This paper investigates the relations between the fantasy genre and the phenomena of escapism. It also delves into the factors which motivates consumption of various fantasy mediums. This is done through interviews with six different fantasy-consumers, along with two observations; of which one is performed at a science fiction convention and the other at a table-top role playing game. The study resulted in a basic understanding of escapism ? it is not limited to the fantasy genre, and fantasy consumers do not deny that fantasy is a form of escapism.

This essay examines the narrative aspect of interactive fiction. The study uses Janet H. Murrays analysis of the digital environment and the properties of it as procedural, participatory, spatial and encyclopedic. From this, her three characteristic pleasures in digital narratives - immersion, agency and transformation - are examined from the perspective of interactive fiction. The study also examines Nick Montforts analysis of interactive fiction as a potential narrative and a simulated world or environment.

The purpose of this study was to examine if there are gender differences in computer use among the young. Our aim was to find out in what respects boys and girls differ, if at all. The main method of investigation is a literature review. We have also made a complementary empirical study in a public library. The literature studied principally covers computer use at home and in school.

Denna rapport är ämnad att undersöka vilken sorts feedback digitala spel kan ge föratt främja motivation och lärande. Studien utförs kvalitativt med fokusgrupper somdatainsamlingsmetod och med högstadieelever som målgrupp. Syftet med studien äratt undersöka dessa aspekter i digitala spel för att se hur de kan överföras till lärospeleller serious games på ett effektivt och ändamålsenligt sätt. Frågeställningenutformas dock med ett något bredare omfång för att möjliggöra andra eventuellaanvändningsområden för resultaten. Resultaten från studien jämförs med existerandelitteratur och slutsatserna visar att digitala spel främjar lärande och motivation genomatt tillåta en stegvis kunskap, en intuitiv förståelse genom att sätta information i enrelevant kontext eller handling och där spelaren hela tiden har ett syfte med att utföraen uppgift.

As social interactions migrate to the ubiquitous Internet we are facing a change in theway we relate to each other, which presents interesting new opportunities foranonymity to create identities. An aspect of this radically evolving technology thatexhibits strong possibilities for altering or producing identities is the rapidly growingonline game genre MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) which isentertainment that millions of people all over the globe engage in daily. Thisrelatively new platform for socialising has become of cultural and social significance,which is why it calls for examination and research. Thus, the main research questionsasked in this thesis are as following: How does players of MMOGs utilise the nighcomplete anonymity to present or modify their identities online? In which ways areMMOGs used as a platform for socialising and development of social groupdynamics? After observing a large group of players in a popular MMOG, as well asconducting several interviews with key identities within the group, I discovered three fundamental parts of identity creation, and created a model for use and applicationin different social situations and constellations..

Can the lack of functional cross-cultural communication among individuals within an international organization be the reason for cultural clashes to occur, and lead to conflict between two cultures within the same organization?Our aim is to try to create a potential model of how cross-cultural problems can be studied, in order to contribute to the solution of the problem. And to examine whether the theories, which form the basis of our model can be applied in reality.The research have assumed from the hermeneutical approach for a holistic view of the problem area. The deductive approach has been used in order to distinguish whether the theories can be applied to reality, and qualitative research method for collecting data.The focus lies within cross-cultural communications, which defines the various cultural factors that can affect organizational culture. Hofstede dimensions and the social structure are mentioned and cultural factors as language and religion.

This essay will focus on the people using and are involved in, and have a large interest in the horror film genre. The purpose of this essay is to find what urge these people to continuously watch horror movies and how they believe to be acknowledge by the society in a modern sense. Our study is mainly based on two separate interviews and therefore, mainly from the users perspective. This essay is also complemented by earlier research on this topic. In context of stigma, violence debate, exclusion we found that the users truly can be found in a rare type of alternative sphere, besides the public sphere.

Embedded Systems Lab at Umeå University is currently part of a research project with the purpose to examine the behavior of dairy cows inside a barn. Each cow needs to be tracked with a precision of 50 cm, and since GPS-technique has poor functionality at indoor environments, an indoor positioning system needs to be developed.Embedded Systems Lab has already developed an indoor positioning system using IR-light and radio, but since this system demands extensive infrastructure and is rather expensive, an alternate positioning system using ultrasonic pulses and radio is being examined.In this report the range, beam angle and current consumption of ultrasonic transmitters- and receivers are investigated. Three different driver stages for the transmitter is tested, and two amplifier solutions for the receiver. The report also describes how the length of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse affects the received signal, accessibility of a ?shadowed? signal, and the effect of different sound frequency..

