In the social sciences, geopolitical theory is used in order to analyze states actions and commitments when it comes to foreign policy. This thesis develops a new understanding of geopolitical theory. Firstly, the development and application of geopolitical theory, from its foundations in the early twentieth century to contemporary geopolitical studies is discussed. Secondly a revised understanding of the variables integrated in the concept and how it can be operationalized as an analytical tool is presented and tested empirically.The critical assessment of the research field of geopolitical theory tells us that six different geopolitical perspectives have been considered the most influential (room, strategy, power projection, identity, affiliation and governance) when it comes to analyzing state action. This model is applied as an analytical tool and thus tested on a single case.

In this study I have explored five parents reasoning about toys, from a gender perspective. During the interviews, we have reasoned about toys that are made for girls and for boys, what the differences are, and what advantages and disadvantages there might be for children to play with a variation of toys, made for both genders. The results of the study show that most of the participants are more accepting for girls playing with toys made for boys than the other way around, which indicates that boys? experience of the world might be somewhat limited, while girls have easier access to toys made for both genders..

The study aims to describe and analyse the relationship between norm and practice regarding social services casework on honour-related problems. The relationship between norm and practice involves the difference between the way it is intended that social workers shall operate in these cases and how they perceive that this works in practice. We interviewed two focus groups of eight Swedish social workers, four in each group. We also held an individual interview with a social services business developer. Focus group interviews were based on two vignettes; one depicting an honour-related case and the second an "ordinary" case.

Lundbergs Plåt AB is a small company situated in Jönköping. Their main task is to process different kinds of steel such as stainless steel. Lately, they have shown an interest in Lean production.On the basis of the situation mentioned above, we developed the purpose to find and decrease the non value-added wastes in the production at Lundbergs Plåt AB. Out of this, we also developed and answered two questions: Which wastes can be found with help from a value stream mapping (VSM)? In what way can these wastes be reduced and how can these reductions contribute to an improved production? VSM is the method used to find the non value-added wastes.

The aim of this qualitative study is to gain a deeper understanding of how young people whoare unemployed or have experienced unemployment, experience the situation and how theyapprehend themselves in relation to unemployment. I performed semi-structured interviewswith five young women and men. Three theoretical perspectives have been used for myanalysis, Marie Jahoda?s deprivation theory, Mikael Nordenmark´s PEN-model and HansBerglund?s action theory.The results show that the majority of the respondents perceive the situation as unemployed asdifficult and stressful. Four out of five have more or less felt depressed or sad.

This essay is about power, democracy, solidarity and equality in preschool. I examine three different situations to determine if I could have acted more sensibly in my interactions with the children. I portray: a ?children?s choice meeting? where children select an activity, a so-called emotional gathering and a dialogue at the lunch table about a popular movie that we plan to watch together afterwards. The purpose of this essay is to examine which norms and values form the basis of my actions, and if so, how these lead me to use my power to shape the children.I have chosen to use hermeneutic and norm-critical perspectives where I investigate and examine my norms and values and how I react and act, both consciously and unconsciously.

In this thesis I will discuss how US respectively EU general international security policies are formed with the scientific theories Rational Choice and Cognitive theory in mind. I?ll discuss how come US tends to go towards a more sanction orientated strategy while European Union seems to prefer a dialog and diplomatic problem solving strategy. I?ll exemplify respective security strategy through the qualitative cases study of Iran and analyse why they have taken different cores of action while trying to solve the problem with Iran's alleged nuclear weapon.

Det här examensarbetet undersöker om ett anatomiskt system framtaget för att kategorisera ansiktsrörelser inom psykologisk forskning kan anpassas på en ansiktsrigg för att effektivare kunna framställa ansiktsanimation för datorspel. Rapporten beskriver varför Facial Action Coding System skapades, hur det används samt tar upp olika sammanhang som systemet tidigare använts för. Rapporten beskriver det praktiska arbetet för att konstruera en ansiktsrigg ämnat för datorspel och diskuterar skillnader mellan att rigga för datorspel och film. Examensarbetet beskriver klassiska användbarhetsprinciper och vad man bör tänka på när produkten skall bli så användningsbar som möjligt. Ett animationsverktyg baserat på FACS och de ?Action Units? som systemet innehåller har tagits fram för att genomföra undersökningen på animatörerna från min praktikplats på Starbreeze Studios AB.

 The purpose of this study was to study social work models to explain addiction in the assessment of response to people with addictions. This study investigated how social workers' explanations are shaped by their experiences, theoretical points influenced by research in a discretion is affected by organizational conditions, manuals, evidence-based practice and national guidelines in an investigative process. The material in this study has emerged through interviews with four social workers in the social services department for addiction and dependence. The essay is a qualitative study with personal interviews as the basis for the result. The study begins with a description of addiction and dependence, current laws on the matter, and officer's work.

