IT projects serve as the foundation through which a number of organizationalInformation Technology benefits can be created. However, it appears to be acomplicated task with great economic consequences at stake to finish a project beforepositive results can be reached. Project closure, the very last phase of the project lifecycle, seems to be underrepresented in current research compared to the other phasesof the project life cycle. The research regarding postponed closure, meaning thatprojects, which technically are finished, are still allowed to continue, or projects thatare directly unfeasible and therefore should be prematurely terminated, is even moreabsent. This indicates that problems arise somewhere, which is what will beinvestigated in this study.The aim of this study is to gain an understanding to the underlying reasons whycertain projects face a delayed closure, when they in reality should be finalizedearlier. In order to do so, a semi-structured interview study was carried out andpresented in a qualitative data analysis. The results of this study, based on empiricalfindings and support from theoretical frameworks, and presented in an analysis anddiscussion, indicates that there are a number of reasons that are causing postponedclosure. Among others, it has been noted that the planning for project closure maybegin too late in the process, that poor governance from the project manager and thesteering committee could be the result of hesitation to strict decision-making, and anunprepared receiving organization as a result of unsuccessful communication anddocumentation between internal and external stakeholders.

Com este trabalho objetivou-se avaliar as formas de processamento do milho e sorgo (inteiro ou moído) na suplementação em pastagem de capim mombaça (Panicum maximum) sobre o desempenho produtivo, perfil bioquímico sanguíneo e, características da carcaça e da carne de novilhas cruzadas, Angus x Nelore, terminadas em sistema de semiconfinamento na época seca do ano. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado em arranjo fatorial 2 x 2, (dois tipo de grão e duas formas de processamento dos grãos) com três repetições (cada repetição representada por um piquete com três novilhas) para as variáveis de desempenho e, nove repetições (cada repetição representada por uma novilha) para as característica da carcaça e da carne e, variáveis sanguíneas. Os concentrados foram formulados com milho ou sorgo, inteiro ou moído e um núcleo protéico-mineral-vitamínico (pellet) (Engordim®) em uma relação grão:pellet de 850:150 g/kg na matéria seca (MS). Foram utilizadas 36 novilhas, com idade média inicial de 13 meses e peso inicial de 277 kg. Os animais foram alimentados durante 77 dias, sendo 14 dias para adaptação e, mais três períodos de 21 dias para coleta de dados. Ao início do período experimental foi fornecido 220 g/kg de concentrado em relação ao peso vivo dos animais, e ajustado de acordo com as sobras. Os animais foram mantidos em piquetes, com disponibilidade média de 5.586 kg de MS/ha no momento da entrada no piquete. Com exceção do escore de condição corporal e luminosidade (L*), não houve interação (P>0,05) do tipo de grão e processamento para as variáveis, consumo, parâmetros sanguíneos e, características da carcaça e da carne. Maior consumo de nutrientes (P<0,05) foi observado para os animais que receberam sorgo no concentrado, com exceção do extrato etéreo (EE), que foi maior (P=0,001) para o milho. Em relação à forma de processamento, animais alimentados com grão na forma inteira tiveram maior consumo (P<0,05) de MS, FDN, CNF e, EE em g/kgPC, porém, essa diferença não promoveu melhor desempenho, com maior ganho médio diário (GMD) (P=0,004), eficiência alimentar (EA) (P=0,022), peso de carcaça quente (PCQ) (P=0,029) e rendimento de carcaça quente (RCQ) (0,010) para os animais que consumiram o grão na forma moída (1,70 contra 1,22 kg/dia), (0,23 contra 0,16 kg/kg), (198,17 contra 180,47 kg) e (52,03 contra 50,57 kg/100kgPC), respectivamente. O processamento do grão proporcionou maior produção por área (P=0,041), com média de 1488,8 kg/há. O escore de musculosidade (EM) e de condição corporal final (ECCf), seguiu o mesmo comportamento do GMD. Não houve influencia dos tratamentos sobre os parâmetros sanguíneos (P>0,05) apesar dos níveis de glicose e fosfatase alcalina estarem acima dos valores considerados normais para espécie bovina. As variáveis quantitativas da carcaça diferiram (P<0,05) em função do processamento dos grãos, sendo observado maior valor para os animais que consumiram concentrado com grão moído, exceto para espessura de gordura subcutânea (EGS) que se mostrou maior (P=0,048) na carcaça dos animais que consumiram grão inteiro. Não houve influência do tipo de grão e processamento (P>0,05) sobre o peso relativo a 100 kg de carcaça fria (CF) para os cortes primários. Os tratamentos