The potential of information technology as a means to invigorate democratic practise is constantly under discussion. Regardless of the differing opinions as to the most suitable way to utilise IT, there are certain democratic core values that have to be considered. One of these is freedom of information, defined by us as the right of every citizen to seek, obtain and express information. The aim of this study is to explore whether the use of IT as a means to enhance democracy can strengthen the citizens right to freedom of information. As an instrument for analysis we use an article by Jan van Dijk, professor of communication science.

This Master's thesis in library and information science aims to shed light on the concept of information literacy in higher education, particularly as manifested in two dissertations on the subject. Two models of information literacy are compared: Christina Doyle's list of ten attributes for students to master and Christine Bruce's seven conceptions of information literacy. The cognitive-behaviourist tradition in Doyle's study and the alternative, phenomenographic approach in Bruce's research are compared and commented. The taxonomies and internal relationship between separate components in the two models are investigated, as well as the ways the models relate to each other. The respective views of knowledge and learning are described.

The purpose of this paper is to get a conception how prioritization and decision making works in technologically advanced companies. We wanted to understand how to administrate models and how to prioritize the best ideas and relate these to technologically advanced companies. How does the company make these decisions and who is responsible?We have chosen to observe TranSiC, a Swedish technologically advanced company that manufacture silicon carbide transistors. They currently have nine employees and mange 10-20 projects simultaneously, but are aiming to expand their business.

The aim of this thesis is to find a statistical model that sort logs according to a predicted modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. The input parameters for the model are X-ray variables from an X-ray scanner. For some of the log classes sawn at the sawmill it is desirable to have a narrow distribution of modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. 250 pine logs from five different diameter classes were numbered and followed through the sawmill process. Log data were collected from X-ray and 3-D scanners in the log intake.

The transformation among armed forces in Europe is a consequence due to shifted security perspective and the growth of international security actors, such as NATO and the EU. Sweden has played an active role in EU to ensure its influence in forming the security policy for the organisation. Some studies mean it´s because of Sweden?s interest in strengthen EUs roll as a security actor they transformed their own armed forces to be able to take part in international operations. This transformation led to what can be called ?the Swedish defence dismantle? and some studies mean that it has led to the point where Sweden completely lacks the ability to defence themselves.The question is if the ambition to become an active member in these security organisations can explain all the decisions made throughout the Swedish defence-transformation, or if some decisions were made due to other factors?By studying the decision process leading up to the decision to locate the flight education to Malmen in Linköping this study seeks to answer why the decision was made.

Life Cycle Cost, often abbreviated as LCC, is a common tool for comparing the total cost of different alternatives, such as heating and cooling methods. Common heating and cooling methods in Sweden are geothermal energy, district heating and district cooling. This report aims to evaluate how different heating and cooling methods differ from each other while being applied on three different types of buildings, using selected LCC-models. Information about the selected LCC-models wasretrieved from each separate model and its website. Reports and agencies were used as sources for information about the heating and cooling methods.

The Swedish Transport Agency has for a long time collected data on a monthly basis for different variables that are used to make predictions, short projections as well as longer projections. They have used SAS for producing statistical models in air transport. The model with the largest value of coefficient of determination is the method that has been used for a long time. The Swedish Transport Agency felt it was time for an evaluation of their models and methods of how projections is estimated, they would also explore the possibilities to use different, completely new models for forecasting air travel. This Bachelor thesis examines how the Holt-Winters method does compare with SARIMA, error terms such as RMSE, MAPE, R2, AIC and BIC  will be compared between the methods. The results which have been produced showing that there may be a risk that the Holt-Winters models adepts a bit too well in a few variables in which Holt-Winters method has been adapted.

Title: Predictions and explanation models for bankruptcy in stock-companies ? A study of three failed Swedish companies Author: Tim Svanberg Supervisor: Emil Numminen Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of technology Course: Bachelor?s thesis in business administration, 10 credits Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to find explanation for bankruptcy with the help of prediction models. The purpose is also to add explanation by using Behavioral analysis Method: Quantitative research of bankruptcies using financial prediction models and qualitative study of psychological pitfalls. The study is deductive. Results: I found that it is possible to explain the bankruptcies using the prediction models. The behavioural perspective adds further explanation.

