What causes people to move within and between certain places and not within and between others? How do physical outdoor environments affect the way people act and move? Do different environments generate different body language and mimics in the bodies that inhabit them? In my pursuit for answers to these questions I studied literature and initiated and took part in dialogues in the form of workshops, all of which has resulted into this thesis. My questions have initially arisen from reflections of my own environment and how it not only affects my mental condition, but also my actions. Drawing upon the hermeneutic term ?preconception? I trust that what we label ?truth? is constructed by our lived experience and the society we grow up in.

We have examined how the dependence, identity and social bonds affect customer loyalty and attachment to a training centre. The method used is a survey on SATS Karlstad city where 128 respondents were asked, out of which 118 surveys were used in the final analysis. The data was analyzed using ANCOVA and multiple regressions.The result showed significant relationships on attachment between identity and dependence. Social bonds had no significant effect on the attachment a member have towards training centre. Customer loyalty was measured by how long the individual has been a member and his or her training frequency.

I wanted to focus this essay on the operative?s perspective of running religious organizations in the city of Karlstad and to see positive and negative aspects of their day-to-day life working with their organization, following up with a comparison of the difference and the similarities between those groups. After delimitating which groups I was going to examine, I implemented a qualitative study of four people, from two different religious groups, whom I performed interviews with. My method of performing these interviews and understanding the perspective of the informants, I had a semi structured interview guide along with a recent study that was opting for similar conclusions, only in a different county and with different input perspective. The result of my study showed a difference in establishment of their region but with a lot of similarities in problems with their religious and structural premises.

This report describes a study of how educationalists, from one preschool group, approach to and respond to children ?s creative activity in preschool. To answer the survey ?s purpose I used four research questions, which is the following:-What function do the educationalists give the creative activity in the working?-How do they see the importance of thecreative activity for thechild and its development?-How doeducationalists considerthat theyrespond to the child's creative activity?-Is thereany norms surrounding creative activity in preschool?The theoretical base of the study is rooted in the sociocultural perspective, where creative activity and visual arts can be seen as mediating cultural tools. The method is a qualitative interview of five preschooleducationalists.

Stockholmsregionen växer och utvecklas i hög takt. Bostadsbristen är ett faktum när fler ochfler vill bo i en urban miljö, dessutom ställer detta högre krav på att regionenslogistikförsörjning hanteras korrekt. Mot denna bakgrund uppstår konkurrens kringmarkanvändningen i citynära verksamhetsområden. Idag omvandlas verksamhetsområden tillattraktiva bostadsområden, exempelvis Liljeholmskajen och Norra Djurgårdsstaden. Syftet medrapporten är att undersöka möjligheten att omvandla tre verksamhetsområden (Lunda,Slakthusområdet och Västberga) och vilka regleringar samt investeringar som är nödvändigaför att verksamheterna ska kunna omlokaliseras till perifera verksamhetsområden i regionen.Första steget till omvandling är att omlokalisera den befintliga verksamheten, som i de angivnaområdena klassificeras som logistikintensiv, till perifera verksamhetsområden i regionen.Logistikintensiv verksamhet karaktäriseras av att transporter till och från fastigheten ärnödvändiga för verksamhetens framgång, det kan vara allt från ett tryckeri till en globaltransportör.

Vocational rehabilitation is an ongoing issue that directly or indirectly affects everyone at a workplace. In recent years, laws and rules have changed. The 1st July 2008 changes were made in the General Insurance Act (SFS 1962:381). These changes have meant that there is now a so-called rehabilitation chain.  The rehabilitation chain contains time frames for when sick people will have their ability to work tested against their normal work or to other jobs. If a person is considered having enough capacity to be able to work he or she will lose their entitlement to sick pay.The aim of our study is to investigate managers? perceptions of the new rehabilitation chain, with a focus on vocational rehabilitation of long-term sick to get them back to work.The method used was qualitative and data collection was done through nine semi-structured interviews.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine what role the new city library in Halmstad has for its users. The questions posed in this study are: What do the users actually do at the library? What roles are the most significant according to the users? Have the politicians succeeded in their intention of realizing a modern library according to the users? The theoretical starting point is Andersson?s and Skot-Hansen?s theory of four different roles of public libraries. In order to extend the model we added a fifth function; the one of aesthetical experience.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth in four Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway).Method: Our thesis is based on a quantitative method. The study consists of a compilation and analysis of key financial indicators that represent economic growth and bank sector development. A Granger causality test has been conducted on the time series in order to measure the causal link between economic growth and bank sector development.Theoretical framework: The study is based on the theory of endogenous growth and the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth also known as the demand following and supply leading hypothesis. Results: The results of the four countries are ambiguous. Except for Denmark, that follows the supply leading hypothesis, the remaining countries do not show a unanimous result..

