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We dedicate this page to dissertations/theses based
upon social constructionist ideas. Many new scholars
from around the world are finding intriguing and innovative
ways to employ social constructionism as the substantive
focus of their work, as a guide to methodological designs,
or as an organizing framework for the entire dissertation/thesis
enterprise.
Posting entire dissertations/theses in PDF format on
this site provides a worldwide platform for others to
read, appreciate, and build upon significant achievements
in social constructionist scholarship. We hope these
"noteworthy dissertations" will stimulate networking
conversations among all who read them. Authors of
these dissertations have granted the Taos Institute
non-exclusive rights to post their
dissertations on its website in a PDF format. Please use correct
citation when quoting from any of these documents.
If you have any questions about this page or would
like to submit a dissertation for consideration on this
site, contact Dan Wulff at dwulff@ucalgary.ca
»» Riding
the Whitewater: A Social Constructionist Approach to
the Mergers and Acquisitions Integration Process and
the Role of the Integration Manager
by Keith Paul Bahde
Benedictine University, Illinois
May, 2003
It is widely held that as many as 75% of mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) fail to produce intended results.
One important factor for contributing to this shortfall
is that M&A integration strategies are frequently articulated
crudely and then inadequately communicated to those
responsible for integration. This thesis addresses these
challenges and explores more effective ways to perform
integration. click
here for PDF
»»
Moving Forward: Therapy
with an Adolescent and his Family
by Shari J. Couture, M. Sc.
University of Calgary, Division of Applied Psychology,
Alberta, Canada
January, 2005
Studies of actual conversational behaviours used to
generate positive change in family therapy are relatively
rare. In this study, the researcher examined such conversational
details as they occurred in a single session of family
therapy. From passages identified by the family members
as helpful, I used discursive methods of analysis to
examine an actual conversation between a renowned family
therapist (Dr. Karl Tomm) and a family formerly at the
conversational impasse. The analyses showed the therapist
and family members' use of particular conversational
practices from those sustaining an initial differend,
through those used in trying to develop more promising
lines of talk, to those which ultimately show the family
and therapist initiating talk form a shared position.
The researcher concludes these analyses with an integration
of the conversational practices and sequences in talk
used by the therapist and family members to bridge differences
in their ways of conversing and relating. Family members'
retrospective comments regarding their participation
in the conversation analysed were also incorporated
into the analyses. Implications for the practices of
family therapy, and for further research of therapeutic
conversations, are derived from the analyses. click
here for PDF
»»
Issue framing in multi-actor
contexts. How people make sense of issues through negotiating
meaning, enacting discourse and doing differences
by Art Dewulf
Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium
December, 2005
In multi-actor contexts, like public-private partnerships,
development projects, natural resources management or
network organizations, some kind of recognized interdependency
urges different actors to meet each other and this results
in the encounter of differences. When these actors meet
each other, they tend to frame the issues at hand in
very different ways. We investigated what happens with
these different frames when actors start working together.
We developed a discursive approach to issue framing,
as a process of organizational sensemaking in interaction
that depends heavily on communication and language.
Using discourse and conversation analysis, we analyzed
interaction sequences in the context of (real and simulated)
multi-actor development projects, which all have something
to do with natural resources management in the Southern
Andes of Ecuador.
This dissertation explores the process of issue framing
in multi-actor contexts throughout a number of chapters.
All chapters have to do with natural resources management
through the interaction of multiple actors, and all
focus on the different frames of reference involved
and how these develop through the interaction.
Click here for summaries of each chapter and downloads
of the published dissertation. http://ppw.kuleuven.be/~dewulfar/phd.htm
»»
Theorising 'Self':
Postructuralist Interpretations of Self Construction
and Psychotherapy
by Karen Frewin
School of Psychology, Massey University, New Zealand
November, 2002
Through post-structuralist theory, this study offers
a critical view of relationships between self and psychotherapy.
