The following essay or thesis is a study over scientific endeavors in the fringe. It is a study of Riksorganisationen UFO-Sverige, whose proponents aim to make the UFO phenomenon (or phenomena) a subject of scientific scrutiny. To achieve this, the ufologists first have to redefine common concepts of ufology as pseudo science or religion, mainly by challenging definitions given by scientific sceptics on the one hand, and proponents of conspiracy theories or the new age environment on the other. Thus UFO-Sverige seeks to construct an alternative scientific identity in contrast to adversaries on both sides, each unwilling to give the UFO phenomenon any further examination. Following the work of Tomas Gieryn's sociological grip on questions of epistemology, especially concerning the social boundaries of science from other cultural categories through what has been labelled as epistemic boundary work, during which proponents of a particular field aim to achieve epistemic authority and thus the legitimate right to define what is and what is not science, I seek to analyze how questions of science and legitimacy are actualized in an intellectual environment or culture not broadly accepted as scientific.

What role should science play in democracy? Political scientists often assume that it is possible to demarcate between ?instrumental? and ?moral? knowledge, and argue that citizens and/or politicians should use their moral knowledge to agree upon political goals and then apply the instrumental knowledge of scientists to achieve them. This straightforward view is challenged by writers in science studies, who identify three major problems in the use of science in democracy: uncertainty, risk and hidden values. They suggest that these problems could be solved through citizen participation.In this essay I perform an analysis of the internal logic of their suggestion. Is it likely that citizen participation enhances the democratic decision making process so as to reduce the problems? The internal analysis shows that it is rational to advocate citizen participation by reasons of legitimacy.

In order to be able to change, to maintain competitiveness as a company in a world where rapid changes is part of the daily life, it is crucial to have knowledge and methods in how to change. One method, originally developed in Finland, is the Change Laboratory. This method is said to be efficient, not only concerning change aspects but also learning, since change and learning in this method is intertwined. This Master Thesis (20p.) tells about the process of conducting a Change Laboratory with a Swedish high-tech company and analyses factors in the process that makes change possible..

In today?s society, safety in a workplace is an important factor to any organization. Focus on improving the working conditions by making them safer through technology is taking us into a time where we rely on technology to keep us safe. How well developed the technology may be, it is still not enough to keep us entirely from harm. Human error will always be a factor in the human interaction with a workplace.

Turbulens är ett väderfenomen som har orsakat många olyckor och incidenter. Speciellt farligt är klarluftsturbulens eftersom fenomenet ej är synligt för blotta ögat, samt att det kan uppstå mycket plötsligt. Mycket pengar och resurser har lagts ned för att ta fram system som skall kunna detektera och automatiskt rapportera turbulens. Denna uppsats beskriver kortfattat hur några av dessa system fungerar samt hur systemen skall bidra till att piloter lättare skall kunna förbereda för eller undvika turbulens. Uppsatsen beskriver system för prognostisering, detektering och automatisk rapportering av turbulens med tyngdpunkt på klarluftsturbulens..

We live in a high tech era of electronic media, which is changing our lives (Giddens, 1999). Apps are examples of technologies that affect our lives. An interesting question in this context is what apps will have for significance; on one hand for the development of technology, and on other hand for humans? relation to technology. Since the development and change process are central issues in the science of education I will explore the development of applications.

The purpose of this MA thesis is to examine the computerisation of sources that are of interest to genealogists. The primary focus of the thesis is an empirical study, by using a questionnaire addressed to 118 genealogical societies in Sweden, in order to find out what kind of computerisation is being performed by these genealogical societies and what their opinion is of the computerisation of sources of interest to genealogists. The result of this questionnaire has shown, together with printed and electronic material, that there is a good deal of interest from genealogical societies in the computerisation of sources. About half of the genealogical societies who answered the questionnaire are computerising sources themselves and the societies have a positive view in general of the computerisation that is being done and of the increased usage of modern information technology in genealogy. There are on the other hand certain issues that are being discussed such as the important question of the quality of the computerised material.

