My aim in this case study has been to create a method for creature design to test this method in a production and evaluate the results. To achieve this I studied and analyzed the methods of three concept artists and illustrators named James Gurney, Neville Page and Iain McCaig. From the analysis of these artist´s methods, combined with my own personal experience, a new method was formed. To test this method a creature was designed based on directives given by a game design group in the process of creating a table top role playing game in a fictitious world. These directives where given for the creature´s role and its living conditions.

The aim of this master's thesis is to present an introduction to semiological analysis of web based material, which is a hypothesis that combines the theoretical framework of classical Saussurean semiology, visual social semiotics as was developed by Günther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, and Roland Barthes's notion of 'Myths'. Furthermore, a new tool called 'pseudo-signifier', constructed solely for the thesis, is also used in conjunction with the semiological analysis. The hypothesis is tested in a case study involving the web portal of a Swedish commune, Gothenburg (goteborg.se). A complete semiological analysis is performed on the case. The case study revealed numerous findings of interest, among others that images and texts on the web portal were sometimes used in a contradicting manner, and often in a way that symbollically excluded citizens from the portal, a fact which could be uncovered when studying underlying myths that permeated the web portal.

Holy war against the aberration and the newspaper terrorismHeligt krig mot förvillelsen och tidningsterrorismen This paper explores Bernhard von Beskow?s (1796-1868) conservative critique of the, for the early 19th century, new dominating voice in public matters namely the liberal press. There are competing narratives about the emerging liberal press and its critics. On the one hand the conservative critics were seen as hopeless reactionaries which acted against freedom of the press, themselves stripped of positive ideals and/or handled with little interest as footnotes in the great story of the liberal victory over its opponents. On the other hand this story has been questioned and an alternative has been presented of how to understand the conservatives and their critique of the press.

Sweden of today is a so-called multicultural society. In this thesis we wanted to examine how mono, multi- and intercultural issues are expressed in culture-political documents. We also wanted to know how librarians for whom these documents are supposed to be guidelines expressed themselves in these matters. Monoculturalism can be described as a static perspective laid upon culture which emphasises cultural purity. A multicultural society describes a society were the nation consists of many different cultures alongside each other, without a genuinely common core.

The essay is an evaluative study of student democracy in the Swedish high school, its departure point being the 1994 national curriculum for the voluntary school forms (Lpf 94). We adopted an interview method, the survey units consisting in a number of high school teachers. The analysis has two principal theoretical departure points, involving democracy theory and implementation analysis, respectively. The former is utilized to help identifying what sort of democracy permeates the governing document and high school daily life, the latter to explain actual outcomes.The study concludes that the 94 curriculum is characterized by a strong democracy with emphasis on participatory democratic processes, whereas in practice there is a thin democracy in both classroom and formal student government contexts. Representative processes are given plenty of room although few attempts at participatory democratic components can be identified.A deeper analysis of the result reveals implementation problems traceable to elements of symbolism in the goals.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate in what way Swedish universities regulates its internal and external communication by the use of policy documents. The purpose has led to three research questions: what scope of communication is given to the documents user, if the document is challenging or redefining the current means of power, and how questions regarding trademark is taken into consideration. In order to achieve the purpose a discourse analysis is used as both underlining theory and comprehensive method. The underlining theory is based around social constructionism, structuralism, poststructuralism and critical discourse analysis. The analysis have taken emphasis from Norman Faircloughs three-dimensional model in which the documents have been studied on three separate levels.

The aim of this Masters´ thesis is to examine parenthood, gender and equality. The analysis is based on the novel Bitterfittan. The primary theoretical points of departure are Judith Butler?s theory about doing gender and Yvonne Hirdman?s theory about the gender system, the hierarchical order and the separation of the sexes. I use Lisbeth Bekkengen?s thesis in which the nuclear family is seen as an institution which is upheld by two structures; that is the social relationships man-woman and parent-child, and also by two discourses; on the one hand a notion that fathers and mothers are principally different and on the other hand the child focus.

