Sustainability reporting in Sweden is a voluntary disclosure action for non-governmental companies. Since 2009 all state-owned companies must however publish a sustainability report according to GRI guidelines and with independent assurance statement. Three different sustainability reporting methods are primarily used: (1) Separate Sustainability Report, (2) Sustainability Report included in the Directors? Report, and (3) Sustainability Report forming part of the Printed Annual Report. The aim of this paper is to explore why some companies choose to publish a sustainability report and identify the motivational factors behind this decision, as well as attain an understanding for companies? choice of reporting method.

AbstractThe purpose of this essay is to investigate if elementary school pupils? attitudes towards mathematics, from a teacher?s perspective, have changed since 2001-2002. I also intend to investigate if the whys and wherefores among the pupils attitude are the same and what influences pupils? attitude to mathematics. The reason why I chose to deepen myself into elementary school pupils? attitude to mathematics, and things that relate, is that I find it very interesting.

The aim of our study was to investigate how much self-determination persons with intellectual disabilities living in group-homes have when it comes to recreational activities. We studied what the recreational activities looked like, if there was any self-determination concerning recreational activities and which factors influenced self-determination for persons with intellectual disabilities. We used qualitative interviews with persons with intellectual disabilities, next of kin and personnel at group-homes. The result has been analyzed from earlier research, central concepts as self-determination and recreational activities and the theory of empowerment. The most important results that emerged in our study were; that recreational activities for persons with intellectual disabilities varied substantially, that there is a large number of to recreational activities available and no one seemed directly displeased with their recreational activities.

This study will focus on the role of social services and their experiences regarding why youth become involved in criminal activities, as well as the preventive measures social services offer to address this issue. The paper employs the theories of territorial stigmatization, systems theory, and labeling theory (of deviant behavior). The study is based on a qualitative method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers who have experience working with youth involved in criminal activities or at risk of involvement. The results indicate that a lack of social cohesion can be a contributing factor to youth involvement in crime, and various factors can lead individuals to such situations.

This aim of this thesis is to measure the effect of the user interface in real searches on the Internet through a small experiment. Theories on web and search usability and psychological factors concerning usability were first explored. Then three interfaces were constructed, one "good" that followed usability guidelines and had multiple search functions, one "bad" that completely disobeyed those guidelines and had only a simple and small search field, and one "intermediate" interface that was a mix of the two. The search field was set to different sizes, with the shortest in the "bad" interface, a medium field in the "intermediate" interface and several long fields in the "good" interface. All three interfaces were then attached to the same web search engine, Altavista.

The aim of the study was to investigate how Parkinson?sdisease affects the individual?s ability to give feedback in face to faceinteraction with a significant other and how this affects the conversationalinteraction. The study applied a qualitative approach, using ConversationAnalysis and Activity based communication analysis with altogether fourdyads. The results showed that Parkinson?s disease may have an effect onthe ability to give feedback, shown in an atypical pattern of feedbackpreventing the fulfillment of individual goals in the interaction.

There is an irregularity in the interregional migration in Sweden. An increasing proportion ofthe population is drawn to the metropolitan areas, which creates problems for the smallermunicipalities and towns when their population declines. At the same time, our whole societyis faced with a great challenge: we need to redirect towards a sustainable development, wherethe environmental issues are discussed and dealt with to secure that all present and futuregenerations are given equal opportunities to live a good life.The aim of this study is to, focusing mainly on the environmental dimension of thesustainability concept, examine the attractivity of housing with sustainability claims. Toanswer this, three research questions were used:? Was the migration motive to reduce their environmental impact a part of the decision tomove, among migrants who had moved to housing with sustainability claims?? If the motive was a part of the decision, how much impact did it have compared to othermigration motives?? Which factors in housing aiming at sustainability are considered important by peopleliving in housing with sustainability claims?The research questions have been answered using quantitative data, gained in the form of selfadministeredquestionnaires which were distributed in four different residential areas withsustainability claims in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden.

Handling, loading, transport time and unloading in connection to transport of farm animals affect animal welfare. Induced effects include both psychological and physiological stress responses in animals. The physiological parameters may be measured through blood analysis while behavioural changes often manifest themselves through increased vocalisation, escape attempts and apathy. Physiological parameters are additional parameters of importance when measuring animal stress responses. The handlers behavior during transport has been shown to have major impact on animal welfare and the quality of meat. Animal friendly handling and driving of animals create a more manageable work environment for the handlers. To further increase animal welfare in connection to transport, stables should be built with well adapted drift passage and ramps on the transport vehicle.

