Showing papers by "Lancaster University published in 1995"

Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language

Abstract: General Introduction: Section A Language, ideology and power Introduction 1. Critical and descriptive goals in discourse analysis 2. Language and ideology 3. Semiosis, mediation and ideology: a dialectical view Section B Discourse and social change Introduction 4. Critical discourse analysis and the marketization of public discourse: the universities 5. Discourse, change and hegemony 6. Ideology and identity change in political television Section C Dialectics of discourse: theoretical developments Introduction 7. Discourse, social theory and social research: the discourse of welfare reform 8. (with R Jessop, A Sayer) Critical realism and semiosis Section D Methodology 9. A dialectical-relational approach to critical discourse analysis in social research 10. (with Eve Chiapello) Understanding the new management ideology. A transdisciplinary contribution from Critical Discourse Analysis and New Sociology of Capitalism 11. Critical Discourse Analysis in researching language in the New Capitalism: overdetermination, transdisciplinarity and textual analysis 12. (with Phil Graham) Marx as a Critical Discourse Analyst: The genesis of a critical method and its relevance to the critique of global capital 13. Critical discourse analysis, organizational discourse, and organizational change Section E Political discourse Introduction 14. New Labour: a language perspective 15. Democracy and the public sphere in critical research on discourse 16. (with Simon Pardoe & Bronislaw Szerszynski) Critical discourse analysis and citizenship 17. Political correctness Section F Globalization and 'transition' Introduction 18. Language and Globalization 19. Global capitalism, terrorism and war: a discourse-analytical perspective 20. Discourse and 'transition' in Central and Eastern Europe Section G Language and education Introduction 21. Critical language awareness and self-identity in education 22. Global capitalism and critical awareness of language References Index

Interpretive case studies in IS research: nature and method

Abstract: There has been an increase in recent years in the number of in-depth case studies which focus on human actions and interpretations surrounding the development and use of computer-based information systems (IS). This paper addresses philosophical and theoretical issues concerning the nature of such interpretive case studies, and methodological issues on the conduct and reporting of this type of research. The paper aims to provide a useful reference point for researchers who wish to work in the interpretive tradition, and more generally to encourage careful work on the conceptualisation and execution of case studies in the information systems field.

Knowledge, Knowledge Work and Organizations: An Overview and Interpretation

Abstract: There is current interest in the competitive advantage that knowledge may provide for organizations and in the significance of knowledge workers, organ izational competencies and knowledge-intensive firms. Yet the concept of knowledge is complex and its relevance to organization theory has been insuf ficiently developed. The paper offers a review and critique of current approaches, and outlines an alternative. First, common images of knowledge in the organizational literature as embodied, embedded, embrained, encultured and encoded are identified and, to summarize popular writings on knowledge work, a typology of organizations and knowledge types is constructed. How ever, traditional assumptions about knowledge, upon which most current speculation about organizational knowledge is based, offer a compartmental ized and static approach to the subject. Drawing from recent studies of the impact of new technologies and from debates in philosophy, linguistics, social theory and cognitive science, the second par...

The in(a/tan/β) index:how to calculate it and how to use it within the topmodel framework

Abstract: Topographic indices may be used to attempt to approximate the likely distribution of variable source areas within a catchment. One such index has been applied widely using the distribution function catchment model, TOPMODEL, of Beven and Kirkby (1979). Validation of the spatial predictions of TOPMODEL may be affected by the algorithm used to calculate the model's topographic index. A number of digital terrain analysis (DTA) methods are therefore described for use in calculating the TOPMODEL topographic index, ln(a/tan beta) (a = upslope contributing area per unit contour; tan beta = local slope angle). The spatial pattern and statistical distribution of the index is shown to be substantially different for different calculation procedures and differing pixel resolutions. It is shown that an interaction between hillslope contributing area accumulation and the analytical definition of the channel network has a major influence on calculated ln(a/tan beta) index patterns. A number of DTA tests were performed to explore this interaction. The tests suggested that an 'optimum' channel. initiation threshold (CIT) may be identified for positioning river headwaters in a raster digital terrain model (DTM). This threshold was found to be dependent on DTM grid resolution. Grid resolution is also suggested to have implications for the validation of spatial model predictions, implying that 'optimum' TOPMODEL parameter sets may be unique to the grid scale used in their derivation. Combining existing DTA procedures with an identified CIT, a procedure is described to vary the directional diffusion of contributing area accumulation with distance from the channel network.

