Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Communication Management / MCom / Unrestricted

Cannabis är den vanligaste illegala drogen bland unga vuxna i Sverige. Det är en omdebatterad drog, debatterna handlar ofta om huruvida cannabis effekter är negativa eller inte. Detta examensarbete undersöker om det finns skillnader i problemnivå inom olika livsområden beroende på grad av cannabisbruk. Examensarbetet är en kvantitativstudie som genom ett antal statistiska analyser jämför tre grupper av unga vuxna samt predicerar sannolikheten för vilka som löper störst risk att vara regelbundna cannabisanvändare. Resultatet tyder på att problemnivån ökar inom flera livsområden beroende på grad av cannabisbruk. Högre involvering i cannabisbruk är förknippat med högre problemnivå i psykisk hälsa, narkotikabruk, narkotikabrott samt hereditet för narkotika. Vidare visar resultatet att faktorer som att vara man, bo i storstad och hereditet för narkotika är riskfaktorer som kan predicera ett regelbundet cannabisbruk. Examensarbetets slutsatser ger stöd för att ökad cannabisinvolvering tycks medverka till missbruk av andra illegala droger och tycks ha negativ påverkanseffekt på psykisk hälsa samt att benägenhet till brottslighet snarare har att göra med selektion än med involvering i cannabisbruk. / Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug among young adults in Sweden. It is a controversial drug, the debates about cannabis are often about whether cannabis effects are negative or not. This thesis examines whether there are differences in the level of problems in different areas of life depending on the extent of cannabis use. The thesis is a quantitative study by a number of statistical analyzes comparing three groups of young adults, and predicts the probability of which ones are most likely to be regular cannabis users. The results suggest that in many areas of life the problem level is increasing, depending on the extent of cannabis use. Higher involvement in cannabis use is associated with problems of higher levels in mental health, drug use, drug and family history of narcotics. Furthermore, the results show that factors such as being male, living in a big city and family history of illicit drugs are risk factors that can predict a regular cannabis use. The findings of the thesis provide support for that increased cannabis involvement seems to contribute to the abuse of other illicit drugs and seem to have a negative impact on mental health, and at last that the tendency to commit crime has rather to do with personality factors than cannabis use.

Innovative ways to conduct disease surveillance are required to address the complexity of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP). Mixed methods were employed to explore CFP epidemiology and interdisciplinary approaches to its surveillance in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Quantitative analyses of cross-sectional data collected by the TCI’s National Epidemiology and Research Unit in 2010 demonstrated that a low percentage of residents reported lifetime histories of illness following fish consumption (3.9%). Furthermore, gender, age, island, and home remedy use were significantly associated with reported clinic visitation by ill individuals. Next, a multisectoral CFP surveillance model was conceptualized. A qualitative exploration of the model’s hypothetical integration into TCI’s health system revealed that several systemic and contextual factors could influence the future uptake of interdisciplinary CFP surveillance. Targeted interventions are recommended to improve national CFP surveillance and to facilitate the growth of interdisciplinary networks between stakeholders from TCI’s health, fisheries and environment sectors. / Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ministry of Health and Human Resources of the Turks and Caicos

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore organizational identity as a potential process.   Design/Methodology/Approach: We applied a qualitative method and followed an inductive approach that was applied to a multiple-in-depth-case study for which we conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 members of two organizations, the Swedish consulting company REACH and the Swiss digital agency WONDROUS. Following a narrative approach, both for structuring the empirical findings, as well as conducting the analysis, we used over 16 hours of interviews to create company narratives and subsequently analyzed them in multiple steps in the fashion of a narrative analysis.   Findings: Based on our empirical findings and the empirical analysis, we developed a conceptualization, the Flux Model. We contribute to the existing body of literature by proposing that the Flux Model visualizes the dynamics of how organizational members socially construct organizational identity on the premise of their own (self-)perceptions. By presenting the different parts of the model and their multiple layers, the process of how organizational identity is continuously becoming is illustrated.   Research Limitations/Implications: The scope of our study is restricted to the two case companies in question. If our abstractions from the cases in form of the Flux Model help to better understand the process of organizing, managers become liberated to make deliberate choices about their organizations’ identities. For research this means an even tighter connection to individual psychology and a deepening of the perspective that organizational identity can not only be viewed as something companies have.   Originality/Value: Out of skepticism towards the usefulness of viewing organizational identity as a process, we applied a symbolic interpretivist perspective and allowed for the possibility that we might not find a process after all. The primary value of this study we believe to be found in the extensive presentation of empirical data, together with our narrative analysis and our conceptual contribution (the Flux Model).

