Compatibility of dual methodologies : Examining and exploring the different sociological epistemics implied and produced by combining Grounded Theory Method and Ethnography in a Ph.D. project on drug users

Purpose: The overarching aim of this course paper is to discuss the compatibility of ethnography with grounded theory. More specifically the aim is to show how ethnographers can apply grounded theory as an analytical tool to construct theory from data and link the discussion on the different traditions within grounded theory (and the criticism towards these positions) to my own doctoral thesis in sociology.In the introductory part of the paper, I first give a brief summary of my own Ph.D. project, along with the ethnographic approach I am using to collect data, with methods including documents, participant observations and open-ended interviews. Background: Since its discovery by Glaser and Strauss in the sixties(Glaser & Strauss, 1967),grounded theory has evolved,and today, three ‘main’ perspectives dominate its influence. These three consists of Glaser’s approach, Strauss and Corbin’s approach and a later version, called constructivist grounded theory, with Charmaz being one of its most prominent figures(Annells, 1996). Embarking on the journey of discussing these scholars viewsand different perspectives on grounded theory , it is important to clarify that dividing grounded theory into three ‘main camps’,as I have, is a way of simplifying a complex methodology, done in the interest of making a meaningful discussion possible within the scope of this course paper. Therefore,continuing on, I do not set out to cover all the extensive questions and concerns that can arise when combining grounded theory with ethnography, or try to give a complete view on this methodology as a whole. Originality/value: This paper, written with the ambition of exploring methodological questions found within the philosophy of science, contributes to my project by offering critical and important reflections on how ethnography and grounded theory might be compatible. Further, I investigate how combining the two methodologies might be effective in my research project, and I discuss arguments and views made by the most prominent members of the different grounded theory ‘camps’, related to disadvantages and advantages of applying one of the variants of grounded theory for my specific research project. However, despite delimiting the discussion to focus on arguments related to methodological challenges within my own project, the paper will still be written with the wider methodological context in mind, implying that I will draw on empirical research and perspectives of notable scholars,both from the field of grounded theory and of ethnography.publishedVersio

On the verge of entering the field : Addressing the methodological issues of using ethnographic observation and biographical in-depth interviews when following young drug users in processes of rehabilitation

The paper will discuss reflections on certain methodological aspects and ethical dilemmas related to ethnographic fieldwork on Young drug users and the qualitative tools used to obtain data, including: sampling procedures, participants roles and data collection strategies, dilemmas related to observer roles and observer interference, implications of adding video as an instrument for obtaining data, researcher ethics concerning the study of marginalised groups and the handling of sensitising material. The paper is written in conjunction With a Ph.D. course given at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Educational Science, 6th – 7th of November 2017.publishedVersio

Give Coercive Diplomacy a Chance? The “Ideal Policy" for Coercive Diplomacy Success

This thesis examines coercive diplomacy theory by testing P.V. Jakobsen’s conceptual “ideal policy” framework identifying four minimum conditions for coercive diplomacy success. The ideal policy is a parsimonious framework derived to determine the probability for success or explain coercive diplomacy outcomes post hoc. The aim of the theory- testing is to evaluate if the conceptual framework can explain recent coercive diplomacy outcomes post hoc. The empirical material builds on two American coercive diplomacy attempts directed towards Muammar Gadhafi’s Libya. The ideal policy conditions also serves as the basis for a comparative analysis of the two cases as stipulated by the structured, focused comparison method

Navigating social pathways for youths transitioning from school to work : How young adults shape their life course with an eye on the future

This research paper examines different perspectives on how pathways in the life course of young people transitioning to adulthood is prolonged, and how young people today are able to navigate and shape their own pathways. The paper is inspired by, and written in conjunction with, an international conference: Transition to adulthood in times of inequality – the changing impact of intergenerational relations, held by the Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen in the period of May 30th – June 1st 2017. In light of how increased flexibility for young adults today bring questions on increased uncertainty, the paper touches on how young adults transition from school-to-work in today’s knowledge societies, in search for an ever better qualified work-force, is demanding longer educations. Which in turn can initiate questions on if such demands is prolonging the youth phase among young individuals. To guide the paper onwards, two research questions are formulated: 1) when making the transition into adulthood, how does young individuals navigate and manage their own lives with an eye on the future? 2) As young individuals transition from school-to-work, what risks-factors and uncertainties are present in the life course of slow and fast-trackers? To discuss the two overarching research questions, perspectives on youth risks and uncertainties in connection with school-to-work transitions will be explored. Many of the studies and perspectives this paper is built upon are part of an extensive research field within youth sociology, concerned with youth transitions, including navigational theory, youth concepts and slow and fast-track transitions.submittedVersio

Implementing the Public Health Act in a local setting: Addressing the social inequities in health in a Norwegian municipality

