The aim of this study was to deepen the knowledge about the meaning of being internationally adopted for individuals living in Sweden. Through group discussions with young adults data was retrieved, and then analysed with a qualitative phenomenological approach. The study revealed three main themes: 1) experiences of being Swedish, 2) experiences of ethnic origin, and 3) the interaction between the two aspects of the identity, how the internationally adopted individual integrate's his/her ethnical origin with his/her Swedish identity. With regards to previous studies about adoption and psychological theories the meaning of being internationally adopted in Sweden is discussed..

The purpose with this study was to analyse students' conception of living things, and to establish how a social constructivist learning situation affect their conceptions. The method consisted of questionnaires, followed by group discussions and a final survey. The main result was that students have everyday conceptions about scientific phenomena that are reinforced by the social interaction. Some students were positively influenced by the interaction with their peers, where non-scientific conceptions were replaced by conceptions of a scientific nature. Furthermore, the cultural artifacts are of very good means, but the study showed a strong need for a knowledgeable person, e.g.a teacher, to guide students in the right direction during the discussions.

My aim in this case study has been to create a method for creature design to test this method in a production and evaluate the results. To achieve this I studied and analyzed the methods of three concept artists and illustrators named James Gurney, Neville Page and Iain McCaig. From the analysis of these artist´s methods, combined with my own personal experience, a new method was formed. To test this method a creature was designed based on directives given by a game design group in the process of creating a table top role playing game in a fictitious world. These directives where given for the creature´s role and its living conditions.

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaorientalis), is a small freshwater cetacean which has recently fallen dramatically in number. It is an endemic species for the Yangtze River and unless drastic action is taken, it risks the same fate as the now functionally extinct Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer). Threats to the porpoise are diverse but they have in common that they are caused by man. Development of the river has been made to supply a growing human population with food, hydropower, and to reduce the risk of flooding. These changes have resulted in a degraded habitat for the porpoise.

The purpose of this study is to discover and explain the influences of media coverage of organizational crises on crisis communication, and vice versa. The study also shows how mediated crises develop, and how media framing and news sources affect this development.Carried out as a case study of three Swedish mediated crises, the methods used are quantitative and qualitative content analysis of media content from four Swedish newspapers and four organizations' press releases from the studied crises.Mediated crises develop through their specific pattern regardless of, but not independent from, the organizations' crisis communication. The crisis communication is used as an elite source in media reporting from the crises, but it can not control the mediated crises. However, it influences framing, and the possibilities to influence media reporting are better in the pre-crisis phase and the culmination..

This essay deals with the paradox of why the immigrants in Sweden, despite their considerable size of 12 % of the population and common interest and living opportunities, haven?t mobilized politically in any significant way. The aim with this essay is to reach a theoretical understanding of why this paradox exist. By the use of a critical case and a theoretical model, based on theories of collective action, the conclusion of this essay is that, despite the fact that the immigrants have a common interest and an organizational structure, the immigrants in Sweden has not mobilized politically in any significant way. The main reason for this is that they have a weak common identity and they don?t have the structural opportunities to act..

The number of locals in Stockholm who chooses the bike in front of public transport has increased significantly in recent years. The product purchaser of this project, Joakim Victorin at Sigma AB, has a keen interest in cycling, which resulted in a fairly obvious topic of this project; through a web application Sigma AB wanted to make it possible to handle results from professional as well as amateur competitions in cycling.The purpose of this web application is to simplify reporting and handling of competition for both small and bigger bicycle races. By providing the users of the system a platform independent client, any available device may be used.This thesis has followed the development principles which prevail on the ASP .NET MVC 3 concept. When developing the system the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 development environment was used. The framework and the pattern of ASP .NET MVC 3 is a prominent part of today?s web development.

This paper constitutes graduate work at the Depart-ment of Urban and Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. In this paper the urban structure of the million program suburb Husby in Stockholm is examined and what effect this structure has on social life in the area. The main objective of the study has been to, with the help of morphological analyses, examine how to create meeting places and make the Husby Park more accessiblefor the inhabitants in Husby. There has been a selection of analyses to ensure that Husby?s spatial relationship with surrounding suburbs as well as local spaces in the Husby Park is described.

