The actual status of the development of a Danish/Swedish system concept of a solar combisystem

At the beginning of 2003 the four year long research project REBUS on education, research, development and demonstration of competitive solar combisystems was launched. Research groups in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Latvia are working together with partners from industry on innovative solutions for solar heating in the Nordic countries. Existing system concepts have been analyzed and based on the results new system designs have been developed. The proposed solutions have to fulfill country specific technical, sociological and cost requirements. Due to the similar demands on the systems in Denmark and Sweden it has been decided to develop a common system concept for both countries, which increases the market potential for the manufacturer. The focus of the development is on systems for the large number of rather well insulated existing single family houses. In close collaboration with the industrial partners a system concept has been developed that is characterized by its high compactness and flexibility. It allows the use of different types of boilers, heating distribution systems and a variable store and collector size. Two prototypes have been built, one for the Danish market with a gas boiler, and one for the Swedish market with a pellet boiler as auxiliary heater. After intensive testing and eventual further improvements at least two systems will be installed and monitored in demonstration houses. The systems have been modeled in TRNSYS and the simulation results will be used to further improve the system and evaluate the system performance.

Föreställningar om klass och kön i Arbetsförmedlingens yrkesbeskrivningar?

Notions of Class and Gender in the Employment Service Job Descriptions This article examines whether job descriptions emphasize different characteristics and competences depending on the occupations’ social class and gender relations. The study is partly a replication of a similar analysis conducted by Gesser in the 1970s. The purpose is to examine the prevalence of stereotypes in occupational descriptions provided by the Swedish state, and if the descriptions contribute to class and gender labeling of occupations and, by extension, its practitioners. Previous research has shown that career guiding materials are characterized by notions of the appropriate practitioner’s class and gender. In this study we depart from the concept of doxa and argue that stereotypical images of occupations are based on common sense that remains unquestioned. The study draws on a quantitative content analysis of 420 job descriptions analyzed by various statistical methods. The overall results show that there are systematic differences. In general, social class seems to have greater impact than gender on what kind of competences that are emphasized in the descriptions. Social skills are emphasized in female dominated occupations, while physical abilities are highlighted in male-dominated occupations. To some extent, these results are uncontroversial, as it also portraits abilities necessary to do the work in different kind of occupations

Meningen och innebörden i det goda mötet för vårdgivaren : En fenomenologisk intervjustudie med kvalitativ ansats

The purpose with this qualitative interview-study was to try, from the carer´s point of view, to describe the meaning and the essence of the good meeting. The participants were selectively chosen and were all women of varying life- and professional experience. They were interviewed with four interrogative forms that dealt with the experiences of the meaning and the essence of the good meeting. The analysis of the contents of the four interviews produced five themes: the meaning and the essence of aware presence in the good meeting, the meaning and the essence of the personal alliance, the carer's need of being seen and getting appreciation, the courage to bring up insulting behaviors while still preserving the relationship, personal qualities of the care. Aware presence was to be a main theme through out the meeting. Mutual satisfaction and attention to personal boundaries was emphasized primarily in the personal alliance and trust and confidence was important. It was considered difficult, sharing your personality while still stake out boundaries. The carer also had the need to feel seen and to receive appreciation. The carer as a reward for a work, well done, took positive signals from the person in receipt of care. In close relationships and meetings, the carer sometimes felt insulted by the persons in receipt of care and their relatives. The informants to create the good meeting used personal qualities like courage, sensitivity, flair and common sense.

Utanförskapets ”frustrerade ungdom” : Talet om de ”problematiska” förorterna i svensk kvällspress under augusti- september månad 2009

Uppsatsen är en innehållsanalytisk studie av kvällstidningarna Expressen och Aftonbladet under augusti- september 2009. Syftet är att undersöka hur s.k. ”invandrartäta områden”/förorter framställs i kvällstidningarna under nämnda period samt att ge exempel på hur detta kan analyseras ur ett sociologiskt perspektiv. Urvalet av artiklar tillåter sig avgränsas genom att se till vad som skrivs om de förortsområden som under aktuell period tillåtit sig förknippas med ”problem”. Frågeställningarna vill således belysa vad som under aktuell period skrivs om dessa områden: hur kan dessa kan budskap tolkas, och hur kan de tolkas med sociologiska teorier? ”Invandrartäta områden” har länge varit föremål för negativ stereotypisering bl.a. i media. Varför uppsatsen använder sig av teorier som kan förklara hur mediediskursen kan vara möjlig, och i vilket Elias teori om figurationer bildar en yttre ram. Analysen av resultatet uppvisar att flertalet artiklar ger utrymme åt reproduktion av ”moralisk differentiering” och ”illusorisk korrelation”, och med detta en förstärkning av ”common sense” uppfattningar hos läsaren. En uppfattning där förorten och dess invånare alltjämt tillskrivs rollen som de ”Andra”. Emellertid är inte endast sådana artiklar häri förekomna. En rimlig hypotes är dock att; hur artiklarna påverkar läsaren är avhängigt dennes befintliga attityd, samt hur artiklarna är utformade, och där det ges mer eller mindre utrymme för attitydförändringar.