não alteraram (P>0,05) as características que expressam desenvolvimento ósseo. Para a composição da carcaça houve influência do tipo de grão (P<0,05) no percentual de osso da carcaça dos animais que consumiram o grão inteiro, refletindo menor relação da porção comestível:osso (PC/O) e músculo:osso (M/O), independentemente da forma de processamento do grão. A luminosidade (L*) e cor avaliada de forma objetiva apresentaram interação significativa (P<0,05), porém as demais características avaliadas na carne não foram afetadas pelos tratamentos. Quando se utiliza concentrados com alta participação de grãos, o milho promove maior desempenho em relação ao sorgo. No entanto, para as características da carne e da carcaça o sorgo pode ser utilizado, pois não há alteração de suas características (P>0,05), exceto para EGS que foi maior quando se utilizou milho no concentrado. Os grãos devem ser fornecidos moídos por proporcionar melhor eficiência alimentar, desempenho e, características da carcaça e da carne. / This study aimed to assess two different forms of corn and sorghum (whole or ground) in supplementation in Mombaça grass pasture (Panicum maximum) on productive performance, blood parameters, carcass characteristics and meat of crossbred heifers Angus x Nellore finished in semi-confinement system in the dry season. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial arrangement 2 x 2 (two kinds of grain and two different of presentation of the grains) with three repetitions (each repetition represented by a paddocks with three heifers) for performance variables and nine repetitions (each repetition represented by a heifer) for blood variables and carcass and meat characteristics. The concentrates were formulated with corn or sorghum, whole or ground, and protein supplement (pellet) (Engordim®) in a ratio grain:pellet of 850:150 g/kg dry matter (DM). Thirty-six heifers, with average initial age of 13 months and initial weight of 277 kg were used. The animals were fed for 77 days, 14 days for adaptation and three periods of 21 days for data collection. At the beginning of the trial was provided 220 g/kg of concentrate in relation to the live weight of the animals, and adjusted according to the orts, which were kept in paddocks, with average availability of 5586 kg DM/ha at the time of entry animals in the paddock. With the exception of body condition score, and lightness (L *) and color evaluated subjectively, there was no interaction (P> 0.05) of the type of grain and processing for variable consumption, blood parameters and carcass characteristics and meat. Greater nutrient intake (P> 0.05) was observed for animals that received sorghum in the concentrate, with the exception of ether extract (EE), which was higher for corn, explained by nutrient fact be at a higher concentration in the sorghum. Regarding the form of presentation, animals fed grain in the whole form had higher consumption (P> 0.05) of DM, NDF, NFC and EE in g / kgPC, but this difference did not promote better performance with higher average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (EA) for the animals that consumed the corn in the ground form (1.70 vs 1.22 kg/day) and (0.23 vs 0.16 kg/kg), respectively. The muscularity score (MS) and final body condition (ECCF), followed the same behavior of GMD. The muscularity score (MS) and final body condition (ECCF), followed the same GMD behavior. There was no influence of treatments on blood parameters (P> 0.05) despite the glucose and alkaline phosphatase levels are above normal values to bovine species. The quantitative variables differ (P <0.05) in function of the form of presentation of the grains, with higher values for animals fed concentrate with ground grain, except for subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) which was higher to the animals fed whole grain. There was no influence of the type of grain and processing (P> 0.05) on the relative weight of 100 kg of cold carcass (CC) for primary cuts. The treatments did not affect (P> 0.05) the characteristics that express bone development. For the carcass composition was influence of type of grain (P> 0.05) to the bone percentage in the carcass from animals fed whole grain, reflecting lower ratio of edible portion: bone (EP/B) and muscle:bone (M/B), regardless of the form of presentation. The lightness (L *) and color evaluated subjectively had interaction, but the other characteristics evaluated in meat were not affected by treatments. The corn is indicated for use in concentrate with high participation of grain compared to sorghum, for giving greater weight gain. However, the use of sorghum does not change carcass characteristics and meat, except for the thickness of subcutaneous fat. When using corn or sorghum, they maybe be provided ground for providing better feed efficiency, performance, carcass characteristics and meat.

