Denna studie är en fallstudie av ett privat sjukvårdsföretag. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur olika gestaltningstekniker samt gruppers sammansättning kan påverka diskussioner kring design och därmed fungera som strukturerande resurser för samtalet. Studien vidgar begreppet prototyper till att hantera mer än de delar som behandlats i tidigare forskning: medium, detaljrikedom och närhet till slutprodukt. Datainsamling har skett vid sex fokusgruppstillfällen där tre olika grupper (inom olika delar av en och samma organisation: användare hos kund, användare hos systemleverantören och systemutvecklare hos leverantören) har fört en diskussion kring designen utifrån tre olika gestaltningstekniker (gränssnittsskisser, scenarios och dynamiska datorprototyper). Diskussionerna har sedan analyserats i termer av domäner för interaktionsdesign och aspekter av IT-systemet i användning. Studiens huvudsakliga slutsatser är att gestaltningstekniker påverkar vilka domäner och aspekter som diskuteras varför designern kan välja gestaltningsteknik efter vad han eller hon vill få ut av diskussionen. Skisserna bedöms ge den mest heltäckande diskussionen, medan scenarios fungerar bäst för dem som inte är teknikvana och tar då upp struktur och funktion. Datorprototypen lämpar sig bäst för diskussion kring interaktion och presentation. Men gruppens sammansättning påverkar diskussionen i högre utsträckning än gestaltningsteknikerna. Därför dras även slutsatsen att det är viktigt att designern känner sin publik och anpassar valet av gestaltningsteknik efter målgruppen. / This thesis investigates how different prototyping techniques and compositions of groups can influence discussions about design and therefore function as structuring resources for the discussion. This thesis widens the conception of prototypes to include more than the issues that have been discussed in previous research: medium, wealth of details and closeness to the final product. Data has been collected through six focus groups where three different groups (within different parts of one organization; users at client, users at system supplier, and systems developers at supplier) have discussed the design with the help of the different prototyping techniques (sketches, scenarios and dynamic computer prototypes). The discussions where analyzed in terms of domains for interaction design and different aspects of the system in use. The main conclusions of this thesis are that prototyping techniques influence which domains and aspects are discussed. Therefore the designer can choose prototyping technique depending on what he or she wants to discuss about the design. The sketches provides the most complete discussion, while scenarios works best with those that are not knowledgeable about IT-systems and then the discussion deals with structure and function. The computer prototype is best suited for discussing interaction and presentation. But the composition of the group has more influence on the discussion than the choice of prototyping technique. Therefore the conclusion is drawn that it is important that the designer knows his or her audience and adjusts the choice of prototyping technique to the composition of the group.

Hospital Information Systems (HIS) are considering a significant aspect for supporting health care professionals in their work. However, a large number of them are often poor to provide the needed information for accomplishing various work activities in the oriented environment. The aim of this research is to address users’-Administrators and Clinicians- perceptions in order to gain a deeper knowledge about problems they encounter with daily work performed through IS. Additionally, the scope is extended into formulating suggestions through the employment of Soft System Methodology (SSM) that could bring improvements. A qualitative interpretive method with an inductive analysis was followed. Data collection completed through focus group interview sessions and the adoption of SSM three activities in order to acquire the complexity of the problem situation.   Research findings revealed that despite IS Lisora serves as a tool for supporting users work operations, it causes significant problems in their daily operations since the information flow are not feasible. Thus, the research study suggests five feasible and desirable improvements that could improve the overall processes followed by the hospital’s users and bring improvements. In all, SSM was proved to be very efficient in identifying problems that exist. In this way proposed solutions to the problems were enlightened. The general hospital of Preveza shall benefit from the higher efficiency offered by the system, which in turn shall improve the quality of health-care services offered.

