Inom redovisning finns en eftersträvan av enkelhet, vilket bland annat redovisningsstandarder syftar till att uppnå. Redovisningsstandarder kan antingen vara baserade på regler eller på principer och ska enligt standardsättarna besitta egenskaper som gynnar enkelhet. Hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder upplever enkelhet i standarderna är dock mindre betonat i litteraturen. Syftet med denna studie är att generera en ökad förståelse för hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet i redovisningen, samt vilken påverkan redovisningsstandarder har på konstruktionen. Studien har genomförts med ett användarorienterat socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och datainsamling har skett genom ostrukturerade intervjuer med fem redovisningskonsulter där standarder ur regelverken K2 och K3 diskuterats. Detta har sedan analyserats genom att väsentliga citat bildat underkategorier samt kategorier. Studien når slutsatsen att användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet genom en legal konstruktion, avsaknad av alternativ, erfarenhet samt praktik inte teori. Vidare dras slutsatsen att redovisningsstandarder inte har någon betydelse för konstruktionen av enkelhet. / There is a desire of simplicity in accounting, and accounting standards exist due to this purpose. Accounting standards are rules- or principles-based and will, according to the standard setters, possess features that create simplicity. However, there is less focus in the literature on simplicity from the accounting practitioner’s point of view. The purpose of this thesis is to find a deeper understanding of how accounting practitioners construct simplicity in accounting and what role accounting standards play in the process. In this essay, a practitioner’s oriented social constructivist perspective has been adopted. The empirical findings have been collected through unstructured interviews with five accounting practitioners, where accounting standards from K2 and K3 have been discussed. The findings were analyzed through sub-categories and categories. The conclusions of this thesis is that accounting practitioners construct simplicity through; legal construction, absence of alternatives, experience and practice not theory. Furthermore it can be concluded that accounting standards do not affect the construction of simplicity.

Current reform in mathematics teaching and learning is rooted in a changing vision of school mathematics, one that includes constructivist learning, student-centered pedagogy, and the use of worthwhile tasks (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989, 1991, 2000). This changing vision not only challenges teachers’ beliefs about mathematics instruction but their philosophies of mathematics as well (Dossey, 1992). This study investigates the processes that four teachers’ go through as they implement a new task-based mathematics curriculum while exploring their personal philosophies of mathematics. The participants were part of a graduate-level course that examined, through the writings of Davis and Hersh (1981), Lakatos (1976), Polya (1945/1973), and others, a humanist/fallibilist philosophy of mathematics. These participants shared, through reflective writings and interviews, their struggles to, first, define mathematics and its purpose in society and in schools, and second, to reconcile their views of mathematics with their instructional practices. The study took place as the participants, two classroom teachers and two instructional coaches, engaged in the initial implementation of a reform mathematics curriculum, a reform based in social constructivist learning theories. Using narrative analysis, this study focuses on the unique mathematical stories of four experienced educators. Each of the participants initially expressed a traditional, a priori view of mathematics, seeing mathematics as right/wrong, black/white, a subject outside of human construction. The participants’ expressed views of mathematics changed as they attempted to align their personal philosophies of mathematics with their (changing) classroom practices. They shared their personal struggles to redefine themselves as mathematics teachers through a process of experimentation, reflection, and adaptation. This process was echoed in their changing philosophies of mathematics. These participants came to see mathematics as fluid and a human construct; they also came to see their philosophies of mathematics as fluid and ever-changing, a process more than a product.

