Berättelsen och berättandet har under de senaste årtiondena som kunskapsform fått en allt mer erkänd plats i vetenskapliga sammanhang. Narrativ forskning betyder förenklat berättelseforskning och beskrivs sedan mitten av åttiotalet som ett tvärdisciplinärt forskningsfält på framfart. Syftet med denna c-uppsats var att utifrån tre äldre kvinnors livsberättelser, narrativ teori och metod synliggöra berättandet och livsberättelsens påverkan på identitetsskapandet samt upprätthållandet av den egna självbilden. Metoden som legat till grund för undersökningen har varit av deduktiv, kvalitativ art med viss inspiration från hermeneutiken. Datainsamlingen har skett genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer.

Berättelsen och berättandet har under de senaste årtiondena som kunskapsform fått en allt mer erkänd plats i vetenskapliga sammanhang. Narrativ forskning betyder förenklat berättelseforskning och beskrivs sedan mitten av åttiotalet som ett tvärdisciplinärt forskningsfält på framfart. Syftet med denna c-uppsats var att utifrån tre äldre kvinnors livsberättelser, narrativ teori och metod synliggöra berättandet och livsberättelsens påverkan på identitetsskapandet samt upprätthållandet av den egna självbilden. Metoden som legat till grund för undersökningen har varit av deduktiv, kvalitativ art med viss inspiration från hermeneutiken. Datainsamlingen har skett genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer.

I started this project with the understandning that European hisory has become more important in government documents as a part in a larger European discourse, and that this fact is likely to be reflected in the chools textbooks. Therefore this essay deals with the task of comparing history textbooks over time trying to find changes. Firstly to find out how much space European history is afforded in the textbooks, and secondly how Europe is described and used in the textbooks. In my first task I will use a content analysis and in my second a conceptual analysis. My material consists of eight books and I have three pieces of older educational materials from the years 1949, 1954 and 1962.

The history of Banu Umayya has since the collapse of the caliphate occupied a major part in Islamic historiography. The present thesis analyses the presentation of the Umayyads in Ibn Khaldun?s al-Muqaddima and its relation to previous historical traditions. The thesis examines the social and intellectual context in which Ibn Khaldun stood and how it is represented in his historiography, while also providing an overview of the various socio-political, intellectual and historiographical developments in Islam. The theoretical perspectives are based on the concept of agency, examining the intellectual room for manoeuvre that the historian disposed of while composing the works.

In 2011, I and fellow student at Gotland University created a multimedia game. To fit the time constraints a ?vertical slice? was created. This means a small sample of the game is taken which allows the user to understand how the game works, and at the same time, get a visual demonstration of how the game is designed. The goal of the project was to create a narrative for stadium games in which the backstory is told as players interact with their surroundings.

The purpose of this project was to to find a way for textile patternsto talk about its own, and our, inevitable death. By doing so I hopedto incorporate questions about transience into daily life.I assumed that from a decentralized background position, patternson everyday objects have a unique ability to pose complexquestions that can be interpreted over time. The investigation wasinspired by how russian constructivists looked at everyday objectsas equals, and let them carry the spirit of the revolution.In the process I tried to find out how, and if, a philosophicalmessage can be transmitted through design and how differentcomponents of a pattern can work together to express that message.Resulting in two textile patterns with textile motifs, my workshowed that design definitely can raise metaphysical questions andmay as well have an advantage over art when trying to reach peoplein their own reality..

Adjustment to acquired hearing loss can be understood as a process of learning and change where the point of departure is the subjective apppraisal of a person?s hearing loss in a social and cultural context. The aim of the study was to describe women?s thoughts, emotions and actions prior to audiological rehabilitation, since these are considered important for the ongoing process of adjustment and for the planning of rehabilitation. A phenomenographical approach was used in order to describe the variation in the women?s attitudes before attending rehabilitation.

Mainstream contemporary phenomenology understands the phenomenology of movement and dance through ?the lived body? of Merleau-Ponty. This paper rather suggests a phenomenology of movement and dance based on an understanding through ?the danced body? with ability to meta-feeling. It is here argued that we need to use a phenomenology of dance to understand the phenomenon of movement whatsoever.

