OPINION LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL EXTREMISM

An analysis of a survey material with 14,000 respondents fromNorway 1984–5 shows a U-shaped relationship between positionon a political left–right scale and activity to influenceothers through personal communication, with the exception ofa sharp drop at the extreme left. Various hypotheses attemptingto explain this pattern of a left dip are tested and refuted:1) it does not seem to be the result of sampling or measurementerror, 2) it is only to a limited extent explained by the socialcomposition of the extreme left, 3) it is not due to the partycomposition of the extreme left, but exists within all partiesof the left, 4) it is not a symptom of a general withdrawalfrom political activity, the extreme left does not lag behindin membership in parties or local elected councils, 5) it isnot part of a general withdrawal from personal communication,there is no left dip in the proportion of opinion leaders invarious non-political areas. Trend data show a changing patternfor the relationship between opinion leadership and politicalextremism from 1973 to 1989, which corresponds to changes inelectoral support for parties of the left and right in Norway.     

Innovation and isomorphism: A case-study of university identity struggle 1969–1999

Higher education institutions face today strongpressure from institutional environments toadopt certain structures and management systemsfor reasons of legitimacy and survival.However, the external pressure is multifaceted, demanding organisational and educationalinnovations on one side and adjustments todeveloping national and international standardson the other. By studying a Norwegianuniversity from its establishment in 1969 to1999, and by extensive triangulation of morequalitative studies on this university in thisperiod, the paper concludes that highereducation institutions may handle this dilemmaby relating it to the continuous struggle fororganisational identity.     

Analysing Cognitive Learning Processes through Group Interviews of Successful High School Pupils: Development and Use of a Model

The focus is on the metacognitive awareness of ten high-achieving high school pupils in mathematics in Denmark and England and their understanding of their cognitive learning processes and strategies. Mainly unstructured focus group interviews investigate how they explain that they learn a mathematical concept that is new to them. I develop the ‘CULTIS model for analysis’ (Consciousness, Unconsciousness, Language, Tacit, Individual, Social), which consists of six themes in which various psychological theories of learning are expressed. The model uses the theories of Ernest, von Glasersfeld, Hadamard, Krutetskii, Mason, Piaget, Polya, Sfard, Skemp, and Vygotsky. The model is used to sort the pupils' explanations and it also functions as a tool with which to compare the pupils' explanations with the various theories. I conclude that the pupils can talk about their learning in their own words and each pupil refers to elements that the researcher associates with different theories. Half the pupils furthermore explain that how they are used to learning, or being taught, influences how they later on are able to learn. I also discuss metacognition and whether this can be an aid to enhance learning.