We live in a society that is constantly developing and where technology is getting a more major roll. The school is a very important part of our society and should therefore develop in pace with the surrounding society. Having this in our thoughts we decided that our purpose for this case study should be to study the importance of technology in a learning environment for seventh graders in a specific school. To be able to find this out, we have used constructivism and sociocultural perspective on learning. We have gathered our empirical data for the study through participant observations and a focus group interview.

Background: The consumers of today have the possibility to choose from a wide range of products and services. Consequently, the ability to differentiate the products is essential for the brand owners. If a brand owner does not manage to differentiate its product, it can be difficult to make the consumers realise the benefits of the product and convince them to buy it. One way to differentiate the product is to create a distinguished brand identity. However, it is not enough to create a strong brand identity, the brand owner must also be capable of communicating the brand identity successfully.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how Ranma ½, one of the most popular Japanese Manga series, reflects the gender system in society. We have chosen to make use of two different gender theorists to determine if Ranma ½ follows the gender norms of society or not. The theoretical framework is based primarily on Yvonne Hirdman's theory of the two basic principles: the principle of dichotomy and the principle of hierarchy. Judith Butler's theory of performative gender is used as a complement.

How stakeholders can influence EU in global environmental politics and what consequences and risks this brings are heavily debated. Some scholars argue that civil society are being disenfranchised from the global political arena while others seem to find them having influence in areas where they normally shouldn´t have any influence. In this this paper I will compare the Europan Union policy on GMOs with the process in producing the Water Framework Directive using an analytical framework to study the level of stakeholder influence. Following the framework I will use two types of data namely NGO participation and Goal attainment. The data once summarized will be analyzed by using the methods of process-tracing and counterfactual analysis.My conclusions regarding both cases are that stakeholders, most notably, were able to influence policymaking in EU by using the internal revisions and by networking in smaller partnerships.

Title:Cash is King ? or is it?Level:Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor:Caroline Eng and Jessica HillbergSupervisor:Jonas KågströmDate:2011- 06Aim:There is a long tradition of trading the currency and the first coins can be traced back to Persia already 500 BC. With the modernization of society and the technological advances we have made in recent years, we are now using electronic payments more and more. We pay by card, Internet banking and mobile phone in addition to cash. The purpose of this paper is to follow Swedbank project "cash smart" and have it as a basis when we examine if we are heading for a cash-free society and what obstacles and opportunities there is for a cash-free society.Method:We have used a qualitative method to conduct interviews with two individuals involved in the project "cash smart" at Swedbank in Gävle.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether abnormal stock returns could be identified as a result of a layoff announcement during weak economy.Method: An event study methodology.Theory: Efficient market hypothesis, signal theory.Empirical results: Quantitative data from observations of stock prices in thirty two companies listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, in the period 2008 -2012.Conclusion: The results indicate that the market reaction was negative because there were negative abnormal returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period 2008-2012 in connection with the layoff announcements. The market reaction was milder when staff reductions were carried out as a result of a restructuring and stronger when staff reductions were carried out as part of a cost reduction program.The layoff announcements elicited different market reactions depending on the company's industry affiliation. The most negative reaction was in the Healthcare industry. Negative abnormal returns were lower in industries Industrials, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods. There were no abnormal returns for shares of companies in the industry Financials.

