This paper investigates the compensation for risk in the context of the Swedish stock market with a special focus on downside risk. Using daily market data collected from the A-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange between the years 1983 and 2005 the purpose is to answer the question whether Swedish investors are compensated for holding stocks with high downside risk, measured as downside beta. Using panel data analysis it is shown, in accordance with most previous evidence in international research, firstly that stocks with high beta values on average experience higher returns than stocks with low beta values, and secondly that stocks with high downside beta values experience higher returns than stocks with high beta values in general. On the other hand, cross-sectional regression methodology using a bivariate regression approach shows that downside beta does not explain excess returns very well. Instead, regression analysis suggest that high upside beta does a much better job in explaining excess return over this time period compared to downside beta.

Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, more than fifteen revolutionary yearshave passed. Estonia and Latvia have undergone a change from communist statesto members of the European Union. As in so many other post-communist statescorruption has been a problem. However, Estonia has since the independence hada lower degree of corruption than the neighbour country Latvia. The main purposeof this thesis is to explain why so.

The Public vs. private movement has over the past decades identified numerous significant differences between public and private organizations. The observed differences covers almost every field in administrative economics ranging from organizational structure, management accounting, goal-setting and in the past few years even leadership. Strangely, in the majority of these studies little or no regards are given to organizational characteristics or fundamental differences between compared organizations and if these organizations really are comparable when studying the effect of sector.The aim of this study is to compare leadership in relatively similar organizations from both the public and private sector and so clarify if earlier identified differences in leadership styles still surface when leaders working with approximately the same thing in a similar work context are studied.A sample of 348 Swedish principals was drawn from both municipal and private elementary schools. The respondents answered a web-based survey based on the CPE-model resulting in leadership styles mapped according to three orientations: change, production and employee.

The aim of this study is to examine how preschools contribute to the forming of identity in children, with a specific focus on the quiet and socially withdrawn child. How do the teachers describe the quiet child and the socially withdrawn child? Are there any opportunities for children to be quiet/withdrawn in preschools? These questions have also been analysed from a gender perspective. The method chosen is qualitative method. Nine preschool teachers from two Swedish preschools have been interviewed.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to investigate how trained social workers experience information in their daily work. The thesis focussed on three major questions: - What type of information and information sources are mostly used by the trained social workers? - What kind of information barriers are described by the participants? - How can the patterns of information seeking and information use be understood on the basis of the trained social workers professional and social context? Semi-structured interviews were carried out with trained social workers working with child welfare enquiries. My theoretical framework consists of user and context oriented theories about classifications of information, information barriers and models of information sources. My conclusions are that trained social workers working with risk assessment in child protection services, need to use different kinds of information in their daily work, such as problem information, domain information and problem-solving information.

The research objective of this thesis was to conduct a holistic evaluation of an operational information system. By holistic evaluation we mean that an equal focus was placed on both the system system perspective and its users user perspective, in the actual environment where the system and its users function contextuality. In addition, the methodological objective of the study was to test a new research approach in a real life setting. The participants of the study were twenty newspaper journalists employed at Göteborgs-Posten GP. The information system NewsLink is a manually indexed full-text database containing all articles published in GP since 1994.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the communication between banks and their customers. Delimitations were made and the focus became towards upper secondary school students. The study was based on two interviews with bankers on different locations and with different stature, and a focus group consisting of eight upper secondary school students. The conclusion of the thesis was that there are certain problems in the communication between banks and upper secondary school students. The bank didn?t always communicate on the same level as the students when they presented their proposals.

The purpose of this study is to investigate in what extension students experience that computer and videogames affect them. I have chosen to focus on the physical, mental and social affect that this activity might bring them. I have also examined how much time the students spends in front of the computer or the videogame and in which social context they play.The method I have chosen to use is a quantitative opinion poll which I used in three classes of the later junior high and I have also conducted five qualitative interviews.The conclusions I have drawn from this investigation are that computer and videogames affects teenagers both physically and mentally. Physically the affects of playing videogames mostly can be derived to the physical inactivity they expose themselves to. The students themselves did not experienced any positive physical affects from their playing.Amongst the mental affects that stood out the most I recognized the social training that online gaming provided and also the intellectual stimulation that certain games offered the player.

