Ranking och dess påverkan på val av lärosäten i Sverige : En kvantitativ studie om gymnasieelevers syn på rankinglistor

Det är många av tredje årets gymnasieelever som står inför ett viktigt och stort beslut gällande vilken utbildning och vilket lärosäte de ska studera vid efter studenten. En del gymnasieelever har redan bestämt sig för var de ska studera, medan andra är väldigt osäkra. För att en gymnasieelev ska kunna fatta ett genomtänkt beslut krävs det kunskap om de olika alternativen som finns eftersom det kan påverka beslutets riktning. En typ av information är rankinglistor av olika högskolor/universitet. Rankinglistor finns till för att förenkla det stora utbudet av utbildningar och högskolor/universitet. Genom att ge den sökande jämförande möjligheter och låta denna agerar utifrån sina egna uppställda kriterier kan rankinglistor fungera som ett stödjande verktyg vid valet av lärosäte. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka gymnasieelevernas förhållande till rankinglistor, vilket gjordes genom en kvantitativ studie i form av en enkätundersökning där gymnasielever från Dalarna medverkade. Enkätundersökningen baserades på teorier samt hypoteser som vi har verifierat eller förkastat för att komma fram till ett resultat. Den slutsats som studien har lett fram till är att rankinglistors påverkan, gällande gymnasieelevers val av lärosäte, är mycket begränsad. Det betyder att rankinglistor får en viss relevans när det sökta alternativet finns bland de lägst placerade lärosätena på en rankinglista. Trots detta finns det andra faktorer som kan påverka gymnasieelevernas val av lärosäte, så som egen uppfattning och rykte.

Train Dispatching: Heuristic Optimization

Train dispatchers faces lots of challenges due to conflicts which causes delays of trains as a result of solving possible dispatching problems the network faces. The major challenge is for the train dispatchers to make the right decision and have reliable, cost effective and much more faster approaches needed to solve dispatching problems. This thesis work provides detail information on the implementation of different heuristic algorithms for train dispatchers in solving train dispatching problems. The library data files used are in xml file format and deals with both single and double tracks between main stations. The main objective of this work is to build different heuristic algorithms to solve unexpected delays faced by train dispatchers and to help in making right decisions on steps to take to have reliable and cost effective solution to the problems. These heuristics algorithms proposed were able to help dispatchers in making right decisions when solving train dispatching problems.

Immigration, security and the public debate on US language policy : a critical discourse analysis of language attitudes in the United States of America

The narrative of the United States is of a "nation of immigrants" in which the language shift patterns of earlier ethnolinguistic groups have tended towards linguistic assimilation through English. In recent years, however, changes in the demographic landscape and language maintenance by non-English speaking immigrants, particularly Hispanics, have been perceived as threats and have led to calls for an official English language policy.This thesis aims to contribute to the study of language policy making from a societal security perspective as expressed in attitudes regarding language and identity originating in the daily interaction between language groups. The focus is on the role of language and American identity in relation to immigration. The study takes an interdisciplinary approach combining language policy studies, security theory, and critical discourse analysis. The material consists of articles collected from four newspapers, namely USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle between April 2006 and December 2007.Two discourse types are evident from the analysis namely Loyalty and Efficiency. The former is mainly marked by concerns of national identity and contains speech acts of security related to language shift, choice and English for unity. Immigrants are represented as dehumanised, and harmful. Immigration is given as sovereignty-related, racial, and as war. The discourse type of Efficiency is mainly instrumental and contains speech acts of security related to cost, provision of services, health and safety, and social mobility. Immigrants are further represented as a labour resource. These discourse types reflect how the construction of the linguistic 'we' is expected to be maintained. Loyalty is triggered by arguments that the collective identity is threatened and is itself used in reproducing the collective 'we' through hegemonic expressions of monolingualism in the public space and semi-public space. The denigration of immigrants is used as a tool for enhancing societal security through solidarity and as a possible justification for the denial of minority rights. Also, although language acquisition patterns still follow the historical trend of language shift, factors indicating cultural separateness such as the appearance of speech communities or the use of minority languages in the public space and semi-public space have led to manifestations of intolerance. Examples of discrimination and prejudice towards minority groups indicate that the perception of worth of a shared language differs from the actual worth of dominant language acquisition for integration purposes. The study further indicates that the efficient working of the free market by using minority languages to sell services or buy labour is perceived as conflicting with nation-building notions since it may create separately functioning sub-communities with a new cultural capital recognised as legitimate competence. The discourse types mainly represent securitising moves constructing existential threats. The perception of threat and ideas of national belonging are primarily based on a zero-sum notion favouring monolingualism. Further, the identity of the immigrant individual is seen as dynamic and adaptable to assimilationist measures whereas the identity of the state and its members are perceived as static. Also, the study shows that debates concerning language status are linked to extra-linguistic matters. To conclude, policy makers in the US need to consider the relationship between four factors, namely societal security based on collective identity, individual/human security, human rights, and a changing linguistic demography, for proposed language intervention measures to be successful.

A Microdata Analysis Approach to Transport Infrastructure Maintenance

Maintenance of transport infrastructure assets is widely advocated as the key in minimizing current and future costs of the transportation network. While effective maintenance decisions are often a result of engineering skills and practical knowledge, efficient decisions must also account for the net result over an asset's life-cycle. One essential aspect in the long term perspective of transport infrastructure maintenance is to proactively estimate maintenance needs. In dealing with immediate maintenance actions, support tools that can prioritize potential maintenance candidates are important to obtain an efficient maintenance strategy. This dissertation consists of five individual research papers presenting a microdata analysis approach to transport infrastructure maintenance. Microdata analysis is a multidisciplinary field in which large quantities of data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted to improve decision-making. Increased access to transport infrastructure data enables a deeper understanding of causal effects and a possibility to make predictions of future outcomes. The microdata analysis approach covers the complete process from data collection to actual decisions and is therefore well suited for the task of improving efficiency in transport infrastructure maintenance. Statistical modeling was the selected analysis method in this dissertation and provided solutions to the different problems presented in each of the five papers. In Paper I, a time-to-event model was used to estimate remaining road pavement lifetimes in Sweden. In Paper II, an extension of the model in Paper I assessed the impact of latent variables on road lifetimes; displaying the sections in a road network that are weaker due to e.g. subsoil conditions or undetected heavy traffic. The study in Paper III incorporated a probabilistic parametric distribution as a representation of road lifetimes into an equation for the marginal cost of road wear. Differentiated road wear marginal costs for heavy and light vehicles are an important information basis for decisions regarding vehicle miles traveled (VMT) taxation policies. In Paper IV, a distribution based clustering method was used to distinguish between road segments that are deteriorating and road segments that have a stationary road condition. Within railway networks, temporary speed restrictions are often imposed because of maintenance and must be addressed in order to keep punctuality. The study in Paper V evaluated the empirical effect on running time of speed restrictions on a Norwegian railway line using a generalized linear mixed model.