The relationship between fandoms and religion has become an increasingly popular topic to study within the field of the sociology of religion. In previous studies, there have been different views concerning whether or not fandoms should be regarded as religious from a functional perspective. This issue is especially interesting considering the decreasing popularity of traditional religion in some aspects. The aim of this essay is to study how Harry Potter fandoms are described in previous studies. The study aims at discerning both the empirical data and how the data is interpreted. The material in this study consists of three previous studies about the communities centered around Harry Potter fandoms.

This Master's thesis aims to discover, understand and interpret how,with what results, and with what settings adults reading are investigatedin a series of nine Master's theses, written at The Swedish School ofLibrary and Information Science at the University of Borås 2000-2010.This Master's thesis is a meta-study that operates with theoreticalconcepts such as discipline, sub-discipline, research field,interdisciplinarity and with a qualitative research method calledanalytic induction. The results show that LIS - reader studies illustratevaried knowledge about adults reading that investigates with two mainapproaches - a general and a specific one - but with a common interestin two main categories: reading circumstances and reading effects andvalues. LIS ? reader studies show an instrumental perception of theborrowed theories for study of reading and their application and a lessepistemological justification of these in relation to LIS, as own researchfield. The problem area readers and reading is regarded withuncertainty as study topic in the LIS, and this attitude shows up, despitea depth theoretical awareness, a less intellectual self-awareness and amore pragmatic one..

The aim with this study is to examine how students and teachers value source criticism. Partly, this regards how teachers practice this in their teaching and how students work with it during lessons ? but also how students value source criticism in situations where the teacher not has pointed out that this topic is part of the actual assignment. Moreover, there is a focus on investigating how students who are critical of the sources take this into account in their daily lives; for example, when they surf on the Internet or when they discuss news articles or other media. This essay is based on interviews with students and teachers, using a qualitative method. The results of this study show that both students and teachers find source criticism to be of major importance.

Title: Artists? identity and image ? a brand perspective The purpose of this study has been to create an understanding of how artists in the music business can be seen as brands and to see what stands out when having this approach. During the study we have focused on the two terms identity and image. We find this issue interesting and relevant since branding has been widely discussed in business economy, but not enough when it comes to artists in the music business. To answer our research question we have targeted three aims for this essay, which is to clarify and analyze:? Identity and image when people are viewed as brands? What specifically characterizes the image of the artists when they are seen as brands and what it might mean that artists are considered as brands? How artists identity and image can be highlighted, shaped, influenced and how it can changeIn this study we have used a qualitative approach to get the topic in depth and gain a greater understanding for the subject.

For a long period of time there has been an extensive documentation of how things are presumed not to be at our workplace. However there is little knowledge on how it is supposed to be, what makes us feel good and what makes us retain our well-being. The aim of this study was to survey the attitudes towards factors of well-being at the workplace among personnel at four institutions at Kristianstad University. The work method used in this study is quantitative and a questionnaire survey was carried out to produce an overall picture. The majority considered praise from manager and the opportunity of development discussions of great importance.

Marketers of today are confronted by the fact that it is increasingly difficult to gain the customer's attention, as they first have to break through the ad clutter. In a landscape where the general attitude towards advertising is negative, one way to successfully deliver the message to the customer involves communicating through personal impact. By using stimuli containing identical information with different senders, this thesis seeks to quantitatively explore whether brands can make use of the personal networks of its employees, in their social media marketing strategy. The purpose of the study is to investigate if communication via the employees could enhance traditional communication effects, such as buying intention and electronic WOM intention. Furthermore, the study aims to examine which role the employee should hold when communicating on behalf of the brand, and if the communication effects vary with the degree of product involvement.