Le complément différé se présente comme une unité à la fois prosodiquement ou graphiquement autonome et syntaxiquement dépendante d’un énoncé antérieur, appelé énoncé support. Notre objectif au cours de cette thèse est de concevoir une modélisation de la production des compléments différés. Nous effectuons pour cela une étude des caractéristiques syntaxiques de 893 compléments différés, extraits de corpus écrits et oraux. Nous observons ainsi la présence d’éléments averbaux (noms, prépositions, etc.) parmi les gouverneurs des compléments différés. Cela contredit les notions antérieures, telles que l’épexégèse de Bally (1944:§75), qui n’envisageaient ces unités que sous la gouvernance d’un verbe. En outre, nous mettons en évidence les différents usages que les locuteurs font du complément différé au cours de l’interaction, et montrons ainsi sa polyvalence et son intérêt en tant qu’outil à la disposition des locuteurs. Le complément différé peut en effet servir au locuteur à ajouter une nouvelle information, mais aussi à préciser, modifier ou corriger une information apportée par l’énoncé support, à questionner son interlocuteur ou à lui répondre. De même, son autonomie prosodique ou graphique ainsi que sa dépendance syntaxique à l’énoncé support jouent un rôle dans sa réception et son interprétation, et nous montrons que produire un complément différé n’équivaut strictement ni à produire un complément non différé, ni à produire une unité syntaxiquement autonome. Nous proposons finalement une modélisation de la production des compléments différés, illustrant leur rattachement à l’énoncé support ainsi que l’implication du locuteur vis-à-vis de l’information qu’ils apportent. / The postponed complement is a prosodically or graphically independant unit which is syntactically dependent on a previous utterance, called support utterance. In this thesis, we aim to develop a modeling of the production of postponed complements. For this purpose, we conduct a study of the syntactic features of 893 postponed complements from written and oral corpora. We note the presence of non-verbal elements (nouns, prepositions, etc.) among the syntactic governors of postponed complements. This contradicts earlier notions, such as Bally's epexegesis (1944:§75), which only conceived these units under the governance of a verb. In addition, we highlight the different uses that speakers make of the postponed complement during an interaction, and we thus demonstrate its versatility and interest as a tool available to the speakers. A postponed complement can be used by the speaker to add new information, but also to specify, modify or correct the information provided by the support statement and to question or answer the interlocutor. Its prosodic or graphic autonomy and syntactic dependence on the support utterance also play a role in its reception and interpretation, and we show that producing a postponed complement is strictly equivalent neither to producing a non-postponed complement nor to producing a syntactically autonomous unit. Finally, we propose a model of the production of postponed complements, illustrating its connection to the support statement as well as the speaker's involvement towards the information provided.

ABSTRACT   The purpose of this medical record research was to study 30 patients with chronic subdural hematoma on a neurosurgical clinic, mapping documented nutritional status, preoperative fasting and hydration and energy supply before surgery. In addition peroperative administration of fluid and vasoactive drugs, as well as postoperative complications and length of hospital stay were studied. The mean age of the patients was 71 years. Nutritional status was evaluated in 12 patients, out of these seven were judged to be at risk for under nutrition. Fifteen patients had surgery day 1 (total fasting time on average m 11 h), eleven had surgery day 2 (29 h), three had surgery day 3 (35 h). One patient had surgery day 4 (61 h). Fluid and energy administration during the preoperative fasting did not meet the basic requirements. The majority of the patients received vasoactive drugs and more than twice the normal requirement of fluids during anesthesia. Postoperative complications were documented in 11/30 records. There was a significant correlation between preoperative fasting hours and length of hospital stay, however there may not be a causal relationship.   The conclusion is that the fasting period is significantly longer than the guidelines recommend and the patients do not receive their preoperative fluid and energy requirements, which may lead to an increased number of postoperative complications and prolonged hospital stay. A goal of the treatment should be that the preoperative fasting time is kept as short as possible and that the basal fluid and energy requirements are met. An evidence based strategy for this purpose should be created.

