Facing Multiple Audiences in Engineering and R&D Writing: The Social Contexts of a Technical Report

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent J. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Contexts ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Organizational Power ◽  
Technical Report ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiple Audiences

The customary approach to classifying multiple audiences for written discourse is to recognize primary, secondary, and immediate audiences, and, in some cases, gatekeeping audiences. Based on findings from an ethnographic case study of engineering authors in an R&D setting, this article suggests that authors should also attend to watchdog audiences as they write. A watchdog audience pays close attention to the written transaction between the author and the primary audience. Authors must direct their discourse toward the primary audience, but they must also keep the motives and purposes of the watchdog audience in mind as they write and revise. The watchdog audience in my case study, while it had no direct leverage or other organizational power over the authors, still influenced the authors extensively as they revised their text. Evidence indicates that, beyond the apparent and traditional sources of power, there are more contextual, hidden, socially mediated power relationships equally capable of shaping written discourse.

Patterns of Social Inclusion and Exclusion Among Youth Living in Stigmatized Neighborhoods

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana Espíndola Ferrer
Keyword(s):  
Social Integration ◽  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Urban Neighborhoods ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
The Social

This chapter is an ethnographic case study of the social integration trajectories of youth living in two stigmatized and poor neighborhoods in Montevideo. It explains the linkages between residential segregation and social inclusion and exclusion patterns in unequal urban neighborhoods. Most empirical neighborhood research on the effects of residential segregation in contexts of high poverty and extreme stigmatization have focused on its negative effects. However, the real mechanisms and mediations influencing the so-called neighborhood effects of residential segregation are still not well understood. Scholars have yet to isolate specific neighborhood effects and their contribution to processes of social inclusion and exclusion. Focusing on the biographical experiences of youth in marginalized neighborhoods, this ethnography demonstrates the relevance of social mediations that modulate both positive and negative residential segregation effects.

Dimensions of Cultural Variation

2019 ◽  
pp. 67-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Measurement Bias ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The Social ◽  
Do So

To understand cultural differences, we need to find ways to characterize the variations in the social contexts in which people are located. To do so, we must focus on differences between contexts rather than differences between individuals. Most research of this type has examined differences between nations in terms of dimensions. Treating each nation as a unit, contrasts have been identified in terms of values, beliefs, self-descriptions, and social norms. The most influential difference identified concerned the dimension of individualism–collectivism, which has provided the theoretical framework for numerous studies. The validity of this type of investigation rests on close attention to aspects of measurement to ensure that respondents are able to make the necessary judgments and to respond in ways that are not affected by measurement bias. Where many nations are sampled, multilevel modeling can be used to show the ways in which dimensions of culture affect social behaviors.

scholarly journals O processo de aprendizagem do cálculo oral de sujeitos com diferentes níveis de escolaridade e contextos sociaisThe learning process of oral calculus of subjects with different levels of schooling and social contexts

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Eduarda De Melo Silveira ◽  
Glaucia Cabral Moraes
Keyword(s):  
Basic Education ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Research Application ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The University ◽  
Different Levels

Este artigo apresenta um estudo realizado na disciplina de Trabalho de Curso em Matemática, do Curso de Matemática – Licenciatura, da Univesidade de Santa Cruz do Sul – UNISC, o qual originou-se a partir do intuito de estudar como se constitui a aprendizagem em diferentes níveis de escolaridade em relação aos cálculos diários presentes em seus contextos, desde sujeitos que frequentaram a escola por um curto período até os que possuem formação básica completa. Os procedimentos adotados basearam-se no estudo de caso, na aplicação de  questionários e na problematização de uma situação prática com os sujeitos da pesquisa, possibilitando verificar o cenário em que estão inseridos e quais as relações que são estabelecidas entre a matemática, suas aplicações e vivências.This article presents a study performed for the graduation task of the course of Mathematics in the University of Santa Cruz do Sul and aims to study how learning is acheved at different levels of education in relation to the daily calculations present in their contexts: from subjects who attended school for a short period to those with complete basic education. The study is based on qualitative research, application of questionnaires and problematization of a practical situation with the participants, taking in consideration methods such as case study. From this study one may observe that the people dominate the mathematical contents that are necessary to them, besides that this learning is a construction from the social coexistence.

scholarly journals MIGRATIONS, POWER AND URBAN SPACES IN SICILIJA THROUGH AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-19
Author(s):  
Daria Settineri
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Extra State

In this article, the author, based on concrete factual material, explores the specifics of modern migration processes considered within an urban area localized in Palermo (Sicily). In the context of this complex heterotopic space, resorting to the conceptual apparatus of M. Foucault, this kind of rhizome, if we operate with the concepts of J. Deleuze and F.Guattari, the author analyzes the actions of various actors of power – local and transnational – which dominate in this closed socio-urban environment, outlined by the framework of certain city blocks, – formal and informal, institutionalized and not, state and extra-state, legal and illegal, political, social, ecclesiastical, economic, criminal, the objects of projection and manifestation of which are migrants (primarily illegal) concentrated in these urban areas, who coexist there with the local population. The author also studies reactions of “newcomers” to the factors that affect them, including their ways of understanding and familiarizing with of their new place of residence as a micro- and the macrocosm, in all the diversity and complexity of the social connections that permeate this habitat and the factors that affect it.

