In this master thesis I investigate different views on literary quality in two quite different library journals; Biblioteksbladet and Bibliotek i Samhälle. One aim of the study is to see whether the ambiguity of the term literary quality is considered. Since there is no universally accepted definition of literary quality to be found the analysis is inspired by discourse analysis. This theoretical frame work starts off in the assumption that our views of the world are much dependent the way we describe it. The work of Finnish scholar Sanna Talja is presented and the results of this thesis are compared with the three perspectives on music culture that are presented in her book.

Hotel and restaurant industry have always been seen as an industry with low status and poorworking conditions. Low wages, temporary contracts, illegal work, and sexual harassment are the rule rather than the exception when the employee?s working conditions discusses. By using the right dogmatic approach together with a social science perspective the purpose of the study has been answered. The purpose has been to contribute to a greater understanding of how it is that the hotel and restaurant industry?s poor working conditions can be maintained, the extent to which the working conditions of the employees is ensured and why mostly young people, women and people with foreign backgrounds are employed in the industry.

This paper discusses runic inscriptions from the middle ages on Gotland and how they portray social structure. It focuses on three themes: (1) fixed time and space, (2) women and the nuclear family and (3) profession and social status/structure. It also discusses changes brought on by a more structured and established Christianity, as well as differences between medieval rune stones on Gotland and their predecessors Viking Age rune stones in the Mälar Valley..

New forms of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become more influential in development contexts. The concept of ?The Digital Divide? points at a large division between rich and poor countries regarding access to ICTs. Critics say that the debate concerning this topic for far too long has focused mainly on the technology itself rather than social factors which impact social inclusion and development. Scholars agree that ICTs holds a tremendous potential, but how is this implemented in development contexts and how can it be used with more sensitivity towards local preconditions and social aspects?This paper aims to examine how ICTs are being used in the context of development within an India based organisation for women called SEWA (Self Employed Women?s Association).

This thesis aims to describe and characterise the foreign policy change the United States has experienced towards Europe. This thesis claims that the United States is presenting a more supportive attitude today towards the development of the European Union. This more positive attitude has developed during successive U.S. administrations and has become visible since the end of the Cold War.Washington is today less ambiguous and less ambivalent towards the integration of Europe. The United States appreciate that a common foreign- and security policy in Europe is in accordance with American interests.

Environmental problems are accelerating with energy consumption and the release of greenhouse gases as the major issues. This affects landscape planning mostly through environmentally hazardous transportation and heating of buildings. In environmental work, the term "Sustainable development" is often used. This term was coined in the Bruntland report in 1987. A number of frameworks have been developed to clarify the term and to remind the user about relevant aspects of sustainability.

In Sweden there is an integration policy and a policy for national minorities. The integration policy aims to integrate newly arrived immigrants (nyanlända invandrare), whereas the minority policy aims to maintain and strengthen the rights of the national minorities. The national minorities are though, at times, included into the integration policy, even though they hold a minority status in Sweden. This paper aims to, through discourse analysis, investigate the research question: ?how is the content of integration referred to, when it is related to immigrants, contra when it is related to national minorities?.

We started out the study with a preconception of culture as something that creates difference between groups of people, which had been verified by our prior research. We also had a sense of culture as a polysemous term. Our assumption is also that there is an opinion within social work practice that Swedish social workers are faced with a cultural barrier when encountering immigrant clients.In this study our aim is to examine constructions of the terms cultural competence and culture. Constructions of the terms ethnicity and ethnic diversity are also observed, although the main reason for this is to show what relation these terms have to the terms cultural competence and culture, and how they may give each other meaning, according to the theory of social construction. In addition to constructions, we also aim to bring out discourses around the terms, upon which we will create a discussion about power and dominance informed by post-colonial theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA).

The aim of this paper is to study the long-term effects of stuttering treatment according to the Lidcombe Program in Sweden and to answer questions whether underlying factors may have affected the treatment results. Participants were seven children, one girl and six boys aged 7:10-14:2, who all completed Stage 1 of the program approximately 2-7 years ago.The children were video recorded during a conversation with one of the authors and while reading aloud. Before the recording, their parents estimated the level of stuttering according to a Severity Range (SR) Scale. The evaluations were used as reference for determining whether the recordings were representative for the children´s current speech fluency. Proportions of stuttered syllables (%SS) were calculated from the video recorded material and compared with the proportions of stuttered syllables (%SS) at the time when the first stage of the program was initiated.The results showed that the Lidcombe Program had a significant (z=-2.37, p=0.02) long term effect on stuttering treatment for the participants in this study.

This study focuses on work related factors which have an effect on the balance between peoples work and private/social life. Commonly discussed in the daily debate is the so called ?livspusslet?, the time puzzle. The question is: How do you balance the demands from work, family and society? A lot of peoples health and family relations suffers from a stressful situation at work.It?s not hard to figure out that the possible factors which could have an effect on the balance between peoples work and private/social life are many.

AbstractSince the Act Regarding Support and Service to Certain Functionally Handicapped Persons (LSS) were introduced in 1994, social care and service have increased inSweden(SFS 1993:387). The implementation of the act has caused many changes and also progress within the social care system. One main change is the division between public (provided by the municipalities) and private care providers. This division has led to many questions about how leadership is organized within different public and private organizations.The purpose of this study is to investigate differences between leader?s experiences of their role and working conditions within private and public assistance care for disabled.

This report focuses on work schedules in the retail sector, where work schedules are dynamic and change according to the needs and work schedule is a requirement for an effective structure of the work. This structure is important for maintaining a good order and all this is a requirement for a profitable business for both long and short term future. Work schedule also contributes to safety at the workplace. The purpose of this study was to investigate the transfer of knowledge by work schedules. The HRM employee we interviewed worked in Reitan Servicehandel Sverige AB which includes 7-Eleven, Pressbyrån and Shell.

 Problem: For what type of investors are index funds versus exchange-traded index funds best suited?Objective: The purpose of the paper is to determine how an index fund or an exchange-traded index fund (ETF) suits different types of investors with different requirements in terms of time frame, investment size and purpose of investment. The comparison is based on fees and trade practicality. This is going to describe the advantages and disadvantages with the two different financial instruments.Method: The study is a comparative study using two methods; one of which is a case study, the other is a qualitative interview. The case study focuses on fees and is made on an exchange traded fund (XACT OMXS30) and a simple equity index fund (Erik Pensér equity enhanced index).

The short term effect of phosphorus in sewage sludge was investigated to establish howmuch of this a farmer can grant him- or herself, if using sewage sludge as a phosphorusfertilizer. Possible differences in plant availability between sludge phosphorus precipitatedby iron, aluminum or calcium integrations were studied in a sandy soil at two pH levels.The sludges were analyzed using pot and incubation trials. As the intention was to investigategrowth limitation due to phosphorus deficiency, a soil with low phosphorus supplywas chosen as well as a low phosphorus application rate. Sludge corresponding to 12kg phosphorus per hectare was applied. Treatments fertilized by sludge were compared totreatments where 0, 6 and 12 kg phosphorus per hectare from mineral fertilizer was applied.Every treatment was replicated six times.

Travelling by train has increased during the last decades in Sweden. This has put pressure on the existing infrastructure and has created problems with delays and cancelled departures. The railway is a complex system with mutual dependencies and high vulnerability for disruptions. The situation for the railway system in the Stockholm region is today strained. The capacity is fully used.