The decrease in the number of dairy farms in Sweden has been ongoing for a longer period of time. But the fact is that this has previously not had any big effects on total amount of milk produced in Sweden. The main reason is that the remaining dairy farms get larger. However, during the past year, there has been a decrease in the total amount of produced milk, because the decrease is faster than the increase within the farms that are left. During the same period of time the supply of milk on the global market also has decreased. In spite of the fact that the global supply have decreased and the fact that the milk price increases, there are dairy farmers in Sweden who chose to exit the market.

AbstractWhy don't (some) regimes with formal democratic features undergo transition to democracy? Which are the internal dynamics of these regimes that can offer comprehension to this state of affairs? The main purpose of this thesis is to advance the above questions, and, on a lower level of abstraction, examine the case of Egypt. The Egyptian regime is characterized by, for instance, a multiparty-system, steps toward economic liberalization, and some level of persistent state opposition, and has been considered on the way to liberal democracy, but can still hardly be estimated as such.Thus, the thesis takes part in a theoretical framework on democratization, and further analyzes the case of Egypt on grounds of socioeconomic development, political culture, and class configuration. By this contextual approach, the thesis adduces that a low level of modernization, an incomplete democratic political culture, and a bourgeoisie supported by the state are impending Significant factors. The thesis additionally remarks on the interconnection of the adopted theories, and discusses a potential need for new theoretical propositionsA secondary aim of the thesis also gives some insights into the concurrence of regime stability and the absence of democracy in, what often could be labelled, authoritarian regimes.

The aim of this study was to elucidate day surgery patients´ subjective experiences of postoperative pain after orthopedic and abdominal surgery and if there was any difference in the experience according to sex and age.Selection was not random and the study included 87 patients. Data were collected from patient questionnaires. VAS method was applied in the questionnaire to measure patients´ pain.The outcomes of the study show that there was no significant difference between women´s and men´s experiences of pain during days 1-7.It was found that patients undergoing orthopedic surgery had significantly more pain on day 7 compared to those patients who underwent abdominal surgery.There was a significant negative correlation between age and perceived pain on day 7.Patients in day surgery group had significantly less pain on day 7 compared with day 1.The patients who have undergone orthopedic surgery and younger patients had more pain on day 7 while the patients in day surgery group had a pain level decreased gradually and on day 7 was the lowest.It appears that pain relief on day 7 of younger patients and patients who have undergone orthopedic surgery is an area that can be improved..

The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is to analyze if there is a correlation between stock prices and the amount of searches of the companies names on Google. The theories used in the study were Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). Regressions analysis is used as the statistical method to see if there is a significant correlation between the stock prices and the amout of searches of the company name on Google. The data used were the rate of return of three companies (ABB, Oriflame and Sandvik) on the Nasdaq OMX Nordic stock market, the rate of return of the Nasdaq OMX Nordic stock market index (OMX Stockholm_PI) and the Google search frequency from Google Trends on each company. The result showed no significance and the conclusion of the thesis is that there is no significant correlation between the three studied companies and their search frequency on the search engine Google..

Problems arise when the number of products in stock does not correspond with the number of products the information system says the company has in stock. (Sharda & Agrawal, 2012) In order to change that, major changes has to be made when it comes to making continuous improvements and to raise their standards regarding product availability and record inaccuracy (Wild, 2004).The purpose of this study is therefore designed to identify factors affecting the balance differences and what impact it has on the efficiency of material flow. The demarcation of the work is that Atlas Copco has begun working with Lean and it will not be investigated nor the relationship between balance differences and Lean. The study was based on answering the following questions: What influencing factors can be identified for balance differences? What factors are relevant to the efficiency of material flow? What kind of impact the balance differences has on these factors?In order to answer the purpose and issues, a theoretical framework has been developed with help of literature studies and an analytical model.

This study attempts to look into and discuss if there are motivation factors involved whentrying to achieve a seeond language, which might effect the acquisition in any direction. Theeducation provided in Halmstad in Swedish as a seeond language is also studied on bases ofthe IDs (Individual Differences) that might occur. The study is carried out by interviews witheight informants. The interviews are analyzed and the results, which support previous researchin the area, are presented; and finally, in the conclusion part, suggestions for future researchare given, along with propos als on how to expand a study in this area..

The master thesis has been constructed together with Scania, who had a wish to develop their training for newly employed design engineers. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how a company's introduction process can be shaped, as the introduction is the key to success for the individual as well as the organization. With a focus on how the productivity among newly employees can increase and how the introduction becomes meaningful to the individuals and the organization, the objective of this work is to develop concepts applicable for an introduction.The work was conducted using qualitative interviews with several different individuals at Scania and other companies. Along with the interviews a survey was constructed and sent out to newly employed design engineers at Scania to get a view of their opinions on the present training. During the first period of a job there are several factors that affect the employee based on the result from the interviews, previous research and theories.