Multimodal positioning of artifacts in interaction in a collaborative elementary engineering club

This exploratory case study uses multimodal positioning analysis to determine and describe how a purposefully crafted emergent artifact comes to influence and/or manipulate social dynamics, structure, and positionings of one design team comprised of five third-graders in an afterschool elementary engineering and literacy club. In addition to social semiotic theories of multimodality (e.g., Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. New York, NY: Routledge) and multimodal interactional analysis (Norris, S. (2004). Analyzing multimodal interaction: a methodological framework. New York, NY: Routledge, Norris, S. (2019). Systematically working with multimodal data: research methods in multimodal discourse analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell), Positioning Theory (Harré, R. and Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of positioning. J. Theor. Soc. Behav. 21: 393–407) is used to examine group interactions with the artifact, with observational data collected from audio, video, researcher field notes, analytic memos, photographs, student artifacts (e.g., drawn designs, built designs), and transcriptions of audio and video data. Analysis of interactions of the artifact as it unfolds demonstrates multiple types of role-based positioning with students (e.g., builder, helper, idea-sharer). Foregrounding analysis of the artifact, rather than the student participants, exposed students’ alignment or opposition with their groupmates during the project. This study contributes to multimodal and artifactual scholarship through a close examination of positions emergent across time through multimodal communicative actions and illustrates how perspectives on multimodality may be analytically combined with Positioning Theory.

Social Positioning Analysis as a Qualitative Methodology to Study Identity Construction in People Diagnosed With Severe Mental Illnesses

Severe mental illnesses (SMI) in general, and schizophrenia in particular, have been characterized as alterations of the experience of self and identity. When first diagnosed with SMI, the subjective experiences and specific narrative challenges faced by this population are particularly important. Therefore, qualitative approaches which allow to analyze these subjective experiences should be developed. This article presents in detail a specific method, called Social Positioning Analysis, which makes the complexity of narratives and life stories with multiple turning points understandable. To develop this methodological proposal, it has been taken into account the performative aspects of social interaction in which narratives are constructed. The methodology has previously been used in other health contexts and is innovative in the field of mental health. Linguistic criteria, definitions, and multiple examples are included to facilitate its application, as well as some reflections about its potential and possible benefits.

“Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur” positioning analysis of written narratives

PurposeThe negative stereotypes concerning late-career workers are found to prevail and lead to negative circulation of narratives and actions between individuals and societies. Using the context of late-career entrepreneurs, the paper aims to find an alternative and a more positive narrative concerning late-career work by focusing on entrepreneurs and the narrative positioning related to them.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a narrative-positioning analysis, cycling through three levels of analysis and then returning to level two, in order to study our sample of seven narratives written by Finnish late-career entrepreneurs. The authors present in detail one story-telling narrative, by Matthew, and then layer the remaining six narratives to present themes, positioning and actions surrounding being a late-career entrepreneur.FindingsA more positive narrative circulation was found, which related to the master narrative of entrepreneurs as continuing “until the end” and taking care of themselves, their enterprises and different stakeholder groups even after exiting the enterprise into so-called “retirement.” The entrepreneurs were found to actively use this positive narrative to position themselves both in the story-telling world and in their local interactions. By positioning themselves as “never ending caretakers,” the entrepreneurs gave a strong account that their reasons to continue working centered on the factors social.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings and analysis should be interpreted in the context of the Nordic countries and especially Finland.Practical implicationsThe results of this study can inform the ways in which these “never ending caretakers” can transition into retirement and adjust to life spent in retirement.Originality/valueIn the study, entrepreneurs' written answers were analyzed with narrative-positioning analyses. An alternative story of people at work was found, and a more positive narrative circulation was constructed based on their narratives.

Smart Bluetooth beacon based on LoRa Positioning method and system research

In the era of the Internet of Everything, applications based on real-time location continue to appear in various industries. The indoor and outdoor positioning, analysis and management of personnel and objects can effectively improve the efficiency of production and management, which is of great significance to many industries. The use of Bluetooth beacon positioning has the advantages of low energy consumption, low cost, and fast data transmission speed. However, in real life, there are two obstacles to receiving signals, which are easily affected by the environment and the need for frequent on-site maintenance. This paper designs and implements a new type of LoRa-based smart Bluetooth beacon, which can be quickly connected to LoRa. Online monitoring and remote control can achieve better adaptation to the environment, and can fit a better signal attenuation model in the deployment environment in real time. Traditional signal strength positioning solutions have their own limitations. In order to improve the positioning accuracy of the Bluetooth beacon and the universality of the algorithm, in view of the low deployment density of beacons, the positioning accuracy is not good and the anchor circle has various situations, an optimized weighted centroid positioning scheme integrating greedy strategy is proposed.

Negotiating Emerging Adulthood With Master and Counter Narratives: Alcohol-Related Identity Trajectories Among Emerging Adults in Performance-Oriented Neoliberal Society

This study analyzes how emerging adults negotiate their relation to alcohol in the context of declining youth drinking and how this relationship changes over time. The sample consists of longitudinal qualitative interview data ( N = 28) with 9 boys and 19 girls aged 15 to 21. The participants were recruited through schools, social media and non-governmental organizations from mainly the Stockholm region and smaller towns in central Sweden to reach a heterogeneous sample in terms of sociodemographic factors and drinking practices. We interviewed the participants in-depth three times between 2017 and 2019. Thematic coding of the whole data with NVivo helped us select four cases for more detailed analysis, as they represented the typical trajectories and showed the variation in the material. We used the master narrative framework and Bamberg’s narrative positioning analysis to examine the data. The analysis demonstrates what kinds of narrative alignments in identity development encourage heavy drinking, moderate alcohol consumption, and fuel abstinence. The results suggest that the decline in youth drinking is produced by a co-effect of multiple master narratives that intersect and guide the identity development away from heavy drinking.

Parents at war: A positioning analysis of how parents negotiate their loss after experiencing child removal by the state

This study explores how parents involved in care order processes in Norway perceive being positioned by Child Welfare Services (CWS) in this process, how they negotiate these positions and whether their loss is perceived as legitimate or illegitimate in the face of societal expectations of parenthood. The data consist of qualitative interviews with 13 parents who have experienced child removals initiated by CWS. Drawing on positioning theory, the article provides an analysis of parental experiences of being positioned by CWS and investigates how cultural notions may affect their perceptions. The analysis showed that parents experienced being at war against a highly powerful CWS, which they felt dehumanised them and positioned them as failing. Moreover, parents challenged such positions by introducing alternative explanations that presented themselves as victims. However, the analysis also showed that parents would adopt positions of becoming their own judge and internalising the stigma. Parents experienced disenfranchisement of their grief due to the perception of their loss as illegitimate. Nonetheless, several parents launched a position of becoming a renewed parental figure by turning their prior parental failure into a storyline of growth and prosperity. The article concludes that parents, through language, challenge stigmatising positions to negotiate parental failure, which could be interpreted as valuation work of their identities and parenthood.