The aim of this research is to evaluate whether the social environment of Swedish high school students affects their views on the multicultural society. The research material was collected through the use of two focus groups containing high school students from two different schools, one group is used to a multicultural social environment while the other group is used to a less multicultural social environment. With the researcher acting as a moderator in the focus groups, the students discussed different questions regarding multiculturalism, gender equality and religion. The theory that this research is based on suggests that the social environment and the social capital affects the students views on the multicultural society. The results of the research were evaluated and connected to the theory. The evaluated results were then further analyzed and two conclusions were made, first, that the social environments and the social capital has an affect on the students views on multiculturalism and second, that the educational system of the schools also affects the students and provides them with the elementary values that the society is based upon.

Over the past five years, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have become a prominent phenomenon in contemporary capitalism. Described as government investment vehicles that invest state wealth in financial markets, the majority of the world's 60-plus funds have been established since the year 2000. Despite extensive treatments of SWFs' geopolitical and international significance, ethical and domestic level analyses are sparse. In response, this thesis interrogates three key normative questions raised by the funds for the domestic citizen-state relationship: (1) How (and by whom) should sovereign funds be managed? (2) How should sovereign wealth be invested? (3) How should the earnings of sovereign fund investment be distributed? In answering these questions, this thesis aims to dispel ambiguity over the ownership status of sovereign funds, evident in popular and academic discourse and within communities that establish these entities. For this task, it draws on recently revived fiduciary theory of the citizen-state relationship to argue that the rightful owner of these funds is the citizenry - not states or governments who enjoy physical and legal possession of SWFs. It goes on to examine the implications of this fiduciary state conception of SWF ownership, asking how citizen-owners should enjoy control over and benefit from the distinct constituent parts of their SWF property: the institution of the fund, the underlying sovereign wealth and the financial returns earned on the investment of its assets. The model of citizen ownership defended demands substantially increased popular control over SWF management and the investment of sovereign wealth, as well as direct benefit rights for citizen-owners to fund income through individualised distribution of investment returns. Examination of existing practice among SWFs demonstrates that this normative ideal is far, although not impossibly distant from current institutional practice.

HIV/Aids has become a household term in South Africa. Most people are aware of the existence of the disease and how it is transmitted. Several people have used this information as the impetus for behaviour change but there are many individuals who have not heeded this call and have not made any significant changes to their lifestyles. This is reflected in South Africa’s high infection rate. It would seem as if, for various reasons, people know how to protect themselves but have not used this knowledge to guard against possible infection. The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons why people have not changed their behaviour and to identify possible techniques that can be used to amend this situation. This will take the form of an intensive three-day prevention workshop where participants will be asked to think critically about their own behaviour. The aim of the programme will be to discuss, demystify and debate ideas. How will this programme be designed? The researcher will make use of focus groups consisting of Technikon students who will offer their thoughts and opinions. Once these focus groups have been conducted the researcher will undertake an intensive analysis of the data and identify certain key issues. A literature review will then follow. Therefore, the foundation of this programme will be based on the ideas of the participants, the researcher’s ideas and some points from formal behaviour change theories. The goal of this study is to add to the already growing body of HIV/Aids prevention literature and to design a programme that is useful and relevant. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

Medication adherence is a formidable challenge for the elderly who may have several prescribed medications while dealing with limited incomes and declining health. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the Liberty 6000, an automated capsule and tablet dispenser that provides proper medication dosages and is intended to encourage and track medication adherence. Seven focus groups were assembled; these comprised 49 men and women ages 65 to 98 years of Black, Anglo, and Hispanic descent who met the following criteria: living independently or semi-independently, had suffered one or more impairments, and were taking at least three prescription medications. Each focus group session lasted 90 minutes and was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, resulting in about 2,600 lines of text. Each question was designed to be open-ended to avoid introducing any bias that might influence the response. The Health Belief Model conceptually guided the study that addressed perceptions of illness susceptibility and severity, barriers, benefits, and cues to action associated with medication adherence. Main benefits of taking medications included avoiding inherited illnesses (or tendencies for illnesses), and reducing illness symptoms. Barriers to taking medications included forgetting, dexterity problems, and high cost. Benefits of the proposed intervention included reminding, caregiver notification, and providing a printed log of medications taken and missed. Barriers associated with the Liberty 6000 included its relatively large size, the difficulties that confronted older adults when loading the device, and its perceived cost. Using an adoption prediction model proposed a way to overcome barriers and encourage acceptance as well as a strategy to maintain acceptance over time. The model also can be used to evaluate a wide variety of medical devices for elderly people. This study identified the advantages and disadvantages of the Liberty 6000. Findings also suggest areas for further investigation by the nursing community and healthcare policy makers in finding solutions to the myriad problems faced by older people in medication adherence.