This master thesis consists of the creation of shock absorber models for percussive rock drills. A model of the rock was also developed. These models were connected to existing models of the rock drill to create a complete simulation of the rock drilling process.When the models had been created the rock model was evaluated by comparison with measured values from lab tests. The verified rock model was then used to evaluate the shock absorber models.Four new shock absorber concepts have been developed. Three of these have been modelled, while the fourth have only been sketched and described.The evaluation of the models showed the following:? Simulations of the single shock absorber don?t correlate to reality very well.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze and examine India's economic reforms which the country introduced on the government's own initiative in the early 1990s after decades of practicing isolationism. The analysis entails a thorough systematic examination of possible factors that determined the decision to implement the reforms. These factors are derived from two models developed by scholars within the field of foreign policy.The research is performed through an examination where the possible factors for the reforms have been examined on a three-level basis; system-, state- and individual level. It is a qualitative case study that seeks to explain not only why the Indian government implemented the reforms but also to evaluate the validity of the models to the extent that they stand in accordance with the case of India.The conclusion presented in this thesis is that one model works better for explaining the case of India. The model lie emphasis on structural changes, a crisis and political entrepreneurs committed to a certain type of reforms as a prerequisite for policy change to take place.

Two ecological models of nitrogen processes in treatment wetlands have been evaluated and compared. These models have been implemented, simulated, and visualized in the Modelica language. The differences and similarities between the Modelica modeling environment used in this thesis and other environments or tools for ecological modeling have been evaluated. The modeling tools evaluated are PowerSim, Simile, Stella, the MathModelica Model Editor, and WEST. The evaluation and the analysis have been performed using McCall?s factors for software quality (McCall et al, 1977), a correlation analysis and the Constant Comparative Method (Glaser&Strauss, 1999).

This paper has bearing on the subject of foreign policy analysis and decision-making,but is nonetheless important to peace and conflict studies due to its emphasis onnuclear weapons and deterrence.I have constructed a theoretical framework for the analysis of foreign policydecision-making that I set out to test on a crucial case. The framework iscrosscutting, and takes into consideration four levels of analysis: the system-,regional-, state-, and individual level. It is centred on a key decision maker, andapplies a cognitive approach for determining his or hers belief system through whichthe inputs from the other levels are filtered in order for the decision maker toconstruct a perception of reality, from which the decision is then formulated within.The framework is applied to North Korean and its leader Kim Jong Il. It sets outto explain his behaviour in the matter of their claimed nuclear weapons program, andhis decision to conduct a nuclear weapons-test, getting inside his head trying to figureout why he chose to do it and for what reasons.The conclusion indicates that the basic structure of the framework and its generalapplicability is sound, but that it needs further testing in order to make it perfectly solid..

Back in the 1950s Marilyn Monroe and her hourglass shaped body was the aesthetic ideal for how models were to look like. Nowadays, the tide has turned. Research has shown that female models are becoming increasingly taller, narrower and straighter. This trend has occurred despite the fact that both men and women (still) prefer medium sized women with curvy bodies. This essay examines if this trend can be justified from a marketer's perspective.

Managers operating within the dynamic society of today are said to rely on intuition when effective and quick decisions are to be made. This skill or phenomenon has aroused an interest within the academic world of management whom has explored intuition, its relation to decision making and its influencing factors, especially in the private sector. Intuitive decision making is however not isolated solely to this sector but also involved in decision making associated to the public sector. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is to investigate whether managers at the hospital Akademiska in Uppsala involve intuition in decision making and to what extent the factors time, amount of information, individual experience and decision complexity influence the intuition.The theoretical framework includes academic research regarding how intuition and rationality affect decisions, the concept of intuition and factors influencing the intuitiveness of decision making. Furthermore the theoretical discussion explores intuition connected to leadership, negative aspects of intuitive decisions and a comparison between different factors that separates public and private sector in terms of decision making.

In this report you can read about a service company that wants to introduce a new decision tool for their customers. The first question that will be answered in this report is, what information is needed for market controllers. The second question investigates how a decision tool that gives the answers to the first question would work. Theories in business and economics written by Jan Lindvall (2001) and sociotechnical work analysis written by Kim Vicente (1999) are used in this report. To find the answers to question number one, interviews with two market controllers were done.