New method for measuring road quality- A statisticalstudy of the relationship between road quality andsocioeconomic development A new tool with implications for road maintenance has the potential to yield statistical data for road quality in a large number of regions. This thesis investigates the possibility to develop a method, from this data, for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development.The thesis is essentially divided into two parts. Part one looks to qualitatively establish the link between socioeconomic development and road quality and the second part focuses on how to develop a method for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development. A method was devised using categorical data and a multinomial regression model. This method provides a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between a variety of different variables.

The purpose of this study is to highlight how preschool teachers reason about their own beliefs about their active participation in the play. The study is a qualitative research method where interviews have been used to talk with four preschool teachers to obtain their perceptions of their participation in the play. I have approached my questions through previous research and theses which turns to play and preschool teachers' involvement. The result of my study shows that preschool teachers see differently on their active participation, but they think that active participation is essential for the development of the play and that by being involved in the play in different ways will create interaction and interactivity. The result also shows that preschool teachers find great joy in participating in the play, and also that many relationships will be established by participation in the play..

The aim of this study was to investigate whether teachers are involved in children´s play, what their perspectives are on the importance of play and what conditions teachers have to stimulate children in their playing. In this study, I?ve been able to verify that play has a great value for children?s learning development. My method have been interviewing four teachers at a kindergarten in order to examine educators? perspective on the importance of play.The results of my investigation showed that teachers believe that play and role- play have a major impact on children's learning.

To be able to read and write is necessary to manage well in life. It is important to get a good start in one´s reading and writing development. My purpose in this study was to find out how to teach children to read and write. Obtain knowledge about how to best help children during the early years of reading and writing development, and what is required to teach good reading and writing skills.I wanted to find out how the pedagogues work in the schools, and if they use ant special methods in their teaching. This is something that I, as a future pedagogue didn´t have much knowledge about, which is very important for my future pupils.My research method was qualitative where I interviewed three pedagogues who work whit teaching reading and writing in the early years.

In a phonological assessment, the aim is to obtain systematic and reliable data of a child's speech output, which can then serve as a basis for a decision on an appropriate intervention (Wolk & Meisler, 1998). Whether phonological assessment should be derived from an analysis of picture-naming or a conversation with the child, and whether the two methods for elicitation generate equivalent results, has been debated among clinicians and researchers for an extended time (Masterson, Bernhardt & Hofheintz, 2005).The aim of the present study was to compare two methods of speech elicitation for phonological assessment: spontaneous conversation and picture-naming, respectively. In the study, the procedures have been used when assessing children with phonological disorders as well as children with typical language development. The results are presented using two levels of phonological analysis; degree of phonological impairment, in terms of percentage of phonemes correct (PPC), and type of phonological impairment, in terms of phonological simplification processes. Eighteen (18) children participated in the study, nine (9) with phonological impairment (age 3;10 ? 5;11), and nine with typical phonologic development (age 3;2 ? 4;6).

The aim of our graduate work is to study the importance of image and shape?s in children's development and learning and also the preschool teacher?s views on image and shapes. Our research aims to explore the value of image and shapes creation and how it is expressed among children and in classroom activities. We are also interested in finding out how it differs from adults' views and what materials teachers use to promote the image and shapes creation in the curriculum. In our own experience, image and shapes activities are often structured differently in different curriculum activities.

Insecticides will be removed from Swedish forestry, at present insecticides are used to treat our seedlings to avoid them from being attacked by pine weevils. With the forthcoming ban on insecticides alternative protective measures will have to be tested. Holmen Forest Ltd has aimed to find an alternative and have developed a mechanic pine weevils protection accessory as well as a new concept on planting pipes. Studies have been conducted on the behalf of Holmen Forest Ltd to see how planting with the newly developed mechanical protectors and plant pipe stands up against the conventional methods used today. The study was conducted over a three week period. Three factors were compared regarding planting quality including i) pressure around the plant, ii) the depth the plant ended up in, iii) plant angle. Mechanical plant pipes were used in the study, and where tested like a one-handed and a two-handed pipe. The study concludes that further development is needed for the mechanic plant protector to live up to the speed and quality of conventional methods.