It suggests that 'belief systems' concerning the self
are embodied in institutional and technical practices
through which forms of individuality are specified and
governed. It proposes that psychotherapy, as 'modern
knowledge and expertise' of the psyche plays a role
in the stimulation of subjectivity. Making use of narrative
inquiry and psychotherapeutics as devices of access
to self-engagement, it argues that psychotherapeutics
are psychological intervention technologies of domination
and power that function to assist the assemblage of
selves. This study originates through an assumption
that psychological knowledge contributes to the way
we are in the world, and that we are often produced
with little knowledge of production processes. click
here for PDF
»»
Diferencias Naturales
Diferencias Sociales: Construcciones Sociales en torno
a la Discapacidad
by Gerardo Gacharná, Claudia Saavedra & Oscar
Cañón (Thesis Director)
Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Santo Tomás,
Bogotá, Colombia
April, 2006
In our thesis, Natural Difference is a form of discourse
that highlights human biological differences and Social
Difference is a particular kind of meaning constructed
within relationship, which takes into account the discourse
of Natural Difference and is expressed in the way people
treat each other. Disability is a type of Natural Difference.
The World Health Organization has published numerous
classification manuals about disability and each one
proposes a different discourse. In our study, we first
interpreted the kind of social relations invited by
each disability discourse promoted by the WHO, and then
participated within a mainstream classroom, taking into
account the interactions between a student diagnosed
with a disability and her classmates and their narratives
about events between them. Finally we related those
interactions and narratives with the types of relations
invited by each WHO discourse. All this to suggest that
dividing humanity, as we have for so long, might not
be the best way to go about it. click
here for PDF
»»An Appreciative Inquiry Case Study: Recognizing the Positive Core of Teachers in a Low SES Elementary School tht Met Standard of Excellence
by Dr. Jackie Glasgow
Wichita State University
Educational Leadership
Month/Year of Graduation: May 2008
Teachers are held accountable for students to achieve and sustain a level of accountability to meet the requirements of AYP. This study describes the successful teaching practices of teachers and the ecological conditions of the practices in a SOE school through the theoretical perspectives of AI and capacity building. A qualitative case study of teachers and their principal in a low SES elementary school used semi-structured paired interviews, focus groups, and participant created documents to collect data. There were five salient findings. Implications for praxis encourage interpersonal interactions with students founded on beliefs that promote student success. Successful teaching practices in a SOE school can shift the criticisms of school reform to a positive image when using an AI process.
Download the PDF
»»The Social Construction of BiPolar Disorder: The Interrelationship Between Societal and Individual Meanings
by Susan G. Goldberg
Fielding Graduate University, School of Psychology, Clinical Psychology Program
November 21, 2007,
Viewed through the perspectives of individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder, this qualitative study investigated how American society has constructed the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and what the implications may be for individuals labeled with this diagnosis. The study involved narrative interviews of five women and one man who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Participants were in their 30s to 50s and identified as European Americans. Hermeneutic, social constructionist, and Lacanian approaches influenced the analysis.
One area of findings involves a mutual interaction between individual experience and societal labels. Language, culture, and society limited the choice of labels for "depression" and "elevation." Another area of findings involved the challenges to self and identity faced by participants. It was difficult for participants to develop a cohesive sense of self in light of the particular way the psychiatric community defines bipolar disorder and society understands it. The "biochemical imbalance" explanation for bipolar disorder affected participants' sense of identity and personal control because this explanation seemed to suggest that their feelings and behavior are controlled by an external entity (biochemicals) rather than their conscious will.
These findings may link to larger societal issues. One issue involves a blurred and fluctuating boundary in American society between "normal" exuberance and "crazy" mania and how this societal confusion affected participants' meaning-making. Another is the Western challenge in bridging mind-body dualism. Participants grappled with this issue when trying to understand how many of their bodily, sensory, or emotional experiences were simply labeled as symptoms of a "mental" illness.
Download the pdf
»»
Social Constructionism:
A Unifying Metaperspective For Social Work
by J. Christopher Hall
University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work
August, 2005
The shift of social work training programs from the
practicing agency to the academic institution in the
early part of the 20th century created defining shock
waves within the profession that still resonates today.
