This thesis studies the indirect effects of Europeanization on national political parties. I argue that Europeanization has affected the way national parties operate, and communicate with the voters, by restricting the national policy space through increased economic and political integration. Furthermore, I argue that the impact of Europeanization is likely to be reflected in electoral manifestos and changed patterns of party competition. Accordingly, Europeanization is hypothesized to change party rhetoric in a cartel-like manner by diminishing voters? expectations, and also by avoiding EU-affairs in electoral manifestos. The hypothesis suggests, moreover, that Europeanization is reflected in convergence among parties regarding the rhetoric concerning EU-affairs. The purpose of the thesis is to examine to what extent the rhetoric concerning EU-affairs has changed in electoral manifestos sinceSwedenjoined the European Union in 1995.

This paper deals with the question of when hill forts ? or enclosed mountains ? were built and to what purpose, by examining two enclosed mountains (RAÄ 78 and 79) in Grödinge parish in the province of Södermanland. A phosphate analysis was conducted to trace anthropogenic activities. The analysis showed only a slight elevation of phosphate content in the soil. A histogram indicated that the elevations were not normally distributed, which could suggest that they were caused by anthropogenic activities.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how administrative officers at the Swedish social insurance agency experience and deal with the goal conflicts they may experience. Furthermore, the purpose is to gain a greater understanding on how they perceive their role in the implementation process, and their position as the link between the citizens and the state. Two potential conflicts are examined; between quantitative goals and performance measures and those more qualitative and hard to measure; between economic values such as cost efficiency and productivity and democratic values such as the rule of law. The other conflict examined is that between implementing and following the laws set forth, take into account the individual needs and interests of the citizen. The theoretical framework consists of Lundquist?s theory on public officers as the guardians of democracy, which means that they should not only implement laws and rules according to political intentions, but also make sure that the democratic values and principles are followed in the relationship between state and citizen.

When producing an interview report the researcher is put to the test of describing the qualitative interview method in terms of assumed orderly steps and procedures taken during the interview process, while at the same time account for a very social dynamic process. In practice, even the most carefully prepared scenario for a qualitative interview study probably does not correspond to the expectations made. What happens between the plans and the actual interview itself? This issue is investigated by contrasting the actual engagement of the participants in an interview project to how these relationships are accounted for in Master thesis from the Swedish School of Library- and Information Science in Borås. Theory and methodology from Actor Network Theory (ANT) have been applied into the area of qualitative interviews.

This study is a qualitative content analysis which sets out to examine the representation of stereotypic masculine traits amongst the main characters in two films from The Swedish Institute of Film's (Svenska Filminstitutets) selection for ?School Cinema? (Skolbio). The study is operationalised through the use of a scheme, constructed by Lorraine Evans and Kimberly Davies for their study No sissy boys here, which maps stereotypical masculine and feminine traits and originates from Sandra Lipsitz Bems ?Sex Role Inventory?. The masculine traits in the scheme are: aggressive, competitive, argumentative, decisive, assertive, risk-taking, self-reliant and adventurous, and the feminine are: affectionate, emotionally expressive, impetuous, nurturing, panicky, passive, tender, and understanding.

Good conditions in the workplace, fairness in the workplace and the social differences contribute to a general improvement in public health. A health-promoting leader is working to create a workplace that promotes health, supports its employees and contributes to their wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the first-line managers in the city of Västerås experience and deal with their conditions and obstacles in the health-promoting leadership. A qualitative approach was chosen and the selection was six first-line managers working in three different areas of the City of Västerås. Managers were interviewed by an interviewguide and the material was analyzed with a manifest content analysis, with an inductive approach.

Objective: The study will investigate whether cash liquidity have a negative affect on profitability and share value of companies, listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm 2008-2011. Part of the purpose is also to show if the industry risk is of importance for treasury management of these companies.Method: The methodology for the study is key analysis through hypothesis testing and regression analysisConclusion: The liquidity ratio affects profitability in a negative direction on the entire sample. No other conclusion can be drawn..