In an ever-changing world of work Absa, as a business, is faced with various challenges including the continuous development of skills. Due to technological advancements, eLearning can provide a mechanism to rapidly build the required strategic and tactical skills that the organisation needs. This study explored the challenge of articulating the contribution of eLearning to business performance in an unbounded way. The study focused on the creation of knowledge about how the contribution of eLearning to business performance can be improved. In the process of knowledge creation, the study focused on identifying the point of value creation between Business and an eLearning intervention. This point of value creation can be seen as a leverage point. Systems Thinking was implemented as an approach in order to identify the leverage point. The following research objectives were defined: · To identify the driver problem that prevents eLearning from improving business performance. · To design the systems dynamic model that represents the driver problem. · To identify the leverage point within the systems dynamic model. · To reflect on the effect that the behaviour of the individuals, participating in the research process, has on the research inquiry. The sample of 28 focus group participants was selected from two specific divisions of Absa – the eChannels: Contact Centre and the Learning and Development Department. This sample consisted of Operational Management, Team Leaders, Contact Centre Consultants and learning design experts. Executive Management was excluded from the focus groups, but was included in the process as verifiers. This created an opportunity for Executive Management to voice their opinions. The results of the study indicate that the leverage point for successful contribution of eLearning to business performance is … A shared mental model of expectations between the participating stakeholders. Once Business and the Learning and Development Department start going through the constructive cycle of the systems dynamic model repeatedly, they will continuously build the shared mental model of expectations. This cycle will also build on the: 1) Level of visible support of the line managers; 2) Level of clarity of business needs to all relevant stakeholders; 3) Number of requests from business for eLearning opportunities; and 4) Level of awareness and understanding of appropriate eLearning interventions per target population. The effect of the positive reinforcement of the recurring cycle will ensure that eLearning continuously contributes to business performance. During the study the effect of the research process on the focus group participants as well as the effect of the focus group participants on the research process was also accounted for. Observers reflected on the behaviour of the focus group participants and found that their opinions and thought processes influenced the outcome of the study. The focus group participants felt that they had learnt something new, that the tasks set to the groups was clear and that the topics they had learnt most about were ‘systems thinking’ followed by the ’ relationship between eLearning and business performance’. Copyright / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Bakgrund: Trots fördelarna med nollseparation sker fortsatt viss separation vid sjukhusvistelse mellan mamma och barn efter förlossningen. I dagsläget ses variationer i möjligheten till bibehållen nollseparation på olika sjukhus i Sverige. Syfte: Att undersöka förlossnings-, BB- och neonatalpersonals erfarenheter av nollseparation mellan mamman och det nyfödda barnet på ett mellanstort sjukhus i Sverige. Metod: En kvalitativ fokusgruppsintervjustudie med induktiv ansats, om totalt 17 informanter, som har bearbetats med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Efter genomförd innehållsanalys framkom 12 underkategorier som mynnade ut i fyra kategorier; Betydelsen av att nollseparera, Möjliggörande förhållningssätt, Hinder längs vägen samt Behov av förbättring. Ett tema framkom som En gemensam strävan att inte separera vilket syftade till vårdpersonalens vilja och engagemang om att bibehålla nollseparation mellan mamman, barnet och familjen. Slutsats: Vårdpersonalen på det berörda sjukhuset har ett starkt engagemang för att hålla samman mamman, det nyfödda barnet och familjen som helhet, men i nuläget finns det inte alltid förutsättningar för att åstadkomma nollseparation i den grad de