SOCIAL SCIENCE COMPUTER REVIEW Brent et al. / SOCIOLOGY: A COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH Sociology A Computational Approach to Sociological Explanations

The capacity to explain important elements of social life is central both to the development of sociological theory and to teaching sociology. This research seeks to expand our understanding of sociological explanation through a computational approach. Explanations commonly encountered in introductory sociology texts are used to develop a typology of explanatory forms. A computational strategy that represents sociological knowledge using a combination of frames, semantic networks, and procedural rules is described. It is then demonstrated that this approach can generate the full range of these explanations for all logical combinations of conditions and for the full scope of sociological knowledge. This approach is also shown to be capable of identifying appropriate explanations, assessing the quality of explanations, and generating new insights

A case study of organizational culture change in a hospital

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation presents a case study that describes and analyzes the organizational culture change that occurred at a hospital over a period of time (i.e., about 12 years, from 1993 through 2004). Qualitative data from five sources -- questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations, and documents -- was analyzed by applying the 'transformation of intentions model' for policy analysis. This dissertation proposes that this sociological model is a theoretical framework that is conceptually applicable to the empirical analysis of organizational culture change. The application of the 'transformation of intentions model' of policy analysis to the analysis of organizational cultural change resulted in a detailed description of the organizational structures and processes that were essential to the organizational culture change at the hospital. The analysis revealed a pattern in the transformation of intentions at the hospital. More specifically, it was revealed that the organizational culture change at the hospital was 'top-down' -- administratively led -- change initiated in response to interorganizational directives -- specifically, policy changes by the healthcare organization that managed the hospital

Teaching a foreign language: one teacher's practical theory

In recent decades, teachers of second languages in many countries, including Australia, have been encouraged to use an approach known as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This approach advocates the development of communicative competence as a primary goal through the extensive use of the second language as a means of communication during classroom lessons. Understandably, education authorities and teacher educators are keen to know what teachers understand by CLT and how well they have incorporated this approach into their second language teaching. This exploratory study seeks to answer these questions in respect of one teacher, who claims to use a CLT approach. This is done by documenting her personal practical theory of CLT, using a framework adapted from a well-known approach to describing models of teaching. Access to the teacher's practical theory was gained through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall interviews involving use of videotapes of two of the teacher's lessons. The study establishes that the teacher's practical theory is an amalgam of many features of CLT approaches and of general teaching. The CLT components of the teacher's practical theory are largely consistent with features commonly listed in texts about CLT approaches, though there are some components of her theory that are not generally discussed in the CLT literature. The framework used in this study for representing the teacher's practical theories of CLT is also assessed and considered suitable for wider use