This paper aims to investigate whether a small organization with small development teams can find a value in leaving a functioning development process to follow a formal systems development methodology, if these organizations can find support in an agile systems development method and in such case the method needs to be adjusted according to the organizations unique conditions.A traditional plan-driven system development methodology includes a number of phases that are carried out sequentially and a completed phase can basically not be resumed. All requirements are specified at the beginning of a project and at the end of the project only one delivery of software take place. This can cause difficulties in for example dealing with changing requirements. Agile system development methods intend to deal with changing requirements and to enable continuous delivery of valuable, working software.In this paper, both the traditional plan-driven methods and agile methods will be explained. Research methodology and existing system development theories will be discussed and a company where the study has been conducted will be presented.

High technology companies in Sweden spend a huge amount of money on research and product development in proportion to what they get back in earnings from their inventions. Product development has traditionally been regarded as much more important than business development. This thesis aims to point out the critical factors behind successful business development processes for high technology companies. We have chosen to make a case study of Hexagon, a highly successful and innovative company within the measurement technology business. Internal and external actors that are important for business development have been identified and interviewed in order to understand how ideas are developed and executed.

The purpose of this thesis is to gain insight into educators? views and work with circle time in preschool. To find out, I have referred to the following questions: How is your circle time performed in preschool? What objectives have teachers with the circle time? What impact has your circle time for the children in preschool?I have chosen to carry out qualitative interviews with three preschool teachers. After the interviews, I compared the educators? response to previous research.The survey shows that the circle time is one of the day´s highlights for preschool children.

My essay begins with a story in which I portray different communicative situations at the preschool unit Myran. The children in my story are at an early stage of development and they all suffer from multiple disabilities which inhibit their ways of communicating. Through my story, I describe how I perceive different communication dilemmas in my work place. A difficulty I cover in my essay is how the educator knows if he or she has interpreted a child correctly when it does not have a verbal communication and therefore is completely dependent on the educators? interpretations of its communication efforts.

The degree project aims to gain a deeper understanding of how pedagogues are working with pedagogical documentation, as well as the significance of reflection in the educational work with children.The survey was implemented on two Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools and is based on a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with open questions, where six pedagogues shared how they view the pedagogical documentation.The study is seen from an epistemological perspective. The results show that pedagogues place great emphasis on reflection as a tool for a visibility of children´s learning and development. Pedagogues respond to children´s questions with a question at issue to challenge the children to develop their own hypotheses for problem solving.Keywords, pedagogical documentation, reflection, learning process..

The purpose of this master's degree thesis was to develop an understanding of how hospital management, in the case studied, worked to achieve changes in an organization influenced by differing professional cultures. To gain insight into the conditions that may have contributed to nurses and physicians developing appropriate attitudes and behaviours, which may have affected the organization's ability to achieve the Swedish Quality Award 2012. A qualitative single case study was conducted at Karlskoga Hospital, with focus groups as well as individual depth interviews. The results of the case study showed the following conditions provided nurses and physicians the potential to develop appropriate attitudes and behaviours, which may have influenced the hospitals ability to achieve the Swedish Quality Award:  Responsibility and influence over the development processes.Participation in management teams and quality development groups as well as individual fields of responsibility.Training programs that have given insights and skills in quality management related to clinical practice.Nurses and physicians as key individuals gave legitimacy to development process, and served as management advisors.Collaboration between all kind of employees and responsibilities.Committed management.    .

The purpose of this study was to explore preschool- and primary school teachers? perceptions of fairytales, why they use fairytales and what thoughts they have about the impact of fairytales on children?s reading and writing development. We interviewed seven teachers and three preschool teachers in northern Sweden to find out how work with fairytales is carried out in preschool and primary school. We also interviewed twelve pupils who were seven and eight years old to find out what they thought of fairytales in primary school. The result showed that preschool- and primary school teachers had a positive attitude towards fairytales and the opportunities provided by fairytales.

Abstract  The purpose of my study is to see how pedagogues describe their work with language stimulation in preschool. My study is a case study. Through qualitative interviews and observations with three pedagogues I want to se how it works in preschool.     My research question was:How do the pedagogues describe their work procedure with language stimulation?  My result of this study is that language stimulation always is included in all preschool activities.