Background: Psychosomatic problems are increasing among adolescent girls and levels of life satisfaction, well-being and self-esteem are lower among adolescent girls compared to boys at the same age. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions of the concept of PMH and to identify influential factors for PMH from their own perspectives. Methods: A qualitative explorative study was designed. The data collection was through four semi-structured focus group interviews. Participation in the study was completely voluntary and 14 high school girls aged 16-17 participated in the study. An inductive content analysis was conducted to analyze the collected data. Results: Six categories and sixteen subcategories emerged from the data analysis, answered the two objectives of the study and met the purpose of this thesis. The six categories were: 1) when you feel well and things go well; 2) school-related factors, 3) factors at home and at leisure time, 4) key personal characteristics, 5) coping skills and balanced healthy lifestyle, 6) more attention to PMH. The findings showed that PMH was perceived as a two-dimension concept of feeling well and functioning well in life. The main influential factors for PMH was healthy social relations within and outside the family, key characteristics such as optimism, high self-esteem, sense of control, purpose and progress as well as coping skills and paying more attention to PMH.     Conclusion: A combination of positive factors promoting feeling well and functioning well in life should be taken into account in the development of mental health promotion approaches and programs to improve PMH among adolescent girls. / Bakgrund: Psykosomatiska besvär ökar bland flickor och livstillfredsställelse, välbefinnande och självkänsla bland flickor är lägre än pojkar.    Syfte: Syftet med studien var att studera uppfattningar av flickor på gymnasiet om begreppet positiv psykisk hälsa (PMH) och identifiera faktorer som påverkar PMH utifrån målgruppens egna perspektiv. Metod: En kvalitativ explorativ studie utformades. Datainsamlingen skedde genom fyra fokusgruppsintervjuer och 14 gymnasieflickor i åldern 16-17 deltog i studien. Deltagande i studien var helt frivilligt. En kvalitativ induktiv innehållsanalys utfördes för att analysera insamlade data. Resultat: Sex huvudkategorier och sexton subkategorier återfanns i dataanalysen som svarade på syftet och två frågeställningarna i studien. De sex huvudkategorierna var: 1) när man mår bra och allt går bra 2) skolrelaterade faktorer 3) faktorer hemma och på fritiden, 4) viktiga personliga egenskaper, 5) coping färdigheter och balanserad hälsosam livsstil, 6) mer uppmärksamhet till PMH. Resultatet visade att PMH uppfattades som ett tvådimensionskoncept, att må bra och att fungera bra i livet. De centrala faktorerna för PMH identifierades som hälsosamma relationer inom och utanför familjen, viktiga egenskaper som optimism och bra självkänsla, känsla av utveckling, kontroll och meningsfullhet, stresshanteringsförmåga, samt att uppmärksamma PMH. Slutsats: En kombination av positiva faktorer för att må bra och fungera bra i livet, bör beaktas inom utveckling av strategier för att förbättra PMH bland flickor på gymnasiet. Nyckelord: Positiv Psykisk Hälsa, Flickor På Gymnasiet, Kvalitativ Explorativ Studie, Fokusgrupp Intervjuer.

The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge regarding how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used as a tool for communicators, as well as what impact the use of AI will have on the field of strategic communication in Sweden. By using a qualitative interview method, we have captured the knowledge and speculations in this subject amongst four prominent professionals within the field of communications who also have knowledge and experience with AI. The results showed that AI can be used as a useful tool in a variety of communicational tasks including data collection, automatization of communication, curation and production of media content. AI implementation will affect strategic communications, as it will become more about the users experience and service design, as well as representing and creating trust for the organization. Coveted competencies within the field will be skills such as human interaction and strategic thinking, to complement the shortcomings of AI.

I takt med att organisationers omgivande miljö beskrivs som alltmer dynamisk, ökar kritiken mot den budgeteringen, då budget anses var ett statiskt ekonomistyrningsverktyg. Trots medhållet som kritiken får visar empiriska studier att få företag faktiskt överger budget som huvudsakligt planerings- och kontrollverktyg (Sandalgaard 2012; Ekholm & Wallin 2000; Dokulil, Zlámalová & Popesko 2017). Till följd av Covid-19-pandemin under år 2020 förlorande många marknader sin förutsägbarhet vilket resulterade i osäkra omgivningar för många organisationer och branscher. Bilförsäljningen visade en hög variation under pandemiåret. Först tappade marknaden 40% av försäljningen och några månader senare fick den uppgång som täckte upp för de föregående förlorade intäkterna. Marknaden upplevde därmed en berg-och-dal-bana som ger insikt i hur budgetens praktiska användning sammanfaller med kritiserade svagheter. Genom att använda fem av de främsta argumenten i kritiken mot budgetering undersöker studien hur budgeten påverkas hos svenska bilåterförsäljare. Detta illustrerar behovet som bilåterförsäljarna har i en bransch vars omgivning påverkats av en oväntad osäkerhet. Sju bilåterförsäljare kontaktades och intervjuades i syfte att tillhandahålla den empiriska datan som i efterhand kompletterades genom de utvalda återförsäljarnas årsredovisningar. Genom detta urvalet utforskar studien en variation i behovet av budgeten. Studien kommer bland annat fram till att budgeten och dess komplement samspelar för att tillgodose de observerade bilåterförsäljarnas individuella behov av planering och kontroll. / The critique of budgeting has been growing louder during recent years as the influencing factors in the organizational environment is increasingly described as dynamic, while budgeting itself is seen as a static appliance in organizational management. However, despite the support this critique receives, empirical evidence shows that few companies actually abandon budgeting as one of their main tools for planning and control in financial management (Sandalgaard 2012; Ekholm & Wallin 2000; Dokulil, Zlámalová & Popesko 2017). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic year 2020, the wide consumer market lost its predictability, thus making it an uncertain environment for a majority of companies to act in. Sales of cars showed a wide variety during the pandemic year. First a decline of 40% in sales in the overall market and then an upswing which made up for previous loss. The car market had therefore experienced an interchangeable environment which contribute to giving insight to how the praxis of the budget coincide with the criticism. Using five of the main points in the critique against budgeting, the research area of this study, car retailers, were chosen to illuminate the need for the budget of retailers in an industry unexpectedly affected by uncertainty in the environment. Seven car retailer companies were contacted and interviewed to provide the empirical data which were later supplemented by the chosen companies’ annual reports. Through this selection this study explores a variety in the need for the budget. The results include that there is an interaction between the budget and the budget complement to satisfy the observed car retailers' individual needs of planning and control. This study is written in Swedish.