This move created both a physical and theoretical fissure
between what is taught in the academy and what is practiced
in the field. This dissertation focuses on those academics,
practitioners, and acedemic/practitioners who seek to
build a unifying bridge between the academy and parctice
with social constructionism as the foundation. It explores,
through qualitative interviews and analyses, what 13
leading social constructionist scholars and practitioners
believe social work practice education should entail
and how education from a social constructionist framework
might influence the field and the client-social worker
relationship. click here
for PDF
»»
The Firm as a Nexus
of Relationships: Toward a New Story of Corporate Purpose
by Daniel K. Saint
Benedictine University
May, 2005
Business corporations are among the world's most powerful
social and economic organizations. There is a growing
consensus that the future health of our planet is inextricably
intertwined with the activity of business. Our theories
of corporate culture and responsibility influence how
business will conduct that activity. The purpose of
this dissertation is to enliven current theory and develop
new insights by exploring how executives, who are committed
to both shareholder value and societal contribution,
talk about the purpose of business. Generative theory
is the research approach with social construction as
the metatheoretical lens. Primary data sources include
thirty interviews with senior business executives from
large corporations, participant observation based on
the author's experience as an executive, and the literature
of stakeholder and economic theory. click
here for PDF
»»Director of Elementary Education/District Assessments for Maize Unified School District 266, Maize, KS
by Teresa L. San Martin
Wichita State University
Educational Leadership
Month/Year of Graduation: May 2008
The purpose of this study was to describe how Complete High School Maize (CHSM) students describe their high point learning experiences. The study also described how CHSM students describe their dreams for effective learning. A qualitative case study research design was used to facilitate an AI Learning Team in the first two stages of the 4-D Cycle—Discovery and Dream. Eight CHSM students, four males and four females, were purposively selected as the AI Learning Team (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros, 2003; Ludema, Whitney, Mohr, & Griffin, 2003). Data collection methods included: participant group discussions, semi-structured participant paired interviews, and participant created documents, participant generated video, and a participant created presentation for district administrators. Data were analyzed using several techniques: content analysis, open coding, axial coding, text analysis software, and pattern matching with the use of a content analysis matrix.
Download the Abstract
Download TSM_Defended_Dissertation
»»
Participatory Action
Research with Adults with Mental Retardation: "Oh My
God! Look Out World!"
by Rita Marie Valade, RSM
Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville,
Kentucky
May, 2004
This dissertation is a participatory action research
project with adults with mental retardation who reside
in Louisville, Kentucky. It explores some of the history
and ideologies that frequently have hindered persons
with mental retardation from being regarded by others
as unique individuals with various abilities. It investigates
dynamics of social ostracism and the resultant silence,
inclusive of the social work profession's relative absence
in the field of mental retardation. Furthermore, it
explores various aspects of research with persons with
disabilities, and with persons with mental retardation
in particular. While there have been multiple studies
about persons with mental retardation, very few actually
include their voices. This dissertation attempts to
offer a corrective to this and offers persons with mental
retardation a vehicle for their opinions, actions, and
voices. click here
for PDF
»»
Do you hear me? About
therapeutic listening, creating space for voices to
emerge and to be heard. Dialogical Action Research
by Anne Hedvig Vedeler
KCC International, University of Luton, London
May, 2004
This research is an inquiry into the role of listening
in therapy.
The author was curious about the relation between a
client's feeling of being heard, a listening therapist
and emerging new voices. She invited this client to
collaborate through what she called a Dialogical Action
Research. The present work is the result of several
long conversations, both therapy conversations and research
conversations, between the client and the author, as
well as the author's own reflections.
Listening is thought of in terms of a transforming
process whereby the person you speak with is influenced
through the way you listen. Attentive listening on the
part of the therapist offers the client a unique opportunity
to develop her inner voices and let them be expressed.
This may create new self stories, and less rigid internal
and external dialogues.