Orientador: Odette Gertrudes L. A. de Souza Campos / Banca: Gladis Maria Barcelos de Almeida / Banca: Rosane de Andrade Berlinck / Banca: Beatriz Nunes de Oliveira Longo / Banca: Maria Beatriz Gameiro / Resumo: Este trabalho traz o estudo de estruturas que apresentam posposição do sujeito e a influência das mesmas no processo de concordância verbal em gêneros escritos de imprensa do Português Brasileiro (PB), datados entre 2008 e 2010. Para tanto, selecionamos, como corpus desta pesquisa, os gêneros editorial, carta dos leitores, noticiário, coluna e entrevista - seções que apresentam traços mais informais e subjetivos de seus usuários/leitores, dos jornais Folha de São Paulo, Jornal da Tarde, Notícias Já e Diário de São Paulo e das revistas Istoé Gente, Época, Malu Mulher e Aparecida, por estes serem meios de comunicação de imprensa escrita, direcionados a diferentes leitores e com grande circulação nacional. Fizemos um levantamento das ocorrências de sujeitos pospostos nos gêneros escritos de imprensa, analisamos os dados, levantando, ao final, nossas considerações sobre a relação posição do sujeito X concordância verbal. Trazemos a hipótese de que o sujeito posposto na escrita, assim como ocorre na fala, desfavoreça a CV, pois, por não se apresentar em posição de tópico e não condizer com a definição dada pela Gramática Tradicional, "ser de quem se diz alguma coisa", características estas principais para a identificação do sujeito em uma oração, o usuário da língua tende a identificá-lo como sendo outro termo da oração, havendo ou não um termo que ocupe a posição inicial da oração em seu lugar, não realizando, com isto, a concordância entre o verbo e este SN sujeito pós-verbal / Abstract: This research brings a study of structures which present postposition of the subject and the influence of those in the process of verbal agreement in written genres Press of the Brazilian Portuguese (BP), dated between 2008 and 2010. To this end, we selected as a corpus of this research, the gender's editorial, letter from readers, news, column and interview - sections that have more informal and subjective features of their users / readers, from Folha de São Paulo newspaper, Jornal da Tarde, Notícias Já, Diário de São Paulo and from the magazines Istoé Gente, Época, Malu Mulher and Aparecida, for they being means of printing media, towards different readers and with a large national circulation. We did a survey of the occurrences of subjects postponed in written genres of press. We analyzed the data, increasing, at the end, our thoughts about the relation position of the subject X verbal agreement. We bring the hypothesis that the subject postponed in writing, as well as in speech, does not favour the CV, then, for not present itself in a position of topic and does not match the definition given by the Traditional Grammar, "being from whom says to be something" these characteristics are major for the identification of the subject in a sentence. The language user tends to identify it as another word of the sentence, whether there is or not a term that occupies its initial positions in the sentence, without achievement, with that, the agreement between the verb and the post-verbal subject SN / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-09Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:08:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_pgs_me_arafcl.pdf: 255396 bytes, checksum: 8db900d883d539e880fd58cc26e6d4a0 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho traz o estudo de estruturas que apresentam posposição do sujeito e a influência das mesmas no processo de concordância verbal em gêneros escritos de imprensa do Português Brasileiro (PB), datados entre 2008 e 2010. Para tanto, selecionamos, como corpus desta pesquisa, os gêneros editorial, carta dos leitores, noticiário, coluna e entrevista – seções que apresentam traços mais informais e subjetivos de seus usuários/leitores, dos jornais Folha de São Paulo, Jornal da Tarde, Notícias Já e Diário de São Paulo e das revistas Istoé Gente, Época, Malu Mulher e Aparecida, por estes serem meios de comunicação de imprensa escrita, direcionados a diferentes leitores e com grande circulação nacional. Fizemos um levantamento das ocorrências de sujeitos pospostos nos gêneros escritos de imprensa, analisamos os dados, levantando, ao final, nossas considerações sobre a relação posição do sujeito X concordância verbal. Trazemos a hipótese de que o sujeito posposto na escrita, assim como ocorre na fala, desfavoreça a CV, pois, por não se apresentar em posição de tópico e não condizer