AbstractTitle: Network communication for equal opportunities (Nätverkskommunikation för jämställdhet)Number of pages: 47 (54 with enclosures)Author: Hillevi GoodTutor: Ylva EkströmCourse: Media and Communication Studies DPeriod: Spring Semester 2007University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityAim: The aim of this essay is to study the possibilities to bring about change by the means of communication in two networks, focusing on the implementation of the Swedish Equal Opportunities Act.Material and method: The study draws on data collected in an electronic survey among representatives of two networks consisting of representatives from trade unions and employer?s associations. The material is analyzed using descriptive tools, cross tables and correlation matrices in which general characteristics as well as individual understandings of the network communication are presented and discussed.Main results: The general results indicate that the network communication serves important purposes, such as providing support and motivation for the members and changing attitudes towards equal opportunities. The analysis suggests that the network members have good communicative possibilities to serve as agents of change within their organisations. Moreover, there is an observed relation between, on the one hand, organizational context and, on the other hand, the network members? own communicational behaviour and their experienced possibility to influence their organizations.Keywords: network communication, diffusion of innovations, behaviour change, Equal Opportunities Act.

The purpose of my study is to examine whether the need for competence development in the communicative leadership exists among the six school leaders at the current adult education unit in Malmö. By observing the communication between the parties I hoped to get the following questions answered: What are the preconditions for the school leaders, in their daily communication with the staff, for getting the staff to feel noticed and confirmed? In what ways do the school leaders communicate with their staff to motivate them to development? I also wanted to highlight the school leaders' awareness of their own communication skills. The theories and models I have used are Haberma?s theory of the communicative action, Spitzberg and Cupach?s relational competence model and Engquist?s theory of level of abstractions.

AbstractTitle: From old rightwing-ghost to the new labour party ? The new conservatives political communication during the Swedish election 2006Authors: Pontus CarestenAim: The aim of the essay is to study how the conservative party communicated during the election campaign in 2006. I wish to find out how political parties work in todays society and how the communication has changed over time. To get relevant results I will also see how the theories and empirics interact. The purpose is further to illustrate the new conservatives? campaign work from a senders point of view.Method/Material: I have chosen a qualitative method which consists of three interviews with relevant key persons.

Problem statement: Nowadays, women have a greater place in literature, both as a writer but also the role of the book and that is why I have chosen to examine how educators reason about their use of literature in preschool to combat the stereotype of gender roles.Motivation: An earlier survey shows that women now have a greater place in the recently released children's literature and, therefore, it is interesting to see how educators see their work on countering gender patterns using picture books. It is also interesting to examine whether the female roles in the books are consistent with the research I've used.Approach: I chose to use qualitative interviews with teachers in two preschools and also examined the recently released children?s books they worked with.Results: The results of my survey shows that teachers thoughts about their work on combating gender pattern occurs on an individual plan and depend on how the teacher interprets the guidelines. My survey also shows that the gender roles in the newly released picture books are consistent with earlier research I?ve used.Conclusion: It is therefore important that educators are aware of how easily gender patterns are induced, it happens on a daily basis through words and expectations that educators have on children..

The purpose of this essay is to examine how young members of Free Churches relate to issues connected with lifestyle and identity, based on the changed conditions for the self in late modernity. More specifically, I want to examine how they deal with the increased degree of detraditionalisation and institutional individualization in late modernity.My research-question is:How do young members of Free Churches relate to issues connected with lifestyle and identity, with the increased degree of personal freedom and institutional individualization in late modernity as a starting point?The empiric part of the essay is carried out by qualitative in-depth interviews with five young members of Free Churches. These semi-structured interviews are focused on a number of different areas of the changed conditions for the self in late modernity.My theoretical perspective has been constructed from the theories of Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman, Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim. From these theories a focus on certain relevant areas of the condition of the self in late modernity, has developed.

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.

