This study aims to investigate associations in two areas in Stockholm County with diverse socio-economic conditions. The study intends to examine the impact these differences have on what role the bureaucrats and politicians in the two areas think that the associations should have. Bureaucrats are those who design guidelines for associations and that is why they have an important role in the conditions of the associations. A comparison between the two areas has been made to see if the requirement in the guidelines for the areas are different according to where the members live. The two areas that have been used to compare the guidelines of associations are Danderyd municipal and the district Spånga-Tensta.

In this thesis, the introduction of smoke-free restaurants and bars in several EU Member States in a policy convergence perspective is studied. The thesis sets out to explain whether policy convergence has occurred and the possible explanations connected with it. It is stated that 15 out of 25 EU Member States had introduced or decided to introduce smoke-free restaurants and bars up to April, 2006. Out of all the countries in the world, 35, including the EU Member States, had introduced or decided to introduce smoke-free restaurants and bars. The result is analysed by using policy convergence theory and by putting the case in a global environment where tobacco control has become an ever more central theme for public health policy.The EU Member States are different in several ways considered to be important factors for policy convergence, such as cultural, institutional and socio-economic similarities, and the conclusion is made that EU membership has been a most crucial factor for the rapidity of the policy diffusion.

Global Software Development (GSD) is based on a geographical distance where teams are spread throughout the world. The related research have for a long time addressed the challenges presented by geographical distances. GSD is basically a necessity for many businesses to use in order to reduce development costs, reduce production time and to maintain high quality. The study aims to investigate the relationship between the reality of a specific maintenance project. Thus, our research question: How do distributed maintenance teams experience temporal, geographical and socio-cultural distances? To achieve the purpose of the study, we chose to perform a case study of a global consulting company which recently started a new system maintenance project.

This thesis is about how students see their education, creativity and future based on our understanding of the concept of entrepreneurial learning. The aim is to highlight if and how this relatively new concept in the school world is rooted in pupils everyday lives. To get answers to our questions, we talked to students about their thoughts and reflections on their schooling, but also their views on how they think their future will look like. We have also examined what students associate to the concept of creativity by letting the pupils make a mind map during the interview sessions. Research and theories are talking about how to conduct school education, but despite all this knowledge the results in today´s schools drops.

Titel: E-learning - en form för kompetensutveckling? Författare: Emely Andersson Helena Någård Handledare: Anders Nilsson Institution:Institutionen för Ekonomi och Management Blekinge Tekniska Högskolan Kurs: Magisterarbete i företagsekonomi, EFE 610 Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga de faktorer som ligger till grund vid valet av e-learning som kompetensutvecklingsform samt vilka olika verktyg av e-learning som finns. Metod: Insamlingen av data har skett genom både personliga intervjuer och e-mail intervjuer med företag som använder någon form av e-learning i sin verksamhet. Vi har också varit i kontakt med sakkunniga som har erfarenhet av e-learning för att få ett bredare perspektiv på området. Slutsats: Slutsatsen vi har dragit är att det beror på flera olika faktorer om e-learning passar in i företaget och varje företag måste utvärdera dessa faktorer. Genom att titta på olika företag har vi hittat vissa gemensamma faktorer hos dessa företag. Huvudfaktorerna som har störst betydelse för om e-learning passar in i företaget är personalen, kostnaderna och vilka kunskaper det är som skall förmedlas.

The globalisation of the world is believed by some to homogenise individuals from different national cultures. However, the values and norms of an individual are deeply rooted in their national culture and are therefore difficult to change. Since birth these values and norms are learnt through interaction with others within a specific national culture. The differences in values of a national culture are shown in the cornerstones of the nation. These cornerstones are language, aesthetics, religion and social institutions.

Over the last decades there has been a steady increase in the representation of women on the political arena. Despite of this there are still fewer women in comparison to men in political organs particularly at the municipal level. It is therefore of great importance to examine which different factors that tend to effect the female representation at this level. Doctor of philosophy at Umeå University Jessika Wide presented in a study from 2000 that the share of women in the municipal councils tended to depend upon cultural, socio-economical and political factors. Other scholars also mean that women have specific interests and therefore are more represented in some areas.

The main aim of this thesis is to introduce a normative perspective to surveillance studies. I examine how the use of videocameras or CCTV-systems can create a social sorting and, then, try to answer why it ought to be reconstructed based on a normative study.For the empirical analysis I use Foucaults theory about the panopticon, maintained by the psychological subjection of the common citizen in the modern world, together with Lianos theory of a more socio-cultural surveillance in the post-modern world. The empirical examination is, furthermore, guided by a theory that describes the construction of the stranger, which today, is not explicitly excluded, because everyone is a stranger in some way, but rather depicted as the other due to institutionalization.The post-modern society today can no longer be built upon a common or divine moral or norm. Thus, I have chosen a normative method, using a deliberative democracy derived from Habermas, focusing on the communicative practice, that can engage and include every citizen in a democratic process. This is necessary for both deciding whether videocameras should be installed and whom and why some should be under surveillance ? to avoid a social sorting that both can constitute and undermine social trust and increase the gap between the governing and the governed..

