Residential crowding is frequently associated with impoverished segments of the population, often living in distressed neighbourhoods, and with detrimental consequences for crowded households. The aim of this thesis is to apply a sociological and historical perspective on residential crowding by analyzing Swedish governmental texts and quantitative survey data. Politically defined welfare standards, as well as the subjective experience of crowding are analyzed and interpreted through sociological welfare and governmentality theory. The arguments justifying the official governmental standards on residential crowding – first formulated in the mid-1930s – are explored in a discourse analysis. The analysis shows that there is a strong link between what is regarded to be appropriate dwelling space and what is regarded to be morally good housing conditions. In the 1930s and 1940s experts’ decided on what was adequate dwelling space, however in the mid- 1980s experts’ ability to decide on dwelling space was highly questioned. Instead it became an individual responsibility to decide on how to reside. Hence, what constitutes morally good and morally bad dwelling conditions is debated and dispersed on many actors. Two parallel discourses on crowding, a ”gentrified” and a “distressed” are further explored by analyzing the data from a survey study. Subjective as well as objective elements are analyzed by relating socio-economic profiles of the crowded residents in a distressed and a gentrified neighbourhood. Despite income differences within the crowded population, depending on what neighbourhood you live in, the crowded residents in all neighbourhoods experience less freedom regarding their dwelling situation than do non-crowded residents. The least amount of freedom is experienced by those who are crowded both according to the Swedish housing standard and according to a subjective measure of crowding.

Background Young people constitute a fast growing group of Internet users and they are considered an important market segment. In Sweden, on average nearly 97 % of the people between the ages of 15-19 use Internet every day. A great deal of these people use online communities, and in order for these communities to succeed, it is vital to understand what content the youths perceive as valuable and useful. Furthermore, since using an online community takes time and effort, the community should fulfil a need among its users. Since it is no easy task to understand what motivates consumers, online communities should strive to reach a consensus in common characteristics among these individuals, in terms of what needs and wants they seek to satisfy in online communities. Purpose         The purpose of this thesis is to explore what needs and wants youths in Sweden seek to satisfy in online communities. To demonstrate the findings, Ungdomar.se will be evaluated, and given recommendations accordingly.  Method          In order to fulfil the purpose of this thesis, a descriptive and explorative study was conducted, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative data. The collection of data was made through a survey among youths, and by semi-structured interviews with Ungdomar.se and two people working at the Youth Centre Brunnen. Conclusion The authors have identified a set of needs and wants, that youths seek to satisfy in online communities. This has further been applied to the online community Ungdomar.se, and they have been provided with recommendations on how to satisfy these needs and wants.

This research investigates what rural villagers perceive as important and develops recommendations for improved electrification project implementation centring on user-perceived values (UPVs). UPVs capture more than the basic definition of value in the sense that they include benefits, concerns, feelings and underlying drivers that vary in importance and act as the main motivators in the lives of project beneficiaries as perceived at a given time. Low access to energy continues in rural sub-Saharan Africa despite significant investment by the development community. One fundamental reason is that energy infrastructure adoption remains low, as evidenced by the lack of project sustainability. To counter this, the challenge for energy project developers is to achieve sustainable long-term interventions through the creation of value for beneficiaries, rather than the traditional approach of focusing on short-term project outputs. The question of what is valuable to people in rural communities has historically not played into the design and diffusion of energy infrastructure development projects. This research drew on design and marketing approaches from the commercial sector to investigate the UPVs of rural Ugandans. To better understand the UPVs of rural villagers a new method, consisting of a UPV game and UPV framework, was developed. This method is suitable for capturing, understanding and mapping what rural populations perceive as important. Case study analyses were carried out in seven villages across rural Uganda. The case studies included the UPV game supplemented by non-energy-specific and energy-specific interviews with villagers. Additionally, interviews with experts were conducted to verify the UPV framework and to identify the gap between experts’ opinion and villagers’ perception of what is important. The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the UPV game in deducing the values of rural villagers. The findings demonstrate a disconnect in the ability to accurately capture and design projects which resonate with and respond to the UPVs of recipients of rural electrification projects. A comparison between the villagers’ statements and experts’ opinion regarding what is most valuable to rural communities reveals striking differences that point to a fundamental misunderstanding of rural community UPVs which are likely to be contributing to widespread electrification project failure.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:24:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6396.pdf: 4172276 bytes, checksum: 65b0bbb72f628ad11a5febf4fbf664b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-22 / The technological higher education has expanded significantly in Brazil and there is a connection between the world of science and technology and the English language (CELANI, 2008). The technological higher education context, therefore, provides a rich environment for investigations considering the language teaching process, especially English. Actions are needed to adjust language teaching to the requirements of this context (ALMEIDA FILHO, 2008). Commonly, studies on needs analysis, which guide the planning of language courses for specific purposes, focus exclusively on the perspective of learners but, at the beginning of their undergraduate program, these needs may not be clear to them (ANTHONY, 1997; AUGUSTO-NAVARRO et al, 2012). Bearing that in mind, our research aims at discussing the planning of English for specific purposes courses in higher education, taking into account three perspectives: the educational institution, based on its official documents (program and syllabus); learners, considering their interests and perceptions of needs and, finally, the labor market, represented by employers of companies that hire the professionals who graduate from the technological program in focus: Aircraft Maintenance Technology. Data collection was performed using questionnaires and document analysis. The results show that there are similarities and differences, especially between the expectations of learners and the demands of the labor market compared to the objectives presented in the syllabus. Based on the obtained results and on theoretical issues considering language teaching for specific purposes discussed by many authors, we present principles aiming at sensitizing and guiding professionals involved in language for specific purposes course planning. / A expansão dos cursos superiores tecnológicos vem ocorrendo de maneira significativa no Brasil e há uma relação direta entre o mundo da ciência e da tecnologia e a língua inglesa (CELANI, 2008). O contexto do ensino superior tecnológico é, assim, um ambiente rico para investigações considerando o ensino de línguas, especificamente o inglês. Ações são necessárias para adequar o ensino de línguas aos requisitos desse contexto (ALMEIDA FILHO, 2008). Comumente, as pesquisas acerca das necessidades e interesses, que norteiam o planejamento do curso de línguas para propósitos específicos, focalizam a perspectiva dos aprendizes, mas, no início do curso superior, tais necessidades podem não estar claras para os mesmos (ANTHONY, 1997; AUGUSTO-NAVARRO et al, 2012). Propomos então, nesta pesqusia, uma investigação em relação ao planejamento de disciplinas de inglês para propósitos específicos no ensino superior, levando em conta três perspectivas: a da instituição de ensino, por meio dos documentos norteadores (plano de curso e de disciplinas); a dos aprendizes, considerando seus interesses e suas percepções acerca das necessidades e, por fim, a do mercado de trabalho, representado por funcionários de empresas que contratam o profissional formado pelo curso tecnológico de manutenção em aeronaves. O estudo é feito por meio de questionários e análise de documentos. Os resultados mostram que há semelhanças e limitações, principalmente entre as expectativas dos aprendizes e as demandas do mercado de trabalho em relação aos objetivos apresentados nos planos de disciplinas. Diante dos resultados obtidos e com base em pressupostos do ensino de línguas para fins específicos, discutidos por diferentes pesquisadores da área, apresentamos princípios com o potencial de sensibilizar e guiar profissionais envolvidos em propostas de planejamento e desenvolvimento de disciplinas de inglês instrumental.