Performance of the ALEPH detector at LEP

Abstract: The performance of the ALEPH detector at the LEP e+e− collider is reviewed. The accuracy of the tracking detectors to measure the impact parameter and momentum of charged tracks is specified. Calorimeters are used to measure photons and neutral hadrons, and the accuracy obtained in energy and angle is given. An essential property of the detector is its ability to identify particles; the performance in identification of electrons, muons, neutrinos (from missing energy), charged hadrons, π0's and V0's is described.

Stimulus-induced oscillations in guard-cell cytosolic-free calcium

Abstract: Ca2+ is implicated as a second messenger in the response of stomata to a range of stimuli. However, the mechanism by which stimulus-induced increases in guard cell cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) are transduced into different physiological responses remains to be explained. Oscillations in [Ca2+]i may provide one way in which this can occur. We used photometric and imaging techniques to examine this hypothesis in guard cells of Commelina communis. External Ca2+ ([Ca2+]e), which causes an increase in [Ca2+]i, was used as a closing stimulus. The total increase in [Ca2+]i was directly related to the concentration of [Ca2+]e, both of which correlated closely with the degree of stomatal closure. Increases were oscillatory in nature, with the pattern of the oscillations dependent on the concentration of [Ca2+]e. At 0.1 mM, [Ca2+]e induced symmetrical oscillations. In contrast, 1.0 mM [Ca2+]e induced asymmetric oscillations. Oscillations were stimulus dependent and modulated by changing [Ca2+]e. Experiments using Ca2+ channel blockers and Mn2+-quenching studies suggested a role for Ca2+ influx during the oscillatory behavior without excluding the possible involvement of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. These data suggest a mechanism for encoding the information required to distinguish between a number of different Ca2+-mobilizing stimuli in guard cells, using stimulus-specific patterns of oscillations in [Ca2+]i.

Three‐way interactions between plant pathogenic fungi, herbivorous insects and their host plants

Abstract: 652 ( I ) Direct effects of non-vector herbivores 653 (2) Indirect effects, mediated through the host 654 IV. Root-shoot interactions 657 ( I ) Above-ground insects and below-ground fungi 657 (2) Above-ground fungi and below-ground insects 658 . . . . . . 11. The effect of plant pathogenic fungi on herbivorous insects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (c) Effects on insects . . . . . . . . . . . . 648 . . . . . . 111. The effect of herbivorous insects on plant pathogenic fungi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Induced resistance a common defence against pest and pathogen ? . . . . 660 ( I ) The hypersensitive response and lignification . . . . . . . . 661 ( 2 ) Phytoalexins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662 (3) Proteinase inhibitors 663 (4) Lipoxygenase 664

Gaps, barriers and conceptual chasms : theories of technology transfer and energy in buildings

Abstract: Analyses of the potential for energy conservation typically begin with estimates of technical opportunity. The first step is to assess energy savings which might be achieved by the adoption of economically worthwhile measures and technologies. Framed in these terms, the task is one of technology transfer : of closing the gap between current practice and recognised technical potential. The trouble is that the practical application of energy efficient technologies seems to be impeded by what are routinely referred to as non technical barriers. The conventional view is thus one in which social obstacles inhibit the realisation of proven technical potential. This familiar logic depends upon a strong conceptual distinction between the social, on the one hand, and the technical, on the other. But does it make sense to talk of technical potential in the abstract ? If we question the notion of pure technical potential, we must also reconsider theories of technology transfer. Do people really have technologies transferred upon them ? Questions about the nature of technical change in turn lead us to review the conceptual status of the gaps and barriers which dominate discussion of energy efficiency. Drawing upon ideas from the sociology of science and technology and on recent research funded by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council, this paper unpacks conventional beliefs about the diffusion of energy efficient technologies and develops an alternative model which acknowledges the social structuring of technical innovation.

Linking parameters across scales: Subgrid parameterizations and scale dependent hydrological models.

