The curious nature of humans has been the puzzle of psychologists, philosophers and scientists since the time we began to use those terms. Why are we curious? Why do we behave the way we do and why? The span of views on curiosity covers all. From being viewed as part of our animalistic nature and compared to instincts, to be viewed as a virtue to scientists and the reason behind why we explore space. Behaviorists tried to define it as an innate drive and some say that it has a crucial role in our ability to learn and understand.

In the following study I probe the social world of hard-rock music. By conducting interviews with four young male enthusiasts of this music I try to develop a general picture of this social world, as well as of the basic elements on which this particular subculture is constructed. The identity of a hard-rocker is based upon a number of factors beyond just a preference for that music. Throughout the interviews I encountered many implicit norms that one must followed in order to be able to see oneself as a true hard-rocker. I also found that from the respondents? perspective, the mainstream culture has, throughout the history of metal music, used various ways to counter the spreading of this genre.

AbstractSierra Leone is a very poor country in Africa. Botswana is another country, that has a similar history and the same deposit; diamonds. Botswana has reached economic growth and democracy and Sierra Leone has not.The purpose with this study is to explain why Botswana is more democratic and has reached a better result economic than Sierra Leone.The questions in this study are:What explains the democratic and the economic results in Sierra Leone and Botswana?* Dahl?s institutions that furthers a polyarchy?* Gunnarsson?s and Rojas? institutional explanations?* Diamond?s and Morlino?s ?rule of law??* Other explanations or a combination of the above-mentioned explanations?The method that has been used in this study is a comparative case study with a qualitative contents analysis. The result is that it?s hard to say that one explanation is the right one.

This essay explores how artwork in the public space can be analysed, conceptualized and described by bringing attention to site. Through an analysis of artworks in the yearly art exhibition of Fittja Open 2011, the essay draws attention to site-specific art and structures of power. The principal aim is to present not only the exhibition of Fittja Open 2011 but also other artwork in the public sphere in Fittja, a suburb to Stockholm. From this point of departure other interests evolve that concerns the "image" of Fittja. The analysis, based on research in art history, architecture, ethnology and philosophy as well as qualitative interviews, also focuses on understanding the role of site and the relations between art practice, institutions and site.The result shows that there are problems with a ruptured interface between the artwork and site.

The purpose of this research is to examine some historical aspects of Robert Putnam?s thesisabout voluntary associations and social capital. According to a micro perspective theory ofsocial capital the trust and reciprocity required and created by associations is important toexplain the disparity between institutional performance and socioeconomic development ofsocieties. The social patterns governing this therefore set a precedent for the future. Using themutual sickness benefit societies in Sweden as variable for voluntary associations around1884, the essay discusses the possible links between social capital, associations and long termeconomic development.

Många elever anser att SO-ämnena är trista och jobbiga. Som blivande SO-lärare känns detta faktum inte bra och mina tankar går direkt till att det måste gå att göras något åt. Jag har med mitt examensarbete satt mig in i om inte lokalhistoria skulle kunna vara ett sätt att höja intresset. Lokalhistoria är inte bara ett sätt att läsa historia utan det finns förutsättningar att integrera alla skolans ämnen för att försöka skapa engagemang och komma fram till sammanhang och helhetsbilder för eleverna. I lokalhistoriska studier börjar man att arbeta med det som ligger nära eleven och möjligheter finns att på ett sätt väva in praktiska studier.

This thesis is an investigation of Iranian immigrants and their use of libraries in Sweden. It isbased on a combination of a qualitative and a·quantitative method.Using a qualitative method, I give an outline of the history of lran from ancient times up to the present, as well as the different ethnological groups in Iran and their cultures. The main objective of this part is to clarify the contrasts between Iranian and Swedish cultural, social, linguistic and family structures, and also the characteristics of the crisis that most immigrants go through on their arrival in the new country. The qualitative method also involves structured telephone interviews with eight highly educated Iranians.This method was supplemented by a quantitative study through questionnaires of the attitudes· of lranian immigrants to libraries and reading. Iranians in Sweden turned out to be frequent Iibrary users.

