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.

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.

This empirical work and base has been to analyze the government?s investigation (SOU 2008:27): the future road ? a reformed high school, which led to the high school reform that the Swedish government introduced as proposition (2008/09:199) about: Higher demand and quality within the high school. Skolverket (part of the Swedish government) has worked with the development of this steering document within their own mission Gy2011 in connection with the high schools during the transition. The reform comes into effect 1 of July 2011. This led to the main purpose to ask questions what high school principals and teachers think of the reform and to what extent it effects the high school programs, the examination system, what impact they see on the individual and the demand from society, and to some extent what the respondent´s answers about the government?s definition of what the higher demand and quality in the reform signify.

The non-governmental organization Gram Vikas primary concern is to establish clean water in remote areas inhabited by often aggrieved tribals and low caste communities. Gram Vikas? slogan is Water for dignity. It refers to that everybody, regardless whereupon the social ladder you are, are entitled to the most fundamental elements for a dignified life. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the factors that are important for a shift to a more equal and sustainable living.

The starting point of this study is that the news media in general strongly influence which topics determine the public agenda by their choice of what is considered newsworthy. The study is based on articles from two major Swedish daily newspapers, Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter. The aim of our thesis is to establish how the environmental public debate as portrayed in the newspaper corresponds to the environmental discussion within the scientific (subject matter expert) field, that is taught by the academic institutions, or if the two materially differ. The environmental communication discourse at the academic institutions advocates ?episodic? formation as the driving force behind transformation of attitudes and behavioral preconceptions. This episodic formation is aimed at incentivizing change by creating intimacy to the incident by linking cause and consequence to the individual citizen instead of to society as a whole.

The concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) describes a company's social and environmental work. More and more companies have embraced the concept of CSR and for some businesses, it has become equally important to present its efforts within CSR as to present its latest profits.The purpose of this essay is to establish an overall picture of a company's CSR efforts and to discuss the potential conflict between CSR and the aim for profit We investigate how businesses can improve their CSR effort so that it contributes to a positive development for the society while still creating economic value for the company. The study is based on a qualitative study of four Swedish companies in the fashion industry: Kappahl, Gina Tricot, Åhlens and Indiska. The results show that according to the theoretical framework, the four companies do not reach a complete strategic approach to CSR. To achieve this it is necessary for the companies to change their current CSR-activities..

The ever-evolving information technology gives users more opportunities, but also put higher demands on them. The digital agenda of the state and society clarifies the objectives and effects academic libraries? development. E-books influence the development of organizational, economic, legal and political perspectives. At the University Library in Gävle work is ongoing. The process is controlled by the acquisition policy which makes it clear that e-books should be purchased if possible.

In this thesis the survival and development of a yearly recurring event will be examined. The purpose of this work is to examine how the festival Stockholm Pride has developed and to find out what underlying factors and conditions that lays behind the development. Also being examined is how the event affects Stockholm city?s tourism industry. To be able to fulfill the purpose of the thesis a qualitative research has been used and two persons with allot of knowledge about Stockholm Pride and Stockholm?s tourism industry has been interviewed.

This work of investigation was to report how four study counsellors see upon the facts regarding the amount of admission, the students social surroundings and local designs for the Individual program (IV) at upper secondary school. Through interviews with four professionals set to guide the students at four different schools in the rural districts of Boden, Luleå, Piteå and Skellefteå, this has become a paper that describes how they see these young adults today. Different handicaps and diagnosis, troubles at home, pregnancy and even drug abuse tend to make you wonder how they possibly can get through school at all. Regarding local development within the program there are no strings of what to do but for every district to deside for themselves and this has led to different ?experiments? with students not mentaly fit for school at all.

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.

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of storytelling for children's language development in preschool from a sociocultural perspective. The purpose is to find what narrative methods teachers use to promote children's language development. I also want to examine whether the children are involved in the storytelling. To get answers to my questions which include what methods teachers use, narrative meaning and function, and their children's participation, I have used qualitative interviews with four preschool teachers at four different preschools.The results of my survey show that teachers use a variety of methods at storytelling. The most common methods were reading, rhymes and daily storytelling while eating.

This study is an attempt to investigate religious perceptions and its development, function and connection to religious practise within the Swedish extreme metal scene. This is performed mainly by a qualitative method of investigation, studying lyrical content published on a number of extreme metal albums, thereafter relating the lyrical progression to the progession of the scene as a whole and also to the development of individual religious belief and practise.The lyrically expressed manifestations of religiosity within the extreme metal scene prove to be related to religious practise in some cases, most visibly in the Christian parts of the scene.The study also indicates that development of religious expression often is evident regardless of religious preference. This development also regularly relates to an increase in musical evolution and prowess often achieved with increased age and maturity.Musically and lyrically, the extreme metal scene displays transgressive attributes which assist both individual and group in the process of creating identity, meaning and individuality.Experiencing extreme metal, in concert or in the privacy of one´s own home, can be one way of perceiving spirituality in this modern age..

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 importance of chemical use is enormous for areas such as agriculture, industry and medicine and hence a prerequisite for our modern society. In order to protect humans and the environment from the negative effects of chemical use, chemical regulations have been used at a relatively early stage in our history. The purpose of REACH, the new chemical regulation of the European Union, is to generate new knowledge of chemicals within the European market and to increase the responsibilities of the enterprises when it comes to risk management. Whether the enterprises will implement the regulations or not will be of vital importance for the realization of the law?s intentions.The purpose of this study was to identify possibilities and problems that can occur when a downstream-user SME is about to implement REACH.