I examensarbetet har läroboksserier inom fysik för gymnasienivån studerats med avseende på Nature of Science. Begreppet Nature of Science, NOS, handlar om naturvetenskapens epistemologi och de sammanhang som påverkar skapandet av ny kunskap inom naturvetenskap. Aspekter från andra vetenskapsområden som, historia, filosofi, ekonomi, och sociologi lyfts fram som viktiga i kunskapsutvecklingen av naturvetenskap. Som grund för studien har ett avgränsat avsnitt, som i examensarbetet benämnts vad är ljus, undersökts. Inom detta område har det studerats om och hur NOS används i läroböckerna.

This examination paper is about the potential for Solar cells on apartment blocks. The technology with using solar cells for manufacturing electricity, has been on the market for a while, but recently the new installations of solar cells has increased. Solar cells are suited for placements on buildings but are expensive to obtain. The municipal real-estate company is interested in solar cells but wants to know more before they invest in the technology. This report contains an account of the solar cell and a guide to how a connection to the grid is accomplished.

This thesis aims to describe how enterprises can approach and reach older citizens inorder to sell new technology products. For that they need information about aspectsaffecting elderlies purchase decisions regarding these kind of products. The study isbased on 13 qualitative interviews where we have applied semi structured interviews andobservations of the elderlies behaviour towards an Ipad which we used as a study objectduring the interviews.The results of this study shows several aspects which affect the elderlies purchasedecision regarding new technology but it all comes down to one matter, lack ofknowledge. In order to overcome that obstacle, enterprises need to modify theircommunication strategy. They will be needing information about elderlies preferencesand their self-image, meaning how they perceive themselves which is connected to howreceptive they are towards new technology.

Operation, operationskonst, operativ ledning är några av huvudorden när man inom militärhistorien beskriver den militära ledningsorganisationen. Här anförs mycket ofta exempel ur den tyska militärhistorien. Vad är det då som särskilt utmärker den operativa ledningen i Tyskland? När, hur och varför har den uppstått, införts och genomförts?Arbetet redovisar den operativa ledningens utveckling i Tyskland ur militärhistoriskt perspektiv och utifrån tyska synpunkter. Det innehåller sålunda inga jämförelser med utvecklingen i andra länder.

Purpose/aim: To investigate individual experiences of how a new communication technology, e-mail, influences a) the structure of the internal communication ? does it for example make networking any easier? ? and b) the form of the persons everyday language.Material/method: A theoretical framework gathered through a literature study and empirical data gathered through interviews with two persons.Main results: Differences and similarities exist between the experiences studied in this paper. The most unexpected result is that the system of e-mail does not seem to be able to create new channels of communication. If anything, it reinforces the structure that already exist. An aspect of decisive importance is the original rules and norms concerning internal communication within the organization..

The organisation of the municipalities is based on the principle of representation. It has previously been impossible to give the citizens more influence through direct democracy, but the information technology gives new possibilities and the choice of democracy model might no longer be obvious. Representation can be interpreted in many ways and there is a need for a more distinct definition of the rule that the municipalities shall be governed according to the principle of representation. It should also be further investigated how the new technology can be used to increase the use of direct democracy. The municipalities ought to work to supplement the representation with direct democracy in the form of active discourse with the citizens.

Climate change and the sea level rise that it contributes to is an ever more pressing issue for costal municipalities around the world. Today there is a great deal of scientific reports and projections on what these changes could entail. However, resent studies on south Swedish costal municipalities have shown great discrepancies when it comes to how these scientific projections are implemented in the municipal planning and adaptation strategies. In an effort to understand the underlying reasons for this lack of concurrence, this paper has applied Rolf Lidskogs theory of the hetrogenity of science. The theory gives an explanation to the complications in the science-policy interface, by describing complicating factors in the communication between these actors.

This master thesis has been written in collaboration with Science Park Jönköping and is based on a problem related to corporate innovation. Science Park Jönköping believes that there is an untapped potential in existing industry in the form of ideas that are never commercialized. These theories are also supported in the research in which other authors have perceived that the ideas and inventions which do not belong to the core business risk ending up in drawers. If more of these ideas could be spin-offs or other forms of enterprise instead of staying in the drawers it would lead to growth, both for companies and for the society in large.The purpose of the thesis work is to, based on the case Science Park Jönköping, analyze how science parks and incubators can support the commercialization of ideas that derive from industry, who otherwise had been left lying. The work began with a mapping of the Science Park Jönköping operations and the skills they possess, and then other initiatives that aim to commercialize more ideas from companies were examined.