Background: The increasing presence of social inequities in health defies the values of solidarity and justice. In an attempt to address this challenge The Public Health Act was adopted 2012 in Norway. The Act proposes to reduce the social inequities in health through a Health in All Policies approach, which reflects that health is to be promoted through the contribution of all societal and political sectors. The Act reflects the need for a comprehensive health promotion profile in the municipalities, as the conditions affecting peoples' everyday lives are strongly influenced by the municipality through public policies and services. Therefore this study seeks to investigate how the municipalities are implementing the Public Health Act, with particular focus on how they are addressing the SIH. Objectives: The main objective is to gain insight into how the municipality is addressing the responsibilities proposed by the Public Health Act, with particular focus on the SIH. To fulfil the objectives of this study, the following research questions are presented: RQ 1: What policies are in place at the municipal level concerning health promotion and SIH? RQ 2: Do the plans and interventions at the municipal level include the HiAP approach and intersectoral collaboration? RQ 3: Which efforts are taken at a municipal level to reduce SIH? RQ 4: What challenging- and success factors does the municipality experience associated with implementing the Public Health Act, with special considerations connected to SIH? Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework for this study is compiled of literature connected to health equity and the Social Determinants of Health model. Methods: The study takes form as a case study. The data was collected through qualitative face to face interviews with the political and administrative leadership in one municipality and a document analysis of the municipal plans. Results and discussion: The findings from the municipality illustrates that the social determinants view is implicitly represented there. This implicit understanding is discussed in relation to the political history of the municipality. The efforts connected to addressing SIH can be characterized as proportionate universalism. There is on the other hand little evidence of successful HiAP approach in the municipality. The surrounding structures of the municipal organization may be limiting the progress of health promoting policies at a local level. In conclusion the municipality adheres to some of the principles of the Public Health Act. Conclusions: The notion that health promoting principles have grown from within the organization and are now reinforced from a national angle may bode well for the future of health promotion within the municipality. An important lesson to learn is to build on the existing structures of health promotion principles and further encourage the principle of HiAP to more effectively address SIH in local governments.Master of Philosophy in Health PromotionHEPRO350MPHEPR

Current knowledge of Chytridiomycota diversity in Northern Europe and future research needs

Chytridiomycota is the most species-rich phylum of basal lineage fungi involved in vital processes in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Still, the diversity and richness of this group remains cryptic. In Northern Europe, few species have been recorded despite the numerous intact lake systems covering this region. Recent classifications of early diverging fungal lineages differ considerably on the diversity of chytrid species and their taxonomic placement. Here, we present the current knowledge of the Chytridiomycota diversity within Northern Europe by using the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data and compare how this diversity distributes across two recently proposed classification systems. Furthermore, we illustrate how various sampling types are influencing the recorded classification levels. Lastly, we discuss how metabarcoding has contributed to the overall understanding of the Chytridiomycota diversity in revealing the “dark matter fungi”, and we point out future research needs in the field of aquatic mycology in the Nordic region.acceptedVersio

Habitat Protection Approaches Facilitate Conservation of Overlooked Fungal Diversity–A Case Study From the Norwegian Coastal Heathland System

European coastal heathlands are distinct ecosystems shaped by land use tradition and they have experienced an 80% area reduction from their historical maximum. These mosaics of mires and wind exposed patches have ericaceous shrub dominated vegetation, and soils within coastal heathlands are characterized by low pH and high levels of recalcitrant debris. Using a culture-based approach with molecular identification of isolates, we characterized root-associated fungal communities of six ericaceous species in eight heathland localities along Norway’s western coast. Site-level alpha diversity ranged from 21-38 OTUs, while the total estimated gamma diversity for culturable heathland root fungi was 190-231 OTUs. Most species recovered are previously reported at low abundance in Norway, suggesting the biodiversity in this community is underreported, rather than novel for science. The fungi recovered were primarily Ascomycota, specifically endophytic Phialocephala, and Pezicula, and no host specificity was observed in the communities. The fungal communities exhibited high turnover and low nestedness, both between ericaceous hosts and across heathland sites. We observed no spatial patterns in fungal betadiversity, and this heterogeneity may be a product of the unique historic land use practices at each locality creating a distinct mycofloral “fingerprint”. Robust diversity estimates will be key for managing fungal biodiversity in coastal heathlands. Our results indicate that sampling schemes that maximize the number of host plants sampled per site, rather than the number of cultures per plant yield improved alpha diversity estimates. Similarly, gamma diversity estimates are improved by maximizing the total number of localities sampled, rather than increasing the number of plants sampled per locality. We argue that while the current protected status of coastal heathland habitats and restoration efforts have knock-on effects for the conservation of fungal biodiversity, fungi have a vital functional role in the ecosystem and holistic conservation plans that consider fungal biodiversity would be beneficial. coastal heathland, mycoflora, conservation, diversity, ericaceous fungi, root associated fungipublishedVersio

Habitat Protection Approaches Facilitate Conservation of Overlooked Fungal Diversity–A Case Study From the Norwegian Coastal Heathland System

