The quest to determine if non-human animals have emotional lives similar to man goes a long way back and is yet to result in a clear answer. The aim of this particular literature study is to determine whether or not the African elephant may host feelings of empathy and display altruistic behaviour. In search for an answer to this question, scientists have chosen to first evaluate the cognitive abilities of said species. They have done this through the testing of tool use, mirror self-recognition, memory and the ability to coordinate with another when performing a task etc. It is generally thought, that in order for complex emotion to exist within an individual, cognition, as an awareness of the self and others, must first be present.

The purpose of this paper is to find out which portfolio theory one should use during a financial crisis. We will examine two different portfolio theorys, the Minimum Variance portfolio and the beta portfolio.We have chosen to study two different portfolios, and followed their development during the financial crisis with its start in 2008 and the IT bubble with its start in the middle of 2000.The data has been collected from OMX internet database making it quantitative study. The beta portfolio's objective is to follow the index and the Minumim Variance portfolio´s objective is to spread the risk by investing in stocks with low volatility. By following the two different portfolios, and compare the development to the index, we will be able to determine which theory is most suitable to use during a recession. The studyperiods we chose were both in a recession and it turned out that the most appropriate portfolio to use was the Minimum Variance portfolio because stock in this portfolio tends to be less sensitive to economic fluctuations..

The purpose of this essay was to sort out parents attitudes concerning children and their use of smartphones, primarily in regards to the integrity-aspect. I have studied if parents believe that their children should have smartphones, if they want to control their use, how they want to control their use and what implications this might have. I've chosen two methods for my research, one quantitative, online questionnaires, and one qualitative, semi-structured interviews. My base has been previous research in the area, to the extent it existed. My findings suggest that parents, on the whole, are positive to letting their children use smartphones but that they?d like some sort of control over their use.

The aim with the study has been to get an overview of how students perceive their learning in group projects. The survey has been implemented with a quantitative questionnaire with qualitative elements during guidance. Students in grade 9 in a secondary school answered a survey study where they should take side to several proposals about learning and group work. The result shows that students in general do not find learning in group as the best learning method, but instead prefer individual learning methods when to learn new things. On the contrary, students claim that they learn best when group members not think as they but think in another direction.

Introduktion: Den kliniska erfarenheten bland vårdpersonal är att benmärgsprovtagning för många patienter kan vara en smärtsam procedur. Idag saknas tillräcklig kunskap om hur patienter som genomgår benmärgsprov upplever smärta och hur deras smärtupplevelse ser ut. Vi känner inte heller till om det finns bakomliggande faktorer av betydelse som ökar patientens risk att erfara smärta vid benmärgsprovtagning. Syftet med denna prospektiva studie var att kartlägga förekomst och intensitet av smärta hos vuxna individer som genomgår benmärgsprovtagning, samt faktorer som är relaterade till smärtupplevelsen vid benmärgsprovtagning. Metod: Tvåhundratrettiosex vuxna individer (m/k=126/110, median-ålder 62 år, intervall 20-89 år) planerade för benmärgsprov inkluderades i studien.

As the usage of loyalty programs increases, this study takes a new approach to examine how these programs influence consumers? attitudes toward brands. This paper is influenced by the recent findings that question the capability to create a clear picture of the effects of loyalty programs by conducting quantitative research. This is based of the differentiation between attitudes and actions, leading to the fact that quantitative research have only captured the actions of members of loyalty programs. In contrast to that, this paper uses qualitative interviews to create a more in-depth point of view.The paper immerses the reader in the theoretical viewings of what loyalty is and how it emerges from satisfaction.

Purpose: To analyze and clarify differences between indie and major labels in the use of and attitude towards the Internet as a marketing and distribution channel.Method: In this study, we use mostly qualitative but also quantitative methods. Representatives from four record labels, two indie and two major labels have been interviewed, and we have also examined the companies? activities on the Internet.Conclusions: This study points to a number of differences between indie and major labels. Indie labels are generally more open to business development and innovation. As for marketing, indie labels make use of web services such as Myspace and Facebook to a greater extent than major labels.

