Title: Images of Sweden in ItalyNumber of pages: 5252 (589 including enclosures)Author: Oskar GustafssonTutor: Martin NilssonCourse: Political Science C level ? Bachelor?s ThesisPeriod: Spring term 2010University: School of Social SciencesLinnaeus UniversityPurpose/Aim: The purpose of my research study is to, through the use of political science theories on soft power and marketing theories about nation branding and in comparison to previous studies on the image of Sweden in Italy, gains a better understanding of the image of Sweden in Italy, with special focus on national political institutions and young Italians.Method: The method of analysis is a combination of qualitative methods: interviews where information about the image of Sweden amongst national political institutions were gathered and a survey where information was gathered about the image of Sweden amongst young Italians.Main results: On the basis of the results I have gained it can be concluded that a positive and well informed image of Sweden emerges when it comes to cultural and social factors but a more restricted and somewhat negative image come to light when asking national political institutions and young citizens in Italy about their views and knowledge on Swedish domestic and international politics and economics.Keywords: Soft power, Public Diplomacy, Nation Branding, Images of Sweden, Italy..

This paper aims to investigate the connection between clearance cairns and burial cairns. From this point of view I try to answer the questions why they are built in the same area and why these two different types of cairns are so similary constructed. Further I consider different theories about mounds of fire-cracked stones..

The purpose of this work has been to understand the reading group from the perspective of the society. The studyhas taken place in the city of Västerås and the results can thus not be used in a more generalized sence. Byfocusstudies conducted with members from four different reading groups connected in different ways to the libraryin Västerås I have reached the following conclusions.According to Jürgen Habermas theories the reading groups, with their ideals regarding education and meetingswhere everybody are equals, belong in the part of the public sphere that he calls literary. There are someconnections to the political sphere, for exempel the down to earth quality of the literature that is the choice ofthe groups and their way of discussing it.One problem that occures when one tries to apply Habermas idéas regarding the public sphere on readinggroups is that the criteria Habermas considers as vital to sphere for it to work properly does not seem to workon the reading groups. Inclusion, eqality and freedom of subjects are necessary to create a public sphere.

Mental illness in school ? A counselors perspective - The purpose of the study is to examine school counselors work with students (13- 15 years of age) who are struggling with mental illness. Focus on mental illness is discussed in a school context. From the school counselors perspective questions like, what kind of working methods are they using and, how they collaborate are examined. The research design is based on a qualitative approach, with ten Semistructured interviews with ten different informants who work as a counsellor at 10 different schools around Skåne.

Problem and purpose: The authors were interested in studying how large Swedish banks managed liquidity risks when facing the financial crisis of 2008 and whether the implementation of Basel II framework had an impact on the major Swedish banks' capital adequacy. Furthermore, the authors intend to examine how, based on the analysis of the implementation of Basel II, the introduction of Basel III will affect major Swedish banks' liquidity in the future.Method: The essay is written from a quantitative approach and has a deductive perspective. Data was collected from the annual reports of the selected banks to later use relevant theories to analyze the work.Theory: This part of the essay presents relevant theories, a detailed description of the Basel regulatory framework and its requirements, rules for capital adequacy and to relevant key to achieve the Basel regulatory requirements are considered. Furthermore the authors present criticism of the Basel framework and a summary of the key theoretical points to be used for analyzing empirical data.Empirical: In this chapter the data collected from selected banks is presented and processed.Conclusion: The essay authors present the deficiencies and weaknesses that make the Basel II regulatory framework inadequate for the Swedish financial market. Essay authors also present their opinions regarding how the latest form of the Basel regulations could have a more significant influence on the long-term stability of Swedish banks and how this may increase protection against potential liquidity risks..

In today?s technological society, there are increasingly less physical demands on the locomotor system. However, despite that notion strength and function in the hand?s complex biomechanical system are in fact both needed to cope with daily life. The grip function is a main function in the hand and is used in many examples of scientific research, for instance when assessing physical health and predicting the probabilities of premature mortality.

The purpose of this study is to examine if the experience of whale watching can lead to increased knowledge of environmental problems. We also want to find out whether increased knowledge in turn could lead to changing environmental attitudes and behaviors. The theoretical framework consists of theories about sustainable tourism, ecotourism and responsible environmental behavior. The paper also has a section where previous research on ecotourism impacts on behavior and attitudes is discussed and subsequently addressed in the analysis section.Data has been collected through a case study where seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who participated in whale watching. The results show that all respondents had greater knowledge of whales by their experiences, the degree of knowledge was due to respondents' prior knowledge.

