In today's society there is a trend in progress that it is positive and effective to have working groups or teams in organizations. But is it really all good? This essay explores this question through the concept "group weariness". Group weariness is defined as a negative attitude towards working in groups based on previous experiences of the working form. The aim of this study is to explore the concept of group weariness through a quantitative study.

AbstractHomework is often debated in the media today. The question is about the meaning of homework and whether the students benefit from it or if homework is just a remain from an old educational system.The research made on the subject disagrees on what positive/negative effects the homework has on the students.For my essay I chose to find out what attitude junior-level teachers have towards homework. Why give students homework? How do you work with home assignments?My research is based on interviews with six junior-level teachers that either have or do teach in the lower grades (1-3).The result I reached was the all of the teachers used homework in their education.The purpose of the home assignments is partly to give the students the possibility to rehearse and fortify their knowledge, especially when it comes to learning how to read.Another purpose of the homework is that it helps to maintain a good connection between the home and school. It is also a good way for the parents to get an insight and be a part of their children?s work.The conclusion of the research that I made is that if homework should exist in the educational system they ought to be well prepared by the responsible teacher..

The bachelor's thesis is to examine the explanatory factors affecting the choice of capital structure in real estate companies. The analysis is based on data collected from the main financial reporting from 2007; all listed real estate companies listed on Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stock market. Based on previous research and theories, we have defined five independent variables that are linked to the debt ratio, which are: profitability, growth, firm size, cost of debt and operational risk. The statistical tests have resulted in that we can say with certainty that profitable firms tend to have a lower debt to equity ratio. We can also say with certainty that property companies with high interest costs have a high level of indebtedness..

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how three banks country funds are performing relative to each other in regard to risk and return. And to find out if there is any underlying factor that may have affected the stock exchange in the different countries.Methodology: The study is based on secondary data and will apply the quantitative method, based on a deductive approach. The sample consists of three major Swedish banks and from them we have selected three country funds. The calculation formulas that have been applied are: Sharpe ratio, standard deviation and Arithmetic Average.Conclusion: The Writers concluded that Sweden funds had the highest yield to lowest risk in both periods in all three major banks. We have also concluded that the underlying factors affecting a country fund.

AbstractPurpose/Aim: To describe in-classroom use of mobile phones amongst teenagers.Material/Method: The data was collected through as use of focus groups and field studies.Main results: The main findings confirm the findings of other studies on teens and mobile phones. Teens use their mobile phones for much more than just sending text messages and making calls, there are many different types of localized usages. There is also a strong emotional connection between the device, its content and the user.Keywords: mobile phone, teens, classroom, focus groups, observation, field studies, mobility..

Traditionally, it has been argued that companies are only responsible towards their shareholders, to maximize the profits. But lately it has changed into another way of responsibilty. It has become of great importance to demonstrate sustainable long-term values for stakeholders to identify with. This thesis aims to clarify the banks? definition of responsible investment and what criteria they assume when talking about such kind of investments.

The demands of environmental effects in today?s companies have been increasing more andmore. To be able to withstand customers, cooperatives and government demands the ISO14001 certification should not be neglected.In January 2007 the general management of SAS decided to introduce an environmentalmanagement system for SAS Tech. The work which has been carried out is a part of thecertification process of ISO 14001 which will be completed by the end of year 2009.The aim is to create auditroutines for the company in order to be able audit ISO 14001standard internally which is a demand to get certified and to keep the certification in thefuture. A schedule has been done which audits different part of the standard at every auditduring one year.

Syfte: Vårt syfte består av två delar, dels att ta reda på hur redovisningen av belöningspaketet har utvecklats, dels undersöka hur belöningspaketets utformning har utvecklats. Metod: Vi har använt oss av en deduktiv ansats med inslag av induktiv ansats. Undersökningen har skett genom en dokumentstudie där vi använt oss av en egenkomponerad undersökningsmodell. Teori: Uppsatsen utgår ifrån legitimitetsteorin, intressentteorin och teorin om aktieägarvärde. Empiri: Empirin är hämtad från tolv företag inom fyra olika företags¬områden, år 2001-2005 och består av information om belöningspaketet till VD och ledningsgrupp.