önskar. Klinisk tillämpbarhet: Barnets rättighet till sin förälder stärks genom att vårdpersonalen tillämpar nollseparation i sitt arbete. Studiens fynd skulle sannolikt kunna tas i beaktande av vårdpersonal, samt kunna ligga till grund för utvecklandet av rutiner och utbildningsformer rörande nollseparation. / Background: Despite the advantages of zero separation, there is still some separation during hospital stay between mother and child after childbirth. At present, variations are seen in the possibility of maintaining zero separation in different hospitals in Sweden. Aim: To examine the delivery-, maternity- and neonatal professionals’ experiences of zero separation between the mother and the newborn child at a medium-sized hospital in Sweden. Method: A qualitive focus group interview study with an inductive approach, with a total of 17 informants, that has been processed with qualitative content analysis. Results: After completing the content analysis 12 subcategories emerged that resulted in four categories; The meaning of zero separation, Enabling approach, Obstacles along the way and Need for improvement. A theme emerged as A mutual effort not to separate, which was regarded to the healthcare professionalls’ willingness and commitment to maintain zero separation between the mother, the child and the family. Conclusion: The healthcare professionalls’ at the concerned hospital had a strong commitment to keep the mother, newborn child and the family as a whole, but at the present there are not always conditions for achieving zero separation to the extent they wish. Clinical implications: The child’s right to their parent is strengthened by the healthcare professionalls’ application of zero separation in their work. The findings of the study could likely be taken into account by healthcare professionalls’ and could form the basis for development of routines and forms of education concerning zero separation.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur musiklärare inom musikskola, gymnasiet och högskola ser på och arbetar med nervositet och scenskräck i undervisning. Studiens teoretiska grund utgörs av diskurspsykologi. Fokusgrupper har tillämpats som datainsamlingsmetod vilket inneburit två olika gruppsamtal där lärare diskuterat om ämnet scenskräck och nervositet. Samtalen spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades utifrån en diskurspsykologisk synvinkel i ett sökande efter tolkningsrepertoarer. Resultatet presenteras utifrån tolkningsrepertoarer om hur lärarna formulerade sin syn på nervositet. Två motstridiga repertoarer framkom i resultatet: nervositet som plötsligt angripande och nervositet som kan bemästras där nervositet konstruerades som både ett störningsmoment och som något önskvärt. Ålder, mognad och musikalisk utveckling formulerades påverka nervositet genom tolkningsrepertoaren nervositet ur ett mognadsperspektiv. Vidare formulerade respondenterna sitt arbete med nervositet och scenskräck i undervisning vilket synliggjorde tolkningsrepertoaren genre och arbete med nervositet. I denna tolkningsrepertoar lyftes genre som påverkande för arbetet med nervositet. I repertoaren läraren som terapeut konstruerade lärarna sig som inkännande utifrån samtal som metod. Repertoaren mental träning som fenomen formulerade ett förebyggande arbete som något värdefullt men tidskrävande, vilket kan ställas emot repertoaren nervositet som tidskrävande arbete där lärarna formulerade en tidsbrist och en känsla av otillräcklighet i arbetet med nervositet. Diskussionen lyfter resultatet i förhållande till tidigare forskning och litteratur där fyra områden diskuteras: Lärares syn på nervositet och elevpåverkan, hantera nervositet genom samtal, arbetet med nervositet i förhållande till tidsamt syn på nervositet och genrers påverkan. / The purpose of this study is to investigate how music teachers in music school, upper secondary school and music college view and work with nervousness and stage fright in teaching. The theoretical framework of the study is discourse psychology. Focus groups have been used as a data collection method, which has involved two different group discussions where teachers discussed the topic of stage fright and nervousness. The conversations were recorded, transcribed and analyzed from a discourse psychological point of view, in search of interpretative repertoires or small discourses. The result is presented through different interpretive repertoires on how teachers formulated their