High brand equity is a great asset for companies that operate their business in a free and competitive market. Brand equity can arise from both product-related and non-product related attributes and may be viewed from many different perspectives. This study examines which different attributes that contribute to enhance brand equity from customers point of view at the Swedish market for agricultural machinery. The study have been developed using a comprehensive literature search in order to investigate the field regarding brand equity and brand image. The literature review results in one product specific and one non-product specific approach in order to examine factors that contribute to enhanced brand equity. This takes the form as one survey-based approach regarding the non-product related attributes which is examined by interpreting the extra value added by different attributes.

Pairs trading is a relatively new trading strategy, the strategy has only been used during a couple of decades. A study made on the American stock market has shown that the strat-egy has generated a positive result. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if pairs trad-ing has been able to create a positive result on the Swedish stock market during the time period of 1995-2004.The data required for this thesis was collected from Stockholm stock exchange and is ad-justed for splits and issues.The pairs trading strategy involves two stages ? identification of pairs and trading signals. The pairs were identified during a period of 12 months.

The purpose of our master thesis was to investigate how a multicultural society is reflected in childrens books picture books, books for children and young people, published in 2002. We found this issue interesting since children of today experience a change in society, where people of many ethnicities, cultures and religions live together to a greater extent than before. Since children in their everyday life are exposed to these different cultures, we think they also should be exposed to them in the books they read. In order to enhance an understanding of why such books are important to children, especially immigrant children, we have in our thesis included a passage with childrens linguistic development, identification and stereotypes. Other passages concern libraries and their roles in a multicultural society.

The thesis examines how language, culture and family structures interrelate and affect the process of migration. Vital is how women from a different ethnic background integrates during migration and in a dialogue context with us as researchers and native Swedes. The thesis is interdisciplinary and analyzes empirical data through a qualitative method by using the perspectives gender, ethnicity and identity. The empirical material consists of 7 interviews, which have been transcribed and then broken down in to quotations. Thesequotations have then been analyzed using the perspectives mentioned above.

Syftet med mitt examensarbete är att undersöka hur fem pedagoger på fem olika förskolor väljer att arbeta för att stärka det svenska språket hos barn som har svenska som andraspråk. Jag vill jämföra pedagogernas olika arbetssätt, och likheter och skillnader kommer att diskuteras. Syftet är också att fokusera på vilket förhållningssätt fem pedagoger har till barns användning av sina modersmål vid inlärning av ett andraspråk och hur pedagogerna ser på betydelsen av barns modersmål när barnen lär sig ett andraspråk. Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod med intervju som datainsamlingsmetod. I resultatet framkom det att pedagogerna har en viktig och betydande roll för barnens tillägnande av ett andraspråk.

This Master?s thesis aims to study how the concept ?youth? is understood and used in papers and publications about public libraries, written at The Swedish School of Library and Information Science from 1972 to 2002. It does this by answering three questions: Firstly, how is the concept ?youth? formulated in papers and publications at SSLIS from 1972 - 2002? Secondly, has the concept ?youth? changed in the analysed texts during the chosen time and, if that is the case, what constitutes this change? And, finally, what types of consequences for the understanding of the users can this have for the writers and readers of these texts? Discourse analysis is used to analyze how this concept is constituted, transformed and understood. Among the things studied in the discourse analysis is the interdiscursivity and intertextuality of the texts, as well as the meaning of the word, the wordings and modality of the analysed texts.

The study has answered the questions to what extent people with disabilities are involved in SVT- and TV4- news reports and how people with disabilities are represented in news reports. The material is based on 140 news items.The study has demonstrated that news reports SVT and TV4 have different grades of misconceptions about disabled people. Disabled people are constantly being reinforced by negative disabling terms, the disability being of central importance for the news broadcast and they still occur in stereotypical depictions. Through the image of disabled people forms the bed-rock on which the attitudes towards, assumptions and expectations of disabled people are based on. They are fundamental to discrimination and exploitation that people with disabilities face on a daily basis, and contributes significantly to their systematic exclusion from mainstream society.

The aim with this thesis is to study the risk management in construction projects at the Swedish Road Administration, SRA. Furthermore, the aim is to find the effects of the risk management. The theorem of this thesis is that the positive effects of the risk management in construction projects create additional value to the project. These additional values are that the project itself becomes resilient and that the project goals are achieved without any significant disturbances.This thesis shows that the risk management in construction projects do not follow the guidelines set out by the SRA. This is due to a lack of education in the method and a difficult method all together.

The aim of this study is to investigate parents attitudes towards picture books and childrens reading. The study is based upon qualitative interviews with seven parents, 29-44 years of age, who have children between 3 and 6 years of age. The study is hermeneutic. The conceptual framework used in this study, is Uffe Seilmans categories of different kinds of attitudes towards childrens sparetime occupations, for example reading. These are the authoritarian, the laissez-faire and the democratic attitudes.

