This case study explores the question of implementation and steering in a society of governance. As an empirical example, a reform concerning the reception of separated refugee children in Sweden is used. As of the 1st of July 2006 the responsibility for providing housing for separated children lies with the local governments rather than with the Swedish Board of Migration, aiming to improve the children's situation. However, implementing this amendment has turned out to be a harder task than expected. Traditionally, the relationship between state and local actors is seen in terms of state steering or local self-government.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate different types of measures for making buildings more energy efficient and to estimate their profitability. The calculations were performed with the building simulation program VIP+ and the evaluation of the profitability with the life cycle cost method. Furthermore, it was examined how losses in the distribution of secondary systems of district heating can be avoided. Options to replace district heating with a local district heating system based on bio-energy have been investigated. The possibilities of achieving more efficient thermal energy consumption and production for the chosen estate were also examined.The object of the study has been a residential estate with 133 detached houses in Uppsala, built in 1974.

The aim of this Master's thesis was to examine the political and cultural reasons for making music materials compulsory at Danish public libraries by the new library act of 2000. The aim was also to examine how the public libraries have responded to this reform. To answer these questions a literature study was conducted as well as interviews. The results of the literature study indicated that the main reason for making music materials compulsory is to increase the influence of the library users. The study of the debate concerning the new library act showed that a majority of the Danish political parties as well as the Danish library organizations had a positive attitude towards the new obligation.

The thesis is based on a case study of a Swedish discussion forum where survivalism and prepping is the main focus. The awareness of an abrupt and immanent breakdown together with a full and thorough preparation for any conceivable threat posed by that breakdown is what legitimizes survivalism and prepping. This preparation, or risk-proofing is 1) grounded in an isolation of the body and its predispositions from perceived risks, and 2) actualized through artefacts, theoretical and practical knowledge and awareness. Stories of the embodied survivalist are also stories of masculine and heterosexual subjects and ?the others?.

This paper deals with the use of Internet at Swedish public libraries. The author asks whether public libraries should or should not limit access to information available on the Internet. Starting from the American discussion, concerning Internet at public libraries, the author shows the Swedish attitudes. The paper demonstrates that many Swedish public libraries have adopted rules forbidding retrieval of certain kinds of information, such as hard-core pornography and racist propaganda. The persons in charge of such actions claim that public libraries should provide high-quality educational literature and should not spread mass-produced, provocative information.

This essay is about the use of narrative in video games, and the discussion surrounding it. For years ludologists (game researchers) and narratologists (narrativity researchers) have been arguing about how to analyze narrativity in games. While ludologists have chosen to see games as a product by itself, and therefore something to be analyzed separately, narratologists instead see games as a narrative medium alongside film, theater and books. This essay starts by taking a look at the arguments from both sides, and then introduces three questions regarding narrative in games, and how this phenomenon has changed over the past 13 years. To answer these questions, five case studies are carried out, analyzing games with the help of a new framework built on narrative theory.

This essay examines the Swedish missionary association Bible Faithful Friends? (Bibeltrogna Vänner, BV) ecclesiological development between the years 1911 ? 1986 and their relation to the Church of Sweden. This essay?s three main questions are:- How did the ecclesiology of BV develop during the years 1911 ? 1986, with certain focus on 1967-1986?- In what way was this ecclesiology imprinted bya) the structure of the missionary association?b) and the ecclesiological standpoint of the leader Axel B. Svensson?As regards the first question, the study shows that BV's ecclesiology, particularly in the years 1967 ? 1986, is characterized by a church debate between BV's board and the promoters and founders of the Lutheran Confessional Church (Lutherska Bekännelsekyrkan, LBK).

Goodwill är ett omtvistat ämne inom redovisning. I dagens samhälle har företag haft friheten att kunna välja vilken regel i anknytning till goodwill de vill använda och det med hänsyn till vilket resultat de eftersträvar. Våren 2004 offentliggjorde International Accounting Standard Board en ny standard, IFRS 3 för redovisning av företagsförvärv. IFRS 3 går ut på att goodwill inte längre är föremål för planenliga avskrivningar utan istället ska företag genomföra ett ?impairment test? som innebär att företagen genomför en ingående analys av goodwillvärdet årsvis.

