The purpose of this study was to look for tendencies that social media can contribute to exposing users to a stronger perception of opinion polarization, and further to see if the daily presence of Social networking sites can put normative pressure on the users. The study was made using a survey with participants from Umea? University during the time frame of november-december 2014. The theoretical framework behind the study was mainly drawn from The Spiral Of Silence by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann and was further supplemented with more current research, studying the effects from The Spiral Of Silence in the modern and more fragmented media landscape that exists now then when her theory was written. Further theoretical tools for analysis of the results came from Michel Foucault and his discussions in Discipline and punish, specifically his views on how surveillance can be discontinous in practice, but still permanent in it?s effects.The results of this study indicates that social media users tend to isolate themselves from uncomfortable opinions, and do not follow or read opinions they do not already agree with.

Health on the Internet is a growing subject and many different organisations and companies offer customers various kinds of medical functions on the web. A common service is to offer users to ask questions and get answers from doctors cooperating with the health sites. There is however little knowledge of how much the health sites actually are used, and by whom. Several authorities and organisations both in Sweden, Europe and in the USA are investigating whether it is necessary to bring forward a certificating authority with the right to judge and examine all the health sites on the web. WHO, the World Health Organisation, proposed a solution for this, which was refused.

In an effort to evaluate the effects of restorations of float ways on population density of stream dwelling fish in relation to the changes in habitat, I studied the physical habitat restored and channalized sites and their population density of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in three streams in the municipality of Sorsele. The differences between the channalized and the restored sites where most noticeable regarding substrate which where generally coarser in the restored sites. The analyses showed that the proportion of habitat that where suitable to the age class 0+ where significantly lower in the restored sites compared to the channalized sites. Regarding age class ?2+, no statistical differences in habitat quality were found.

The aim and purpose of this essay is to study if three museums are using Facebook strategically to promote two-way communication with their target audiences in their external communication. A qual-itative and comparative research method and has been used and communication managers from each of the three museums have been interviewed. These interviews have been transcribed and coded in order to reveal opinions and views on how that particular museum feels about social media and the use of these tools in their external communication. A number of Facebook statuses have also been collect-ed in order to discover how each of the museums is using social media in order to reach and engage their target groups. Should the results of this essay be summarized it would show that the museums are using the communication channel that they feel suits the needs of reaching a specific audience.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which criteria that can be used to locate execution sites on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The execution sites, which are used to test the criteria against, range in date from early medieval period to 1876 when the last public execution in Sweden took place. Why these criteria can be used will be discussed along with attempts to explain why they have been used frequently or not so frequent. The results show that the execution sites are most commonly located in clear view, near roads, on heights and on unfertile soil. Other criteria that appears less frequent, but that still can be used in the process of locating execution sites, are graves, crossroads and boarders..

A research of 14 toxic affected study sites in Sweden showed a significant increased proportion of deformed diatoms. The six metal polluted study sites in the region of Dalarna showed a 4, 2% average of deformed Fragilaria (deformed diatoms reference sites, 0, 1%). The results also indicate a significant increased proportions of deformed diatoms in the eight pesticide polluted sites in the south and middle of Sweden, compared to the reference sites, howsoever the toxic content was low. The results indicate that there are no lager differences in neither teratological forms nor variations that segregate metal polluted and pesticide polluted shells. One of the reasons may be that both heavy metals and pesticides can affect the development of the diatom shell..

Being physically active is important for a healthty lifestyle, but what do the girls who have quit playing sports in an atheltic club do afterwards, or the girls who are not active within an athletic club what so ever. It is the girls who are not active in an athletic club that Karlstad municipality wants to attract to the spontaneous sports sites there are within the city limits. They also want the girls opinion on how to improve the sites in order for the girls to want to go there.The purpose with this study was to investigate this. This study used qalitative research method. The study interviewed seven girls aged 14-17 years.

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary scientific subject which connects biology, biomedicine and information science. Bioinformatics generates new biological knowledge by using computer methods and biological databases and can thereby play an important role for the understanding of diseases and be used for development of new medicines. The appearance of bioinformatics has thereby had a big impact on biomedical research.In this study, I have examined bioscientists' use of bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools and their needs of support concerning these resources. I have also examined which support the scientific libraries offer their users concerning bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools and have compared it with the needs the libraries think that the users have and the needs the users state that they have.The results from the study show that there is a wish for library support concerning bibliographical databases, bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools. The wishes of the respondents are in contrast to the libraries' view about bioscientists interest concerning bioinformatic databases/web sites and bioinformatic tools.

