During the last 20 years, the Swedish health care system has faced major changes. One of them is the increasing pressure to generate economic profit due to private businesses entering the market. Health care units are forced to make some structural changes in order to become effective and efficient. As a result merger and acquisitions has become a part of the health care sector, and seems to be an increasing phenomenon. Mergers and acquisitions have mainly been studied in the industry.

The current paper compares the relations between different measures of activity and some common neuropsychological tests. One-hundred and fifty five healthy elderly, aged 55 - 85, living in Sweden were included. Gender-specific patterns were found for both activities and correlations between activities and cognitive measures. The main findings suggest that activities are associated with cognitive speed in men, whereas, for women, active and passive activities correlate, positively and negatively accordingly, with education. In comparison, complex models of activity outperform simpler ones and theory-driven measures just barely outperform intuitive models..

Begreppet Counterinsurgency har fått stor uppmärksamhet, speciellt efter NATOs operationer i Afghanistan och Irak. Sedan den svenska Försvarsmakten ingått som medlem i NATO- samarbetet PFP (Partnership for Peace) är även Sverige sedan en tid tillbaka involverade i konflikten i Afghanistan. Mycket av det doktrinära arbetet i länder, involverade i dessa konflikter, har varit inriktat mot irreguljära konflikter och Counterinsurgency-operationer. Stora mängder forskning görs inom ämnet bland annat av den franska COIN-teoretikern David Galula. Galula utkom 1964 med sin bok Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, och är internationellt erkänd som ett av de stora namnen inom COIN-teorin.Den sovjetiska invasionen av Afghanistan är en av modern tids största militära operationer.

Syftet med studien var att ta reda på om det går att predicera medarbetares organisationsengagemang utifrån organisationskommunikation, såväl mellan chef och medarbetare som medarbetare emellan. Detta gjordes genom att 118 medarbetare fick besvara en enkät bestående av delar från Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs & Adrian, 2004). Studiens huvudresultat visade att organisationskommunikation delvis kunde förklara variansen i organisationsengagemang. Resultaten diskuteras i termer av hur och varför organisationer som har en upplevd god organisationskommunikation, både mellan medarbetare och chefer och medarbetare emellan, skapar ett starkare organisationsengagemang hos sina medarbetare..

Collaborative planning ? a comparative study of theory and practice Why There is today, according to my experience, a growing interest and demand for a more inclusive and transparent planning process. Also, if we are going to be able to reach a truly sustainable society it is my belief that there is a need for a more integrated collaboration between different actors. Where the social, economic and ecological values can influence and benefit from each other. The question then is, how can the planning system accommodate that kind of collaboration? Purpose My aim for this thesis has been to study a selection of the theoretical work that exist about collaborative planning.

AbstractIn this study, the conceptions of a number of teachers in the Swedish primary and lower-secondary school about cultural pluralism, the values connected to this pluralism by the Curriculum for the Compulsory School System, the Pre-School Class and the Leisure-time Centre, Lpo 94, and the possibilities for pupils to gain knowledge about these values, were studied. The conceptions of the teachers were regarded and interpreted as ideology, since the study was made from a point of departure containing an assumption about how the content of the curriculum is of importance for the development of relations of power and dominance between different groups in society. The purpose of the study was to interpret the statements of a limited number of teachers about cultural pluralism, values and knowledge, regarding the ontological, axiological and epistemological assumptions and conceptions expressed therein. The empirical data of the study was gathered through qualitative interviews with eleven teachers working in six different primary and lower-secondary schools in the Mid-Sweden region. The conceptions expressed in the statements given by the respondents were categorized.

This study is a qualitative study based on a constructivist approach. Meanwhile, it draws on an ethnographic approach combined a working memory based on memories in various events that took place three years in a former student in the program for sociology and social development. Mainly qualitative interviews are essential for the empirical material analyzed. The study is based on interviews of five college students with an ethnic origin other than swedish at Halmstad University, four women and one man. The aim is to look at how college students with an ethnic origin other than swedish relate to the representations of ethnicity.