 This bachelor?s thesis purpose is to examine how library staff experiences the meeting with non-Swedish speaking users of public libraries, and how they solve different situations. Today there is not much research on this subject but we find these questions important to study because we think it is good to be aware of the situations that can arise and discuss how to solve any problems. To have a basis for this qualitative study we conducted group interviews with library staff, where they are asked about their experiences with non-Swedish speaking users. In the analysis the results of the interviews are compared to previous research and related to communication theory, which is the theoretical framework for this study.

The aim of this paper is to examine how the Swedish implementation of the new trafficking laws may differ from the original intention from the UN and EU and if they are substandard due to poorly conducted law implementation. Or if it might be a victim of political symbolism, to win support and votes for the politicians in power from the people, a ?hollow showpiece? only meant to be shown off. Trafficking is a relatively new phenomena and problem to be researched and discussed. This paper investigates the impact of the Palermo protocols international definition of the problem, the convention against organized crime presented by the European Union on the Swedish legal system and its action plan. A qualitative text analysis focusing on the discourse of the intentions behind the internationally presented legal documents and compared against the carrying out of said national objectives.

 This bachelor?s thesis purpose is to examine how library staff experiences the meeting with non-Swedish speaking users of public libraries, and how they solve different situations. Today there is not much research on this subject but we find these questions important to study because we think it is good to be aware of the situations that can arise and discuss how to solve any problems. To have a basis for this qualitative study we conducted group interviews with library staff, where they are asked about their experiences with non-Swedish speaking users. In the analysis the results of the interviews are compared to previous research and related to communication theory, which is the theoretical framework for this study.

AbstractAimThe aim of this study has been to survey the background of the youths in the selection group which participated in the Dream action day, to evaluate if the project succeeded and support the Swedish Ski Association with their recruiting process. The questions of issue have been: Which ethnical, demographical and economical backgrounds do the youths of the selection group have that participated in the Dream action day? Is there any common denominator among those who was drawn to continue? Do the youths want to contribute to expand the sport? Is Dream action Day a good way to reach out to the target group?MethodThrough a strategic selection made by the Swedish Ski Association 44 youths participated in a day during which they tried snowboard. They have been a part of our quantitative data collection and we have chosen six to interview. The interviews have been executed in form of semi structured interviews.ResultsThe results clearly show that few of the participants had any connection to the sport, neither from home nor from friends.

Declining union memberships are a fact in both Sweden and Finland. At the same time, the autonomous labour market parties and the high membership rates are the most significant factors for the two countries compared to Europe and the rest of the world. These two factors have in turn been developed and strengthened since the beginning of the twentieth century. By autonomous labour market parties I refer to the fact that the labour market parties themselves through collective bargaining are agreeing on the labour market conditions, without interference from the government.This paper is therefore taking it's stance in the question of what happens with the autonomous labour market parties when the membership rates are in decline. With this in mind, this paper describes the judicial development, the collective agreement and labour market structures, the legal consequences of collective agreements and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action in both Sweden and Finland. The two countries' systems of labour law have caught some negative attention, hence two of the most discussed cases of recent years are given some attention as well. The collective judicial conditions are very similar in both Sweden and Finland regarding the labour market main actors' collaboration, the collective agreement structures and legal consequences and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action.

Benämningsförmågan av verb och substantiv kan påverkas på skilda sätt vid neurologisk skada eller sjukdom och idag finns inget normerat verbbenämningstest på svenska. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att översätta och ta fram normvärden för friska vuxna personer på Action Naming Test (ANT), samt att undersöka huruvida ålder, kön, utbildnings- och kognitionsnivå påverkar resultaten.Målorden i ANT översattes från engelska till svenska genom omvänd översättning och 120 personer i åldrarna 20-83 år testades med detta. För möjlighet att undersöka inverkande faktorer på resultaten samlades information om utbildningsnivå in och deltagarna testades även med Irregularly Spelled Words (ISW) och Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) Blockmönster.Resultaten visade att ålder, utbildning och kognition hade en inverkan på hur friska vuxna personer presterade på ANT. Yngre deltagare presterade signifikant bättre, liksom deltagare med hög utbildnings- och kognitionsnivå. Hänsyn bör tas till att anpassningar till svenska språket inte är fullständigt utförda, men då resultaten har ett stort underlag kan de ändå användas som normvärden vid testning av verbbenämningsförmåga hos personer med neurologisk skada eller sjukdom..