The purpose of this essay is to examine if there is any difference in the style of conversation between a municipal politician and a politician in parliament? In order to answer this question I have created two sub-questions that are more precise. The first question is: Are the municipal politicians more open to cooperate with politicians from other parties than the politicians from parliament? And the second question is: Is the rhetoric between the politicians in parliament different than the rhetoric between the municipal politicians?My study is a comparative case study with two different groups of politicians. With the help of a survey I have tried to examine if there are differences in the use of language in the daily work for the politicians.

In 2002 the local council of Lund, Sweden, decides to implement the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. A number of actors, such as the state, the civil society, the political society and the bureaucracy, participate in the political process with different authority and points of departure. This thesis studies the actors´ interactions from an inside perspective by applying concepts such as political power, democracy and implementation. The methodological departure is action research from within, a local NGO, the local board of Save the Children Sweden. The results of the study indicate that governance and steering of the implementation process at the communal level is weak.

The background to this final thesis is that our mandator, A-hus, was interested to examine which roof system that would be most appropriate to their types of houses. To investigate this, we first conducted an evaluation of the most commonly used roof systems in Sweden today: decking, board, roof cloth and prefabricated roof cassettes.To gather information about the different systems we have conducted interviews with several professionals within the construction industry, done an extensive literature study, and gathered information from the Internet.Based on the evaluation of roof systems and the literature, we analyzed advantages and disadvantages of the roof systems from three main perspectives: system characteristics, economics and other characteristics. We found these perspectives to be the most relevant when selecting a roof system.The main perspectives comprise three categories which are graded. These grades are then added together for a score for each main perspective and a total score for the three main perspectives. Then we compared the systems and, based on the scores, suggested one roof system as the most suitable for A-hus.Our result suggests that the prefabricated roof cassettes probably is the best solution for A-hus, but only if it is possible to standardize the cassettes and still maintain the flexibility to match A-hus? house types.

Swedish healthcare is in continuous need of cost savings and efficiency improvements in order to meet the increased demand for care. The theories of lean, developed from the industry, are applied more frequently on healthcare systems to increase effectiveness and reduce waiting times in patient processes. However, some processes seem to be more successful in their lean implementation than others. In this thesis, factors influencing flow efficiency in lean healthcare are examined. Through interviews with the top executive board at Capio St Göran's hospital, data is collected in order to analyze reasons for success.

The metaphor has been among us since a very long time, but despite over 1.000 years of reflection it is still uncertain how one should understand the concept. There are few, if any, doubts how to understand the definition of metaphor, but is it possible to find a real distinction between the metaphorical and the non-metaphorical? In this essay I seek an answer to when a metaphor is a metaphor or when it is instead a generally accepted concept of how something actually is. I will use previous research on the topic from Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Ricoeur and George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. These persons have given me a wide perspective and approach to the metaphor ? and when a word should be considered as a metaphor or not.

This paper studies how peer assessment is used as a strategy to improve young learners' results in Swedish as a school subject. Nine teachers are interviewed about their use of the method on 7-12-year-old pupils. Comparisons are made between the interviews and Swedish and international discussion on peer assessment. There are similarities between the practice of the teachers and what is said in the litterature about the method and its advantages and drawbacks. The teachers tend to emphasize the social aspects more, though.

The purpose of this essay is to examine Cognitive and Psychodynamic theory in the ways they approach spirituality. How and whether or not the personal view of spirituality affects the professional role of the psychologist is investigated. Data from six semi-structured interviews with psychologists have been collected and analysed in a qualitative, phenomenological method. The results reflect two main topics and several subsequent headlines with regards to: 1) the psychologist's professional approach and 2) the area in between the psychologist's personal and professional approach to spirituality. From empirical studies and relevant theories, a discussion is held about the psychological approaches to spirituality in psychotherapy.