With the increased significance of information technology (IT) in today?s society the term ?electronic democracy? (e-democracy) has gained much importance within the democracy theory. Naturally, there are several competing views on how the technology should be used for democratic purpose. One aspect of this is the somewhat revitalized claim for direct democracy in accordance with the hypothetical opportunity to finally realize it as a democratic system. The ideal of direct democracy combined with the almost total credence in the potential of technology constitute the idea of a ?push-button democracy?.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine male social workers experiences of working in a female dominated work. The aim with this study was to find out how men perceive working with mostly women and how this effects their construction of masculinity. The theories that have been used in this study are a social constructive perspective on gender, Chodorows (1995) Theory of Socialization and Connells (2008) Theory of Masculinities. The method used in this study is qualitative interviews based on the experiences of five male social workers in Sweden.The interviews have been recorded and retailed in text in its full version, to enable analysis out of the above mentioned theories and earlier studies. The result of the study shows that the men in this study experience mostly benefits from working with women and they feel appreciated as being men.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to clarify and evaluate the concept of scenario planning.Methodology: Our research methodology has a qualitative approach and uses deductive reasoning. The theoretical field of strategy formulation has been reviewed and in specific the concept scenario planning was unravelled and mapped. Thereafter, our model was tested in a case study where the empirical data was collected through personal interviews. Theoretical field: Literature and articles from the strategic management field have been reviewed with a focus on strategy formulation, scenario planning and Williamson?s theory for the creation of a portfolio for strategic options.Empirical base: Personal interviews and secondary sources such as financial reports, articles mainly from industry media and articles found in the databases ELIN and Affärsdata.Analysis: The analysis work constitutes the testing of our model for scenario planning, integrated into Williamson?s portfolio of strategic options for the future.Result: The work has resulted in a clarified model of scenario planning with links to strategic management schools.

The general objective of this qualitative study is to analyse and describe what people with psychiatric disabilities write on their blogs about their encounters with social workers. The questions the study is aiming to answer are: How do people with psychiatric disabilities describe their encounters with social workers? Do the informants describe instances of paternalism and advocacy? How do the informants describe their sense of meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability? The study is based on a theoretical framework in which empowerment and sense of coherence (SOC) are the key elements, along with the concepts of paternalism and advocacy as well as meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability. The research data was collected from blogs on to the blog forum Psykiatrin.blogg.se ? psykiatrins Robin Hood (meaning ?the Robin Hood of psychiatry?).

The Swedish industrial society has left several areas with contaminated soil and water which today is of danger for the environment and human health. One of these areas with contaminated soil and water is the region where the former Glava glassworks operated during 1859 to 1939. The main object in this study has been to study the responsibility for the contaminations according to the Environmental Code. The method used is a qualitative content analysis of relevant literature to answer the following questions:What types of contaminations can be found in the area of Glava glasswork and what health issues can these cause?What kind of activity has been conducted in the area that have caused the contaminations in soil and water?According to law, what are the responsibilities for the contaminations in soil and water at Glava glassworks?The contamination in the region has been confirmed to originate from the glasswork due to the environmental engineering survey made in the area in 2009.

Title: The nurse's dilemma in psychiatric inpatient care - a balancing act between good and evil Objective: To describe the nurse's experience of relieving patient suffering caused by coercive measures on a closed psychiatric ward . Frame of reference : The results are discussed in light of Eriksson´s theory of suffering and caring relationships Method: A Qualitative analysis based on focus group discussions Results: The analysis resulted in six categories, to protect the patient , to involve the patient , not to lose control , to remain , to justify compulsion , and to be touched . The results showed that nurses had the experience of being able to relieve the suffering of patients caused by coercive measures. It was also found that the nurses had a tendency to justify coercive measures , the more experience they had of performing these . Conclusion: The results describe that nurses have the experience and knowledge of how to relieve patients' suffering caused by coercion but also their experiences of performing these .

Social media is used widely around the world by millions of people every day. In this report an analysis has been made of how organisations that are directed towards marginalized adolescents and young adults, are using social media in their working processes. The data has been gathered through qualitative interviews and case studies of three organisations, which are in different stages in their use of social media. The results from the study indicates that every chosen organisation wants to use social media applications for the same purpose, which is to be available where their target audience is situated, but their progress is reduced by elements such as priority, lack of knowledge and time..

This qualitative study investigated what factors influenced older adults to motivate themselves to continue to be pshysical active in their later life. Six individuals, both men and women in the ages of 65-89, were interviewed. The interviews were analysed by informal content analysis. The results showed that there is a certain group who had a strong will to lead a long, well-conditioned and sound life. Although, the seniors are getting older, they continue to make active choices about physical activity on a daily basis.