The purpose of this research is to evaluate traditional market segmentation variables, as criticism has been directed towards these variables. Based on our problem discussion we find it motivating to undertake investigation in order to understand which connotations an ethnographic approach will provide. Methodology:We have applied an ethnographic approach, which has enabled us to attain under the surface knowledge from our respondents. Theoretical perspective:As we wanted to evaluate existing traditional segmentation variables, we decided to only include theory regarding these variables. Empirical data:In order to collect our data, we observed seven respondents at Ikea and conducted observations and in-depth interviews in their homes.

The aim of this thesis was twofold, on the one hand to compile a set of usability and accessibility guidelines in order to establish the characteristics of a user friendly website, and on the other to test these guidelines on eight library webcourses with user education to see how well they adhered to the guidelines. The methods used were literature survey and source studies. The guidelines found in the literature survey were divided into four different categories: document properties, structure and navigability, visual characteristics and accessibility. In order to establish the adequacy of the guidelines, I examined reference sources, mostly on the web. To a certain extent this examination has been based on HCI Human-Computer interaction theories.

The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of the sport journalistic weblog. To achieve this we have used the following questions: Which themes are included in the sport journalistic weblog? How much text does the sport journalistic weblog content? How often is multimediality incorporated in the sport journalistic weblog? Which references occur in the sport journalistic weblog? How many hyperlinks occur in the sport journalistic weblog? How many of the hyperlinks is internal respective external? How often does the sport journalistic weblog offers possibilities to interaction between the journalist and the reader? How often does interaction between the journalist and the reader occur?The theories we have used is both online publishing and Jan Schmidt?s analytical framework on blogs. Online publishing describes an important part in our paper, online journalism, which in turn describes three important definitions for this paper; hypertextuality, multimediality and interactivity. Jan Schmidt?s theory is central to understand the phenomena, and functions as a starting point in the analyze part.

The purpose with this study was to investigate how parents experience their situation in life, having personal assistance at home to support their small children with disabilities. Different areas were investigated. What made them apply for personal assistance? How does the support affect the family and their parenthood? What would it mean if their children would not have personal assistance? The study was made using a qualitative method and the material was gathered through interviews. A combination of symbolic interactionism and system theory were used as theoretical perspectives.

This paper is about the new programming language from Microsoft, C# (See Sharp) and the .NET Framework. They are still in beta-version, but will be released on the market in February 2002. This paper presents C#, not in detail but the characteristics that distinguish the language. A comparison is done with C++ and Java, since C# is most resembling to these languages. Both C# and Java have been developed from the mother- language C++.

Syftet är att undersöka individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning inom organisationer som använder extern arbetskraft i jämförelse med organisationer som ej använder extern arbetskraft. I denna uppsats har en hermeneutisk ansats använts för att studera individers upplevelser av barriärer mot kunskapsdelning. Respondenterna som deltagit i studien var från fyra olika organisationer där två av organisationerna använde sig av extern arbetskraft medan två endast använde sig av ordinarie personal. Vi utförde både intervjuer och enkätundersökningar på organisationer med extern personal och organisationer med bara ordinarie personal. Resultatet från vår studie visar att de upplevda barriärerna mot kunskapsdelning i vissa lägen skiljer sig åt mellan ordinarie- och extern personal.

The stretch from the riparian zone of a major river, through the mouth and upstream in tributaries forms a range of differing habitats. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of these different habitats on the riparian frog community in primary rain forest in Borneo; i.e. examine whether any gradients could be demonstrated in terms of species composition, diversity and density of frogs, as well as which environmental characteristics that seem to be of most importance in forming habitats of high conservational value. A major river, Segama, and three of its tributaries were investigated. The surveys were carried out at night by searching for frogs visually and acoustically along the streams, from the shore of the Segama river and 400 metres upstream in the tributaries.