The main object of this diploma work thesis is about how computer programs can bea tool to use for work on stormwater investigations. The advantage of using acomputer program compared with calculations made by hand is evaluated anddiscussed. The computer programs that have been used for studies and a sequence oftesting of the possibilities are Autodesks Storm and Sanitary Analysis and DHIs MikeUrban.Focus on sustainable development now permeates the building industry. As a resultstormwater investigations have been conducted in an increasing extent the recentyears. Stormwater is water produced due to precipitation, such as rain and snowmelt.Stormwater investigations normally contain descriptions of existing land use, plannedland use and suggestions of measures and technical solutions for the future disposal ofstormwater.The initial part of the thesis consisted of literature studies on stormwater andstormwater investigations to understand the science.

This essay sets out to compare political participation in two e-petition systems: The Malmö initiative in Malmö, Sweden, and Better Reykjavik in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main question of the essay concerns the aggregative and deliberative qualities of the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik, as well as the relationship between aggregation and deliberation. This main question is divided into four subqueries that lead the empirical analysis. These are: (1) Which similarities and differences in terms of design are there between the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik? (2) To what extent have these systems mobilized an aggregative political participation? (3) What similarities and differences are there concerning aspects of deliberation? and (4) What is the correlation between aggregation and deliberation like in the two e-petition systems?The method in use is a comparative cross-sectional study with a 'most similar research design'.

The purpose of this study is to make a qualitative evaluation of the MTFC-program (Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care) on the basis of six youth´s experiences of the program. The study will investigate what the youth experienced as positive and negative about the program as well as finding out what has helped them or inhibited them from the aim of getting out of their criminal lifestyle. A secondary purpose of this study is to make the youth´s voices heard in the research world. The research question is: Which factors in the MTFC-program have helped or inhibited the youth towards the aim of getting out of their criminal lifestyle? For this purpose, a qualitative research method has been used where semistructured interviews have been performed on six youth who have gone through the MTFC-program.

The worldwide industrial demand of energy, often in form of fossil fuel, is continuously growing and at the same time these resources are coming to an end (Hamamre, 2013). The interest and focus in renewable sources are then more important than ever and plants are suggested to be a good alternative for production of raw material for industrial purposes (Nilsson et al., 1998). But the world is also facing an increasing world population which also increase the nutritional needs, plants therefore need to be suitable for both industrial and nutritional purposes. To achieve this, common plants need to be improved but it also need new potential crops to be developed and introduced (Carlsson et al., 2009). Modern technology like gene engineering is an important tool to achieve these challenges (Carlsson et al., 2011). This work focused on analyzes and evaluation of different transgenic lines of field pepperweed (Lepidium campestre L.).

This paper attempts to survey the debate in the Swedish parliament on state surveillance on the Internet, from 1994 to March, 2007. With a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, we follow how the idea of state surveillance is viewed by politicians during the period. By focusing on the Internet, we expect to find how politicians in the parliament regard the idea of an unregulated forum for citizen communication and interaction, and how the need for state surveillance on the new arena that is Internet, is expressed and argued for. Theoretical framework is given by Foucault?s theory of the Panoptic state, as well as his thoughts on discourse, power and governmentality.

This essay focuses on two social workers talking about their working field in the prostitution area in a Swedish city. The study aims to investigate how the social workers talk about their field and clients that are in it through the use of narrative analysis. Furthermore we discuss the complications with qualitative interviews, narrative analysis from a feminist theoretical and methodological point of view. The study is based on an interview with the two social workers. The result reveals only tendencies rather than a general "truth".

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the history and the current situation of the Church of Sweden. The renovation of Skalljö church in Lerum municipality has been used as an example to enlighten the common changes in the church buildings. The long history of the Church of Sweden as the state church has resulted in the fact that it carries a remarkable part of the Swedish cultural heritage. The reason why the Heritage Conservation Act (1988:950) was altered in January 2000 was due to the change of relations between the State and the Church of Sweden. According to the Act, all church sites owned or managed by the Church of Sweden shall be maintained in such a way that their cultural historic value is not diminished and their appearance and character are not violated.Sweden is today considered to be a secularised country where religion is an individuals? private matter.

This essay aims to examine how safety is reflected in local plans. This was done by describing the physical environments, which are addressed in the local plans and its impact on safety. It has also been undertaken to see if certain physical environments with respect to safety have been addressed differently.The paper is made with the qualitative method Thematic analysis. The method is used to analyze the three local plans that have been available during the essay. The analysis was done with my created themes Traffic separation, Accessibility, High vision, Light and bright and Human presence.The results have shown that the local plans takes up physical environments that are good for safety.