Dissertations in English

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 from around the world 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 or would like to submit a dissertation for consideration on this site, contact Dan Wulff at dwulff@ucalgary.ca

Also available:


Keith Paul Bahde
Riding the Whitewater: A Social Constructionist Approach to the Mergers and Acquisitions Integration Process and the Role of the Integration Manager
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Sarah Elizabeth Barry
Organisational Learning on ‘Another Map’ Phenomenological Explorations with Ecological Epistemology as Practical Learning for Development-Aid Organising, Volume I
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Robert Stephen Busch
Contextualising a Problematic Relationship between Narrative Therapy and Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Evaluation in Psychology
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Martha Jean Cockell
MAKING MAGIC: FACILITATING COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES
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Michelle T. Carter
APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY AND ADULT TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING AS AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE LIFE COACHING PRACTICE
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Shari J. Couture

Moving Forward: Therapy with an Adolescent and his Family
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Sandra Davidson
THE EXPERIENCES OF NOVICE NURSING FACULTY: A COMPLEXITY PERSPECTIVE
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Art Dewulf

Issue framing in multi-actor contexts. How people make sense of issues through negotiating meaning, enacting discourse and doing differences
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Gabrielle Donnelly
Drawing on theories of critical postmodernism and social constructionism, this paper aims to unpack the incomplete and unhelpful meta-narratives of religion that are prevalent today even within the post-modern turn.
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Murray Robert Fletcher 
What is the nature of educational leaders in transformative learning experiences? A hermeneutical phenomenological study
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Karen Frewin

Theorising ‘Self’: Postructuralist Interpretations of Self Construction and Psychotherapy
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Gerardo Gacharná, Claudia Saavedra & Oscar Cañón
Diferencias Naturales ­ Diferencias Sociales: Construcciones Sociales en torno a la Discapacidad
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David Laurance Giles
Exploring the teacher-student relationship in teacher education: A hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry
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Jackie Glasgow
An Appreciative Inquiry Case Study: Recognizing the Positive Core of Teachers in a Low SES Elementary School that Met Standard of Excellence
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Susan G. Goldberg
The Social Construction of BiPolar Disorder: The Interrelationship Between Societal and Individual Meanings
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J. Christopher Hall
Social Constructionism: A Unifying Metaperspective For Social Work
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Liisa Hakala, Ph.D.
From Monologues To Dialogue. A Discussion About Changing The Fragmented Character Of The Debate Concerning Schools To One Of Negotiation, In The Spirit Of Social Constructionism.
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Mäntylä Hans
On “Good” Academic Work: Practicing Respect at Close Range
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Victoria Louise Harold
Discourses on Behaviour: Is There Room for Restorative Justice in a Secondary School?
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Sean Patrick Hatt

ADHD in Black and White:A Comparative Inquiry in Narrative and Photographs
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Jenny Helin
Living moments in family meetings: A process study in the family business context
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Tarja Kantola
Transcending “the Impossible”: From Dead End to Expansive Learning
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Cynthia A. Karaffa
Intellectual Courage And The Social Construction Of Terrorism: Embodying Reality
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René Kristensen
How can Systemic Constructionist Theory and Practice Inform and Develop Learning Practices in Schools?
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Mette Vinther Larsen
Strategising through organising: The significance of everyday relational sensemaking
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Stephen Loftus

Language in Clinical Reasoning: Learning and Using the Language of Collective Clinical Decision Making
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Christina Mauléon
‘Getting’ it Together In Joint Directed Action Department of Technology Management and Economics Division of Quality Sciences
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Marian Naidoo
I am because we are (a never ending story). The emergence of a living theory of inclusional and responsive practice
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Jeanette Neden, Ph.D.
Reflexivity Dialogues: An Inquiry Into How Reflexivity Is Constructed In Family Therapy Education
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Bill Nordenbrock
Appreciative Inquiry in the Praxis of Reconciliation
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Rong-Bang Peng, M.A.
Decolonizing Psychic Space: Remembering The Indigenous Psychology Movement In Taiwan
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C. Wayne Perry
Constructing personal identity through an online community: Distance supervision in a graduate counseling and a graduate marriage and family therapy program
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Lesley A Porter
Crafting Practice in Trauma Therapy
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Celia Studart Quintas
Relational Identities: Reclaiming Ourselves Through Recreating Each Other in Collaborative Conversations in Group Therapy Work
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Daniel K. Saint

The Firm as a Nexus of Relationships: Toward a New Story of Corporate Purpose
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Teresa L. San Martin

Director of Elementary Education/District Assessments for Maize Unified School District 266, Maize, KS
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Kimberley A. Seitz
A Grounded Theory Investigation of the Relationship Between Positive Psychology Coaching and Thriving
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Darrell K. Smith
Unearthing Cognitive Frames and Sowing Interactional Framing within Indigenous-Mining Conflict
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Olga Sutherland, M.A.
Therapeutic Collaboration: Conversation Analysis of Couple Therapy
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Jacqueline Stavros
CAPACITY BUILDING An Appreciative Approach. This study proposes a relational process of building an organization’s future using Appreciative Inquiry. It supports a greater appreciation and awareness of the importance of building multiorganizational and global capacities.
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Deborah Turner
This dissertation proposes and explicates the concept of an oral document as a way to ground an exploratory discussion on orality and information behavior. This study isolates and focuses on information conveyed orally.
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Rita Marie Valade
Participatory Action Research with Adults with Mental Retardation: “Oh My God! Look Out World!”
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Branka Vasilic
Supporting interprofessional collaborative practice through relational orientation
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Anne Hedvig Vedeler
Do you hear me? About therapeutic listening, creating space for voices to emerge and to be heard. Dialogical Action Research
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Ilene Wasserman
Discursive Processes that Foster Dialogic Moments: Transformation in the Engagement of Social Identity Group Differences in Dialogue
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Dona J. Witten
Psychosocial factors that bind adults in a long-term, spontaneous group process: A grounded theory inquiry
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Jeffrey Zacko-Smith, Ed.D.
The Leader Label: Using Social Constructionism and Metaphor to Influence the Leadership Perceptions of Graduate Business and Public Adminstration Students
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Don Zeman, D.C., M.Sc.
Facilitating Conversations about Sexuality between Minority Sexuality Athletes
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