User participation in the planning process of renewing the yards of existing residential areas was introduced in Sweden in the 1970s. It arose as a solution to many of the problems which became common in the residential areas built within the Swedish million program. The aim with the million program was to build one million homes within ten years. The same year as the million program was completed, in 1975, government subsidies to improve the residential yards were introduced. One of the conditions to get the subsidies was that the residents had to be involved in the planning process.

Uppsatsens syfte är att studera skillnader mellan kultur- och sportjournalistik för att kunna undersöka vad dessa skillnader har för grunder och betydelser för vår uppfattning om kultur och sport i samhället. Varför låter sport- och kulturjournalistik så olika? Vad har det för betydelse? Genom att detaljstudera två av Sveriges Radios nyhetsprogram, Kulturnytt och Radiosportens nyheter, görs skillnader mellan de två genrerna tydliga och konkreta. Skillnaderna analyseras utifrån begrepp som genre, hegemoni, dikotomi och uppdelningen mellan hög och låg samhällelig status. Uppsatsens slutsatser är att uppdelningen mellan sport och kultur hålls stabil genom journalistiska genrer, vilka i sin tur är skapade efter uttryckens olika samhälleliga status.

This essay sets out to compare political participation in two e-petition systems: The Malmö initiative in Malmö, Sweden, and Better Reykjavik in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main question of the essay concerns the aggregative and deliberative qualities of the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik, as well as the relationship between aggregation and deliberation. This main question is divided into four subqueries that lead the empirical analysis. These are: (1) Which similarities and differences in terms of design are there between the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik? (2) To what extent have these systems mobilized an aggregative political participation? (3) What similarities and differences are there concerning aspects of deliberation? and (4) What is the correlation between aggregation and deliberation like in the two e-petition systems?The method in use is a comparative cross-sectional study with a 'most similar research design'.

I have examined the conditions for participation in an opera masquerade. Theoretical support has been found in Michail Bachtin, Richard Schechner and Judith Butler. The main study object has been a masquerade organised by the workers of The Royal Opera of Stockholm in 1925. The masquerade is examined as a social practise with distinct aesthetic framing. The analysis shows that the opera masquerade share some characteristics with the medieval carnival culture as described by Bachtin, but differ in many ways as well.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the habits of borrowing books among third-grade pupils. My aim is also to study what significance their teacher and the librarian have on the pupils? borrowing habits. Based on the results from an experiment, two observations, interviews and by compiling a list of short summaries of literature relevant to my thesis. I wanted to compare earlier research with my own results and also reflect on remarks made by librarians and teachers concerning the children?s reading and use of the library.

We aim to develop knowledge of how new technology, in this case social media, can contribute to how sports fans interact with their idols. Therefore our framing of a question is to present how fans experience their contact with mixed martial arts (MMA) & ultimate fighting championship (UFC) through social media platforms. To specify our study, we also have a supplement question with in which way sports fans uses social media.We have chosen to conduct a qualitative study consisting of interviews and data observations of websites, related to the organization UFC, to approach our main question. We have interviewed nine randomly selected people with one common interest - MMA/UFC. With an implant of theories, consisting of social media, fandom and lurking, on the result of the interview and website data, we try to come closer to a conclusion for our intention with this thesis.Our conclusion is that the interviewed fans express that through the usage of social media, they feel like they have come closer to UFC.

Previous research has established coaches' important role in developing elite athletes (Durand, Bush, Thomson & Salmela 1996). Athlete enhancement and assisting athletes achieve ?peak performance? has been a major objective for elite coaches as well as sports scientists (Williams & Kendall, 2007) Despite this common goal, research also question whether sports scientists and the research they pursue really effects coaches knowledge and constitute a foundation for today and tomorrows athletic performances (Bishop 2008).  This study examined elite coaches? needs and use of sport science research as well as the interaction between elite coaches and sport scientists. Following interviews of ten elite coaches, content analysis revealed that sport science is both a formal and informal resource of knowledge for coaches. Development of athletes is seen as the main objective of research retrieval and personal and/or direct contact with the sport scientist is considered to be the best way to assemble.

The purpose of our study is to examine how parents experienced their participation and their involvement in a solution-focused parenting group. The parenting groups are a part of the social welfare system in a town in south of Sweden. The study is conducted as a qualitative study with focus groups. 11 parents have participated. The study´s theoretical framework considers solution focused theory, social constructionism and process within groups.In the study we found that participants generally perceived their participation as positive and that they received confirmation by meeting other parents in the same situation.