AbstractBackground: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths, about 13% of all deaths, in 2008. Several factors can affect patients' quality of life such as physical and psychological symptoms, relationship to people around and the environment. In palliative care professionals need to have good knowledge in order to improve patient quality of life and to give them as good a life as possible in the final stages of life.Aim: The purpose of this overview study is to describe the experiences of quality of life in patients with incurable cancer.Method: We conducted an overview study that was based on ten scientific articles. All articles are qualitative studies, from the year 1995 - 2011, and are from Sweden, Finland, UK, Canada and the USA. Qualitative analysis was used to group the various themes and subthemes for overview study purpose.

This paper examines how teachers and librarians are helping children and young people withdyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. The examination has taken place in a small municipalityin Skaraborg County. Seven teachers in the municipal schools and the chief librarian inthe municipal library have been interviewed as well as an advising county librarian.In the municipal schools the pupils have access to literature in easy language and computerswith programs training reading, writing and spelling. In some schools there are textbooks ontape too. In the municipal library and in the county library disabled readers can loan literatureon tape and literature in easy language.The conclusion of the examination is that children and young people with dyslexia/readingand writing difficulties need all sorts of aids in reading and writing.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the democratization process in Kurdistan on the basis of consolidation democracy with focus on arenas defined by Linz and Stepan (1997), namely economic, political, legal, civil society and arenas of state bureaucracy. Furthermore, I intend to explain Kurdistan?s road toward democratization in Kurdistan from 1991 until today, with a focus on the years 2003-2012. The main results are that Kurdistan has developed conditions that support a future consolidation of democracy. However, there are weaknesses in the economic situation, rule of law and the arena of bureaucracy.

Denna studie handlar om att beskriva, diskutera och jämföra de olika argumenten som de två teocentriska filosoferna Michael Northcott och James Gustafson har om miljöfrågan. Studien fokuserar på vad de har för tankar om ursprunget till miljökrisen, vilken position mannen har i skapelsen, vad naturen har för värde och vilka konsekvenser deras ställningstagande har för lösningen till miljökrisen. Till sist undersöker studien vad de har för kritik mot samhället, vilken lösning de har för en fortsatt utveckling av samhället utan att ytterligare skada naturen..

The purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of Swedish companies? use of corporate sponsorships as a tool for communication. The research describes motives and goals of corporate sponsorships, the selecting process and methods used in evaluating its effects. The empirical data has been colleted through interviews with two companies sponsoring athletics at a top level in Sweden. The study shows that the principal objectives and motives companies have with sponsorships are related to brand exposure, image improvement and relationships.

AbstractThis report aims, through interviews, observations and literature review to examine what some of the youngest children know about the heart, blood and bloodstream. The sample size was twenty children, half of them are at the age of three and the other half is at the age of six.The interviews showed that children at the age of six had better knowledge than children at the age of three, but one child knew that we have the blood corpuscle in the body. He was also the only one who mentioned the blood corpuscle of all children who participated in the research. Children at the age of three could not see the functional relationship between the blood and heart. One child who was six years told that the air we breathe goes directly in the heart from where the blood is circulating to the rest of the body, together with the food.Keywords: heart, blood, bloodstream, the body.

Kindergarden - How can we create different synergies between different fields that they can benefit from each other? What different activities will suit the kindergarden? How will our perception of the kindergarden, of its need and function in society, change?In this Degree Project in Architecture I will be investigating the combination of the kindergarden together with a restaurant and a dance studio. I believe these activities will harmonize since they have overlapping benefits: We all eat, move and grow.With the new architectural activities in mind, I will further investigate the importance of the kindergarden as a part of society, more specifically our perception of what function it may, may not or could fill. I share the idea with a lot of authors, scientist that we are headed toward a society where children are kept too safe, thus minimising their chance to experience and learn to cope with a harsh reality when they grow up as adults. It's ok to get hurt to an extent, as long as they do not endanger their lives..