Sympaattisempaa, arvokkaampaa ja uniikimpaa: Kasettien julkaisutoiminta 2000–2010-luvun suomalaisessa underground-kulttuurissa

Tutkimuksen aiheena oli C-kasettien julkaisutoiminta 2000- ja 2010-luvun suomalaisessa underground-kulttuurissa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää millaisena välineenä ja musiikkiformaattina kasettien julkaisijat kokevat kasetin. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin mitä kasettien julkaiseminen ja siihen liittyvät kokemukset kertovat tämän hetken suomalaisesta underground-kulttuurista. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin neljää kasetteja julkaissutta henkilöä. Haastatteluista yksi oli parihaastattelu ja kaksi muuta olivat yksilöhaastatteluja. Metodologia oli hermeneuttis-fenomenologinen kenttätyö, jota laajennettiin Gilles Deleuzen ja Felix Guattarin muotoilemilla nomadismin ja rihmaston käsitteillä. Yksi työn päätavoitteista oli tutkia miten mannermainen filosofia sopisi yhteen empiiristen menetelmien kanssa. Tarkoituksena oli selvittää millaista tietoa mannermainen filosofia yhdessä kenttätyön ja etnografian kanssa antaisivat suomalaisesta underground-kulttuurista 2000- ja 2010-luvuilla. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että underground-kasettien julkaisutoiminta 2000- ja 2010- luvuilla on ollut varsin vilkasta ja uusia kasetteja julkaistaan edelleen. Suurin osa kaseteista leviää underground-kulttuurin sisällä, joten ne eivät välttämättä päädy levykauppojen hyllyille. Kasettien julkaisemiseen löytyi monia syitä. Tärkeimmät näistä olivat taloudelliset tekijät ja eräänlainen eettinen nomadismi, joka tarkoittaa vallitsevien käytänteiden ulkopuolella toimimista. Kasettien julkaiseminen on halpaa ja tästä syystä se on mahdollista pienilläkin resursseilla. Kasettien julkaiseminen on myös väylä julkaista musiikkia ilman levy-yhtiöiden panostusta. Käytännössä mitä tahansa musiikkia voidaan julkaista kasettina. Kasettien painosmäärät liikkuvat korkeintaan muutamissa sadoissa nimikettä kohden. Tutkimusaiheena kasettien julkaisu osoittautui hyväksi alustaksi testata kenttätyön ja etnografian toimivuutta filosofisten teorioiden kanssa. Tutkimuksen edetessä osoittautui, että heideggeriläinen hermeneuttinen fenomenologia sekä Deleuzen ja Guattarin filosofia oli mahdollista saada toimimaan saman tutkimuksen sisällä. Niiden tarjoamat erilaiset ratkaisumallit eivät olleet toisiaan poissulkevia.

Analyzing hydraulic head of fluid flow in underground porous medium

Hydraulic head is distributed through a medium with porous aspect. The analysis of hydraulic head from one point to another is used by the Richard's equation. This equation is equivalent to the groundwater ow equation that predicts the volumetric water contents. COMSOL 3.5 is used for computation applying Richard's equation. A rectangle of 100 meters of length and 10 meters of large (depth) with 0,1 m/s fl ux of inlet as source of our fl uid is simulated. The domain have Richards' equation model in two dimension (2D). Hydraulic head increases proportional with moisture content.

Creating risk measurement model to project portfolio management in construction company

This thesis was carried out as a case study of a company YIT in order to clarify the sev-erest risks for the company and to build a method for project portfolio evaluation. The target organization creates new living environment by constructing residential buildings, business premises, infrastructure and entire areas worth for EUR 1.9 billion in the year 2013. Company has noted project portfolio management needs more information about the structure of project portfolio and possible influences of market shock situation. With interviews have been evaluated risks with biggest influence and most appropriate metrics to examine. The major risks for the company were evaluated by interviewing the executive staff. At the same time, the most appropriate risk metrics were considered. At the moment sales risk was estimated to have biggest impact on company‟s business. Therefore project port-folio evaluation model was created and three different scenarios for company‟s future were created in order to identify the scale of possible market shock situation. The created model is tested with public and descriptive figures of YIT in a one-year-long market shock and the impact on different metrics was evaluated. Study was conducted using con-structive research methodology. Results indicate that company has notable sales risk in certain sections of business portfolio.

Development of category planning process in construction business

The aim of this thesis was to develop the category planning process in the case company operating in construction industry. As the interest in the field of research has just recently started to emerge towards the benefits of category management and planning, the theoretical background was derived from literature of subjects with a relation to category planning i.e. procurement strategy, purchasing portfolio model, information flow management and cost analysis. The background for the development of category planning process was derived from retail industry, to where the category planning is more researched. The empirical study was executed with mixed method approach: quantitative data of the categories was analyzed and qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interview and discussions within the case company. As a result, the category planning process was critically analyzed and development proposals addressed for improving the process description. Additionally a tool was developed based on the empirical study to support the category planning process of the case company.