This essay deals with the social services cooperation with the private sector relating to foster care. The aim was to examine whether and what the causes may be that the social service transfer tasks of authority to private actors. Furthermore, we have examined and discussed if such a working procedure can lead to consequences for the individual child and how / if the children's legal security is affected. Survey methodology is qualitative in nature where we conducted semi-structured interviews with three persons who work in different ways to be involved in work with a foster family. We have also made use of questionnaires sent to social workers around the country.The result has been interpreted on the basis inter alia, legal texts, legislative history, and two theories which have their origin in organization theory.

Small business enterprises have escalated in Sweden during the last decade. However, new established companies are struggling to maintain their selves during the startup process and according to a survey from Tillväxtanalys, only 68 % of startup companies from 2008 were still active three years later. One of the main reasons is lack of capital and the most common approach to finance companies is to apply for a bank loan. In other words, commercial banks are of great importance for new businesses. Although, the problem arises when there is no previous history from the new businesses that the bank could base its credit assessment on.

The main purpose of this Masters thesis is to contribute to the understanding of high school teachers information seeking behaviour in the transition from university studies to occupational practice. The theoretical framework encompasses theories of professional socialization, the sociology of knowledge, of professions, and of library and information science. The empirical material has been collected through interviews with six recently qualified high school teachers in different subjects. The interviews have been analysed on two different levels; first on a descriptive level and then on a theoretical level. The major findings are that the academic context limited the student teachers information seeking and they did not have the opportunity to choose cognitive authorities on their own initiative.

My objective for this project was to create a short but thrilling 2D-animation intended as promotion for an online comic book. The purpose of the project was to learn more about animation and graphics, to further my artistic skills and to learn how to work in Adobe After Effects. I also wanted to learn more about scheduling, project methods and how to handle stress. During the ten weeks of the project I have created the story, the storyboard, the character design, the backgrounds and the animation. The voice over was recorded with the help of a fellow student who also made the music and the sound effects.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the existence ofpersonalization within Swedish political parties along withhow the parties work with this phenomena in order to achievemore voters.The method used is personal interviews with politiciansfrom four different government parties. As a complement, interviews with a political expert was also made. All parties use personalization in different ways as a strategy tocreate dialogues and relationships with both media and voters. We distinguished two sorts of personalization: individualization and privatization, and discovered that not all parties use both..

Bakgrund: Cancer är en vanlig sjukdom som påverkar närstående i hög grad. Sjuksköterskan har en viktig roll i att möjliggöra de närståendes delaktighet i omvårdnaden och lindra lidande. De närstående förväntas stötta patienten, vilket blir svårt om de själva inte får stöd. Syfte: Att beskriva närståendes erfarenheter av stöd från sjuksköterskan i onkologisk omvårdnad. Metod: En litteraturöversikt med avsikt att få en överblick över forskningsområdet.

The purpose of this study was to examine how commitment to a cause on a local basis had developed in four smaller groups during one decade. In 1996 I interviewed representatives in Åsele, Borrby, Hasslarp and Tving about their commitment and citizen initiative. Now, ten years later, I followed it up by interviewing them again. I wanted to know if the groups/associations still existed, if they had achieved their goals as they where pronounced ten years ago and how a strong commitment on a local basis can develop during ten years. Which phenomena decide whether the group develop or phase out? I use the term citizen commitment instead of citizen initiative to stress the fact that it is no longer an initiative but an on-going commitment.

This thesis contains a wider discussion on the analytical framework of classstudies in political science. The purpose is to put class into the light of a usefulmethodological and theoretical tool when it comes to studies on inequality and political,as well as scientific approaches and explanations to why people have awide range of differences in how they pursue their lives. It is my ambition to discusshow class relations can be theorized and explained within a given context, aswell as in society as a whole. I see the complexity of this field as a resource to enhancethe epistemological as well as the empirical discussions within the politicalscience scholars..