Denna utvärdering av Umeå universitetsbiblioteks (UB) övergång till RFID-teknik (radio frequency identification) tar upp hur personalen har upplevt konverteringstiden och övergången. Syftet var att undersöka den involverade personalens åsikter och attityder kring omställningen och de eventuella konsekvenser och effekter som RFID-övergången fört med sig.Undersökningen genomfördes med korta uppsökande intervjuer vars frågor utformats i samråd med Umeå universitetsbiblioteks projektledare för RFID-konvertering. Frågorna resulterade i kvantitativa svar men respondenterna gavs möjlighet att utveckla sina svar med egna reflektioner. Av de totalt 17 respondenterna var nio män och åtta kvinnor i åldrarna 32-64 år. Resultaten visar på en till stora delar nöjd respondentgrupp, majoriteten tycker att övergången till RFID har fungerat bra, de flesta känner sig opåverkade i sin yrkesroll efter införandet och endast ett fåtal har lämnat konverteringstiden med några bestående men som drabbat deras arbete eller de själva. Bland respondenterna finns det en generellt positiv inställning till RFID-teknikens framtid på arbetsplatsen och ett flertal hoppas på en vidareutveckling och utbyggnad av tekniken..

Barnmisshandel kan förekomma i alla samhällsklasser, trots att det enligt lag är förbjudet att slå sitt barn. Barnmisshandel brukar delas in i fysisk-, psykisk- och sexuell misshandel. För att kunna identifiera barnmisshandel måste skolsköterskan ha kunskap inom området, vilket saknas idag. Syftet med studien är att beskriva skolsköterskors kunskap och roll i att identifiera barnmisshandel. Studien utfördes som en litteraturgranskning och belyser flera tecken som skolsköterskan bör observera vid misstänkt barnmisshandel.

The aim of this study was to establish knowledge about the most suitable substrate for cultivating different kinds of anaerobic beer spoilage bacteria in the brewing industry. During the study, two other aspects were investigated; if the sample volume affects the results and which anaerobic beer spoilage bacteria are present in the micro flora at the brewery. The method used was standard cultivation with four different substrates; Universal Beer Agar, Nachweismedium Bierschädliche Bakterien, Raka Ray and VLB S7-S. During the identification of bacteria in the micro flora, a method using PCR was used. None of the substrates showed a significant advantage over the others.

Denna utvärdering av Umeå universitetsbiblioteks (UB) övergång till RFID-teknik (radio frequency identification) tar upp hur personalen har upplevt konverteringstiden och övergången. Syftet var att undersöka den involverade personalens åsikter och attityder kring omställningen och de eventuella konsekvenser och effekter som RFID-övergången fört med sig.Undersökningen genomfördes med korta uppsökande intervjuer vars frågor utformats i samråd med Umeå universitetsbiblioteks projektledare för RFID-konvertering. Frågorna resulterade i kvantitativa svar men respondenterna gavs möjlighet att utveckla sina svar med egna reflektioner. Av de totalt 17 respondenterna var nio män och åtta kvinnor i åldrarna 32-64 år. Resultaten visar på en till stora delar nöjd respondentgrupp, majoriteten tycker att övergången till RFID har fungerat bra, de flesta känner sig opåverkade i sin yrkesroll efter införandet och endast ett fåtal har lämnat konverteringstiden med några bestående men som drabbat deras arbete eller de själva. Bland respondenterna finns det en generellt positiv inställning till RFID-teknikens framtid på arbetsplatsen och ett flertal hoppas på en vidareutveckling och utbyggnad av tekniken..

This Master?s thesis aims to study how the concept ?youth? is understood and used in papers and publications about public libraries, written at The Swedish School of Library and Information Science from 1972 to 2002. It does this by answering three questions: Firstly, how is the concept ?youth? formulated in papers and publications at SSLIS from 1972 - 2002? Secondly, has the concept ?youth? changed in the analysed texts during the chosen time and, if that is the case, what constitutes this change? And, finally, what types of consequences for the understanding of the users can this have for the writers and readers of these texts? Discourse analysis is used to analyze how this concept is constituted, transformed and understood. Among the things studied in the discourse analysis is the interdiscursivity and intertextuality of the texts, as well as the meaning of the word, the wordings and modality of the analysed texts.

The purpose of this study is to examine escort-business with a focus on sales of BDSM-services (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism). The study is based on qualitative interviews with three informants providing BDSM-services, as well as a survey with 96 men who requested domination of escorts (the survey was carried out by an escort in the 1980s). The analysis of this material resulted in the identification of three themes on which the study centers: The personal experiences of the three escorts, the interaction between the escorts and the clients, and the changes over time when it comes to the performance of BDSM-services. The study has a gender perspective with a focus on feminism and queer-theory. The important conclusions are that there are several differences between prostitution having a focus on BDSM-services and other prostitution.