This paper is concerned with the developed area of Kurdistan, the Iraqi Kurdistan, and this paper will try to underline the situation of persons with disabilities living standards in Kurdistan. The research problem concerned with this topic is, what is being done by the different actors who have the power to influence the living standards of persons with disabilities in the region of Kurdistan. The purpose and aims of this paper is to highlight the importance of these living standards for these persons and how they feel they are being treated by the society as whole, both from the society (the people around them), and also the government, authorities and organizations at place for aid and assistance to those people. The main course of this paper has been laid on interviews with official persons from government and associations in Kurdistan. On the authorities and similar side, Salah Yousif Mohammed, the directorate of Disabled Care Duhok has been interviewed, together with Nassrat Mohammed Salem, the director of ZheenHandi Capped Association, Wahid Saeed Chicho, the director of Little People of Kurdistan Association and Khabat Islam Muhamad, Dohuk Program Manager for the Voice of Older People (VOP). These interviews together with interviews with persons with disabilities have laid forward a comprehensive matter of facts at hand to study. Social Constructivism, Human Security and Disability have been chosen as theoretical framework of this paper to help for better understanding of the purpose of this paper. Both Social Constructivism and Human Security help to define and better understand the concept of Disability in Kurdistan. The Social Model of Disability in Sweden has also been included in Disability for better understanding of a successful example.

Karisma är ett fenomen som under lång tid väckt stort intresse och fascination bland människor, däribland mig själv. Däremot är begreppet aningen diffust och det har därför varit svårt att hitta en entydig definition av karisma. För att undersöka dimensionerna av karisma har jag i denna uppsats valt att undersöka karismans betydelse i dagens samhälle. Syftet med undersökningen har varit att undersöka hur fenomenet karisma som begrepp konstrueras i en bestämd social kontext i samhället idag, vilket jag har gjort genom att analysera självhjälpslitteratur i hur man ökar sin karismatiska utstrålning. De huvudsakliga frågeställningarna bakom denna undersökning omfattar bland annat hur karisma konstruerats i litteraturen, hur framställningen av karisma gett upphov till skapandet av subjekt samt att se om förändringar i samhället kommit att förändra betydelsen av karisma. Bakgrunden av undersökningen innefattar bland annat Max Webers definition av den ”genuina” karisman samt en rad andra teorier och undersökningar om karisma som försökt förklara fenomenets härkomst. Med bakgrund av detta har jag alltså studerat karisma ur ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv med hjälp av diskursanalys och funnit att de två självhjälpsböcker jag undersökt konstruerar karisma som ett multidimensionellt fenomen som alla individer har möjligheten att utveckla. Utöver denna upptäckt tyder resultaten från undersökningen även på att en decentralisering av makten i dagens samhälle har kommit att påverka hur karisma konstrueras idag. / Charisma has for long been the object for admiration and fascination among people, including myself. It has, however, been very difficult to settle for an appropriate definition of charisma since the nature of the phenomenon can be described as being quite abstract. I have in an attempt to explore the dimensions of charisma chosen to investigate its meaning in today’s society. The main goal with the investigation has been to see how the concept of charisma is constructed within a given social context, which in this case constitutes of self-help books on how to develop a charismatic personality. A few of the primary questions behind this investigation concerns how charisma is constructed within the literature, how the representation of charisma in the books leads to the development of subjects and to see whether changes within the society has contributed to a change in the meaning of charisma. The investigation is, among other things, based on Weber’s definition of the “genuine” charisma as well as several other theories and studies concerning charisma which have tried to deduce the origin of the subject. I have in relation to this analyzed charisma from the view of the social constructivist perspective, with the help of discourse analysis, and found that the two self-help books I have studied constructs charisma as a multidimensional phenomenon which everyone has the ability to develop. In addition to this discovery I also found that the result from the investigation indicates that a decentralization of power in today’s society has come to influence how charisma is constructed today. Title: What significance does charisma have in society today? – A study done from the social constructivist perspective concerning charisma in self-help literature. Charisma has for long been the object for admiration and fascination among people, including myself. It has, however, been very difficult to settle for an appropriate definition of charisma since the nature of the phenomenon can be described as being quite abstract. I have in an attempt to explore the dimensions of charisma chosen to investigate its meaning in today’s society. The main goal with the investigation has been to see how the concept of charisma is constructed within a given social context, which in this case constitutes of self-help books on how to develop a charismatic personality. A few of the primary questions behind this investigation concerns how charisma is constructed within the literature, how the representation of charisma in the books leads to the development of subjects and to see whether changes within the society has contributed to a change in the meaning of charisma. The investigation is, among other things, based on Weber’s definition of the “genuine” charisma as well as several other theories and studies concerning charisma which have tried to deduce the origin of the subject. I have in relation to this analyzed charisma from the view of the social constructivist perspective, with the help of discourse analysis, and found that the two self-help books I have studied constructs charisma as a multidimensional phenomenon which everyone has the ability to develop. In addition to this discovery I also found that the result from the investigation indicates that a decentralization of power in today’s society has come to influence how charisma is constructed today.