Social class as a factor for the construction of a musician’s identity : The Musician’s social background and identity questionnaire (MSBIQ) – a cross-sectional comparative quantitative online survey research study of music students at two higher education institutions in Finland

There is currently little empirical knowledge regarding the construction of a musician’s identity and social class. With a theoretical framework based on Bourdieu’s (1984) distinction theory, Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) theory of ecological systems, and the identity theories of Erikson (1950; 1968) and Marcia (1966), a survey called the Musician’s Social Background and Identity Questionnaire (MSBIQ) is developed to test three research hypotheses related to the construction of a musician’s identity, social class and ecological systems of development. The MSBIQ is administered to the music students at Sibelius Academy of the University of Arts Helsinki and Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, representing the ’highbrow’ and the ’middlebrow’ samples in the field of music education in Finland. Acquired responses (N = 253) are analyzed and compared with quantitative methods including Pearson’s chi-square test, factor analysis and an adjusted analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study revealed that (1) the music students at Sibelius Academy and Metropolia construct their subjective musician’s identity differently, but (2) social class does not affect this identity construction process significantly. In turn, (3) the ecological systems of development, especially the individual’s residential location, do significantly affect the construction of a musician’s identity, as well as the age at which one starts to play one’s first musical instrument. Furthermore, a novel finding related to the structure of a musician’s identity was the tripartite model of musical identity consisting of the three dimensions of a musician’s identity: (I) ’the subjective dimension of a musician’s identity’, (II) ’the occupational dimension of a musician’s identity’ and, (III) ’the conservative-liberal dimension of a musician’s identity’. According to this finding, a musician’s identity is not a uniform, coherent entity, but a structure consisting of different elements continuously working in parallel within different dimensions. The results and limitations related to the study are discussed, as well as the objectives related to future studies using the MSBIQ to research the identity construction and social backgrounds of a musician or other performing artists.

Developing construction site operations for EPC power plant projects

The purpose of this thesis is to find development areas for site operations in power plant construction projects delivered by Wärtsilä. The inspected operations are subcontractor management, site material management and work scheduling. The contractor's role in EPC project is to respond for engineering, procurement, and construction supervision. Geographical and cultural differences brings challenges for finding development areas as Wärtsilä delivers projects world-wide. Searching for development area is mainly made with survey, which answers were collected from the target company's site personnel. Based on the results, with good planning and preparation various problems would be avoided. An external view for the thesis was collected by an expert interview, which was held to three expe-rienced construction operating executives. Interviewees believed that with the se-lection of right site personnel and clearly defined areas of responsibility will great-ly affect the outcome of the project. Some of the theory has been collected from areas, which have helped to under-stand the inspected operations on site. Improving competence knowledge has been important due to the broad scope of work and the author’s inexperience of the topic. Also generally effective practices from construction projects has been col-lected to the theory part. Functionality of general practices have been reflected together with the results of empirically collected data for Wärtsilä's projects. As a result, a model was generated where development proposals and the benefits from new procedures were presented.

Empirical studies on software quality construction: Exploring human factors and organizational influences

Software quality has become an important research subject, not only in the Information and Communication Technology spheres, but also in other industries at large where software is applied. Software quality is not a happenstance; it is defined, planned and created into the software product throughout the Software Development Life Cycle. The research objective of this study is to investigate the roles of human and organizational factors that influence software quality construction. The study employs the Straussian grounded theory. The empirical data has been collected from 13 software companies, and the data includes 40 interviews. The results of the study suggest that tools, infrastructure and other resources have a positive impact on software quality, but human factors involved in the software development processes will determine the quality of the products developed. On the other hand, methods of development were found to bring little effect on software quality. The research suggests that software quality is an information-intensive process whereby organizational structures, mode of operation, and information flow within the company variably affect software quality. The results also suggest that software development managers influence the productivity of developers and the quality of the software products. Several challenges of software testing that affect software quality are also brought to light. The findings of this research are expected to benefit the academic community and software practitioners by providing an insight into the issues pertaining to software quality construction undertakings.

Ilmajohtoverkon viankorjaus maakaapelointiteknologiaa hyödyntäen

Elenia Oy linjasi vuonna 2009 suunnittelustrategiassaan, että koko sen verkkoalueella käytetään ainoana rakennustapana maakaapelointia. Lisäksi vuoden 2013 sähkömarkkinalain sähkönjakeluverkkoyhtiöiltä edellyttämät toimitusvarmuuskriteerit ovat lisänneet säävarman verkon rakentamista merkittävästi. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on tutkia ilmajohtoverkon viankorjauksen soveltumista maakaapeloinnilla tehtäväksi. Tarkastelu toteutetaan taloudellisuuden ja käytännön toteutuksen näkökulmista. Taloudellisessa tarkastelussa vertaillaan ilmajohtorakentamisen ja maakaapeloinnin elinkaarikustannuksia viankorjauksen yhteydessä. Käytännön toteutuksen osalta esitetään tilanteet, joissa viankorjaus on järkevä suorittaa maakaapeloimalla. Käyttämällä laskennassa Energiaviraston yksikköhintoja, jäävät viankorjaukselle soveltuvat verkko-osuudet elinkaarikustannustarkastelun valossa vähäisiksi. Tehokas investoiminen, auraustekniikan hyödyntäminen, regulaatiomallin kannustimet ja kaapelointiratkaisujen hintakehitys voidaan kuitenkin todeta merkittäviksi vaikuttajiksi maakaapeloinnin yleistymisessä toimintatavaksi ilmajohtoverkon viankorjauksessa.