Syftet med den här studien är att söka förstå varför pojkars betyg är lägre än flickors relativt de resultat som uppmätts på nationella prov. Vidare är ambitionen att redogöra för vad elever anser att denna skillnad beror på genom att lyfta fram elevers uppfattningar till och tankar om pojkars underprestation. Denna studie redogör för forskning om pojkars, i relation till flickors, generella underprestation i skolan. Initialt redogörs för forskning som beskriver skillnader mellan pojkars och flickors inställning till, prestation i, måluppfyllelse och erhållna betyg i skolan för att sedan följas upp med och jämföras mot elevers synpunkter och tankar kring fenomenet. Detta är en kvalitativ studie där två pojkar och två flickor intervjuats med syfte att ta del av elevers perspektiv i frågan. Det framkommer att elever i denna studie är väl medvetna om könsskillnader i prestation, ansträngning och förhållningssätt till lärare och skolprestation men eleverna uppfattar även att det finns dolda system som de anser påverkar bilden och bedömningen av eleven. Eleverna menar att flickor anpassar sig till dessa system medan pojkar, generellt sett, inte vill eller kan anpassa sig till normer och värden lärare är bärare av. Studiens resultat pekar också på att det finns sociala vinster för pojkarna i och med att man inte följer dessa normer och värden. Slutligen förs en diskussion om det är så skolans genussystem skulle kunna tänkas ha en negativ inverkan på pojkars skolprestation.

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to discover the driving forces in top athletes, concerning training, body image and social positioning. Furthermore the object is to study how important being fit is for social reasons in today’s society. The athletes have been interviewed face-to-face and described their personal drive regarding training, their goals and the significance of the sport. They have also described how they see the image of the ideal body that currently exists within the field of sport and society and how training affects their own body image. The interviews also covered views of the physically inactive as a group and their personal thoughts concerning this. Status varies regarding driving forces and some are considered more favorably than others, in other words they are the ‘good driving forces´. The most important positive driving forces that have been highlighted are the pleasure principle and the challenge principle . The pleasure principle is characterized by the sport itself having its own intrinsic value, while possible positive effects connected with or after training are secondary. The activity alone is a real pleasure. The challenge is characterized by a desire to test oneself and see how far one can go. Competing is connected with personal achievement and not with comparisons with others. At the same time the feeling of winning is emphasized as an important driving force and these factors (challenge and win) tend to act simultaneously. Driving forces that are seen to be low-status, i.e. the ´bad driving forces’ are aesthetic reasons as well as winning for competitive reasons. Training for aesthetic reasons in order to be body beautiful is not considered a positive driving force. On the other hand it is pointed out that looking fresh and healthy is desirable. This is described as personal characteristics such as ´nice’ or ‘fresh’ and not as a physical description of someone’s body. Competitions are essential but should be seen first and foremost as proof that training gives results, and not to prove oneself better than anyone else. However the thrill of winning a competition is described as important and worthwhile. Top athletes inspire each other and are not only seen as role models but also help form one’s own identity and social position. Being physically active in sports is seen as a lifestyle and is the most important part of a social group and its identity. This is emphasized by distancing oneself from the physically inactive as a group and their characteristics. This group is described in terms of being overweight, unhappy and unsocial. They use food and alcohol excessively, do not take personal responsibility for their future health and are unwilling to change. Keywords: Sports, training, the ideal body, social positioning.

The growing communication that takes place between young people today causes concern. The purpose of this study is to develop in – depth knowledge of the interaction that young people engage in online. The pedagogic interest is based on an investigation of conditions for social learning and social integration that exist in practice, which unfolds in virtual spaces created by social media. The technology referred to in this thesis is considered to be a social construction, which entails that values circulate between people, technology, and society. The theoretical point of departure is based on a pedagogic theory, which proposes that people develop their ability to cooperate, their social identity, and their understanding of the world through interaction with others. This dissertation includes three studies. The first study investigates support and harassment online (for example, insults). The second study is conducted for the purpose of revealing the discursive patterns in young people’s argumentation, based on a series of interviews. Finally, a text analysis of Facebook’s policy document was performed, with focus on the democratic values that are mediated via this document. The overall result is that considerably more young people feel that they are supported in social media, than those who are harassed. Both a supportive culture and a harassing culture can be defined however. The more often young people support their friends, the more often they find themselves to be the recipient of support. The same relationship pertains for harassing communication. Reciprocity, respect, and being responsible are dominant themes in a close circle of friends. In interaction with friends who are not members of the close circle of friends, communication is characterised by asymmetry and control. The imposition of discipline takes place as a function of both gender and status. The risk of being subject to reprisals is great, if the prevailing system of norms is violated. Young people’s social interaction in virtual spaces tends to be dominated by marketization where strategic behaviour, which primarily is a function of the individual’s social position and profit interest, is observed.

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to examine how parents in Sweden at the beginning of the twenty-first century use the process of naming as a resource to contribute to the creation of various identities for both themselves and their child. It is based on a two-component study — a postal survey and qualitative group interviews, both conducted in the city of Göteborg, Sweden — and includes parents with children born during 2007 and 2008. By combining different sources (names, surveys and interviews) and different methods (quantitative and qualitative), this study attempts to elucidate how first names and choices of first names can be given various social meanings. In contrast to previous socio-onomastic studies, this study considers not only whether naming contains any social variation, but also how and why such variation arises. The theoretical framework is a combination of onomastic, sociolinguistic, identity-theoretical and interactional theories. The results demonstrate that parents’ choice of first names for their children is an important social act. Through name choices and discussions of these choices, parents create what is known as social positioning, which in turn contributes to the creation of certain identities both for themselves and their child. A number of resources are identified which are used by parents to create different social positionings. This study also demonstrates how both macro-societal structures and interactional aspects influence this social positioning. Finally, this study argues that the observed social variation is best explained by the parents’ desire to identify with and contribute to the creation of different models for society, in which varying social values and attributes are important.