This survey aims to investigate and analyze how six teachers on a high school in Stockholm reflect on pedagogical aspects of problem based learning( PBL). The survey focuses on ana-lyzing how the teachers relate to the benefits and problems of PBL and how they reflect on the students development. The survey was conducted on a high school and the method used for the study was interviews, each taking 30-45 minutes. The outcome of the survey indicates that the teachers sees problem based learning as an alternative to what they define as tradi-tional education regarding its epistemology. They indicate that PBL allows the students to define their own questions, to be carriers of knowledge and to evolve analytic skills in relation to the basegroup. Seen from a social constructive point of view, the definition of knowledge is linked to power, authority and interests regarding who is allowed to define what knowledge is and knowledge just like PBL as a method can in this aspect be seen as institutions of our so-cial reality. They survey also shows that PBL as an institution is changing through externalization of the changing roles of both students and teachers, and that puts responsibility on students, teachers and everyone who in some way relate to PBL. How the teachers on this particular school re-lates to PBL and definition of knowledge will effect PBL as an institution through both exter-nalization and internalization.

Syftet med studien var att studera hur fenomenet självläkning framställdes i nationell och internationell forskning. Studien omfattar tre frågeställningar: (1) Hur definieras alkoholmissbruk i artiklarna? (2) Hur definieras självläkning i artiklarna? (3) Hur framställs självläkningsprocessen i artiklarna? För att besvara dessa frågeställningar gjordes en selektiv kunskapsöversikt och en kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes som metod. Kunskapsöversikten utgjordes av tio forskningsdokument vilka omfattades av kvalitativa och kvantitativa undersökningar mellan åren 1996-2007. Studiens position är postmodern. Studiens resultat analyserades utifrån ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visade att tillgång till olika personliga och sociala resurser främjade självläkningsprocessen. Resultatet visade också att innebörden av begreppen självläkning och alkoholmissbruk varierade och att det inte fanns någon enhetlig definition av dessa begrepp. De olika definitionsvariationerna resulterade i att innebörden av fenomenet självläkning blev otydlig. / The purpose of this paper was to study how the phenomenon natural recovery from alcohol misuse is presented in the national and international research. This paper includes three questions at issue: (1) How is alcohol misuse defined in the research documents? (2) How is natural recovery defined in the research documents? (3) How is the process of natural recovery presented in the research documents? To answer these questions a selective qualitative knowledge overview was made and a qualitative content analysis was used as research method. This research overview of knowledge is based on ten research documents including qualitative and quantitative studies conducted between 1996 – 2007. This study has a post modern approach and the results in this study were analyzed on the basis of social constructivist theory. Results showed that the process of natural recovery was promoted by access to personal and social resources. Results also showed that the meaning of the concepts natural recovery and alcohol misuse varied and that there was no uniform definition of these concepts. Due to the various forms of defining these concepts the meaning of the phenomenon natural recovery proved to be indistinct.

