into the student and supervisor relationship as the postgraduates develop the self-confidence to monitor their own work. b - The students' ability to estimate accurately what work they could accomplish in a given period of time did not improve over the three years. The observed discrepancies between what the students expected to achieve and what they actually did achieve are used as the basis for describing a hypothetical mechanism by which plans are revised as goals and time limits are adjusted. c - Writing helped to clarify thinking but was seen by the postgraduates as a difficult activity and of minor importance. This was because it served specific functions. At the ideas generating stage of the work writing helped the students to think more creatively and at the presentation of results stage it helped to organize their work into a coherent whole. d - Their enthusiasm for their Ph.D. diminished due to the length of time they had to spend working on a single problem. The postgraduates' perceptions changed from seeing the Ph.D. as something special and unique to seeing it as a job of work that had to be completed. Throughout this thesis, the students' changing perceptions of their Ph.D.s are presented as vital to completion of the higher degree course. All these points taken together are presented as important in developing the skills needed to engage in professional research. They are suggested to be significant aspects of the Ph.D. as a learning process

A quantitative approach to linguistic model validation.

The thesis is an attempt to identify a method of statistical analysis\ud whereby theoretical linguistic models can be validated, to some degree, via\ud analysis of language user perception of text structure. Such a tool of\ud validation is indispensible but has yet to be identified. There are two areas\ud of linguistic model validation where the proposed method of analysis can\ud make a substantial contribution: a - in validating linguistic models, qua\ud descriptive models, as explanatory models, and b - in establishing grounds\ud for comparison among competing and/or conflicting linguistic models in\ud the same area of linguistic investigation.\ud The study has a clear methodological emphasis and explores new\ud empirical procedures of text analysis. The statistical technique for such a\ud validation study is repertory grid analysis (Kelly 1955, Slater 1977). This\ud technique is widely used in psychotherapy but is used for the first time in\ud linguistic investigation. Repertory grid analysis offers two very important\ud contributions. It is, on the one hand, one of the most rigorous quantitative\ud methods for the study of human perception; at the same time, it allows for\ud qualitative analysis of the data, which is very desirable in the study\ud proposed. The area of linguistics to be studied is the signalling approach\ud to text analysis proposed by Winter (1977, 1982) and Hoey (1979, 1983).\ud An informal pre-pilot was first carried out to examine broad features\ud and potential problems of the application of repertory grid analysis to the\ud investigation planned. A proper pilot was then carried out to investigate\ud closely the feasibility of the study. Results from the pilot indicated that the\ud proposed approach was usable.\ud The main study was then performed on a representative sample of\ud a target population (i.e. a sub-population of undergraduate students in\ud Hong Kong). Besides analyses associated with the repertory grid\ud technique, an ANOVA design was used for the investigation of aspects within\ud the experimental situation that may be of relevance. The independent\ud variables include relative English language proficiency and the major\ud academic disciplines of the experimental subjects, different methods of grid\ud elicitation, and variation in text structure. The data were analysed first on\ud individual perception of text structure and then on the agreement between\ud the theoretical model and subject perception both as individuals and as a\ud group. In the analyses, both a quantitative and a qualitative approach were\ud used.\ud The results of the study indicated very clearly that repertory grid\ud analysis was able to make interesting and informative comparisons between\ud the theoretical model and subject perception of text structure and should\ud be a usable technique for linguistic model validation as first hypothesized.\ud In particular, individual characteristics of perception were uncovered; and\ud the consensus view of the sample was captured. Furthermore, the present\ud application of repertory grid analysis also enabled a qualitative analysis of\ud the data which threw additional light on and provided much needed details\ud for the research.\ud The study has important implications for linguistics. Firstly, an\ud objective and statistically based technique for rendering linguistic models\ud susceptible to validation procedure, so far unavailable, has now been\ud identified. Furthermore, the study certainly helps to establish applied\ud linguistics as an academic discipline at once independent from and\ud contributing to theoretical linguistics

Performing social work : an ethnographic study of talk and text in a metropolitan social services department

The central theme of this ethnographic study is captured in the word play in the title. Itis, essentially, an analysis of the social work in social work. With a primary focus onthe collegial discourse taking place between 'child care' social workers and managers ina social services department in the North West of England, I have undertaken ananalysis of naturally occurring talk, interview data, formal policy and procedure, andwritten records of action taken (case files and minutes) and action to be taken (e.g. courtreports, strategic planning documents). My analytic focus has been upon on the routinesand linguistic practices through which `caseness' is accomplished. I argue that, althoughprofessional accounts are artfully produced against certain (situated) backgroundexpectancies, the 'materials' invoked in such accounts are not entirely local phenomena.That is to say, competent accounts are both locally accomplished and contingent uponavailable vocabularies. In a search for analytic adequacy, I have drawn particularly uponthe temporal and rhetorical 'turns' in the human sciences. Using an unashamedlyeclectic approach, I argue that 'imported' materials, such as bureaucratic time, remainmalleable and, thus, may be invoked strategically and artfully by social workers in their(narrative) constructions of events and 'cases' and, indeed, themselves - allowing themto reference risk, deviance or normality, for example. However, the possibilities are farfrom infinite, and the liturgical nature of many encounters ensures that what is mostremarkable about organizational life is not its instability, but its predictability