Undersökningen syftar till att utforska en postsekulär variant av integrationsbegreppet, genom att kritiskt granska aktuell forskning om integration. Detta genom ett explorativt begreppsstudium som primär metodologisk ansats, ett allmänt litteraturstudium som sekundär ansats, samt ett intersektionellt perspektiv som komplementär teoretisk ansats. Undersökningens postsekulära teoretiska ramverk utgörs av Zygmunt Baumans teori om flytande modernitet, Charles Taylors teori om den dialogiska funktionen, och Seyla Benhabibs teori om deliberativ demokrati. Undersökningen visar på fem centrala dimensioner av det postsekulära integrationsbegreppet; (i) mer än enbart religion, (ii) förändrade maktförhållanden och villkor, (iii) intersektionalitet, (iv) samtida aktivism, och slutligen (v) ideal och visioner. Den första dimensionen syftar till att problematisera den vetenskapliga debatten om postsekularitet, och påpeka dess ensidiga betoning på religion och religiositet i relation till sekulära samhällen. Den andra dimensionen syftar till att undersöka maktförhållanden och villkor, med grund i historiska, ekonomiska, sociala och globala faktorer. En tredje dimension belyser den mänskliga identitetens komplexitet och dess transformation, utifrån maktrelationer och tillhörighetskategorier. Den fjärde dimensionen som trädde fram accentuerade begrepp som deliberativ demokrati, omförhandling, försoning och solidaritet. Fokus lades främst på socialt engagemang och gräsrotsinitiativ som former av aktivism. Den femte och avslutande dimensionen anspelar på idealets och visionernas betydelse, och hur dessa träder fram i samtida sekulär kontext. Med grund i undersökningens resultat, är det möjligt att påvisa hur traditionella förståelser av integrationsbegreppet framträder som otillräckliga och kontraproduktiva i strävan efter jämlik och inkluderande integration. / The purpose of this study is to explore a postsecular alternative to the concept of integration, through a critical examination of current research on integration. This is achieved through an explorative conceptual study as the primary method, a general literature study as the subordinate method, and an intersectional perspective as a complementary theoretical approach. The postsecular theoretical framework of this thesis consists of Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity, Charles Taylor’s theory of the dialogical function, and Seyla Benhabib’s theory of deliberative democracy. The study presents five central features of the postsecular concept of integration as being; (i) more than just religion, (ii) change in power relations and conditions, (iii) intersectionality, (iv) contemporary activism, and lastly (v) ideals and visions. The first feature aims to scrutinize the scientific postsecular debate, and point out its one-sided emphasis on religion and religiosity in relation to secular societies. The second feature aims to examine power relations and conditions, constituted by historical, economic, social and global factors. A third feature illuminates the complexity and transformation of identity, with regards to power relations and categories of belonging. The fourth feature which appeared in the study emphasized concepts like deliberative democracy, renegotiation, reconciliation and solidarity. The focal point being social commitment and grassroots- levels of initiatives as forms of activism. The fifth and concluding feature refers to the significance of ideals and visions and how these appear in contemporary secular context. Based on this study, it is possible to claim how traditional understandings of the concept of integration appear inadequate and counterproductive in the endeavor of an equal and inclusive integration.

Hypertension is a global disease that many effected people in developing countries is not aware of. Hypertension is linked with cardiovascular disease. Prehypertension is not a disease but if not correctly treated, it could develop into hypertension. The aim of the study was to investigate if there are any differences in circadian blood pressure between two study groups, one group with normal blood pressure and one group with prehypertension. This study was a explorative study and its design is based on measurements of blood pressure values and a questionnaire was used to help get the data collection. 51 students volunteered to have their blood pressure taken from them and out of these 51, 24 where selected into two groups of 12 each for the Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. hese 24 students would be a part of our study and an ambulatory (Schiller-102 plus) blood pressure monitor was used to collect the data. The prevalence of prehypertension findings in the clinical testing phase was 37% of the population. There was a variation between the groups during the day (systolic) but there was not a significant difference during the night.