Mathematics is a central topic in today?s society. There are many different approaches each teacher has their own way. In this essay, I compare four teachers? mathematics teaching in two different countries with regard to ways of learning, particularly in the four operations.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate how the position of power / exercise of power are perceived in today's schools from the teacher's perspective. I have examined how students' freedom and democracy education interpreted in real life, and how this affects both teacher and student learning approaches. I would also highlight the need to set standards for children's psychological development related to the consequences will be. I have chosen to perform a qualitative research through individual interviews with five participating teachers from different experiences in different type of school. I have used the hermeneutic method of analysis to analyze the material.

During a political election the public?s interest in politics and political journalism increases significantly. During the American presidential election in 2012 a big amount of articles on that topic were published in two of Sweden?s largest newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet and Aftonbladet. Political journalism tends to frame politics as sports, game and scandals rather than focusing on the political issues.

ABSTRACTThe EU as a normative power in Belarus ? a critical caseBy Anna JohnssonUniversity of VäxjöSchool of Social SciencesSpring semester 2007The European Union?s identity is a much debated topic. Some say it?s a unique actor in the international arena because of the different tools it has at its disposal. Ian Manners claims that the EU is what he calls a normative power.

Background: Health economic evaluations are becoming an increasingly important means of analysing which care alternative resource utilisation is the most cost effective. It is a new topic in the medical device industry that causes much uncertainty and unstructured use of the actors involved.Study questions: Why is it difficult to develop, implement and disseminate this standardized health economic evaluation models in medical technology? Is there a possibility to standardize health economic evaluations within the medical device industry?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the standardization issues for health economic evaluations within the medical device industry.Method: A qualitative approach was used in the form of interviews with five actors that are active or have a connection to the medical device industry. The data collection consists of journals, reports, Internet searches and literature among other things.Conclusion: It is possible to standardize, but with certain restrictions such as the county council's budget, influence of industry-specific factors, lack of knowledge and the important interaction between actors..

ProblemIdeation in group is used by many, often as a tool for creating new and innovative ways to solve problems and creating change. Groups may have difficulties to move from the phase of inspiration to the phase of ideation, if information and ideas aren?t defined in the team.The authors claim that this process can be helped by providing practical tools that are adapted and tested for the purpose. The reason is to foster concretization of volatile thoughts in form of inspiration and information.PurposeThe study aims to investigate how Storyboard as a tool can be used to concretize thoughts and inspiration in a group before ideation.MethodIn order to collect empirical data the authors along with four other facilitators, conducted 24 DO TANK:s for the innovation contest Smart Lunch. The empirical data where then analyzed using theories related to the topic.

The aim with this essay is to investigate the attitude that employers have towards conflicts at the workplace and how this affects their way to prevent and deal with conflicts among employees. Another part of the essay is to discuss pedagogical issues related to learning through conflicts. With this aim and these questions of issues, we have found out which attitude employers have towards conflicts at the workplace as well as how they prevent and deal with them. We have also investigated which opportunities for further development employers sees in situations of conflict. This study is based on qualitative interviews with six women who are head of units within the communal area.

ABSTRACTThis C-essay in political science is written by Ingrid Karlsson, autumn 06. Advisers: Gregg Bucken-Knapp and Susan Marton.? The identity of Tornedalen, a study about identities and its affect on the view of the Swedish state.?The purpose of this essay is to investigate the identification amongst the population in Tornedalen and if their identity affects the view of the Swedish state. I am going to look into how people from that region looks upon their identity. Do they consider themselves as Swedish, Tornedaling or Finnish? I have two research questions on this topic: 1) What does a person from Tornedalen consider their identity? 2) If the way the Swedish state treated Tornedalen, from around the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, has affected the way people from this region looks upon their own culture, and if the treatment has affected peoples view of the Swedish state.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate how the position of power / exercise of power are perceived in today's schools from the teacher's perspective. I have examined how students' freedom and democracy education interpreted in real life, and how this affects both teacher and student learning approaches. I would also highlight the need to set standards for children's psychological development related to the consequences will be. I have chosen to perform a qualitative research through individual interviews with five participating teachers from different experiences in different type of school. I have used the hermeneutic method of analysis to analyze the material.