The IOR project (Idea and reality underlying educational reforms of higher education) used women's life stories as case studies to help understand the reforms of higher education during an expansive, "rational" planning period. The project gathered data from 300 women who returned questionnaires. A central topic in the IOR-questionnaires…

The paper describes the conflict between parental responsibility for a handicapped child, particularly a retarded child, and the parents' other interests and concerns. Swedish parents (N=60) of retarded children were interviewed once and three families were interviewed several times over a 6-month period. Parents typically went through a period of…

This project dealt with the quality of the child's life in day care centers and aimed at a better understanding of the concept of quality. The project was based on a synthesis of knowledge from various research traditions, as well as theories of education and developmental psychology (such as Bruner, Davydov, Leontiev, Piaget, and Vygotsky). The…

This longitudinal study investigated hereditary and environmental influences on life situation, self-reported health, and coping ability at mid-life in relation to background factors collected during adolescence. A nationally representative Swedish sample comprised of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins; a control group of singletons was…

Working conditions of school leaders in Sweden are influenced by the state and various interest groups. Results of a study to compare teachers' perceptions of school leaders' work with their formally designated tasks are reported in this paper. Reasons for school leaders' working conditions are also discussed. A mailed questionnaire was completed…