Mid Sweden University
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Generative AI and digital resilience : a research agenda
No full textGenerative artificial intelligence (GAI) systems, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, enable the automatic creation of content that closely resembles human-produced work, allowing for both constructive and potentially harmful applications. This study investigates the impact of GAI on digital resilience in society, focusing on the opportunities and challenges these technologies present. Digital resilience is defined as the capacity to maintain societal functions despite disruptions to or by digital systems. This study draws on a systematic literature review of 164 research articles, with findings categorized into three key perspectives: technology, organization, and governance. Within each perspective, themes for further research are identified. The results highlight the importance of recognizing GAI’s dual nature to both support and threaten digital resilience. To promote secure digitalization, our study calls for more empirical research on the risks associated with GAI applications, transparent artificial intelligence usage, and the establishment of ethical guidelines. The study also advocates for increased interdisciplinary research to ensure that new technologies and resilience can coexist as foundational elements of a resilient, democratic society
Inside party youth wings : The YOUMEM project
No full textYouth wings fulfil vital democratic functions. They connect parties with young people, socialise them into political life, andtrain future candidates and officials. Yet, youth wings have been largely overlooked by party scholars. In this article, wepresent the Youth Wing Membership Survey (YOUMEM) dataset. With responses from over 5000 members of 12 centreleft and centre-right youth wings in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, YOUMEM is the largestcomparative study of youth wing members ever conducted. Using the dataset, we examine some basic questions aboutyouth wing members: who they are, when and why they join. We find that youth wing members are primarily men andhighly educated. Many have relatives who were party members, and most are extremely ambitious compared to seniorparty members. Beyond these commonalities, we also uncover differences across party families and countries. Our projectprovides a unique window on the young people in contemporary youth wings.YOUME
Divided opposition strategy in particle swarm framework for constrained optimization problem
No full textIn nature inspired algorithms, population initialization techniques play an important role to find an optimal solution. In this study, we proposed a novel population initialization technique Divided opposition-based learning Particle Swarm Optimization (D-PSO). This technique is inspired by Opposition Based Learning (OBL). D-PSO is a technique in which elements of initial population are uniformly cover the search space so the possibility of obtaining the optimal solution is highest. To validate the results D-PSO is tested on 16 benchmark functions for dimensions 10 and 30 and 12 CEC22 functions along with standard PSO, OBL-PSO, I-PSO. In standard PSO elements of initial population is randomly generated and in OBL-PSO elements of initial population are generated using OBL technique. I-PSO generate initial population elements using improved OBL technique. D-PSO gives better outcomes for all benchmark functions for dimension 10, 30 and 10 CEC22 function out of 12 as compared to other initialization techniques. To measure the significance of results a statistical analysis is also done in this study. Complexity analysis and convergence analysis is also measured for both set of benchmark functions. The convergence behavior of D-PSO for all benchmark function for dimension 10, 30 and 10 CEC22 function is best as compared to other initialization technique
Changes in Immigrant Population Prevalence and High Violent Crime Rates in Swedish Municipalities
No full textGlobal evidence indicates minimal connection between immigration and crime. Nordic research, however, has been generally carried out on individuals and shows that immigrants are over-represented in crime. This has led to claims that high crime rates are due to immigration. We directed our study towards these claims by analyzing immigrant population prevalence, defined as the percent of foreign-born individuals, and violent crime in Swedish municipalities between 2000 and 2020. Nearly all municipalities had higher violent crime rates in 2020 relative to 2000. To discern whether drastic increases in municipality-level crime rates could be connected to municipality-level immigrant population prevalence, a retrospective case-control design was used to select 20 municipalities with the highest increase in reported violent crime rates and 20 municipalities with the lowest increase in reported violent crime rates. Immigrant population prevalence had little association with high rates of reported violent crime. The average association between immigrant population prevalence and violent crime rates calculated from all municipalities was also weak and non-significant (p > 0.05). Municipalities with a high increase in crime tended to have more crime correlates than municipalities with a low increase in crime. However, more research is needed on the impact of migration in small towns, especially those that have experienced economic and social stagnation