During my practical training I have seen what after-school offers children. Large groups of children and little staff, often results in that the children had to play freely until they go home. Few activities are offered to the children and the staff is busy looking after the children and ensures that they are not fighting.The purpose of this study is to find out how children feel about their leisure activities and if they think they are being offered a meaningful leisure. The main research questions were:How do children experience their leisure-time?Do after-school offers children a meaningful leisure and is it the children's interests and needs that govern the activities and the environment?How do the number of children in the leisure group affect the leisure time?The methods to collect data in the study are observations and interviews.

In Swedish school library research, the role of the school library has seldom been studied in a subject-specific context. When it has been, the subject has usually been a theoretical subject such as Swedish or Social studies. The purpose of this master's thesis is to study what role or roles the school library can play in a different context, in the program-specific subjects at a trade oriented program in the Swedish upper secondary school, and to determine what factors affect the possibility for the school library to play a role in such a context. The Food Programme was selected as the specific program to be studied. In this program, the students learn a trade, in this case bakery, and the teaching in the program-specific subjects can be expected to be practical in nature.

Every year about 30000 people have a stroke. It is caused by either a bleeding or a blood clot, and depending on where the damage is, the patient can get different types of difficulties following after the stroke. About 40 % of all stroke patients sufferfrom some kind of speech and/or communication difficulty, like aphasia or dysarthria. As hospital staff it´s important to know how to communicate with these people, to get a deeper understanding regards their needs.Aim:The aim of this study is to out of a patient's perspectivedescribeexperiences ofcommunication difficulties that can follow after a stroke.Method:A content analysis with a qualitative approach was used to analyse five autobiographies.Results:The result showed in what way stroke patients experienced their communication difficulties, and how they felt about the hospital staffs treatment related to their communication difficulties. During the analysis two major themes emerged: suffering and wellbeing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of transferring information from science to "the field" of environmental protection in Sweden. I have studied four Swedish environmental organizations, Greenpeace Nordic, WWF Sweden, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Friends of the Earth Sweden to see how they search/get information. I have also studied the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and its role as sender of information, since it is the authority which is responsible for environmental information in Sweden. I have used information and communication theories as a help to analyse my results. While working on this paper I realized that my methods were not the best.

Title: The battle of the budget ? Communication in a modern policy (Slaget om budgeten ?Kommunikation inom den moderna politiken)Numbers of pages: 39Author: Niclas KarlssonTutor: Peder Hård af SegerstadCourse: Media and Communication studies CPeriod: Autumn 2009University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science,Uppsala University.Purpose/Aim: The purpose of the paper is to see how Minister of Finance Anders Borg andthe Social Democratic economic spokesman Thomas Östros communicate their messages tothe public.Material/Method: The material is the minutes of the budget debate in the SwedishParliament. The method is rhetorical analysis and content analysis.Main result: Trust making is very important for both of them, especially when the financecrisis reached Sweden. The most common rhetorical quality is ethos.Keywords: Strategic political communication, rhetorical analysis, political trust..

Competition in the market of interior design during the last several years has drastically increased. The consumers of today are very conscious about what the market can offer and therefore they have high demands on the products. It is not only the function of the product that matters but also the design that makes a difference. Companies are becoming more aware of this and as a result they have to find a way to set themselves apart in order to attract customers. This realization has led designers and economists to cooperate in a different way than before.

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.

Counter-Strike has established itself as one of the most popular computer gaming phenomenon the last decade with a major online community and loyal fan base. Within the world of e-sports it has also become one of the most lucrative games to compete in. In order to keep up with the competition it has always been important to use the best hardware available for the task. This thesis is about these tools that gamers use to play - gaming gear - and how pro gamers train to increase their chances of winning. We investigate various factors that might be important in their choice of gaming gear when they play, and how they train to use these artifacts more efficiently to get maximum performance.

In this study we pose the question if you through finding patterns in implementation of checkpoints can find ways to tailor the experience of the game A Story About My Uncle to hardcore gamers. To find out the answer we had hardcore players playing a modified level from the game A Story About My Uncle that was used as stimulus material for the following focus group interview. The analysis of the gathered material resulted in four patterns that can be used when implementing checkpoints to tailor the experience of the game A Story About My Uncle to hardcore gamers. Elements of checkpoints that our study showed to be important when it comes to how the game is experienced are density, placement and clearness..