This study deals with some contested issues regarding prehistoric cultural development in Amazonia and the colonial impact on the native inhabitants of the area. It focuses on the relation between groups belonging the language families of Tupí and Gê, on one hand, and the different ecological zones that they inhabit, on the other. GIS mapping is used to visualise the distribution and movements of these groups in relation to ecology and the impact of European colonization. GIS is shown to be a useful methodology for analysing historical data derived from written sources and maps. The results of these analyses are discussed in the light of different theoretical perspectives.

The aim of this study is to highlight the computer as a learning resource in the education and give us knowledge about how the students uses the computer in year one in a selected High School where one computer per student were introduced in autumn 2011. The aim is also to contribute to the discussion about how the computer can become a natural learning resource for all students in all subjects, including the students in need of special support.How are the High School students using the computer?Are there differences in computer use, whether the student is in academic or vocational program?Are there differences in computer use between boys and girls?Do the student experience that the digital competence is increasing together with if they experience the computer as aid?In what degree do the teachers encourage the students to use the computer?How much do the students use the computer to learn mathematic?The study is based on a survey of all students in year one in a municipal High School.The result of the study is showing that the students first of all use the computer to play music, surf the Internet and to be logged in on social media (eg. Facebook). The students have learned to use the computer for the tasks they need, although the teachers don?t encourage the students to use the computer in any higher means, not in mathematics and not in other subjects.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the points of view of three groups of actors about their local learning center and its collaboration with the library. By interviewing groups of actors from the municipal sector, the library staff and students, I aim to investigate their associations of the learning centre, what kind of services it should offer, and how they understand the role of the library staff in specific collaboration between the public library and the adult education administration. The study design is based on Gunnar Grepperud?s and Terje Thomsen?s three missions for a local learning centre; the mission of a broker, a meeting place and a motivator. I also use Carol Kuhlthau?s levels of mediation as an approach to investigate how the actors want the library staff to work in relation to the centre.

Issue of study: The development of technology and society is closely linked. Mutual dependency and complex interrelationships make straightforward analysis of issues regarding the future of technology and society hard to perform. Therefore, the study addresses the question of how organizations should describe and analyze the interactions of technology and society in order to gain a better understanding of what the future may bring. Purpose: ? To develop a method for analysis of the future course of issues regarding technology and society in interaction.? To apply and test the developed method through a case study, where it is used to analyze the future of the Russian fuel market.

Syftet med studien är att få djupare insikt i sångpedagogers syn på Time och Sväng samt hur de didaktiskt arbetar med dessa aspekter. Det saknas mer omfattande forskning inom området. Med detta i behåll har jag för avsikt att få djupare insikt i frågeställningar som rör olika förhållningssätt till hur sångare kan öva upp Time och Sväng samt vad Time och Sväng innebär, generellt och i ett undervisningsperspektiv. Studien har som sin teoretiska utgångspunkt ett sociokulturellt perspektiv med fokus på hur människor använder olika redskap för att kommunicera med sin omgivning.För att få svar på mina frågor har använt mig av en halvstrukturerad intervjuform när jag samtalat med informanterna. Alla informanter i denna studie arbetar idag som sångpedagoger; två av dessa är mer inriktade på jazz medan de andra två är mer inriktade på populärmusik.

There are different ways of developing a second language. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate whether and possibly how music, focused on singing, can improve the development of Swedish as a second language. Through interviews with three vocal teachers, from three different schools in Sweden, and observations of one of the vocal teachers, information about how they work and think about the subject has been collected. The vocal teachers teach groups of second language learners by singing songs made especially for second language learning. The vocal teachers consider singing beneficial in the development of the pronunciation and improvement of the prosody, which affects the students? capacity to sound like a native Swedish speaker.

AbstractTitelEffektmätning av ett utbildningsprogram ? genom lärande utvärderingEngelsk titelEffect Measurement of a Training Program ? through Learning by EvaluatingHandledareLars HolmstrandExaminatorMagnus SöderströmDatumJuni 2011Antal sidor77Nyckelordutvärdering, lärande, effektmätning, lärande utvärdering, formativ utvärderingKeywordsevaluation, learning, effect measurement, learning by evaluating, formative evaluationThe aim of this study was to investigate which effects a competence development effort has had on individuals and group, as well as in which way formative elements of evaluation possibly could have contributed to learning. The target group of the study was employees (eleven), their managers (seven) as well as co-ordinators (two) of a maintenance department at a nuclear power plant. The training program lasted from December 2009 to May 2010. The study was in progress as of September 2009 when a decision was made at the maintenance department?s training board to carry out the evaluation.