Designing for Quality Emergence in Healthcare – Reflection and Action
No full textA world of increasing uncertainty and global challenges is not in a possible future, it is here and now. The welfare system and healthcare organizations are particularly affected, with demands from citizens and politicians that healthcare should offer effective, accessible, good and equal care – welfare quality. Today, however, this is difficult to meet and/or exceed with the large decrease in resources if they are used as they always have been before. The difficulties and challenges today lie in ensuring good and equal care for the large groups of people with multiple illnesses, and patients who need long-term care from different healthcare providers. An already complicated system has become even more complex. Quality- and organizational research has shown conflicts among different ways of working to improve, innovate and change the organization and the methods that support the daily work of providing healthcare services. Furthermore, quality research shows that there are knowledge gaps to be filled when it comes to understanding how complex problems should be handled and what kind of knowledge could contribute. The overall purpose of this thesis was therefore to explore collaborative and participative perspectives and practices for healthcare quality development in times of transformational and complex change. Since the purpose was exploratory, the methodology was based overall on a qualitative, interpretative and hermeneutical approach. Three research questions were formulated and led to four studies. The first study was a literature review, and this was followed by a second study, which was a case study influenced by experience-based co-design (EBCD). The third study, aimed at understanding the leader perspective, had a deep-interview design, and the final study followed transformational and complex change using scientific social media with an action research approach. The thesis results overall strengthen the research that shows that participatory and collaborative approaches are needed to connect perspectives and bolster relations – factors that are shown in research as being necessary to navigate in complex change and transformation. Furthermore, the thesis shows how to facilitate navigating in a way that could increase opportunities to participate, be part of change and have agency. However, frustration is also found around methods and perspectives perceived as more abstract and reflective and which can sometimes be slower than what solutions-oriented professionals, who work under great time pressure and with scarce resources, are used to. Furthermore, the thesis highlights a problem that has also been described in previous research and that signals the (in)ability to both share new knowledge and to absorb it. The thesis conclusion is that there is potential to meet up with a more dynamic way of relating to the concept of quality. Achieved by becoming a listening organization and acknowledging skills to assist in facilitating complex change – through reflection and action.Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbete opublicerat: delarbete 6 accepterat.At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished: paper 6 accepted.</p
Health in Swedish integration policies : A discourse analysis
No full textPrevious research has indicated that migrants risk facing inequities both internationally and in Sweden; integration policies are therefore important to study. How health is described in policies affects how health interventions are approached. Discourse analysis offers a way of understanding how health is framed within the integration policies affecting newly arrived migrants in Sweden. The aim was to analyse the health discourses used in Swedish and European Union (EU) integration policies. A discourse analysis, inspired by Fairclough, was performed on integration policies related to Sweden, at local, regional, national and EU levels. The policies of the Establishment Program, which focuses on newly arrived migrants (refugees, persons of subsidiary protection and their relatives who arrived through family reunification), were chosen for the analysis, and 17 documents were analysed in total. The analysis of the documents showed how the health discourses were expressed in the form of the medicalisation of health, the individualisation of health and the risk of ill health. A pathogenic approach to health was visible in the policies and individual disease prevention or rehabilitation was the main health focus. The results showed similarities to previous research highlighting how a particular understanding of health in a neoliberal context is formed