This thesis is an investigation of Iranian immigrants and their use of libraries in Sweden. It isbased on a combination of a qualitative and a·quantitative method.Using a qualitative method, I give an outline of the history of lran from ancient times up to the present, as well as the different ethnological groups in Iran and their cultures. The main objective of this part is to clarify the contrasts between Iranian and Swedish cultural, social, linguistic and family structures, and also the characteristics of the crisis that most immigrants go through on their arrival in the new country. The qualitative method also involves structured telephone interviews with eight highly educated Iranians.This method was supplemented by a quantitative study through questionnaires of the attitudes· of lranian immigrants to libraries and reading. Iranians in Sweden turned out to be frequent Iibrary users.

This study, a document analysis with a qualitative approach, explores children, under 18years, who have been subject to measures of child welfare in the city of Malmö during theyears 1935-1937. It also explores the school's role in this context. The questions that the studyis guided by is: How was children described in the Child Welfare documents in Malmö duringthe years 1935-1937? And what role did the school have in Child Welfare work and whatmotivated this? The theoretical approaches are Foucaults theories of power, control anddisciplining.It appears from the study that the school and child welfare authorities had a close cooperationwith the purpose to control the upbringing and disciplining of the children. It was through theupbringing that the deviant child would become a "normal", docile and good, industriouscitizen.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss what a sensual interpretation of art is and what it should include. The discussion is based on an attempt to do a sensual interpretation of the Greek-British artist Helen Chadwick?s Cacao and Wreaths to Pleasure. Chadwick was an artist working with well-known materials in new and unexpected ways. An interpretation of her works should include the fact that her art affect us on different levels, both intellectually and sensually.

The aim of this thesis has been to analyze and interpret several different discourses in Japan and from the findings see how the Ainu people and their existence in Japan have been defined in today's Japan and in who's interest it is to keep it this way. My findings was that the Japanese nation in all channels of society are reinforcing and perpetuating the belief that it constitutes an ethnically homogenous nation and that there exists no ethnic problems in the country. I found that schoolbooks don?t give adequate information about the Ainu people and its history, and the Japanese press is reinforcing the status quo by their selective silence and limited coverage on issues concerning the Ainu. The government has defined and legitimized the problem of Ainu within the framework of culture and tradition.

This essay tries to show how The Swedish Museum of Architecture, Stockholm, with the exibition Architecture in Sweden - Function, Design and Aesthetic through the Ages, presents and represents architecture. It is stated that this is done in a multi-perspectival, multimedial fashion, with the aid of, for example, photography, models and mixed material surrounding the wide concept of ?architecture?. One chapter discusses the relationships between the exhibition on site, the exhibition catalog and the museum´s website. Another chapter argues that there can be no essential or perfect representation of architecture, although this utopian wish most certainly exists even today.

This essay investigates the results of participation by teenage girls in feminist groups, the so called girl groups. These groups are descendants of the awareness-raising groups of the 1970?s feminist movement. The essay assumes the relevance of theories of heteronormativity and performativity, as well as theories surrounding two different ways to organize girl groups. It is done either through the Pippi-feminism, named after strong independent book character Pippi Longstocking, or through the collective empowerment feminism.

In this essay i present a study on political learning of a minority ethnicity whose political history in the institutional form began in 1993. The ethnicity in question is the Sami?s and in 1993 the Sami Parliament was established. The establishment of the Sami parliament radically changed the preconditions for political work. Sami politics came to be pursued in an organized manner in the form of a public authority and democratically elected units.

AbstractThis is a study of present day dogs with the purpose to establish a method to investigate archaeological dogs and determine their use in the past. The study has focused on measurements of five bone elements, scapula, humerus, radius, ulna and femur. A principal component analysis has been applied in order to decide which measurements to be further used in the analysis. Different proportions have been calculated on these measurements.A test to try the method has also been done on bones of a wolf and a dog without known background. The results from the different elements are positive, and they narrow the field down to two dog types of which one is more likely to be true than the other.The final results show that, although over lapses between the four different dog groups; hunting dogs, guard/work dogs, sled dogs and shepherd's dogs exists, it is possible to distinguish different dog usage from the proportions of the bones..