I denna rapport presenteras det examensarbete som Emanuel Öhman utfört under vårterminen 2012 på Mälardalens Högskola. I rapporten redovisas det projekt som utförts för att vidareutveckla en häckvagn som används inom friidrott.Uppdragsgivaren Nordic Sport AB har i dagsläget en häckvagn på marknaden, som bland annat kommer användas i friidrotts-EM 2012 i Helsingfors. Syftet till vidareutvecklingen av häckvagnen är att sänka produktens fraktkostnad.Direktiven var att ta fram ett koncept som uppfyller kundkraven som ställs på produkten, samt att minska produktens volym och vikt, då dessa är direkt styrande av fraktkostnaden.Projektet börjades med en problemförståelsefas för att få en ökad kunskap, samt ta reda på vilka önskemål och krav som ställs på produkten. Utvecklingen av den befintliga produkten utfördes med olika produktutvecklingsverktyg.Resultatet blev en häckvagn vars helhet påminner om Nordic Sports nuvarande häckvagn, där vikt och volym reducerades. Samt att vagnens ramkonstruktion kunde dimensioneras ned efter simuleringar och beräkningar.Analysen visar att konceptet uppfyller de krav som ställs på produkten på ett mer resurseffektivt sätt än vad Nordic Sports nuvarande produkt gör och projektets mål kan ses som uppnått.I slutsatsen framgår det att projektet gått bra.

AbstractPurpose/Aim: The aim is to investigate if there are any differences in the reporting from the Olympic games and the Paralympic games, according to different periodicals or magazines, with focus on Paralymics and sports for handicapped. If so, what are those differences?Material/Method: The material consists of two periodicals, or magazines; Svensk idrott which is the official paper for the swedish Riksidrottsförbundet, and Handikappidrott, which is the official paper for the swedish Handikappidrottsförbundet. Articles considering the summer games in 1972 and 1976, 1984, 1996 and 2000 was studied with regard to models developed by Algirdas J. Greimas.

Bolivia genomförde neoliberalt inspirerade reformer under 1990-talet. En av lagarna som kom till då, Law of Popular Participation, decentraliserade vissa besluts- och planeringsprocesser till lokal nivå. Ett centralt inslag i lagen var det ökade deltagande och inflytande som den ämnade ge kvinnor och förfördelad landsortsbefolkning. Som spunnen ur en neoliberal tradition, syftar vår litteraturstudie till att undersöka effekten av lagen om definitionen av civilsamhälle breddas utom dessa ramar. I studien undersöks effekten av lagen; dels på kvinnornas situation, dels på klyftorna mellan stad och landsbygd utifrån vårt civilsamhälleliga ramverk.

Introduction: Reducing social inequality in health is a prioritized goal for public health on the global as well as the national and the local levels. Hälsoteket operates through health promotion to reduce inequality in health in the district of Angered in Göteborg, through the improvement of living habits and the wellbeing of the population.Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate Hälsoteket in Angered through its participants? subjective experiences. Subsidiary aims were to explore participants? perceptions and opinions about Hälsoteket in Angered, how they perceive the health impact of their participation and their motivations for participating.Method: A qualitative method was used to fulfill the aim.

The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about how teachers in preschool regard their participation in children's play. Through this study you will get an insight into how teachers' involvement affects children's learning. I have chosen to look at the study from a socio-cultural perspective.The study is based on qualitative interviews with four pre-school teachers.The result shows that teachers believe that it is important to attend in children's play to support, challenge and develop their play. One sees that teachers take different roles based on the needs of the children?s group, such as actively participate in the play, being a supportive teacher, serve as inspiration or to be an observer.

The purpose of this essay is to explore how social media affect the political orientation and commitment of youths. Three scientific questions highlight the purpose from different angles. The didactic perspective is discussed in the initial and closing discussion, and is analyzed in the corresponding chapter. Two methods are involved in the study; one survey and one interview with a focus group. The survey had a total of 98 respondents from four different classes, all in the first grade of upper secondary school.

Officially, the EU gender policy since 2000 has been guided by the strategy of Gender Mainstreaming. This strategy aims to promote gender equality and is informed by a feminist ontology which stipulates that women are structurally subordinated.In this essay, I examine whether the European Commission has adequately adhered to this gender policy in its free trade negotiations with the ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) countries as part of the Cotonou Agreement. As a result of my text analysis of documents related to the negotiations, opinion pieces by interested actors and policy papers of the EU, I find that the Commission does not act in accordance to its stated gender policy.To explain this discrepancy between policy intent and actions, I employ postliberal feminist theory and Robert Putnam's Two-Level Game Theory Model. By analyzing statistics and published research, I explore how gender issues are being represented politically on a domestic and international level.My findings show that a key cause of this discrepancy lies in the low levels of female participation in the political institutions of the EU and ACP; a lack of participation that is especially pronounced in the area of international economics. In explaining the constraints on female participation and the prospects of full implementation of the EU's gender policy in the international political economy, I emphasize the role of culturally and historically gendered institutions..