Theory and the contribution of others are in this project
used as ideas to be placed in a ' voice-resource-bank'
for later use during the research process. The Russian
philosopher Michael Bakhtin's description of the dialogue,
is a main frame of reference for the report, both in
terms of the therapeutic relationship, methodology and
method.
click here for PDF
of Appendix
click here for PDF
of Dissertation
»»
Discursive Processes
that Foster Dialogic Moments: Transformation in the
Engagement of Social Identity Group Differences in Dialogue
by Ilene Wasserman
Fielding Graduate University
May, 2004
This interpretive case study identifies discursive
processes that support the emergence of transformative
dialogic moments in the engagement of socially and historically
defined group differences. Social construction and communication
theory as well as relational theory provide the theoretical
grounding for this research. Building on Martin Buber's
definition of dialogic moments and more recent writings
from Kenneth Cissna and Robert Anderson, dialogic moments
are defined when meaning emerges in the context of relationship,
and when one acknowledges and engages another with willingness
to alter their own story. McNamee and Gergen describe
the transformative procress as "first transforming the
interlocutors' understanding of the action in question...and
second, altering the relations among the interlocutors
themselves. click here
for PDF
»» Language in Clinical Reasoning: Learning and Using the Language of Collective Clinical Decision Making
by Stephen Loftus
University of Sydney
2006
The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to come to a deeper
understanding of clinical decision making from within the interpretive
paradigm. The project draws on ideas from a number of schools of thought
which have the common emphasis that the interpretive use of language is at
the core of all human activity. This research project studied settings where
health professionals and medical students engage in clinical decision making
in groups. Settings included medical students participating in problem-based
learning tutorials and a team of health professionals working in a
multidisciplinary clinic. An underlying assumption of this project was that
in such group settings, where health professionals are required to
articulate their clinical reasoning for each other, the individuals involved
are likely to have insights that could reveal the nature of clinical
decision making. Another important assumption of this research is that human activities, such as clinical reasoning, take place in cultural contexts, are mediated by language and other symbol systems, and can be best understoodwhen investigated in their historical development. Data were gathered by interviews of medical students and health professionals working in the two settings, and by non-participant observation. Data analysis and
interpretation revealed that clinical decision making is primarily a social
and linguistic skill, acquired by participating in communities of practice
called health professions. These communities of practice have their own
subculture including the language game called clinical decision making which
includes an interpretive repertoire of specific language tools and skills.
New participants to the profession must come to embody these skills under
the guidance of more capable members of the profession, and do so by working through many cases. The interpretive repertoire that health professionals need to master includes skills with words, categories, metaphors, heuristics, narratives, rituals, rhetoric, and hermeneutics. All these skills need to be coordinated, both in constructing a diagnosis and
management plan and in communicating clinical decisions to other people, in
a manner that can be judged as intelligible, legitimate, persuasive, and
carrying the moral authority for subsequent action.
click here
for PDF
»»The Leader Label: Using Social Constructionism and Metaphor to Influence the Leadership Perceptions of Graduate Business and Public Adminstration Students
by Jeffrey Zacko-Smith
Seattle University
2007
This research examined the use of metaphor as a tool of discourse, applying it specifically to the field of leadership. Utilizing a post-modern social constructionist framework under which the construct “leader” was highly pliable, and was created, enhanced, mitigated or destroyed via language and interaction, this study investigated whether and in what ways the intentional use of metaphor altered the individual leadership perceptions of graduate business and public administration students. Leadership understandings classified as “flexible” and “inflexible” were the primary focus of this inquiry given the hypothesized need for increasingly flexible understandings in globalized contexts. Conventional perceptions of leaders are themselves metaphorical: the leader is actually in the lead, the first to move forward. This is an image appropriate for certain circumstances, but is one seen as less relevant today because it implies an often complex hierarchy, connotes exclusivity, and ignores context.
A two-part research question guided this study: (1) to what extent and (2) in what way(s) were individual graduate business and public administration students’ perceptions of leaders and leadership altered (along a “flexible/inflexible” continuum) by the intentional use of the metaphor “leader as social construction” in focused group discussions?
Investigative methodologies were primarily qualitative and based upon the interaction between Q-Methodology and focus groups; since meaning is generated socially and subjectivity is valued, the aim was to explain individual perception change using interactional techniques. Written interviews added depth to the findings.
The results of the study show that although perceptions were mixed (i.e., they were flexible and inflexible both before and after the focus group intervention), exposure to the “leader as social construction” metaphor increased flexible leadership understandings among a majority of the participants. These findings serve as a catalyst for future research. Click Here for PDF
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