com a definição dada pela Gramática Tradicional, “ser de quem se diz alguma coisa”, características estas principais para a identificação do sujeito em uma oração, o usuário da língua tende a identificá-lo como sendo outro termo da oração, havendo ou não um termo que ocupe a posição inicial da oração em seu lugar, não realizando, com isto, a concordância entre o verbo e este SN sujeito pós-verbal / This research brings a study of structures which present postposition of the subject and the influence of those in the process of verbal agreement in written genres Press of the Brazilian Portuguese (BP), dated between 2008 and 2010. To this end, we selected as a corpus of this research, the gender’s editorial, letter from readers, news, column and interview – sections that have more informal and subjective features of their users / readers, from Folha de São Paulo newspaper, Jornal da Tarde, Notícias Já, Diário de São Paulo and from the magazines Istoé Gente, Época, Malu Mulher and Aparecida, for they being means of printing media, towards different readers and with a large national circulation. We did a survey of the occurrences of subjects postponed in written genres of press. We analyzed the data, increasing, at the end, our thoughts about the relation position of the subject X verbal agreement. We bring the hypothesis that the subject postponed in writing, as well as in speech, does not favour the CV, then, for not present itself in a position of topic and does not match the definition given by the Traditional Grammar, being from whom says to be something” these characteristics are major for the identification of the subject in a sentence. The language user tends to identify it as another word of the sentence, whether there is or not a term that occupies its initial positions in the sentence, without achievement, with that, the agreement between the verb and the post-verbal subject SN

Idag präglas den svenska bostadsmarknaden av en trögrörlighet som bland annat beror på höga flyttrelaterade skatter. Dessa flyttrelaterade skatter består av reavinstskatt, stämpelskatter, expeditionsavgifter och uppskovsränta. Många hushåll anser det idag vara för dyrt att flytta och avstår därför. Detta leder till att flyttkedjor stannar upp och arbetsmarknaden påverkas negativt eftersom många hushåll drar sig för att flytta och många tackar därför nej till arbeten som kräver en flytt. Detta beteende leder till att den individuella välfärden och hela Sveriges ekonomiska välfärd drabbas negativt. Detta är ett aktuellt och omtalat ämne och många rapporter har skrivits och det finns många förslag på förbättringar till dagens system. Många har som syfte att ge förslag på olika åtgärder som skulle leda till ett bättre system på bostadsmarknaden och många har gjort beräkningar på hur resultat av bland annat en minskning av reavinstskatten skulle se ut. Det är dock i detta examensarbete första gången som en siffra över hur hög en fastighetsskatt skulle behöva vara för att kunna ersätta dagens alla flyttrelaterade skatter redovisas. Detta arbete har som syfte att se över dagens flyttrelaterade skattesystem och uppmärksamma eventuella problem med dagens situation. En litteraturstudie redovisas för att en bredare inblick ska ges och utifrån litteraturstudien kommer sedan ett antal förslag till förbättringar av dagens flyttrelaterade skattesystem att sammanfattas. Sedan kommer en utredning av hur mycket dagens flyttrelaterade skatter faktiskt genererar i pengar till staten att redovisas och sist kommer beräkningen över hur hög en fastighetsskatt skulle behöva vara för att kunna ersätta dagens flyttrelaterade skatter. Slutsatserna visar på att en del av problemen med dagens flyttrelaterade skattesystem kan lösas med en rad olika åtgärder som flera författare har utrett. Beräkningarna över hur hög en fastighetsavgift skulle behövara vara för att kunna ersätta dagens flyttrelaterade skatter visar på att alla bostadsägare årligen ska betala 5900 kronor eller 0,47 % av sitt taxeringsvärde i skatt, oavsett om man äger ett småhus eller en bostadsrättslägenhet. / The Swedish housing market is presently characterized by low mobility. This could partly be a result of the high taxes on moving from one house to another. Not only is there a capital-gains tax on moving, but also a stamp duty, a service charge and an interest charge on postponed capital gains tax. Many households consider the price of moving too high, making them reluctant to move. This will have a negative effect on the labour market due to the fact that people will be less willing to move to places where labour is needed. This type of behaviour will ultimately affect both the wealth of the individual and Sweden’s economy in a negative way. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the current tax-system and emphasize the problems with it. Firstly, a literature study will be presented to give a wide perspective of the subject. This will be the basis for a number of suggestions that will resolve the problem with low mobility on the housing market. After this, an investigation of how much money the taxes on moving actually generate to the government. Lastly, a calculation of how high a real estate tax would have to be in order to replace the taxes on moving. The conclusions of this paper suggest that there are a number of actions that can be taken in order to resolve some of the problems with the tax system on the Swedish housing market. The calculations show that the taxes on moving could be replaced by a real estate tax where the homeowners would pay 5900 SEK or 0,47% of the assess value of the home yearly, instead of paying taxes only when moving.

Föreliggande arbete är en kvalitativ studie som behandlar valet att bli förälder. Det som undersöks är svenska unga vuxnas samtal kring när tiden är rätt för att bli förälder, livet som förälder kontra livet utan barn, det ideala livet, det goda föräldraskapet och en bra barndom. Studien är ett bidrag till den västerländska debatten om sjunkande födelsetal och uppskjutet barnafödande. De empiriska analyserna i arbetet är baserade på fokusgrupper med sammanlagt 35 individer mellan 24 och 39 år. Deltagarna har olika bakgrunder sett till utbildning, arbete och bostadsort. 15 var förstagångsföräldrar eller väntade sitt första barn. Resterande 20 hade inte barn. När är tiden rätt för barn? Varför har medelåldern för förstagångsföräldrar ökat? Vilka föreställningar finns kring livet som förälder jämfört med livet utan barn? Dessa var de övergripande frågorna som diskuterades i grupperna. Användandet av fokusgrupper och den diskursiva analysen visade sig vara fruktbara i studiet av ideal och föreställningar kring föräldraskap och övergången till föräldraskap. Resultatet av studien belyser komplexiteten kring valet att bli eller att vänta med att bli förälder; det visar på hur människors liv och förståelse av sig själva påverkas av många motstridiga föreställningar och ideal. Föräldraskap, familj, släktskap, vänskap, kärlek, ålder, biologi, och den oberoende individen är några av de fenomen som framstår som diskurser i fokusgruppsdeltagarnas diskussioner kring tiden för föräldraskap. Denna studie visar hur olika individer förhåller sig till olika diskurser och subjektspositioner, och hur olika individer på olika sätt löser dilemman som motstridiga ideal resulterar i. I avhandlingen undersöks och belyses diskursiva, kulturella strukturer och individers aktiva positionerande gentemot dessa. / The present thesis is a qualitative study of reproductive decision-making. It explores ways in which Swedish young adults talk about the timing of parenthood, the ideal life, good parenthood and the auspicious childhood. The work contributes to the debate on why fertility rates are declining and why the transition to parenthood is being postponed in the contemporary Western world. The empirical analysis is based on focus group data including in total 35 participants, between 24 and 39 years of age, with varying educational, occupational, and geographical backgrounds. The participants were new first-time parents, a few who were expecting their first child and some who were childless. The broad guiding questions of the focus group discussions were the timing of parenthood, the general postponement of parenthood, and the childless life contra life as a parent. The focus group method proved to be very useful in exploring ideas and ideals related to the timing of parenthood, as did the discourse analytical approach that was applied. The study illuminates the complexity of reproductive decision-making; it is an exploration of a range of notions and discourses that impact on people’s lives and ways of understanding the world, such as discourses on kin, family, friendship, the romantic relationship, parenthood, age, biology, and the independent, individualized individual. It is also a study of individual positioning towards different, often contradictory ideals, and individual strategies when trying to solve the pertinent dilemmas caused by contrasting notions. Thus, the study is an exploration of general, cultural discursive structures as well as of the different ways in which the subject actively draws upon them.