Language Contact

2020 ◽  
pp. 857-870
Author(s):  
Klaus Beyer
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Contact Linguistics ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Network Approach ◽  
Areal Linguistics ◽  
French Tradition

The chapter starts with a short history of contact studies related to Africa. It briefly looks at early works from Heine (pidgins in the Bantu area) and the French tradition exemplified in the LACITO series on language contact. Considerable space is given to the developments of the last ten years or so when areal linguistics (Aikhenvald and Dixon), linguistic geography (Heine and Nurse), and contact linguistics (Childs, Mesthrie) were put center stage in the African linguistic context. The second part of the chapter looks at methodological issues. Substantial space is given to social contexts in the description of contact-induced language change. The social network approach and other sociolinguistic tools are demonstrated by means of a brief case study from a West African rural contact zone.

scholarly journals Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory action research in motion

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 187-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Richards-Schuster
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
The Social

This article reviews 'Revolutionizing education', a deeply reflective and retrospective book of scholarship on critical questions about youth participatory action research. The book contains a series of case study chapters that examine how youth participatory action research transforms young people and the social contexts in which they live as well as the learnings and implications yielded from this research. The book examines youth participatory action research both for its radical and revolutionary challenge to 'traditional research' practices but also for its active focus on research as a vehicle for increasing critical consciousness, developing knowledge for 'resistance and transformation' and for creating social change. It represents an important contribution to the field of youth participatory action research and community-based research.

Community Participation in the Design of the Seattle Public Schools' Budget Builder Web Site

2011 ◽  
pp. 516-538
Author(s):  
Chris Halaska
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Final Version ◽  
User Input ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Community Access

This chapter provides a case study of the development of an Internet-based budgeting tool for the Seattle Public Schools, known as the Budget Builder. In particular, I describe the ways in which community participation affected the design and final outcome of the system. The Budget Builder project was unusual for a technical project because of its major focus on community participation. Although participation was stymied to some extent, the project can be seen as a success for community access. In the case study, I summarize the use of the Budget Builder over its first two years; describe the community participation and user input present in the design process; examine the social structure surrounding the Budget Builder, especially the division of power among the three main groups working on the project, and how those power relationships affected the final version of the project; and discuss some technical issues that appeared during the course of the project.

Mobile phone appropriation in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana de Souza e Silva ◽  
Daniel M. Sutko ◽  
Fernando A. Salis ◽  
Claudio de Souza e Silva
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Cell Phones ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This qualitative case study describes the social appropriation of mobile phones among low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) by asking how favela (slum) residents appropriate cell phones. Findings highlight the difficulty these populations encounter in acquiring and using cell phones due to social and economic factors, and the consequent subversive or illegal tactics used to gain access to such technology. Moreover, these tactics are embedded in and exemplars of the cyclic power relationships between high-and low-income populations that constitute the unique use of mobile technologies in these Brazilian slums. The article concludes by suggesting that future research on technology in low-income communities focus instead on the relationship of people to technology rather than a dichotomization of their access or lack thereof.

scholarly journals Is Complexity Leadership Theory Complex Enough? A critical appraisal, some modifications and suggestions for further research

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Tourish
Keyword(s):  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Complexity Leadership ◽  
Complexity Leadership Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Underlying Processes ◽  
Enduring Power

Scholars are increasingly seeking to develop theories that explain the underlying processes whereby leadership is enacted. This shifts attention away from the actions of ‘heroic’ individuals and towards the social contexts in which people with greater or lesser power influence each other. A number of researchers have embraced complexity theory, with its emphasis on non-linearity and unpredictability. However, some complexity scholars still depict the theory and practice of leadership in relatively non-complex terms. They continue to assume that leaders can exercise rational, extensive and purposeful influence on other actors to a greater extent than is possible. In effect, they offer a theory of complex organizations led by non-complex leaders who establish themselves by relatively non-complex means. This testifies to the enduring power of ‘heroic’ images of leader agency. Without greater care, the terminology offered by complexity leadership theory could become little more than a new mask for old theories that legitimize imbalanced power relationships in the workplace. This paper explores how these problems are evident in complexity leadership theory, suggests that communication and process perspectives help to overcome them, and outlines an agenda for further research on these issues.

Between the newsroom and the pub: The mobile phone in the dynamics of everyday mainstream journalism practice in Zimbabwe

Journalism ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 692-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
Constructivist Approaches

This article uses an ethnographic case-study approach to investigate the deployment of the mobile phone by Zimbabwean mainstream print journalists in the dynamics of their daily professional routines and practices. The study’s theoretical and conceptual framework draws on social constructivist approaches to technology and the sociology of journalism to provide a direction for conceptualizing the interplay between journalists, their immediate context of practice and the wider socio-political and economic milieu that collectively structure and constrain the appropriation of the mobile phone. The findings suggest that the technology has assumed a taken-for-granted role in the routine operations of journalists and, in particular, that it is redefining traditional newsmaking practices. The article concludes that the cultural and social appropriations of the mobile phone by Zimbabwean mainstream journalists suggest that the technology has acquired new meanings in the social context of its appropriation. Its pervasiveness in everyday life has facilitated the blurring of the boundaries between the work and the private life of journalists.

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