Abstract: It is argued that the aggregation approach towards macroscale hydrological modelling, in which it is assumed that a model applicable at small scales can be applied at larger scales using effective parameter values, is an inadequate approach to the scale problem. It is also unlikely that any general scaling theory can be developed due to the dependence of hydrological systems on historical and geological perturbations. Thus a disaggregation approach to developing scale-dependent models is advocated in which a representation of the distribution of hydrological responses is used to reflect hydrological heterogeneity. An appropriate form of distribution may vary with both scale and environment. Such an approach is dependent on the data available to define and calibrate the chosen subgrid parameterization. A parameterization based on a minimum patch representation is suggested and the problems of identification at the larger scale discussed.

Research in Management Control: An Overview of its Development

Abstract: SUMMARY This paper builds on a series of earlier reviews of the management control literature (Giglioni and Bedeian, 1974; Hofstede, 1968; Merchant and Simons, 1986; Parker, 1986) and considers the development of the management control literature in the context of organizational theories. Early themes which have provided the roots for the development of the subject area are explored as is more recent work which has evolved both as a continuation and a reaction against them, with Scott's (1981) framework being used to organize this literature. It is argued that one of the unintended consequences of the influential work of Robert Anthony (1965) has been a restriction of the subject to an accounting-based framework and that this focus needs to be broadened. The review points to the potential of the subject as a integrating theme for the practice and research of management and some themes for future research are suggested.

Second-order analysis of space-time clustering:

Abstract: We consider the problem of detecting and describing space-time interaction in point process data. We extend existing second-order methods for purely spatial point process data to the spatial-temporal setting. This extension allows us to estimate space-time interaction as a function of spatial and temporal separation, and provides a useful reinterpretation of a popular test, due to Knox, for space-time interaction. Applications to simulated and real data indicate the method's potential.

Non‐parametric estimation of spatial variation in relative risk

Abstract: We consider the problem of estimating the spatial variation in relative risks of two diseases, say, over a geographical region. Using an underlying Poisson point process model, we approach the problem as one of density ratio estimation implemented with a non-parametric kernel smoothing method. In order to assess the significance of any local peaks or troughs in the estimated risk surface, we introduce pointwise tolerance contours which can enhance a greyscale image plot of the estimate. We also propose a Monte Carlo test of the null hypothesis of constant risk over the whole region, to avoid possible over-interpretation of the estimated risk surface. We illustrate the capabilities of the methodology with two epidemiological examples.

Explosive volcanic eruptions—IX. The transition between Hawaiian-style lava fountaining and Strombolian explosive activity.

Abstract: The commonest eruption styles of basaltic volcanoes involve Hawaiian lava fountaining or intermittent Strombolian explosions. We investigate the ways in which magma rise speed at depth, magma volatile content and magma viscosity control which of these eruption styles takes place. We develop a model of the degree of coalescence between gas bubbles in the magma which allows us to simulate the transition between the two extreme styles of activity. We find that magma rise speed is the most important factor causing the transition, with gas content and viscosity also influencing the rise speed at which the transition occurs. Counter to intuitive expectations, a decrease in gas content does not cause a transition from Hawaiian to Strombolian activity, but instead causes a transition to passive effusion of vesicular lava. Rather, a change from Hawaiian to Strombolian style requires a significant reduction in magma rise speed.

What are workplace studies for

Abstract: We have considered the role of workplace studies from the CSCW literature which are intended to inform system design and implementation. We present a critique of these studies, categorised according to which phase of the design process they most inform, and discuss the tensions between providing explanatory accounts and usable design recommendations, the pressures on fieldworkers to provide both, the purposes different approaches serve, and the transition from fieldwork to system design.

Cosmology with a TeV mass Higgs field breaking the grand-unified-theory gauge symmetry.

Abstract: The most natural way to break the grand-unified-theory gauge symmetry is with a Higgs field whose vacuum expectation value is of order 1${0}^{16}$ GeV but whose mass is of order 1${0}^{2}$ to 1${0}^{3}$ GeV. This can lead to a cosmological history radically different from what is usually assumed to have occurred between the standard inflationary and nucleosynthesis epochs, which may solve the gravitino and Polonyi-moduli problems in a natural way.