This thesis deals with an iterative user-centered IT-development project in a bank setting. The aim is to present a solution for deployment of future Internet banking for small businesses. The project features a design of IT-related concepts and ideas with a strong emphasis on scenario-based design and the usage of patterns as a documentation tool.The project plan featured an iterative framework and was carried out by a group of designers in collaboration with a reference group representing the future users of the system. This group consisted of company managers and bank employees, all from the small town of Åtvidaberg in Sweden.The method used in the development process was Scrum. A total of three sprints were completed with user meetings at the end of every sprint.

With an increased empowerment of the users, and a dependence on outside critics, one wonders what kind of role the librarians have in a context where qualitative literature is discussed. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between librarians private and professional views on qualitative fiction, in order to be able to discuss their role as quality intermediaries in a user oriented context.The method used, is the qualitative, semistructured interview. This author interviewed seven librarians from three different libraries in Sweden. The theoretical emphasis partly relies on the ten words of qualitative value that Inger Elam and Bengt Brülde discusses in their respective texts, partly on David Garvins quality assessment theory, which defines several quality categories divided between an absolute and a relative quality view.Through the comparison between the private and the professional quality view, examined with the two theoretical approaches, the analysis of the interview material shows that there lies a complexity in the librarians professional role. On the one hand, they are dependent of both the users and the critics judgements about the qualitative aspect in the work with purchasing new literature to the library.

This work examines the students´ thoughts on climate change with a focus on carbondioxid through photosynthesis and the carbon emissions from cars. The study is based on two subject areas, one with a focus on enhanced greenhouse effect, and the other focusing on photosythesis. The survey was conducted by means of qualitative interviews with students in grades four and six. The results describe that student´s understanding for photosynthesis and the carbondioxids function for photosynthesis doesn´t change significantly from grade four to grade six. I have divided the students inte three levels based on their understandingof the various fields, and their use of adequate concepts.

The purpose of the thesis is to examine the thoughts and opinions of a selected group of people regarding the terrorist attack that occurred in Stockholm 12/11-2010. This study has been conducted through the method of focus group interview. The study was methodologically and theoretically inspired by Grounded Theory, which simply means that the participants' opinions have formed the theory of the study. As a result of the study, we can see that the main focus of the discussion held by the participants was through a we and them thinking-perspective. Furthermore, the study reveals that the participants tried to include who we (muslims) are, and to exclude who they (non muslims) are, while arguing in the discussion. Another definition is the one of here and there, where the participants defined terrorism and what causes it. Finally, media's role was discussed in relation to the creation of the medie-muslim. To explain the participants' perceptive, part of Appadurai?s Fear of small numbers and part of Brune?s Dark magic in the white media was used..

The focus of this thesis is primarily in electronic construction and describes the design process for a microcontroller circuit board from concept development to prototyping. The client develops test fixtures for automated testing of products within the electronics industry and needs a new controller circuit for the test fixtures that can handle controls and basic testing. An investigation into the needs of such a system is conducted and a prototype printed circuit board assembly is manufactured.The prototype is developed with focus on protection against electrostatic discharges and overvoltage. Among the functions that are included are voltage measurements, communication interfaces and control of input and output currents. Firmware for the prototype is developed and configured to communicate with a PC through USB interface for control and collecting of measurements..

This study takes place within a publicly owned art producing organization and dwells on the problems of a change process that the organization was involved in. Both leaders and staff were disappointed by the way the change process had developed. The management team explained the outcome by referring to the uniqueness of working with artists who constantly put their own personal objectives before the benefit of the whole. The aim of this study is to find a complementary explanation to the one the management team provided us with; an explanation that can help in the understanding of the dynamics of a change process. Can perhaps theories on information, communication and change processes give an alternative explanation to why the change process faltered? To investigate this, we have used a qualitative single case study.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to analyse school librarians and teachers perspective of childrens reading and reading progress, the impact of informational texts on childrens reading and how school librarians and teachers work/teach to improve their students understanding of informational texts. We also intend to study what consequences school librarians and teachers believe that childrens reduced understanding of informational texts can have in the long run and how this could be improved. The theories applied encompass different literature-pedagogical strategies, theories about reading purpose and direction of the reading process together with a theory that shows the school librarys function in the education. The empirical material has been collected through interviews with one school librarian and one teacher at three different schools. The material has then been analysed and interpreted from theories and earlier research.