"One life in two worlds" is a qualitative study of Syriac boys constructs ethnic and religious identity in different social contexts. Based on these three questions: how do the boys describe the importance of the parents' cultural and religious background in relation to their own identity? How do the boys describe their experiences of being categorized in school? Which significance is given to religion and ethnicity when the boys describe their experiences in relation to home and school context? I did reach the aim of this essay which was to investigate by interviewing the Syrian boys how they construct or reconstruct ethnic and / or religious identity in relation to different social contexts with a focus on the home and the school. In this study, I assumed the qualitative method in which I interviewed six Syriac boys who attend grade nine. The starting point of the study was social constructivism. Therefore, knowledge in this study is seen as something that is constructed in language, social and cultural interactions. The reality and perspective of reality is socially constructed, meaning that knowledge is created through the interplay of common action. The results of this study show that all the informants are agreed that their parents' ethnic background has had and has great significance for their identity formation. They argue that by their parents identify themselves as Syriac and, through a heritage transmitted traditions, language, values, norms and upbringing created an identity in which even the boys identify themselves as Syriacs. Furthermore, the study shows that all informants agree that when you have parents with another ethnic background, it means that we must somehow combine a life but in two separate standards - and the value system that the boys must constantly confront or take a position on both the school - and home context. All informants have in one way or another expressed that Christianity is an important part of the Syrian identity, even if they themselves do not identify themselves as religious.

The budget of the European Union has accomplished a significant role for European integration in the history of the Union. However, it has not resulted into anticipated developments compatible with the Union&rsquo / s institutional policy reform process in the last decades. The budget has emerged as a consequence of path dependent developments in its historical progress, which has dragged the European Union to a critical stage. It is rather challenging for the Union now to sustain the current structure of the budget, since it exposes some disadvantages to continue with this structure in an enlarging and deepening Union. In spite of various reform proposals, there is no appropriate theoretical ground for the budgetary politics of the European Union to be channelled through strengthening the link between the Union and European citizens. This thesis attempts to approach the existing problems associated with expenditures and revenues of the current budget from the social constructive policy perspective, in line with the major question of &ldquo / how the budget can be made more socially constructive by utilizing expenditures and revenues?&rdquo / The study has three major objectives. Firstly, it presents a historical evolution of the European Union budget in order to explore path dependent developments inherent to its historical progress. Secondly, it offers a critical analysis on the expenditure and revenue sides of the budget. Thirdly, it introduces a social constructivist policy approach on this subject as an alternative to the most prevalent approach of fiscal federalism.

It is widely suggested that, in domestic environment, abundant private social network can make a huge impact in many aspect and vice versa. Then the same concept could also be applicable in international relations, and help mobilize sovereignty states? A rich literature also theorizes about the development of these phenomena among non-state actors that may signal the emergence of a new global civil society. While experts were continue discussing such subject, the transnational relationship scholars Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink unveiled the concept of ¡§transnational advocacy network¡¨(hereafter TANs) being a tightly knit community of transnational members with shared believes and identity named ¡§issue-net work¡¨. Its strategies related to this activity in term of ¡§arguing power¡¨ and ¡§norm instrumental pressures¡¨. Then several questions can also be raised following its detail: How come did they make it success while others fail? Besides, if we ignored some factors during this ¡§network connecting¡¨ process¡HFinally, to what extent did they interact with sovereignty states? In the case of FaLun Gong group, its network structure is very complete and huge, but according to the consequence of its advocacy target ; suggested it fail to its campaign activity, then how would TANs theory help explain such consequence? This research observes the transformed of FLG TANs, and tries to tackle the above-mentioned questions. Therefore, may it could suggest some empirical experience from the outcome of this research, to those NGOs or non-state actors who devote in environment or human right campaign.

<p>This thesis discusses the recent change in EU’s immigration policy. EU’s restrictive policies may be changed by the two proposals, COM(2007)637 and COM(2007)638, presented in October 2007. These proposals were formed during a process in which representatives from the African Union (AU) were present in discussions about migration. Using official documents from EU and AU, we study this inter-regional interaction process with the English School theories of “international society” and with a Social Constructivist ontological model describing the relationship between agents, structure and institutions/regimes. We find that the proposal changes the trans-regional migration regime, and by extension the structure and the trans-regional world order. This will probably lead to an increase in the number of African labour immigrants in the EU, which may enlarge the trans-regional “world society” and, in turn, the inter-regional “international society”.</p>