This thesis provides the first test of the effects of ?advertising talk?, i.e. comments, discussions and opinions about advertising. Despite its prevalence quantitative research on advertising talk has been scarce and this study is thus an attempt to fill in some blanks. Hypothesizing that advertising talk will enhance consumer-perceived advertising value as well as purchase intentions and that the effects are more pronounced for talk generated by consumers as compared to marketers, I use a fictional campaign to measure responses in an experimental study.

The purpose of this master thesis is to evaluate how the current share price and market consensus affect security analysts target price and if an investor should pay any attention to it. Empirical data is primarily collected from qualitative interviews with ten security analysts but also from a quantitative e-mail survey. Our main finding is that security analysts are indeed affected by each others earnings forecasts as well as the current share price. This is not strange, it is in several aspects rational. Security analysts has often nothing to gain by standing out too much and not either by spending too much time trying to create their own opinions due to lack of time or the complexity of what is analyzed.

Even if the main purpose is to decide if the companies profitability and financial position is a determining factor for its growth, the purpose is to determine if there are any differences between big and small companies in there economical positions then they grow, in the selected industry. This thesis is mainly a quantitative study. The selected industry for the study is extraction of turf. The financial measurement that most clearly differ the growing companies from the not growing companies or the companies that didn?t change there amount of employees was the returns of the companies own capital.

The object of this essay has been to investigate the interlibrary loan service at the universitylibraries of Borås and Kalmar. For this purpose a quantitative and a qualitative methodhave been used.The main body of information consists of statistic data concerning the incoming interlendingorders for a three-month-period. In order to examine the circumstances under which theinterlending activity exists several interviews were made.The study showed that there are several important factors which together make up the complexitythat governs the interlending activity. What type of demand there is depends on theeducational level, whether the different study programmes have a broad or limited subjectorientation or not, and if the demand is of a constant or an inconstant nature. Well-establishedroutines at the information-desk and co-operation with the departments of the different studyprogrammes are important factors in keeping the knowledge of what books and serials areneeded up to date..

The textile business is one of the oldest industries of our time, and it employs nearly 1.4 million workers within the European Union alone. It is not unusual that this is the foundation of a country?s industrialisation. Even though the industry brings many positive factors, there are also negative factors that will influence the industry?s growth in the future.

The literature on spelling and spelling development suggests there is a strong relationship between spelling and phonology (Bruck & Treiman, 1990; Caravolas, Hulme & Snowling, 2001; Craig, 2006; Gindri, Keske-Soares & Mota, 2007). Spelling, however, is considerably less researched than reading (Caravolas, Humle & Snowling, 2001). Spelling difficulties are known to be more persistent in people with reading and writing disabilities, even when their reading has become acceptable (Høien & Lundberg, 1999) but more research is needed in this area. Assessment and detailed knowledge of the difficulties is of great importance in order to provide the appropriate help for children with reading and writing disabilities (Frisk, 2010; Magnusson, Nauclér, & Reuterskiöld, 2008). The purpose of the present study was to develop and try out a phonologically based spelling test for children, with focus on medial phonemes.

Abstract Title: A conjoint analysis of packaging attributes. How can the attributes of a product?s packaging best look like to attract the consumer? Authors: Linda Granberg & Helena Niklasson Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Bachelor?s thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Purpose: The purpose is to find out how visual and technical attributes on product packaging affects the consumers tendency to want to buy the product. Method: Conjoint analysis and a quantitative survey. Results: When developing a package for a food product we?ve reached the conclusion that it is most important to have clear product information on it.

The purpose of this research is to analyze six children?s books from a gender perspective and thereby investigate in what way boys and girls respectively are portrayed in books.My general question is:How are boys and girls portrayed in children?s books?This question has been broken down into four minor questions:What type of clothes are the people wearing? Are people predominantly male or female? Have people specific attributes which are linked to their sex? Are people performing specific actions which are linked to their sex?In my research I have combined quantitative and qualitative methods and my theoretical framework has been gender.This study reveals a change in children's books with respect to how the different genders are portrayed. The progression is towards a more equal portrayal but despite this, patterns typical for the respective genders shine through..