ABSTRACTA Qualitative Discursive Analysis of Eight Contemporary Geography BooksTeacher Training with an Intercultural Profile 2006Author: Susanne LjunglöfTutor: Jan-Eric MattsonThe aim of this paper is to describe which discourses concerning the different continents problems, future and development that I can find in the descriptions of the continents in a number of contemporary geography books.The aim has been divided in four questions:- Which aspects of the continents problems are expressed in these geography books?- Which impressions concerning the continents development and future are expressed in these geography books?- Which conceptions about the population in the different continents are expressed in these geography books?- Which cultural reference creates these discourses?The method used for conducting this study is a text analytical method called general discourse analysis.My conclusions:- The different continents problems, development and future are described through entirely diverse discourses.- The reviewed geography books take their origin i a western perspective in their description of the different continents.- As a reader it is always important to be aware of the ethnocentric perspective that could be expressed.

The case method is a relatively new pedagogical method in Sweden that is based on students exercising their skills in the analysis of complex situations and problems that are based in reality and that help students to see a broader perspective and context.The purpose of this study has been to investigate, through interviews with students and teachers, the advantages and disadvantages of the case method in teaching geography.The results of the study show that both teachers and students share almost the same opinion. The conclusion is that the case method is a didactic method that is well suited for teaching geography, as it is based on reality and develops the students? ability to analyze, argue and find solutions in several areas within the subject of geography. If a student is strong in these skill areas they can really benefit from the application of the case method in the teaching of geography, but for students who are weaker in these skills, the case method can be a disadvantage.

Urbanisation has increased the distance between the urban and the rural. Urban agriculture can be a solution to overcome that distance. The characteristic of urban agriculture is the intensive production in intra urban and peri-urban areas. Until 1950s food production in cities was an important part of the urban economy and the urban food supply. Since the 1950s the urban located production of food has almost ceased in Sweden, partly as a result of cheap food imports.

AbstractOur world is facing new challenges depending on the climate changes. The UN panel of climate changes has determined that the human race is responsible for the changes, but also that we have the opportunity to reduce the effects. This demands that the information reaches out to the public which means that the school system carries major responsibility to this type of questions. This also means that the teachers have to be observant, and give the questions the attention which is needed. The purpose of this essay is to see if this awareness exists today among active teachers and teacher students and if the perspective differs among them, but also their opinions is in agreement with the course plan in the subject.

This thesis deals with past and present political attitudes towards the Öresund bridge. It describes the decision making process which preceded the construction of the bridge, and has a short historical introduction to it. It then presents the attitudes towards the bridge of five different political parties, all represented by regional politicians. This empirical information was obtained through interviews with politicians and literature studies. The author then analyzes the empirical information with the help of the human ecological triangle developed by Steiner, and the center-periphery theories of Wallerstein and Persson.To conclude, the author describes what the central problem is in the case of the Öresund bridge from a human ecological perspective and analyzes the empirical data collected..

What is an economic crime? Who is an economic criminal? How do we speak of the phenomenon and what does they way we speak mean? The immediate result of the study is that there is a stereotype image of the economic criminal that is produced within peoples speech. This image contains characteristics that bring the subject, the economic criminal, far away from the traditional crime subject, and brings it closer to a non-criminal subject. This motion render possible that economic criminals can talk of themselves as ?not bad people?, ?normal? and ?like everyone else?.

The study Packning i tid och rum (Crowding in Time and Space) is a Master Thesis in Human Geography within Geography, presented at Södertörn University College.The aim is to investigate the connections between time and space, more particularly, geographical changes over time. This is done by focusing on the Study of Land use as a phenomenon and on-going processes in demarcated areas. Distinct areas are given special interest, i.e. how they are used. The study deals with three different kinds of sites in three levels of scale: a market garden, cemeteries and a residential area.The main focus of the study is on the cemeteries.