"La leyenda tiene una base real" : Análisis crítico del discurso de un artículo de El País

This paper carries out a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the article "¿Chinofobia?” published by the Spanish newspaper El País. It applies the theory of racist discourse in the media as formulated by Teun A. van Dijk. Its hypothesis is that the article, which supposedly analyses discrimination against the Chinese minority in Spain, covertly blames the Chinese minority itself for the discrimination. Applying CDA methodology as exemplified in previous studies by van Dijk, the paper analyses the article on global and local levels, and delineates its mental model. The global level analysis describes the article in terms of macropropositions and proposes a macrostructure: the self-alienation of the Chinese minority. The paper then analyses how the macrostructure is reinforced on the local level through micropropositions by examining 1) how vocabulary serves the negative presentation and othering of the Chinese minority, 2) how strategies of mitigation minimise discrimination by employing imprecise and vague language, 3) how quotes are used to give coherence and force to the macrostructure, 4) how implications associate the Chinese minority with criminality, and 5) how stereotyped beliefs about the Chinese minority are presented as common sense (presuppositions) and fallaciously argued. Finally, the paper delineates the mental model: the presuppositions about integration, and the implicit warning that minorities should integrate or they will be discriminated against.

Are schools able to bring sense into pupils' lives? - an experiment to use Antonovsky's concept sense of coherence from a school perspective. : Paper presented at the ENIRDEM conference in Kilkenny, Ireland 26th-29th September, 2002

Young people now spend a longer and longer period of their lives at school then ever before. Not always because that they want to, but because society has nothing else to offer. The situation in many schools may also, in different aspects, be seen as highly problematic. Andersson (2001) has, for example, found in a large longitudinal study - The Life Project – that schools seem to be adapted to the needs of only a minority of the students - around 30%. On the other hand school is badly adjusted to the requirements of another 30 %. This group of students often find school meaningless, uninteresting and boring. For these students school is mostly a waste of time. In such circumstances, it seems natural that society has a responsibility to offer young people a meaningful time at school, both here and now and to prepare them for a future live as adults, not only as a part of the work force.As a part of departure I briefly describe the model that Antonovsky has developed and try to use it in a school context instead. I have here, of course, no possibility to make a deeper analysis of a complex problem such as this.In Antonovsky’s spirit, using a salutogenic perspective, instead of asking ourselves why do pupils fail or perhaps also not like being at school we have to ask, instead: What it is that makes pupils successful? From this background the purpose of this paper is to discuss some aspects of how pupils may use different strategies to handle their school situation in a proper way.

Livsfrågor och religionskunskap : En belysning av ett centralt begrepp i svensk religionsdidaktik

This thesis focuses on “livsfrågor” (questions of life) a typical Swedish concept introduced in the RE syllabus in the curriculum for compulsory schools in 1969. The study poses three questions: what can qualify as a “livsfråga”, why are they regarded important, and how do they fit into teaching? The main purpose is to study differences of the concept in two materials. Primarily interviews with Teacher educators all over Sweden and, secondly in the R.E. syllabus for compulsory and secondary schools from 1962 until today. Finally, the two materials used, will be brought together, and foci are recognized with the help of a tool for thought.  The study is using the concept dialogicity from Bachtin. Syllabus are viewed as compromises in accordance with a German tradition. In the syllabus, “livsfrågor” is one within many different words used with none what so ever stringency. It is not necessarily the most important term, as “livsåskådningsfrågor” (questions within philosophies of life)  is often dominating in objectivities. Also “existential questions” etc is used. The relation between the words are never made clear.  The syllabus are in one sense monologial as different meanings of the word are not made explicit, and other utterances are not invoked. In the interviews the dialogicity is more obvious. Philosophy is mentioned, eg.. Martin Buber, Viktor Frankl, theology (Paul Thillich), but also literature (Lars Gyllensten) and existentialism in a general sence. Other words are not as frequent – but “livsåskådningsfrågor” are of course mentioned, eg. Faith vs. knowledge. In the last chapter “livsfrågor” is problematized with the help of Andrew Wright and his three metanarrativies within the modern R.E. And the assumption, especially in the syllabus, of “livsfrågor”, as common between cultures and over time is problematized with the help of . feministic theory of knowledge.

"Not one word of it made any sense" : Hyperbolic Synecdoche in the British National Corpus

A distinct metonymic pattern was discovered in the course of conducting a corpus-based study of figurative uses of WORD. The pattern involved examples such as Not one word of it made any sense and I agree with every word. It was labelled ‘hyperbolic synecdoche’, defined as a case in which a lexeme which typically refers to part of an entity (a) is used to stand for the whole entity and (b) is described with reference to the end point on a scale. Specifically, the speaker/writer selects the perspective of a lower-level unit (such as word for ‘utterance’), which is quantified as NOTHING or ALL, thus forming a subset of ‘extreme case formulations’. Hyperbolic synecdoche was found to exhibit a restricted range of lexicogrammatical patterns involving word, with the negated NOTHING patterns being considerably more common than the ALL patterns. The phenomenon was shown to be common in metonymic uses in general, constituting one-fifth of all cases of metonymy in word. The examples of hyperbolic synecdoche were found not to be covered by the oftquoted ‘abbreviation’ rationale for metonymy; instead, they represent a more roundabout way of expression. It is shown that other cases of hyperbolic synecdoche exist outside of word and the domain of communication (such as ‘time’ and ‘money’).