National and international studies, such as PISA and TIMSS, which are part of the national evaluation system, are carried out continuosly. Skolverket, in collaboration with researchers, are responsible for the implementation, evaluation, and analysis of the studies. National results show an increasing percentage of pupils who do not reach the goals in mathematics. The last completed international studies PISA 2009 and TIMSS 2007 show an impaired trend of knowledge, in international comparison. Moreover, studies also show that the differences between schools and also within the same school in Sweden have increased.

The purpose of our study is to examine the bloggers? influence on the brand?s image to see whether and if so in what way the blogging trend affects the brands. We also want to analyze how companies use bloggers in their marketing. This is a subject that has attracted our interest and that experience has not been touched in a higher extent. Our purpose has led us to the following research questions;Which relationships occur in collaborations between businesses and bloggers from a marketing perspective? In what way in terms of reciprocity can relations be described? To what extent can the credibility through blogs be affected in terms of how brands are presented in the blog? In this study we have used a qualitative method with an abductive nature to create a deeper understanding of our chosen subject.

The purpose with this study is to gain understanding about student´s view of mathematical education, in the later years of nine-year compulsory school, and the motivation factors that can be identified when student´s gives opportunity to express their own thoughts due to the mathematical education. From experiences we have gained during the practical part of our teachers education we got the impression that student´s think that the mathematical education is boring and uninteresting. Through qualitative methods such as survey and discussions in focus group we have analyzed student´s views of mathematical education and pointed out witch motivation factors that are expressed when student´s gives opportunity to influence over their own education. The results are shown from the answers and comments that student´s gave, during the survey and focus group, and is divided into two main parts, both with focus on motivation ?Mathematics and motivation? and ?Student´s influence and motivation? and also a summery part ?Motivated for mathematical education when the student is given influence over the education?. The study showed that student´s wants to have more difference in the work methods that are used in their mathematical education such as problem solving, games, more work in groups and pairs and more use of IT. In conclusion the study also gives suggestions to other studies that can be made in the same genre as this study in the way that IT can be used in mathematical education and how student´s interest can be used in the education to gain more motivated student´s..

Research indicates that a more hands-on education in mathematics could improve how students relate to mathematics. Laboratory mathematics is a way of making mathematics more concrete.  How is the purpose of laboratory mathematics perceived? This thesis has its focus on the pupils? perceptions of the purpose of laboratory mathematics, but the intention of the teacher involved is also investigated. The main research questions asked were:What is the teacher's definition of laboratory mathematics?Which is the teacher's purpose in using laboratory education?How do the students perceive the purpose of the laboratory teaching of mathematics?To answer the questions, I conducted a series of qualitative interviews.

Which general outlines are preferable in the relation between organizations and government? From normative theory and method I throw light upon this question by defining and comparing two different democratic standpoints. The substantial democratic standpoint focuses on political effectiveness and the procedural democratic standpoint focuses on equal representation. The normative discussion aims at comparing how well the different standpoints function in political praxis. Since the ambition is to discuss concrete praxis I have also chosen to analyse an extensive case of interest influence in Swedish politics empirically.

AbstractTitle: Foreign news coverage. Does the media influence the action in international crises? (Utrikesbevakning. Påverkar media agerandet i internationella kriser?)Number of pages: 39Author: Charlotta AndréssonTutor: Professor Lowe HedmanCourse: Media and Communication Studies CUniversity: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University.Date of submission: 2007-01-03, autumn term of 2006Purpose/AimThe purpose of the essay is partly to examine if foreign news coverage influence the political agenda setting and the incentives of the public?s willingness to give charity for humanitarian crises.

According to some researchers, dyscalculia is at least as prevalent as dyslexia. Somewhere between 3.6-6 % of all pupils have specific mathematics difficulties named dyslexia. If this be true, it should present the most complex special education predicament by far in schools today. Despite the statistics, dyscalculia is still a rather unknown concept.The cause of dyscalculia is not yet fully analyzed. There are several theories and many researchers see similarities between dyscalculia and the special educational problem of reading and writing, dyslexia.