The urgency of sustanible development is world-over issue. This essay focuses on the relations of enviromental ethics in the context of the Swedish upper secondary school and the subject of geography, by analysing different educational texts.The purpose of this essay is to reveal and identify discourses of enviromental ethics in curriculum documents; Lgr 11 and the plan- and the coursedocuments for the subject of geography, in educational publisher?s textbooks and in sponsored texts related to the subject of geography and finally to discuss potential consequences this might implicate for education. For this have the methodology of Norman Fairclough´s critical discourse theory, CDA, as well as a matrix of environmental ethics, based upon Mikael Stenmarks classifications of enviromental ethics, been used.In the Cirriculum, Lgr 11 and documents for the subject of Geography, and in the educational textbooks from ?Liber? and ?Gleerups?, are the environmental ethics of intergenerational anthropocentrism the dominant.

The term socken ? comparable to the English term parish ? refers to a historical geographical entity found in rural areas of Scandinavia. This entity presents a multi-layered understanding of the local rural area and is in this essay conceptualized as a place. The concept of place is central to geographic work but it is also a contested term ? discourses within the field of geography present different perspectives on place as a geographical concept and our understanding of it.The history of parishes goes centuries back.

In the history of scientific visualization techniques there is a lack of social science practices and methodologies. The advent of modern computer graphics brought the use of visualizations into a whole new era, but even though the tools by which such modern visualizations are created become easier to access and use, the lack of social science researchers harvesting the benefits of such tools still remain. This ease of use, increase in power and accessibility plus the ever growing need within the natural sciences to augment the human senses has further complicated the relationship between scientific methodologies, validity, reliability and the use of visualization techniques. This relationship must be explored, demystified and understood in order to fully grasp the impact of visualization practices when incorporated into any given scientific method. Within the social sciences there is one example of a tradition that has since its conception carried within it a graphical notion and a visualization practice.

This bachelor thesis examines the relation between countries? degree of economic freedom and their economic performance. Economic freedom as a concept is defined as the degree of market economy within a nation.The variable of measure that is used is the Frasier institute Economic freedom of the world index (EFI). The paper is built upon the Solow growth model and is extended by incorporation of additional variables; among which of course economic freedom. The study is performed through regression analysis, based on the neoclassical model both on rich countries, poor countries and on all investigated countries.Two investigations are performed: i) the impact from economic freedom on countries level of GDP per capita and ii) the impact from economic freedom on the growth rate in GDP per capita.The finding is that economic freedom can be seen as a relevant determinant of differences in GDP per capita growth rates between nations.

Abstract During the last 15 years, the former ?really existing socialist? economies have undertaken an extensive transition process. In this paper the development, measured as GDP growth, is analyzed using variables for economic policy. The analysis is both theoretical, taking as starting point current positions in academia, and econometrical with the linear regression model. We show that while economic policy variables of inflation, economic freedom and institutional quality affect economic growth, the results are not only the ones predicted by the theory.

Title: What is important knowledge in social studies- An analyse of opinions among teachers in social studiesThe aim of this paper is to increase the awareness about how teachers in Social studies think about goals and substance in the subject. I also want to get a picture about what kinds of problems teacher?s experiences when teaching Social studies. My expectations told me that Social studies are complex to teach, because it derives from several university disciplines such as Political science, Economics, Sociology, Law and Geography, which I believe makes the subject harder to define and what to give priority to. Finally, I want to increase the awareness, if it seems to be any fundamental essence in Social studies as a subject.To achieve my goals with this paper I have studied relevant literature about Social studies.

Daily citizens are informed by the media about the environment and the climate changes. The schools purpose is to educate students according to events that are of current interest and take place in present time. According to Swedish curriculum, Lpf94, all Swedish education should include and discuss the problems surrounding durable development. The purpose of the study is to se how the textbooks in History, Social studies and Geography and their contents meet the demands of the curriculum. The study shows that only the textbooks in geography meets the demands that the curriculums have on durable development.

The aim of this Master thesis is to investigate the similarities and differences between a traditional and a new classification scheme. Two classification systems are compared, "The Swedish Library Classification System" the SAB-system - and Yahoo!. The SAB-system has been used in Swedish libraries since the beginning of the 20^th century, and Yahoo! has been online since 1994. Yahoo! has a Swedish version of its international original, which is used in this study to get a similar starting point with the SAB-system. The method used for this is a content analysis, which in this case is not a quantitative analysis.