Browsing by discipline "Hushållsvetenskap"

The purpose of this thesis in home economics is to present how young people makes a home out of their first dwelling. The thesis examines things done and felt after moving to ones first housing, which is in their own control, and how these things affect in shaping the feel of home. The hypothesis was that the home was made with the help of objects, for example furniture, but also by getting used to the dwelling and its properties or by modifying them. It was also assessed that when moving to the first dwelling, the process would be a bit different than when moving an already established households. The focus of this thesis is on the new residents’ actions and feelings. Former studies close to this subject show that the making of home can be done by a variety of ways, which might result in a feeling of home. A theme interview was conducted for five young adults, who had moved to live on their own at the ages between 16 and 22. They had lived in their dwellings from one to four years. One of the subjects had moved and still lived with their spouse, the others lived alone. Subjects were found by sending an invitation to a mailing list of university students and to a Facebook group of organization providing housing for young people. After transcribing the interviews, the 16-page material was examined for the theme relating expressions which were divided into sub-groups. The main theme is making of home, and sub groups are safety, property, social matters, and actions, senses & premises. The youth who had moved to their first dwellings had turned them into homes with objects, gathered free of charge from childhood home, friends and close relatives or bought as used or new. Social relationships and living everyday life at home also benefitted forming the feeling of home. The traces of former residents, unfamiliar sounds and the lack of objects due to the dwellers economic situation slowed down settling a home. The lack of felt security prevented the feeling of home, which could also be lost at the end of a relationship. Even after forming a feeling of home, home and its object world was adapting in a constant move.

This study views how consumer education is seen in the latest National core curriculum (2014). Consumer’s operational environment has changed due to the need for sustainable consumption and due to diversification of media and digitalization of technology, and this increases the pressure to enhance consumer education. I define my study to cover grades 7–9 and I will specially focus on transversal competences’ goals. The study questions are: 1. How does the latest National core curriculum (2014) boost sustainable consumer education? a. Which subjects include consumer education in upper comprehensive school? b. How is sustainable consumer education seen in the aims of transversal competence? c. How is ecological sustainability seen in home economics’ consumer education? This study is a qualitative document analysis that analyses the latest National core curriculum (2014). I divided my literature in two different themes and for the themes I selected keywords. Based on the keywords I analysed the curriculum and tabulated all sentences that include the keywords. I divided the accumulated literature even more specifically by subjects and the aims of transversal competence. The study suggests that even though there is no own subject for consumer education, the educational and learning aims related to sustainable consumption are very extensively present in the National core curriculum (2014). Even in the curriculum’s foundation of values it is advised to consider the conflicts between consumerism and sustainable lifestyle. The skills of transversal competence are obligatory for all subjects and in those skills consumer and economical education is viewed.

The purpose of the study was to examine the opinions of the students of home economics in Helsinki University about future homes and housing. The theoretical framework of the study is based on future research. The base for the research and the analysis of the results were Sitra`s, the Finnish Innovation Fund, 2016 megatrends and the exhibition of Britain “home economics” in Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. The study searches answers to following questions: What kind of technology can be found in future homes? How will be different rooms and their transformability taken into account? What kind of co-ownership can be found in future homes? The students of home economics in Helsinki University had written an essay about “Future home 2030” in their course of home economics research. There were altogether thirty essays that were analysed of by the method of content analysis. The results were classified based on technology, transformability of room and co-ownership. The results proof that technology has huge significance in the future homes. Technology was utilised for example by robots in cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and opening doors. Houses will be smaller in the future and that is why movable walls and sliding doors are used in the future homes. In this research co-ownership means owning, borrowing or renting household appliances or other things among inhabitants. As a conclusion, future homes will be small but based on needs of inhabitants and homes are easily transformable. Technology as well utilised in all functions in future homes. There is no need for big storage room because people own and share things together.

The aim of this study was to describe children ́s views on everyday life and family activities. Everyday life at home and it ́s functions are seen important factors for families` well-being and child ́s development. Household activities and family interactions intertwine in everyday life. Family activities are also influenced by the environment and cultural factors. In their stories children tell about what it is to be a child today. In their stories they also mirror perceptions of the surrounding society. Previous studies have shown that in their everyday life children value family and time together, friendship, routines and involvement. Both family and children are seen as active actors who are capable of modifying their everyday activities. The data of this study was an electronically recorded data of childrens` storycrafted tales. Of this data was limited 60 homestories in finnish. The data had been collected between 1995 and 2000 and the storycrafted children were between the ages 3 and 8 years old. The narrative data was analyzed by means of content analysis. The resoults of this study showed that in their stories children tell about their everyday life and family activities richly and diversely. The stories took often place at home and the nature around it, often in the woods. Routines and rituals gave rhythm for the everyday life in children ́s stories. The characters in the stories often played and acted spontaneously, and found shelter and safety at home with their families. In the stories parents and characters taking care of animals maintained and carried out important routines and rituals. A lot of time in the stories was spent with family and friends. Families ate together, went for walks and for a swim, for example.