This thesis is on the subject of different views on abortion. With a qualitative analysis of the family planning policy in China and interviews with four persons living in China I try to answer what abortion can mean in this context. I use the results from an earlier study of the antiabortion lobby pro-life and the last republican candidate Mitt Romney to compare how abortion is being constructed in different ways. Reproduction is in both USA and China, among other countries, a subject for regulation. Following thesis wish to explore how that is done and what consequences it brings.

In the 90's the establishment of external trade centers had a strong growth in Sweden, primarily in large and medium cities. Gradually took smaller towns by this development. In larger cities with larger and growing customer base than in small towns were not affected by the trade centers heavily, but in the smaller towns where the customer base was smaller, there was a risk that it created a negative competitive relationship between external trade center and trade in the citycenter. In some cases, competition is a positive development for both the citycenter and external trade areas, but in some cases there was a risk that the center became impoverished. In such situation there are theories that the different variety of different types of goods should be at the center and in external trade center could lead to a balanced trade relationship.

The aim of this graduate essay is to elucidate and compare the approach to learning that emerges in texts about the two educational practices Montessori and Reggio Emilia.The guiding research questions in this study are:What do Montessori and Reggio Emilia that learning is about?The mean Montessori and Reggio Emilia that learning goes to?How do you describe the Montessori and Reggio Emilia justification why it is important to learn? Through a poststructural theoretical framework and text analysis the study focused on what has been written about learning in the traditions of Montessori and Reggio Emilia.The results of the study indicate that both Montessori and Reggio Emilia look at the child in a similar way in which the child have the desire to explore and learn. Both pedagogy traditions think that the child will develop into independent people who can change society in the future for the better and with a democratic basis.The study also reveals how the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket, 98/10) is inspired both by the Reggio Emilia and Montessori traditions through describing how preschool should stimulate and challenge the child's development and learning, utilize and strengthen the interests of children to learn to conquer new experiences, knowledge and skills..

How is the fat body constructed in public spaces? This essay deals with the experiances of five participants, being fat in public spaces. The fat body is often constructed as "matter out of place", more or less expected to be invisiable in public spaces. But living with a fat body isnt all about assimilation, wearing black clothes to fit in or staying at home in fear of facing comments of your body. More than being a body constructed as improperiate in public spaces, the participants view can be described as "revolting".

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the social and structural dynamics of an organization working with questions regarding development. The organization in question is Vi-agroforestry, a Swedish based NGO that works around the lake Victoria basin and the focus will be on their office in Rwanda. I have used a qualitative approach and conducted participatory observation as well as semi-structured interviews to gather data. I have emanated from the individuals in the organization by using a theory of microsociological organisationperspecive to understand how the employees create and is created by the existing social structures. (Blomberg, 2003) Even though the office in Rwanda only is a relatively small part of Vi-agroforestry?s operations it is still highly individual and independent from the rest of the organization.

The purpose with this essay was to study how the social work is shaped in the methadone programme and how the staffs treat and work with the social integration for the patients.We have studied the experience of a medical assisted treatment from two different treatment clinics and focused on their treatment programme. We have chosen to focus on the social aspect but we have also been taking part of the medical treatment - the methadone. In order to get a bigger picture of our problem area we also studied how Sweden's narcotic politic is constructed and how a narcotic life could look like before the entrance in the program. We describe this with the help of the theory about the narcotic carrer and the society's view on a normal living..

This thesis seeks to investigate how Swedish first class hotels by use of IT can improve customer service and thereby increase the share of loyal guests. The authors have conducted a qualitative study predominantly consisting of an interview-based case study at one of Stockholm?s largest independent hotels. To get a broader and more generalized picture of the hotel industry four smaller studies at other hotels in Stockholm were also conducted. The findings suggest that the use of IT can improve the communication between the hotel and its guests and make possible a continuing relationship between visits that strengthens guest commitment.