This study is a first attempt to try to understand what the variables could be that make the person responsible for the grave sign up for grave gardening services by the church or to maintain the grave by him- or herself. There has been almost no research done within this subject. This study has been made by a qualitative research method and interviews have been performed with both persons responsible for the grave who have gardening services made by the church and with those who maintain the grave by themselves. The characteristics that are affecting consumer behaviour and the buyer decision process are presented in the theoretical part of this study. That is done so it can be seen if a comparison between the results of the study and the basic theoretical concept is possible, resulting in an understanding of how the costumers think and argue about this question.

Quality Assurance in Service Procurement --- Total Quality and Total Quality Management refer to popular management philosophies in organizations these days. The purchasing department has an important part in the strive for organizational quality as several studies show corporate spend is significant and increasing. In this master thesis I study the actions companies take to ensure quality in service procurement. I argue that managing quality when sourcing services is particularly tricky, because of the special characteristics that belong to services. The purpose of the study is to examine whether different actions are taken to ensure the quality of different kinds of services.

Alien plants that have intentionally been introduced to an area for cultivation in public or private gardens constitute the primary pathway of introduction for invasive alien species that spread into nature. Garden owners want species that have satisfying characteristics, these characteristics are often also linked to plant invasiveness. Thus, the horticulture industry plays an important role by making scientifically based decisions and phasing out invasive plants and replacing them with alternative species with satisfying characteristics, but low risks of becoming invasive. This thesis aimed to examine the sale of and the attitudes towards alien plants in the horticulture industry in Sweden. Alien terrestrial plants identified to have a severe risk, high risk or potentially high risk of spreading and becoming invasive according to ArtDatabankens assessment, were examined to see if they were for sale.

Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka medvetenheten och lekens betydelse hos personal i förskolan och om det finns en samsyn mellan personal och rektorer om lekens betydelse. Arbetet ger en översikt över tidigare forskning om lekens betydelse för barns utveckling och den delen avslutas med en del om lek som en specialpedagogisk metod. Med hjälp av intervjuer av personal och rektorer har vi undersökt förskolepersonals medvetenhet om lekens betydelse samt om det finns en samsyn mellan personal och rektorer om lekens betydelse. Vi har även undersökt om det finns skillnader mellan olika kommuner. Sammanfattningsvis pekar resultatet av vår undersökning på att rektorns inställning och medvetenhet om lekens betydelse har stor betydelse för hur mycket leken diskuteras och medvetandegörs i personalgruppen..

One important issue faced by companies is to secure their information and resources from intrusions. For accessing a resource almost every system uses the approach of assigning a unique username and a password to all legitimate users. This approach has a major drawback. If an intruder gets the above information then he can become a big threat for the company and its resources. To strengthen the computer security there are several biometric methods for identity verification which are based on the human body?s unique characteristics and behavior including fingerprints, face recognition, retina scan and signatures.

To explore how children use dialect, and whether the dialectal language develops during growth might be of interest from a speech language pathologist?s point of view as the dialect could influence the child?s speech. Previous research is often based on older material and/or examines the speech of adults.  In the present study, everyday language in groups of south- eastern Swedish speaking children was investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine to what extent typically developed children of the ages of  5, 8 and 11 years use dialectal language. A further purpose was to discover which dialectal characteristics that were present in the different age groups, and how they differed.

Motiverad personal leder till arbetsglädje och ett bra resultat bland annat. Därför anses det numera viktigt med motiverad personal. Syftet med min uppsats är att analysera vilken betydelse motivationsfaktorerna har för personal som arbetar i det nära omsorgsarbetet på äldreboenden. Mina intervjuer visade på att motivationsfaktorerna har en betydelse för personalen. Informanterna är motiverade men vissa avvikande faktorer finns.

This thesis is a survey and also an investigation of the different factors that affects the cracking that occurs in the inserts at AB Sandvik Coromants production in Gimo. The work that has been done has focused on two main factors, namely, powder characteristics and pressing parameters.AB Sandvik Coromant produces tools and tooling systems for metal cutting. They have some problems in their production of inserts. The problem is that cracks sometimes occur in the body of the insert, after it´s pressed. In order to investigate this, a preliminary study was made in which production principles were studied.