En analys av åsikter kring det centrala innehållet i geografi utifrån ett lärarperspektiv
No full textIdén till denna studie väcktes för ungefär ett år sedan under en universitetskurs i geografi. Kursen blev en "ögonöppnare" som fick mig att inse att jag tidigare haft en begränsad förståelse för vad geografi faktiskt innebär. Geografi är ett brett och omfattande ämne, vilket väckte min nyfikenhet kring hur grundskollärare hanterar detta breda innehåll i sin undervisning. Detta lade grunden till studiens syfte: att synliggöra grundskollärares åsikter och attityder kring det centrala innehållet i geografi för årskurs 4–6. Studien syftar även till att undersöka vad lärare själva upplever att de behöver för att kunna undervisa samtliga delar av ämnet på ett väl fungerande sätt. Ett ytterligare fokus ligger på att undersöka om den lärandeteori som lärare anser sig främst förknippa sin undervisning med påverkar deras upplevelse av det centrala innehållet. Som teoretiskt ramverk används lärandeteorier, vilka ger olika perspektiv på hur lärande sker (Säljö, 2022). Studien har genomförts med hjälp av enkäter som besvarats av lärare som uppfyller studiens urvalskriterier. De insamlade svaren har därefter sammanställts, analyserats och tolkats. Resultatet visar att många lärare har liknande åsikter om det centrala innehållet i geografi för årskurs 4–6. Det område som flest lärare anser vara både svåraste att undervisa kring och även lägst prioriterat i deras undervisning är "fältstudier för att undersöka natur- och kulturlandskap". Däremot uppfattas "namn och läge på geografiska objekt i Sverige, Europa och världen" som det enklaste och även högt prioriterade momentet att undervisa kring. Studien identifierar flera faktorer som lärare uppger som avgörande för att känna sig trygga i att undervisa alla delar av det centrala innehållet. Dessa resultat kan indikera att det obligatoriska innehållet och de krav som ställs på lärarna är för omfattande i relation till den tid som ges. Även om studien inte kan påvisa några tydliga samband mellan lärandeteorier och lärarnas upplevelse av det centrala innehållet, framkommer vissa betydelsefulla kopplingar som kan vara av intresse för vidare forskning.2025-01-15</p
Musik som verktyg i kommunikation med yngre barn : Förskollärares uppfattningar om musik som kommunikationsverktyg
No full textSyftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer samla in empiri om förskollärares uppfattningar om att använda musiken som kommunikationsverktyg med yngre barn på förskolan. Med hjälp av det sociokulturella perspektivet och en tematisk analys har vi bearbetat och analyserat empirin. Studien genomfördes med tre förskollärare och två rektorer på fem olika förskolor i landet via telefonintervjuer. Rektorerna intervjuades utifrån deras tidigare roll som förskollärare samt att de i nuläget har en överblick för hur förskollärarna i deras verksamhet arbetar. Resultatet visar på att respondenterna i denna studie har en uppfattning av att musiken är ett väl användbart verktyg i arbetet med yngre barns kommunikativa utveckling. Musiken kan på olika sätt stödja yngre barn i förskolan i deras utveckling av kommunikativa förmågor. Musiken kan även ge annat till barnen på förskolan som exempelvis glädje och ett sätt att utforska och hitta sig själv. Sammanfattningsvis ställer sig respondenterna positivt till användandet av musiken som ett kommunikativt verktyg.Betyg i Ladok 2025-01-15</p
EU-framställning i svenska samhällskunskapsböcker : En kvalitativ textanalys av innehåll och förändring i svenska samhällskunskapsböckers framställning av EU
No full textDenna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur EU framställs i svenska samhällskunskapsböcker för gymnasiet över tid. Med hjälp av teorin om en politisk utbildning som inkluderar polity-, policy-, och politicsdimensionen undersöks hur läroböcker från tre olika tidsperioder framställer EU, och vilka aspekter av EU:s politiska system som framställs som mest centralt och betydelsefullt. Utgivningsåren för de granskade böckerna är 1989, 1998 och 2017 – tidsperioder som alla är relevanta för Sveriges relation till EU. Studien visar att politydimensionen dominerar i läroböckerna, och att policy- och politikdimensioner ges begränsat utrymme i framställningen av EU:s politiska systems roll och funktion. I boken från 1989 utgör politydimensionen och policydimensionen vardera cirka 50 % av innehållet medan den politicsdimensionen är helt frånvarande. I boken från 1998 utgör politydimensionen en överväldigande majoritet av innehållet, följt av ett litet innehåll av politicsdimensionen och ett än mindre innehåll av policydimensionen. I 2017 års bok dominerar politydimensionen på samma sätt, men följs i stället av ett litet innehåll av policydimensionen och ett än mindre innehåll av politikdimensionen. Studien visar på att svenska samhällskunskapsböcker i gymnasieskolan både innan och efter Sveriges medlemskap haft behov av att bättre balansera sitt EU-innehåll av de tre dimensionerna för att eleverna genom läroböcker ska få kunskaper som resulterar i en bättre helhetsförståelse av EU:s roll och funktion.Godkänt datum: 2025-01-22</p