The aim of this study has been to see what the Ajvide location and its surroundings mighthave been used as. The author is going to compare a couple of sites, Stora Förvar, Snausarve, Bjerges and Ajvide, and see if these sites might have some connection to each other. Thesesites are going to be studied and see what they might have been used as, maybe a burialground or a settlement..

The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding of what factors affect the motivation for visiting Dark Tourism sites and the way that these sites are regarded. By providing such an insight this study contributes to a greater understanding of Dark Tourism.  In order to find answers to our questions, we interviewed several representatives at different sites and also carried out observations at three Dark Tourism attractions to reach a better understanding of the visors? motivations for visiting this kind of tourist attractions. In our study we have concluded that people have become increasingly interested in visiting such Dark Tourism sites even though these may seem scary or uncomfortable. Our research has helped us to find answers to the questions that we asked and we have concluded that people have become more curious and want to know more about terrible events and why they took place..

The interest in companies that are based outside the cities has grown, and many of these companies have focused their activities around service. The countryside companies meet some difficulties in marketing and communication with other entrepreneurs. A network with service based companies in the countryside could help the individual companies to promote themselves and also give inspiration and new ideas to develop their business. The aim of this study is to investigate how a countryside network can be organized but also what conditions is needed to make the network function. The theory is based on a literature study of the three major topics "countryside", "networking" and "marketing".

The web sites of libraries are to a large extent their public face and to help market their services, the web sites must have interesting and regularly renewed content. They must also be visually attractive and easily used, and thus be well structured and have a well functioning navigational system. The web masters' awareness of the ability of web sites to attract users to the site and also to the library, as well as their knowledge of suitable content and site construction, is crucial for how successful the web site actually is at marketing the library. The research question is: How do the studied web sites function as marketing sources and service providers for the libraries, and are the web masters aware of the importance of the web site? The purpose is to investigate how the library personnel looks upon the web site as a possible way to increase the popularity of the library among the public, and to study the construction and content of the library web sites to find out how well these serve their purpose.

The aim of this master thesis was to find and grade suitable sites for wind turbines in the rural district of Lerum at the reguest of Göteborg Energi. The rural district of Lerum consists of very complicated terrain which was the reason why we picked Lerum.The assignment was achieved by using the software program ArcGIS and its attendant tools. In step 1 an overall analysis was made in order to sort out the least suitable sites. Step 2 consisted of a 3D analysis in ArcScene together with a more precise analysis in ArcMap. As result we found two interesting sites, which met our demands and specific constraints.

Title The User Created Fire ? Risks and Opportunities with Crisis Communication in Social Network SitesAuthor Charbel SaderCourse Master Thesis in Media? and Communication Studies, Department of Journalism and Communication, University of GothenburgSemester Spring semester of 2013Tutor Nicklas HåkanssonNumberof pages 75Purpose To find a deeper understanding of the digital media?s role in Swedish society in relation to crisis communication.Method Qualitative approach using focus group interviewsMaterial Semi structured focus group interviews with a total of 18 participants in five groups. The focus group sessions were made during February, March and April 2012.Main results The main findings in this study are that users expect the communication flow in social network sites (SNS) during a crisis is to be a shortcut to information without a detour through organizations or traditional media. Although we find personal gratification, like interpersonal communication, quick information and sharing feelings and experience with others by using SNS during a crisis, users also tend to be hesitant about the credibility of the shared information. Alongside the user created content, we look to professional media experts and organizations as a guarantee for the veracity of the shared information.

A lot of habitats have declined or disappeared as the old cultural landscape changed to the modern agricultural landscape of today. Places such as power line corridors, racing tracks, gravel pits and military training sites have become refuges for many species associated with the old cultural landscape. These sites have been exposed to ecological disturbances that create the same type of habitats that were found in the old cultural landscape.The military training sites in Sweden has an impressive diversity of species. Disturbances from the military exercises have created habitats that are important for a wide range of species.The purpose of this thesis is to study some of the ecological disturbances occurring in the military training sites of the Swedish Armed Forces and examine how they affect different types of habitats. The thesis explains through litterateur and field studies the reason to the rich biodiversity often found at military training sites.