Is there a relationship between task demand and storage space in tests of working memory capacity

Abstract: This paper considers working memory capacity, critically examining the hypothesis that counting span (the ability to count arrays of objects and store count totals) reflects a trade-off in resources available for processing and short-term storage Previous evidence interpreted as favouring this hypothesis has confounded task difficulty with counting time Experiment 1 validated a manipulation of the attentional demands of counting in which target objects were differentiated from non-targets by either a single feature (colour) or a feature conjunction (a combination of line orientations) The results confirmed that the two presentations involved qualitatively different attentional loads Experiment 2 used these displays to compare counting span for children aged 6 to 11, both with and without an adjustment of target numerosity to control for differences in processing time At all ages, span was lower when counting took longer, but there was no difference between feature and conjunction arrays once counting time was accounted for These results argue against a resource trade-off interpretation of counting span Rather, they support a hypothesis of resource-switching among children, implying that counting span acts as a measure of time-based forgetting

How fast can the wall move? A study of the electroweak phase transition dynamics.

Abstract: We consider the dynamics of bubble growth in the minimal standard model at the electroweak phase transition and determine the shape and the velocity of the phase boundary, or bubble wall. We show that in the semiclassical approximation the friction on the wall arises from the deviation of massive particle populations from thermal equilibrium. We treat these with Boltzmann equations in a fluid approximation. This approximation is reasonable for the top quarks and the light species while it underestimates the friction from the infrared W bosons and Higgs particles. We use the two-loop finite temperature effective potential and find a subsonic bubble wall for the whole range of Higgs boson masses 0${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{H}}$90 GeV. This result is weakly dependent on ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{H}}$: the wall velocity ${\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{w}}$ falls in the range 0.36${\mathit{v}}_{\mathit{w}}$0.44, while the wall thickness is in the range 29gLTg23. The wall is thicker than the phase equilibrium value because out of equilibrium particles exert more friction on the back than on the base of a moving wall. We also consider the effect of an infrared gauge condensate which may exist in the symmetric phase; modeling it simple mindedly, we find that the wall may become supersonic, but not ultrarelativistic. \textcopyright{} 1995 The American Physical Society.

Kernel estimation of relative risk

Abstract: Estimation of a relative risk function using a ratio of two kernel density estimates is considered, concentrating on the problem of choosing the smoothing parameters. A cross-validation method is proposed, compared with a range of other methods and found to be an improvement when the actual risk is close to constant. In particular, theoretical and empirical comparisons demonstrate the advantage of choosing the smoothing parameters jointly. The methodology was motivated by a class of problems in environmental epidemiology, and an application in this area is described.

Sibling Interaction of Children with Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Autism and Down's Syndrome

Abstract: Two potentially contrasting hypotheses can be generated about sibling interactions involving a child with Down's syndrome or autism. Research on siblings would predict that learning disabled children adopt responsive roles. Studies of children with autism would predict impoverished interactions. Home observations were conducted on 30 sibling pairs involving children with autism or Down's syndrome. Both hypotheses were partially supported. All learning disabled children engaged in frequent bouts of interaction, usually directed by their sibling. While children with autism engaged in fewer bouts and imitated less, they did reciprocate their siblings' initiations. Sibling encounters provide a unique opportunity for such children to learn about social relationships.

The control problem in public accounting firms: An empirical study of the impact of leadership style

Abstract: Prior research has highlighted the problem of dysfunctional reactions to control systems. Studies carried out in auditing firms have revealed high levels of budget pressure leading to a variety of dysfunctional behaviours which can be difficult to control. This study examines how subordinates' reaction to control systems is influenced by the leadership behaviour of supervisors. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire sent to all audit seniors in three Big Six audit firms. Two forms of dysfunctional behaviour were measured: under-reporting of time and audit quality reduction behaviour. A leadership style characterized by high structure and low consideration was found to be associated with the highest level of dysfunctional behaviour for all behaviours examined, while the lowest level of dysfunctional behaviour was associated with a style depicting low structure and high consideration. Perceived environmental uncertainty was found to moderate these relationships, and to exercise a stronger moderating effect for audit quality reduction behaviour than for under-reporting of time.