User experiences of vegetable protein products were investigated in this study. The study was focused on families with children and on their process of cooking. Scientific purpose is to develop easy practical ways to reduce meat consumption. The topic is timely because meat has a big role in Finnish diet but a meat consumption should be reduced. A meat production has negative environmental effects and in addition red meat is hazardous to health. Though many people are aware of adverse effects of meat, the meat consumption isn’t on the decrease. Meat and specially a minced meat is often seen as an easy, tasty and cheap alternative and people know how to prepare a wide range of dishes from meat in busy weekdays. Vegetable protein products can be an easy way to reduce meat consumption. Their sources of protein are more versatile and their composition resemble more the composition of meat. When the meat in food is replaced with vegetable protein product, food becomes ecologically friendly and healthier without a big difference between the meat dish and the vegetable dish. Vegetable protein products are also easy and quick to cook which is an important food selection criteria for many consumers. The user experiences were investigated with qualitative pre-experimental case study. Five families with children were participated in the study. Each family lives in Southern Finland and the children are under 8 years old. Families were selected through a social media, Facebook, by using a discretionary sample. The research process included for example designing food recipes and questionnaires and also instructing the families throughout the whole process. The food recipes were designed as similar as possible with the original Finnish favorite foods but the meat was replaced by the vegetable protein product. Before the start of the study recipes were tested and valued in practice at researcher’s family. In the practical phase of the study families familiarized with four different vegetable protein products. Families looked the products from the grocery, prepared four dishes according to the given recipes and valued both the products and the dishes. The user experiences were clarified by using a semi-structured questionnaire. A family-specific description was written based on the feedback from questionnaire. In the final analysis the user experiences of each vegetable protein product were summarized. From the summary it can be seen that a culinary art is different in each family. Mostly the families’ experiences were positive but some of the vegetable protein products divided opinions for and against. Still each family experienced that the study was useful. Families acquainted with unfamiliar vegetable protein products which families are going to use as substitutes of meat in future. Many families were inspired by the recipes and learned new ways of cooking. This research can serve as a pilot study for wider qualitative or quantitative research. For further study the functionality, practicality and pleasantness of the vegetable protein products could be tested on a larger scale or expend the topic to consist the ecology of the diet in overall.

The amount of immigrants has steadily been growing in Finland. In recent years the growth rate has only been increasing. As immigration increases, services and actions to promote acculturation are increasingly required. Acculturation is a two way street and requires equal commitment from society and the newcomer himself. In a new culture people are often forced to question formerly learned skills and knowledge as well as rules of society and family life. Immigrant families may also experience confusion with the stress that changing roles and role conflicts may bring. Lack of close relatives and social networks can cause loneliness, anxiety and grief. The need for peer support grows as the feeling of insecurity increases. In this thesis I analyze previous research to examine the challenges that immigrant families face during the acculturation process after relocating to Finland. I also want to identify ways that immigrant families are given support during acculturation. The perspective of the research is from different levels of operation in society: legal, municipal and the third sector. I have chosen to examine some projects that aim to support parenthood and participation. The thesis has been implemented as a literary review. The aim of a literary review is to give a general view of the examined phenomenon, to evaluate the theory and to identify areas for improvement. The basic services that are available to families are meant for permanent residents of the municipality. However, understanding the finnish welfare system can prove to be a difficulty for immigrant families which can cause them to be unaware of the services they are entitled to. For successful acculturation it is important to educate immigrants about finnish society and its services. In that way, parental participation and capabilities are strengthened, which in turn progresses the acculturation process. An increased amount of attention should be paid to informing immigrants and on the other hand, skills to support a multicultural clientele should be strengthened amongst public authorities. In multicultural work, strengthening coping skills for everyday life is essential for increasing overall well-being. The need for translation is good to consider to ensure successful communication and to avoid insufficient comprehension. A client-based approach and coordination and collaboration between organisations would be beneficial in developing the quality and efficiency of acculturation procedures. Sufficient resources should be allocated to ensure this is possible.