The Sub-Saharan countries have for a long time struggled with poverty and conflicts which might have proven hostile for investors. The analysis aims to see if there is a significant correlation between foreign direct investments (FDI) and economic growth and which cultural and institutional factors seem to be significant in this correlation. Considered are also other variables and their influence that might explain what motivates and gives incentives for foreign direct investments (FDI) and are used in the construction of a regression analysis. This to see whether there is an effect on the economic growth in relations to FDI. The results show that FDI is of significance to the economic growth in the region and the study shows that corruption seems to be the most significant institutional factor in the correlation with effect on economic growth and the ability to attract FDI..

Marketing communications have earlier been conducted via traditional channels. Today companies have discovered the possibility of doing much of their marketing communication in cooperation with the web at relatively low cost. This development has led to the ability for small businesses to compete with large companies independent of geographic location. The purpose with this thesis was to examine how small businesses use their website in marketing communications with their customers in the consumer market. In order to reach this purpose we have conducted interviews with five small businesses in different business trade with varying degrees of website usage, located in Piteå and Luleå.

This essay aims to investigate how students raised in Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced their career counseling during their middle and high school education. My main objectives are, based on the testimonies of former Jehovah's Witnesses, to investigate how career counselors can find a strategy to approach these students in a non-threatening way. I also try to take into account the contextual elements which are of great importance when counseling students raised as Jehovah's Witnesses. A qualitative study has been carried out with five informants with a background in the movement. The material has then been analyzed using a qualitative, narrative method.

The purpose of this essay is to examine at how to portray characters in the stories and narratives which depicts one of these children's books and if they really have something to ethnicity and its identification to be done.The Research questions is: What are the different identification markers given, to the reading child in the books, which might indicate that the story depicts people of different ethnicities? How are the characters portrayed in the story and which role is assigned to the main character? What story is portrayed and is it relevant to an identifier can occur?The conclusions of the five children's books shows that it is important with identifications markers, to show that there are different ethnicities. For example the analysis revealed the specific features of the illustrations and how the books portrayes someone with a different ethnicity and cultural background as something exotic.In the texts, the analysis showed how it occurred ethnic differences, by explicitly demonstrating differences between the characters. It was found that the characters were produced mostly as good, happy, curious, suspicious and unsympathetic. Common to all the main characters was that they had been placed, in one for them unusual context and that they were trying to assimilate to the new situations.Depictions consisted of realism and fiction.

International negotiation is the link between international planning and implementation. The ability to negotiate successfully may very well depend on the efforts being put into preparatory activities, leading to the purpose of this research, to gain a better understanding of pre-negotiation in an international context, by exploring, describing and partly explaining the process. Personal interviews were conducted with two Swedish international companies to obtain thorough information within the area. The collected data from these two cases are discussed, compared and then finally used to draw general conclusions. The study indicates the different issues that either occur or should be considered prior to the first formal meeting in an international negotiation.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka effekten av en dos mindfulness session på 45 minuter och dess relation till: (1) Upprätthållandet av uppmärksamhetsförmågan, (2) exekutiv uppmärksamhetsförmåga samt (3) perceptuell förmåga. En experimentell studie genomfördes på idrottare (n=48) som uppfyllde särskilda krav för att få ingå i studien. Resultatet visade inga signifikanta skillnader gällande samtliga tre variabler mellan experimentgrupp och kontrollgrupp. Avslutningsvis diskuteras studiens resultat och implikationer i förhållande till tidigare forskning, med stöd av teoretiska referensramar..

In Sweden we have the highest rate of nontraditional students among Europe. Coincidently, we also have the highest rates of drop outs among OECD. In this particular field, drop out from higher education, there is a need fore more qualitative studies that can support the "statistics". Studies about experiences of drop outs are significant for society, university and individual. The aim of this study is to describe and understand how nontraditional student experiences drop out from higher education.