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine what role the new city library in Halmstad has for its users. The questions posed in this study are: What do the users actually do at the library? What roles are the most significant according to the users? Have the politicians succeeded in their intention of realizing a modern library according to the users? The theoretical starting point is Andersson?s and Skot-Hansen?s theory of four different roles of public libraries. In order to extend the model we added a fifth function; the one of aesthetical experience.

New method for measuring road quality- A statisticalstudy of the relationship between road quality andsocioeconomic development A new tool with implications for road maintenance has the potential to yield statistical data for road quality in a large number of regions. This thesis investigates the possibility to develop a method, from this data, for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development.The thesis is essentially divided into two parts. Part one looks to qualitatively establish the link between socioeconomic development and road quality and the second part focuses on how to develop a method for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development. A method was devised using categorical data and a multinomial regression model. This method provides a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between a variety of different variables.

The aim of this essay is to see how the IOGT, local politicians and the local newspaper acted in the city of Hedemora in Sweden in connection with the referendum held in 1922 whether or not to ban the use of alcoholic beverages. To accomplish this I have examined protocols from local IOGT-groups, the town council and the local newspaper Södra Dalarnes tidning. I find that the local IOGT not only worked with the issue of alcohol but served as an institution that deepened democracy and education in the local community through discussions, study circles and applying pressure on local politicians. The locally elected bodies in turn were generally in favour of the good work the IOGT did, although not always overwhelmingly so. Many of the local politicians that handled the issues of alcohol were themselves active members in organisations promoting absolutism.

The aim of this study was to examine how the interviewed primary teachers in two schools situated in the Stockholm area understand themselves as teachers in relation to their image of the good teacher. The research questions were: How do the informants discuss their image of the good teacher? How do the informants describe their own role as a teacher?A qualitative method, by interviews made with four primary teachers, was used to collect data for the examination. The results from the interviews were analyzed and discussed from the theories and earlier research concerning the role of the teacher and what they describe as the good teacher. The theoretical connection of this study was based on the theories of Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, Dewey, Dreikurs, Kounin and Glasser concerning the relationship between the role of the teacher and learning.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the phenomenon called bookcrossing. To fulfill this I have asked the following research questions: Why do people participate in bookcrossing?What functions do books have for bookcrossers? The method used is qualitative, semi structured interviews. Four active bookcrossers have been interviewed. These interviews revealed that bookcrossing as an activity in a medium sized town is very small.

It may seem obvious that the urban space in our northern cities should be design to function and inspire throughout the whole year. This is not always the case. The urban space is often designed on a summer basis and the winter is regarded more as a problem then a resource and its potential remain unused. I have in this master thesis studied the impact of the winter on people and spaces and ponder on how to design functional and attractive places for winter. The project ends in a design concept for Broparken in Umeå on the theme "everyday winter day". The work with this thesis has given me, as a landscape architect, valuable experiences and filled a gap of knowledge that I had in this subject. I hope that this thesis can inspire Umeå kommun and others who are interested in how northern cities can benefit by its climate and develop towards a more complete city. The thesis begins with a chapter that present the subject from four different perspectives.

ABSTRACT  Title:                                       Artifacts as transformational leaders ? A case study at SIBA. Course:                                   Bachelor Dissertation - Leadership Authors:                                 Tobias Barin and Victor Eriksson Advisor:                                 Anders Billström Keywords:                             Artifacts, transformative leadership, organizational culture and leadership Problem formulation:          Which artifacts can be transformative leadership in the electronics industry?  Purpose:                                Create an understanding of store managers and deputy store managers' perception of how artifacts can be expressed in the transformational leadership.                                                Creat an understanding of the importance of artifacts in leadership in the electronics industry. Theoretical framework:       The study?s starting point for the theoretical framework has been Schein (2004) earlier theories of organizational culture, and Bass (1985) theories of transformational leadership. The link between organizational culture and transformational leadership is the basis for the chosen theories. Methodology:                        We conducted a qualitative method with a deductive approach for intent a solution for problem. Personal interviews were conducted with two store managers and two deputy store managers at SIBA. Conclusion:                           We have found that the artifacts: role-models, stories and rituals communicate the transformative leadership. Respondents have described how these artifacts conveys organizational culture but also the transformational leadership..