Abstract Svanvik, Robin (2013). Läs: spela! En jämförande studie av elevers uppfattningar om datorspel, skönlitteratur och lärande. Svanvik, Robin (2013). It Reads: Play! A comparative study of students' beliefs about computer games, fiction reading and learning. This essay is part of a masters degree of pedagogy and investigates the experiences of 10 high-school students concerning playing computer-games-off-the-shelf (COTS) on the one hand, and reading fictional, printed novels on the other. The aim of this study was to learn more about the students' thoughts about playing COTS and reading novels; also, what differences and similarities there might be between these activities. Furthermore, I wanted to know what they thought they might learn from these activities. The theoretical point of departure for the study is twofold: Firstly, a theory of learning as expressed by Illeris (2007) and, secondly, a sociocultural perspective on learning, represented by Säljö (2000, 2005/2010) which includes the educational benifit of both playing COTS, represented by Gee (2007), and reading fiction, represented by Probst (1990) and Langer (1995). The method used in this study is mainly qualitative by nature.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the student councils at two schools really have the power to influence, or if it is a matter of mock democracy. I wanted to determine how the student councils work in reality. I conducted my investigation through personal and qualitative interviews with the board of the student council, a social studies teacher and the principle/school management at both schools. After the interviews I compared an analysed my findings. The results show that the two schools work very differently when it comes to studentdemocracy, and even have very different levels of ambition when it comes to the degree of influence that the student council should have at their respective schools.

This work aims to improve our knowledge about Swedish video game journalists, a new occupation in a quickly expanding business. Through a survey sent out to over 50 Swedish video game journalists, the result indicate some unexpected facts. Men largely dominate the profession; just 10 % of the work forces are females. This relation was notable in our survey, as well as in earlier studies. Video game journalists between 26 and 35 years old seems to be the largest age group, which we think is a bit surprising considering how new this form of journalism is, and the fact the internet provides opportunities for every enthusiastic video game writer.

Medierna a?r en oerho?rt viktig del i den ra?dande sociala och kulturella miljo?n. De framha?ver att det a?r verkligheten de avspeglar, vilket go?r att hur kvinnor framsta?lls i medierna bidrar till fo?resta?llningar om hur man bo?r vara och se ut fo?r att bli en del av den verklighet som va?rderas som sa? viktig att den fa?r utrymme i medierna. De kan da?rmed verka som ett ideologiskt verktyg, da? dessa fo?resta?llningar bidrar till bibeha?llandet av sa?dana ko?nsroller, stereotyper och ideal som samha?llet a?nnu inte lyckats frigo?ra sig fra?n.Det mediala genus som alltsa? ba?de skapas och uppra?ttha?lls ha?r, fann vi ho?gaktuellt och intressant att studera na?rmare.

Media spelar stor roll i vårt samhälle. TV är det massmedium vi använder i störst utsträckning. 90 procent av barnen som är mellan nio och fjorton år ser på TV dagligen. Det är inom denna åldersgrupp (närmare bestämt 11-12-åringar) vi valt att göra vår undersökning. Undersökningen berör frågor som vilka TV-program barnen ser på och om barnen kommer i kontakt med dokusåpor? Vi kommer även att se närmare på vem barn tittar på TV med och om det finns någon skillnad mellan pojkars och flickors TV-tittande.

Denna studie undersöker hur känslor uttrycks på Twitter i relation till reality-serien The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. För att kunna göra detta har en metod valts som fungerar bra på att undersöka kulturer på internet, Netnografi. 125 tweets har tematiserats efter känslor och operationaliserats med hjälp av det värdeobjekt som känslorna kretsar kring. Tweeten delades först in som positiva, med kärlek och glädje som känslor. De negativa delades in i äckel, avundsjuka, irritation, ilska och hat.

This study investigates the internet habits of students in the Swedish gymnasium. The part that internet plays in their lives and their attitude towards the educational system is reflected upon the philosophical background that stretches from Kant to postmodern philosophers such as Baudrillard. The aim is to create knowledge about how the social aspects of the internet affects their concepts of reality and their own and others identities. The method used for the collection of empirical data has been semi-structured interviews, preformed with students in a Swedish gymnasium. The data is then interpreted against the theoretical and philosophical background.