In our everyday life we are constantly affected by sound; at home, on our way to and from work, when taking a walk through the woods and when we sleep. In discussions about sound one often talk about noise and to what degree a certain noise disturbs us. The positive qualities of a sound and what sounds contribute to the experience of a good environment is rarely discussed. The question of sound and the quality of sound is given more attention through the expansion of Stockholm, the city is becoming both bigger and more crowded. This raises new questions concerning the planning of the city e.g. should the changes of the sound quality in a place be one of the aspects taken into consideration when planning new buildings, are there ways to improve the sound quality in new building projects? Can we even improve the quality of sound in existing places by simple means? I have chosen to study four different areas in Stockholm; Hötorget, Mariatorget, Berzeliipark and Norrmalmstorg.

This master?s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ?Year 2010 against Poverty?. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe.It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty.

This paper is a qualitative analytic study of the views regarding masculinity of six male university students. The author means to view the gender issue from a male point of view and analyze the empiric result using well known theory on the subject. The main questions of the essay are: What, according to my respondents, is masculine and non masculine? Does the university influence this view, and if so how? How is it to be a man in the society of today? The paper is based around interviews of the six subjects, recorded and transcribed and analyzed in a systematic outline. From this outline relevant themes has been constructed and compared with the theory.

The aim of this essay was to study how the communities work with groups as a support to children with addictive parents, and to increase my understanding of the groups meaning as a support. My main questions have been: How are the child group sessions formed? What kind of experience does the group leaders have regarding their functions? The study is a qualitative investigation that has been turned to prefessionals in the subject area and  is based on 6 interviews and secondary sources. The material has been analyzed from a narrativ theory as well as a salutogent perspective. Research shows that children growing up in an addictive environment often have decreased psychological health and are overrepresented amongst those who developed a future addiction.

This essay examines the olfactory reading as a possible way to make sense of a fragmented novel, in this case Sara Stridsberg?s debut Happy Sally (2004). Through close reading, the essay identifies the source of the smells, who perceives it, and how this is portrayed in the text. The smell?s position in the text is understood in relation to Maurice Merleau-Ponty?s phenomenology, where the body, as created in the literary text, is considered as a source of knowledge.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the Western world. For persons who have had a myocardial infarction the following rehabilitation and the group training, which is a part of this, are very important. The cardiac rehabilitation is designed to limit the physiological and psychological effects of cardiovascular disease. Purpose: This study aimed to examine how patients with cardiovascular disease experienced group training in relation to the International Classification of Function, Disability and Health, ICF. Method: A qualitative interview study was performed according to Malterud, inspired by the Grounded Theory method.

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the everyday work of school counsellors in the City of Stockholm with a gender perspective by studying the school counsellors ? talk about masculinity and femininity. The aim was to reach an understanding of how parts of the counsellors everyday work are influenced by gender through the perspective of the school counsellor. The study was conducted using qualitative methods. Six school counsellors, five woman and one man, were interviewed.

Title: Older people's experiences of exercise training: a survey based on a descriptive design.Course: Public Health: Theory and method of application and degree, 30 credits. University of Gävle, health education program.Author: Helena AnderssonPurpose: According to earlier research the western population is aging. This may affect, the older peoples`s physical disability in one form or another. The consequences may be that the need off care can increase. However elderly can prevent a variety of age-related diseases by being physically active.

This paper discusses normativity in selecting musical phonograms in public libraries. The purpose is to gain an increased understanding of music activity in public libraries. To do this I have interviewed five music librarians about their visions, ideals and goals with their work. The questions discussed concern ambitions with the music activity and how to keep up to date with current record releases. For the theoretical frame I use two kinds of material.

In today´s labour market, men and women are segregated, both vertically and horizontally. Exceptions to the rule of gender segregation are few. There is, however, one managerial group where women and men are equal in numbers: school principals. In a short period of time, the distribution in terms of sex among principals in Sweden has changed dramatically. How does gender equality in numbers affect gender equality in a qualitative sense? That is the focus of this thesis.

Throughout the history, the theories which have shaped our cities have varied from time to time. We have gone from a city development characterized by spontaneousness, where commerce and people side by side shared the space, into a function-based planning where people and functions are being increasingly separated. Regardless the forms of planning the city design causes implications for those who live there when the physical environment controls were we live, work and meet. In today's society where `sustainability ' has become a watchword the current community planning needs to be questioned so we, in the best possible way, can meet future changes. Searching for new planning strategies is part of this and in this essay the term `mixed-use´ will be investigated and analyzed in terms of its social aspects.

Throughout the history, the theories which have shaped our cities have varied from time to time. We have gone from a city development characterized by spontaneousness, where commerce and people side by side shared the space, into a function-based planning where people and functions are being increasingly separated. Regardless the forms of planning the city design causes implications for those who live there when the physical environment controls were we live, work and meet. In today's society where `sustainability ' has become a watchword the current community planning needs to be questioned so we, in the best possible way, can meet future changes. Searching for new planning strategies is part of this and in this essay the term `mixed-use´ will be investigated and analyzed in terms of its social aspects.

Aim The aim of the study is to, from a comparative perspective, examine principals? view of leadership in successful schools. Questions: How do the principals describe their own leadership? What subject positions do the principals take? Method Three principals were interviewed in the study. The interviews lasted for about 60 minutes.

Title: Older people's experiences of exercise training: a survey based on a descriptive design.Course: Public Health: Theory and method of application and degree, 30 credits. University of Gävle, health education program.Author: Helena AnderssonPurpose: According to earlier research the western population is aging. This may affect, the older peoples`s physical disability in one form or another. The consequences may be that the need off care can increase. However elderly can prevent a variety of age-related diseases by being physically active.

This text aims to examine how teaching in literature can contribute to the schools work with creating an antidiscriminating environment. When it comes to the Swedish schools antidiscrimination plans, this essay focuses especially on those sections that concerns pupils and student right to their own gender identity and expression.The main theories in this examination are Judith Butler?s theory on gender and performativity, queer theory defined by Fanny Ambjörnsson and theories concerning adolescent psychology with focus on the adolescent identity and it?s forming. Together with Mikhail Bakhtin?s carnival theory the text examines how Jessica Schiefauer?s novel Pojkarna (The Boys; 2012) describes a young adolescent girl?s journey to finding and forming her own gender and sexual identity.