The main purpose of the culture is to serve people and represent the people's social will and freedom. Culture does not exist in a vacuum but shaped and framed by political and artistic structures that are not neutral, and this is why the artwork itself cannot be an independent business. The public function of art can be understood as a defense of the ideals of democracy. But today, when political power is often replaced by hegemony, the role of art and functions are changing. How these changes reflect to the identity, reality and truth of society? What political functions are fulfilled when art becomes ?public?? The issue of democracy is linked question of people?s power in a democratic society where power is legitimized in social space.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate if there might be a possiblecorrelation between young women´s fascination with the vampire narrative andtheir search for identity in the late modern age. With the help of contemporarysociological studies in the field of the late modern man and today?s youth culture,I?ve chosen to do qualitative interviews with eight young women in order to examinehow today?s society affects their process of identification. Lately we?ve been ableto see an enormous interest for books that deal with the vampire saga, and while thereaders are mostly young females, it brought me to ask the question why the combinationof teenage drama and vampires seems to be such a winning concept.We live in a time where most young females experience a lot of pressure trying to addup to the demands of society, and as the media keep producing images of youngwomen being thin and looking like supermodels, most teenagers feel a lot of pressureand anxiety trying to live up to such unnatural ideals that in the long run might lead tovarious health issues and eating disorders.As a result of this thesis I?ve found that the vampire narrative answers to some ofthe existential needs we have as members of a late modern society.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the content and work processes regarding the values written in the curriculum for Swedish high schools and compare it with theories regarding the individualized society and political moralism. After the clarification of the content in the values of Swedish high schools and the work processes that are supposed to give students fundamental understanding about them, I analyze and compere it to the theories that are presented in the study. The main questions of the study are the following: What kinds of values are found in the curriculum for Swedish high schools? In general, how do Swedish high schools work with the written values when focus have gone from education and learning to instrumental knowledge, results, abilities and flexibility?The result showed that the content and work processes regarding the values in Swedish high schools are purely instrumental and moralistic. Due to the fact, that the individualized society and the neoliberal ideology do not require reflection and real understanding regarding the values.

The average length of life is increasing in the western world, hence the older population is growing. A common health problem among the elderly is malnutrition. Malnutrition causes decreased body strength and is associated with an amplified risk of infections, depression, fractures and increased mortality. The health care system is therefore faced with the challenge to prevent malnutrition among the growing population of elderly. This could be done by providing nutritious foods developed to meet the specific needs of elderly. The overall objective of this project was to test a healthy energy dense drink based on oats targeted for the elderly consumers as a strategy to prevent malnutrition among elderly.

This essay discusses the use of history, and primarily how the current Swedish society perceives and uses the Viking age. The analysis is based on a literature study as well as a case study of the planned theme park in Fullerö north of Uppsala, Sweden. The aim of the essay is to understand the regional debate which arose in media regarding the planning of Fullerö Park and how it reflects the contemporary use of history. Research about the use of history has become increasingly common in recent years and deals with how history is actively being used in society in order to meet its existing needs. These needs varies among different groups and individuals and results in a multitude of usages, where the interests of the different actors may be contradictory.

Trough a literature study based on both philosophic and objective fact this essay is taking off in the meaning of public space. It investigates how the information society and its virtual world are affecting the idea and use of public space in the city. The city and the actual world have developed from the traditional meeting between people while the virtual world is based on flows of information. The information flow has expanded through the Information and Communication Technique (ICT). ICT covers among others Internet, mobile phones and computers.

This essay studies how advertisements in various anti-smoking campaigns can influence and persuade by using anti-logos as counter-arguments to the tobacco industry's logos. In contrast to tobacco advertising arguments such as freedom (logos), pleasure (pathos) and trademark (ethos) the anti-smoking campaigns create anti-logos arguments with various connotations such as repulsive pictures and sexual implications to influence groups of people not to start smoking or to quit smoking.Advertisement of tobacco does not exist nowadays due to legal restrictions in the western world; however several decades of myths created in the consumer consciousness still exist. Thus one can speak of a tobacco advertising ideology that exists and the various anti-smoking campaigns trying to change that ideology.The purpose of anti-smoking campaigns is to conduct a kategoria of myth that tobacco advertisement has created over the years. Anti smoking organizations do this by creating a new ideology to affect consumer?s attitude toward smoking and the tobacco myth with an anti-myth.

                                                  AbstractThe development of our society has in many ways changed the relationships between the political parties and the citizens. Fewer citizens are active in political parties, which has contributed to the fact that we see a form of catch-all effect and a development of parties that organizes more in forms of professional organisations. This paper has made a research of modells of democratic ideals and values between leaders and party-members in political parties in the local area. The purpose has been to show how these ideals and values can reflect back on the political development. The result shows that the development has created a form of catch-all effect and a professionalism in the parties.

Youth culture and social problems associated with youth groups have existed for decades. We have chosen an explorative case study design to highlight young people's revolt against parents and society and how society has dealt with social problems of youth and how those were perceived. ?Raggare? were considered a major social problem in society. The material in the study comes from eight qualitative interviews and literature of previous research of the current youth culture.