The aim of the study was to examine how social workers investigate and assess addiction cases whether gender matters or not. The following questions were asked in the study; ? Does the gender of the client influence whether a case is opened after the first meeting at the Addiction Unit? ? Do social workers consider there is a difference in handling an addiction treatment investigation when the client is a man or a woman? ? Do divergences exist in the assessment and the final decision process when the case concerns a man or a woman? The study is based on the qualitative method. The material is gathered from semi-structured interviews with social workers. Their job tasks include assessment and evaluation of addiction cases.

This essay is derived from a case study about the SIRA school in Betlehem. SIRA is classified as a special education school with financial support from the Swedish International Relief Association. SIRA acts to provide support for children with reading and writing difficulties in their daily school work.The study's aim to describe the context for SIRA's specialized educational activity. The formulated questions should provide answers to which factors that influence SIRA's work, its goals, development, and the distinguished pedagogical approach.During the research comprehensive interviews were conducted with parties which can influence the way schools operate and provide the necessary support for students. Factors that influence the school's operation are analyzed from a ecological development perspective created by Urie Bronfenbrenner. The theory advocates that a student's development and interaction mainly comes from participating in activities, social roles and relations.This constant process of mutual adaptation between the developing individual and its surrounding environment is to be defined as its own entity. The result shows that SIRA's practice a special educational operation with focus on an approach which strengthens the student's identity and communicational skills..

The habits of living are seen as important factors for public health, and are related to the primary socialization. Exercise and food habits are two main factors for development of health or ill health and are both related to the overweight epidemic. The overweight increase among children and youth has been given particular attention. The aim of this study is to examine how 15 year olds Body Mass Index, food- and exercise habits are connected to each other and also how they are related to socialization. The study is a cross sectional survey among 208 pupils in ninth grade, Kristianstad.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how customers, by interacting with each other, can communicate and create the image of a brand. We find this topic to be relevant since there are no previous studies conducted concerning the customers influence on the brand image. Our ambition has been to describe in what ways and to what extent the customer can affect and influence the brand image by communicating with other customers. To fulfill our purposed we have targeted three important questions which are:? In which ways can the customer affect the communicated image of a brand?? To what extent can the customer influence the brand image and the perceived value?? Who has control over the brand, the customer or the company?For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eight personal interviews with brand consultants and the editor of the magazine Dagens Media which has given us the foundation for our analysis.

What is masculinity and what does it mean to be a man?This study involves two different areas: gender and literary reception. I wanted to find out what students think about masculinity and what possible strategies they use when they read and interpret literature. The investigation consists of three parts: an introductory survey, classroom observations and an ending text analysis based on ten different questions. The investigation has taken place in second grade at an upper secondary school as part of the course Swedish B.

In this survey I have been trying to find out which factors influence the students? choice of instrument. I hope to, through the results, gain knowledge about how to reach interested students in my future work as a trombone educator.I have let 15 students that have played trombone in the County Music Academy one to three years, answer my inquiry concerning their choice of instrument. The students? parents were also asked to give an explanation to what they think made their child play the trombone and whether they tried to influence their child in the choice of instrument.

The perspective on health among school pupils needs to be extended. School is animportant arena for the promoting of health among youth, primarily from a healthpromoting perspective and a proactive perspective. A holistic approach has gatheredsome ground in the policy documents for the nine year compulsory school in Sweden, butin what way, and what effect does it have on the governing authorities and on schoollevel?The aim of the study is to investigate the coherence between national, municipal andlocal levels regarding the view on health among pupils. In order to do this, the guidelinesfor pupil health in the municipality of Örebro and operational plans for seven F9 schoolsin the municipality of Örebro will be studied and compared to the government bill?Health, learning and sense of security?.

The subject of this study is conflict management. The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers deal with conflicts between pupils in primary education. The purpose is also to get more insight on what a conflict is and show different strategies to manage conflicts. To learn about how teachers deal with conflicts between pupils in primary school, I chose to do interviews. I interviewed four teachers. In the interviews we talked about: their definition of what a conflict is, what kind of conflict that are most common, and how common it is with conflicts in the school which they work at, how they handle conflicts between students, how they believe that they manage conflicts, if they have received any training or education in conflict management and if the school they work at have any special guidelines for handling conflicts. My questions are: How do the teachers think about their own involvement in students' conflict management? How do the teachers think about which types of conflicts that can be difficult to manage? The result of the study is that the teachers often let students handle conflicts themselves and they think it is good for them to do it because it is a knowledge that we humans need have.