The work brings up age structure, growth age and school success in boys in the first and fourth year of primary school. The surveying took place at fourteen basic schools in České Budějovice and its proximity in 2006.The sample was made up of 225 pupils in the fourth year and 235 pupils in the first year. The survey focused on detecting differences in school success between pupils whose school attendance had been postponed and those who had entered primary school at due age. In addition, the work looks into problem of age growth and its potential impact on school success. Based on questionnaires, the views of pupils´parents and teachers at primary school were recorded. The sample was made of 326 parents and 40 teachers.

Föreliggande arbete är en kvalitativ studie som behandlar valet att bli förälder. Det som undersöks är svenska unga vuxnas samtal kring när tiden är rätt för att bli förälder, livet som förälder kontra livet utan barn, det ideala livet, det goda föräldraskapet och en bra barndom. Studien är ett bidrag till den västerländska debatten om sjunkande födelsetal och uppskjutet barnafödande. De empiriska analyserna i arbetet är baserade på fokusgrupper med sammanlagt 35 individer mellan 24 och 39 år. Deltagarna har olika bakgrunder sett till utbildning, arbete och bostadsort. 15 var förstagångsföräldrar eller väntade sitt första barn. Resterande 20 hade inte barn. När är tiden rätt för barn? Varför har medelåldern för förstagångsföräldrar ökat? Vilka föreställningar finns kring livet som förälder jämfört med livet utan barn? Dessa var de övergripande frågorna som diskuterades i grupperna. Användandet av fokusgrupper och den diskursiva analysen visade sig vara fruktbara i studiet av ideal och föreställningar kring föräldraskap och övergången till föräldraskap. Resultatet av studien belyser komplexiteten kring valet att bli eller att vänta med att bli förälder; det visar på hur människors liv och förståelse av sig själva påverkas av många motstridiga föreställningar och ideal. Föräldraskap, familj, släktskap, vänskap, kärlek, ålder, biologi, och den oberoende individen är några av de fenomen som framstår som diskurser i fokusgruppsdeltagarnas diskussioner kring tiden för föräldraskap. Denna studie visar hur olika individer förhåller sig till olika diskurser och subjektspositioner, och hur olika individer på olika sätt löser dilemman som motstridiga ideal resulterar i. I avhandlingen undersöks och belyses diskursiva, kulturella strukturer och individers aktiva positionerande gentemot dessa. / The present thesis is a qualitative study of reproductive decision-making. It explores ways in which Swedish young adults talk about the timing of parenthood, the ideal life, good parenthood and the auspicious childhood. The work contributes to the debate on why fertility rates are declining and why the transition to parenthood is being postponed in the contemporary Western world. The empirical analysis is based on focus group data including in total 35 participants, between 24 and 39 years of age, with varying educational, occupational, and geographical backgrounds. The participants were new first-time parents, a few who were expecting their first child and some who were childless. The broad guiding questions of the focus group discussions were the timing of parenthood, the general postponement of parenthood, and the childless life contra life as a parent. The focus group method proved to be very useful in exploring ideas and ideals related to the timing of parenthood, as did the discourse analytical approach that was applied. The study illuminates the complexity of reproductive decision-making; it is an exploration of a range of notions and discourses that impact on people’s lives and ways of understanding the world, such as discourses on kin, family, friendship, the romantic relationship, parenthood, age, biology, and the independent, individualized individual. It is also a study of individual positioning towards different, often contradictory ideals, and individual strategies when trying to solve the pertinent dilemmas caused by contrasting notions. Thus, the study is an exploration of general, cultural discursive structures as well as of the different ways in which the subject actively draws upon them.