This essay presents an example of the musical life of a female composer active in Sweden during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through a case study on composer Sara Wennerberg-Reuter (1875-1959), the essay contributes information to her biography, which had been lacking specific details.Wennerberg-Reuter's biography has been discussed regarding traditional roles of women in music, her relationship to her own artistry and other active women composers, and finally the contemporary reception of Wennerberg-Reuter as a legitimate composer. Aesthetical theories prevalent during Wennerberg-Reuter?s life has been applied in these discussions, such as those presented by Citron, Öhrström and Hanson, combined with Citron's additional theories considering masculine/feminine elements in the musical approach.The main conclusions reached regarding the specific conditions enabling a professional status as a composer and woman in Sweden during the given time are;a) the liberal permission by the family to pursue higher education in composing, since this was in opposition to the traditions of the time.b) the access to a network of musically active women, from which a sense of being part of a female community can be created.c) the acceptance from musical institutions such as higher educations, composer's societies and media critics..

Methodology The foundation to my essay has been created using both primary and secondary data. Inquiries have been handed out to Handelsbanken. This data is completed with appropriate theories and ends in an analysis and finally a result and suggestion to continuing studies.Conclusions My conclusion is that the employees and the management has the same opinion on the bonussystem Oktogon. Both parts sees the system as a motivation factor in the organization. But still not enough effect on the employees to call it an effective strategy..

The aim of this study was to examine the experience, knowledge and attitude to mandatory reports of mistreatments amongst first line managers and assistance nurses in municipal elderly care. The following questions were at the center of the analysis: how do the different professional groups view having to report their own organization? How can various factors affect the mandatory reporting of mistreatments? What knowledge do the different professional groups have of mistreatments and mandatory reporting? A qualitative research method was used to examine these questions in the form of semi structured interviews and a small document study. The interviews were carried out with assistance nurses and first line manages in elder care, we interviewed four respondents from both professional groups. The interviews were then transcribed and coded with help of a content analysis.

The aim of this study was to examine how the interviewed teachers in one school observe their view of gender and equality regarding the educational system.  Accordingly, I would like to present my intention with this study, also be to analyze how the interviewed teachers way of working with matters of gender and equality, carry out as a portrait of their values considering the distribution in terms of gender. The research questions are the following: What is the teachers view on the concepts of equality and gender in school?How do different teachers talk about their way of working in relation to gender and equality in school?How is boys and girls images presented in the teachers descriptions in their discussion about gender and equality?This study is based on a fundamental qualitative method, where a handful number of teacher?s from one school were interviewed in order to obtain information and data for the examination. The interviews were analyzed and discussed in association to earlier research in aspiration to study different writer?s theories about the conception of gender and equality.

This survey is a text analysis of 4 teaching books during a ten years period in Social studies from a multicultural and intercultural perspective. Taking as a starting point that society and the school in today?s Sweden are multicultural and in need of more intercultural teaching I explore teaching books in social science to se how they relate to Sweden as a multicultural society and their way of relating to intercultural teachings and compare them. The questions asked are: How do the different books describe the multicultural society in Sweden? What kind of intercultural tools are found in the books? And are there any similarities or differences among these books? The theories used as a starting point are reformulated by the author after theories of Von Wright and Lahdenperä to fit in to the context of a text analysis of teaching books and the method used is a content analysis with its purpose of describing how the books are constructed.

This study has a focus on brand building and brand identity. The overall idea of the study is to examine the Swedish clothing company WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracys brand building tactics and activities. WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracys, or WeSC, is a company that produces and sells streetfashion in over 20 countries and has over 1600 distributors. The company has in the recent years grown to become one of the largest in its segment. The interesting factor in WeSC´s brand building activities is the use of Weactivists.

In today?s technological society, there are increasingly less physical demands on the locomotor system. However, despite that notion strength and function in the hand?s complex biomechanical system are in fact both needed to cope with daily life. The grip function is a main function in the hand and is used in many examples of scientific research, for instance when assessing physical health and predicting the probabilities of premature mortality.

Studien bygger utifrån problematik i ett tidigare system där önskemål har lagts fram om att förbättra systemet till ett nytt. Det nya systemet har utvecklats till ett dynamiskt webbaserat system och implementerats med det nya utvecklingsverktyget Microsoft WebMatrix. Microsoft påstår att utveckla webbsidor med WebMatrix har aldrig varit enklare, ett påstående som anses vagt.Syftet med studien är att analysera verktyget och dess nya tekniker, därefter resultera om citatet enligt Microsoft är delvis sant eller inte, om WebMatrix samt den nya tekniken upplevs enkel att använda. Studien beskriver även den bakomliggande problematiken samt vilka tekniker som har implementerats i det nya systemet med hjälp av WebMatrix. Syftet med det tidigare samt det nya systemet är tjänsteplanering av personal inom organisation Högskolan Väst i Trollhättan.