European coastal heathlands are distinct ecosystems shaped by land use tradition and they have experienced an 80% area reduction from their historical maximum. These mosaics of mires and wind exposed patches have ericaceous shrub dominated vegetation, and soils within coastal heathlands are characterized by low pH and high levels of recalcitrant debris. Using a culture-based approach with molecular identification of isolates, we characterized root-associated fungal communities of six ericaceous species in eight heathland localities along Norway’s western coast. Site-level alpha diversity ranged from 21-38 OTUs, while the total estimated gamma diversity for culturable heathland root fungi was 190-231 OTUs. Most species recovered are previously reported at low abundance in Norway, suggesting the biodiversity in this community is underreported, rather than novel for science. The fungi recovered were primarily Ascomycota, specifically endophytic Phialocephala, and Pezicula, and no host specificity was observed in the communities. The fungal communities exhibited high turnover and low nestedness, both between ericaceous hosts and across heathland sites. We observed no spatial patterns in fungal betadiversity, and this heterogeneity may be a product of the unique historic land use practices at each locality creating a distinct mycofloral “fingerprint”. Robust diversity estimates will be key for managing fungal biodiversity in coastal heathlands. Our results indicate that sampling schemes that maximize the number of host plants sampled per site, rather than the number of cultures per plant yield improved alpha diversity estimates. Similarly, gamma diversity estimates are improved by maximizing the total number of localities sampled, rather than increasing the number of plants sampled per locality. We argue that while the current protected status of coastal heathland habitats and restoration efforts have knock-on effects for the conservation of fungal biodiversity, fungi have a vital functional role in the ecosystem and holistic conservation plans that consider fungal biodiversity would be beneficial. coastal heathland, mycoflora, conservation, diversity, ericaceous fungi, root associated fungipublishedVersio

Diversity and community composition of root-associated fungi explored by high throughput sequencing

Interactions between plant roots and fungi are well known from most terrestrial ecosystems. Mycorrhizal association is the most prominent plant-fungi interaction, where the fungal partners increase the water and nutrient uptake of their host plants. This symbiosis might be especially important in marginal habitats like arctic and alpine environments. The structure, diversity and spatial patterns of the root-associated fungal communities are to a large extent unknown due to previous methodological limitations. The main objective in this thesis was to implement high throughput DNA sequencing to assess the community structure, richness and spatial distribution of root-associated fungal communities in arctic and alpine environments. We focused on one host plant species, namely the ectomycorrhizal herb Bistorta vivipara. Its small and condensed root system enabled us to analyze the entire fungal assemblages associated with individual root systems, using 454 pyrosequencing of ITS1 and/or ITS2 amplicons. All the five studies included in this thesis revealed that the most prominent fungal groups were well-known ectomycorrhizal fungi such as Agaricales, Sebacinales and Thelephorales. Furthermore, ascomycete fungi of the order Helotiales were also recovered frequently across all root systems. Although a high patchiness in fungal community composition generally was observed, some systematic compositional changes along gradients were observed. In a 2x2 m2 local scale study, a spatial autocorrelation was observed at small scales (<0.34 m). Furthermore, a significant compositional difference was observed between the rootassociated fungal communities and adjacent soil fungal communities. Along two primary succession gradients in arctic and alpine areas, a systematic compositional shift was observed. The fungal richness increased along the chronosequences towards the climax vegetation. In a biogeographic survey, where the root-associated fungi were analyzed across Svalbard, a compositional shift was observed that was associated with the latitudinal gradient. Moreover, the fungal richness increased westwards in the more climatic favorable habitats. Overall, the different studies indicate that stochastic processes, possibly related to aerial spore dispersal, are important during fungal community establishment. The conducted studies exemplify that high throughput sequencing is a powerful approach for analyzing complex microbial communities

Local drug prevention strategies through the eyes of policy makers and outreach social workers in Norway

More than half of the municipalities in Norway report drug misuse as the most important public health challenge. Following a whole‐of‐government tradition, the ambition is to achieve horizontal and vertical coordination between different policy areas to address complex problems, such as youth drug use, and avoid fragmented services. This study aims to offer new perspectives on how governmental structures shape local drug prevention. By including the perspective of both local policy makers and outreach social workers, we can come closer to understanding how local drug prevention transforms policy into practice. The study will thus explore how policy makers and outreach social workers describe the local drug prevention strategy and how the outreach social workers implement it in practice. An instrumental case study of one Norwegian municipality was used to investigate the structures for drug prevention in detail. Data were gathered through 14 interviews with public officials from the relevant policy areas and outreach social workers from a drug prevention outreach service. The data were analysed using a thematic framework analysis. This study demonstrated that the policy makers’ and outreach social workers’ descriptions of drug prevention highlighted the creation of good living conditions and promotion of protective factors surrounding at‐risk youths. This perspective may offer a broader approach to drug policy, which includes many policy areas. While collaboration was regarded as paramount, the policy makers described a “siloed” organisation that made it difficult to collaborate. The outreach social workers, however, indicated that they were able to navigate the “siloed” structures. We discuss the structural conditions surrounding outreach social workers that shape the implementation of policies, such as the resource perspective. The discussion shows that outreach social workers may act as a safety net for a potentially fragmented municipal structure for drug prevention.publishedVersio