views on nervousness and stage fright. There, two contradictory repertoires emerged: nervousness as suddenly attacking and nervousness that can be mastered, where nervousness was constructed as both a disturbing moment and as something desirable. Age, maturity and musical development were formulated to influence nervousness through the interpretative repertoire nervousness from a maturity perspective. Furthermore, the respondents formulated their work with nervousness and stage fright in teaching, which made visible the interpretation repertoire genre and work with nervousness. There, the genre was emphasized as influencing the work on nervousness. In the repertoire teacher as a therapist, teachers constructed themselves as empathetic through conversation as a method. The repertoire mental training as a phenomenon formulated a preventive work as something valuable but time-consuming, which can be put opposite the repertoire nervousness as time-consuming work, where the teachers formulated a lack of time and a feeling of insufficiency. The discussion lifts the result in relation to previous research and literature where four areas are discussed: Teacher’s view on nervousness and student influence, dealing with nervousness through conversations, work with nervousness in relation to time and views on nervousness and the influence of genres.

Bakgrund: Tidigare pandemier har haft negativa konsekvenser för både människan och samhället. Pandemihanteringen behöver anpassas till den lokala kontexten och åtgärderna kräver förändringar av människornas beteenden. För att dessa ska kunna implementeras på ett fördelaktigt sätt krävs det information om människors upplevelser och uppfattningar i en pandemikontext. Syfte: Att studera erfarenheter gällande coronapandemin och dess konsekvenser hos människor som lever i en ö-värld. Metod: Studiens deltagare (n=21) rekryterades från Ålands Covidkohort (ÅCK). Datainsamlingen skedde genom fyra fokusgruppintervjuer och dessa analyserades med hjälp av systematisk textkondensering.  Resultat: Tre kategorier identifierades genom analysen. Den första kategorin handlar om både positiva och negativa förändringar gällande arbete, studier, vardag och det sociala livet. I den andra kategorin tar deltagarna upp oron för både framtiden och anhöriga, samt den psykiska påverkan som pandemin har lett till. Den sista kategorin handlar om erfarenheter kring pandemihanteringen, förvirring och frustration kopplat till denna, tilliten till myndigheter samt en gemensam strävan att stoppa pandemin. Slutsats: Ålands egenskap av ö-värld har påverkat människornas erfarenheter av pandemin. Ön är positionerad mellan två länder och pandemin har påverkat förhållandet till dessa.Litenheten har bidragit till ett socialt tryck och en ansvarskänsla. Det är viktigt att ta hänsyn till den lokala kontexten samt vilken fas pandemin befinner sig i vid framtida studier. / Background: Previous pandemics have had negative effects on both people and society. Pandemic management needs to be adapted to the local context and the measures require a behavioral change. To implement these measures in a beneficial way, information about people's experiences and perceptions in a pandemic context are required. Aim: To study experiences regarding the corona pandemic and its consequences on people living on an island. Method: The study was conducted on Åland and participants (n = 21) were recruited from Åland's Covid cohort (ÅCK). Data were collected through four focus groups interviews, and these were analyzed using systematic text condensation. Results: Three categories were identified through the analysis. The first category deals with both positive and negative changes regarding occupation, everyday life and social life. In the second category, the participants address their worry, both for the future and their relatives, as well as the psychological impact due to the pandemic. The last category deals with experiences of pandemic management, the confusion and frustration associated with it, trust in authorities and a joint effort to stop the pandemic. Conclusion: The fact that Åland is an island has affected people's experiences of the pandemic. The island is situated between two countries its relationship to these has been affected due to the pandemic. The littleness has contributed to social pressure and a sense of responsibility. It is important to consider the local context and the phase of the pandemic when conducting future studies.