The study has been inspired by Finland's 70-year free school meal. The purpose of the study is to find out how free school meal was decided. Which steps and justifications led to the conclusion that in the 1943 parliamentary elections the bill was adopted unanimously. There was also an interest in the discussion on the topic, what kind of debate was born and which parties participated in the debate. Although school catering has been widely studied and the subject has been comprehensively written, these details, which I am trying to find out, have not been studied before. Based on previous studies, it can be assumed that the Social Democratic Party was the most active participant in the debate on the subject. My research is based on the source materials in the archives of the Parliament Library. The material was selected from documents that essentially concern free school meals. I started collecting the material by acquainting the documents of the Parliament in the Parliamentary Library. The addition to the National School Act concerning free school meals was made in 1943, so the documents and records of the parliamentary sessions of that year were selected for my material. Some of these documents raised a few reports and statements that I added to my material. My material consisted of ten official documents. In the analysis, I used typical qualitative research methods of content analysis. I read the documents carefully, after which I shared the arguments under the two main themes. The Social Democratic Party proved to be the most active party in the 1943 parliamentary debate on free meals at schools. The party was also actively engaged in education work for free school food. The need for free meals was mainly due to health reasons, in addition to the economic and social situation in our country. There was not much debate about legislating the law. Only two members of the Social Democratic Party gave their speeches. The explanations were largely in line with the same pattern as other documents.

Lihansyönnin vähentäminen ja kasvissyönnin lisääminen ovat ajankohtaisia ravitsemukseen liittyviä teemoja. Tutkimuksen kohderyhmänä ovat kasvispainotteisesti syövät naiset, jotka käyttävät lihaa ruokavaliossaan satunnaisesti. Tällaisia henkilöitä kutsutaan ’’joustaviksi kas-vissyöjiksi’’ eli fleksaajiksi. Tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat naisfleksaajien lihankäyttöön sekä mitkä tekijät puoltavat lihankäytön vähentämistä ruokava-liossa. Aikaisempien tutkimuksien perusteella lihaa syödään sen maun, valmistuksen help-pouden ja esimerkiksi ravintosisällön takia. Kasvissyöntiä perustellaan puolestaan ekologi-sista, terveydellisistä sekä eettisistä syistä. Tutkimukseen osallistui viisi 20–47-vuotiasta naista. Aineistonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua teemahaastattelua. Haastattelut toteutettiin maaliskuussa ja huhtikuussa 2020. Haastattelut äänitettiin ja litteroitiin. Aineisto analysoitiin käyttäen aineistolähtöistä sisäl-lönanalyysiä. Tulosten mukaan lihankäyttöön vaikuttavat eniten sosiaaliset tilanteet. Sen lisäksi liharuoan valintaan todettiin vaikuttavan sen mausta pitäminen. Naisfleksaajien lihankäyttöön vaikuttivat myös mielihalu, ravintosisältö muun muassa proteiinin ja raudan suhteen sekä käytännön syyt. Lihankulutuksen vähentämistä perustellaan eniten terveydellisillä syillä. Vähentämiseen vaikuttivat lisäksi ympäristölliset, eettiset ja käytännölliset syyt sekä tavat ja tottumukset.

Goals. This research try to sort out which factors influencing women’s ethical food consumption. In addition I also want to sort out how to increase ethical consumption. On the grounds of former research, Finnish people trust on domestic food. They also want pure and safe food. Ethical consumers think environment, human and animal rights over when they are doing their choices. Consumers are interested of organic food but they don’t buy it as much. On the grounds of former research, price is important choosing factor. This research tries to find out method, how to increase ethical consumption. Research questions were: 1. which factors influencing women’s ethical food consumption? 2. How to increase ethical consumption? Methods. Research carried out by electronic form in May 2019. There were 22 responders. Analysis was content analyses. Results and conclusions. According to results, price and manner of production affected to women’s ethical consumption. Responders favoured domestic food products. They wanted to support producers and environmentally friendly products. Judging from this research, that consumer education and reasonable prices are good ways to increase ethical consumption.

Tavoitteet. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten sosiaalisen median käyttäjät hyödyntävät ruokablogeja ruoan valintaa tehdessä. Tutkielman tavoitteena oli kuvata ruokablogeja lukevien näkemyksiä sosiaalisessa mediassa esiintyvistä ruoka-aiheisista blogeista sekä selvittää minkälainen yhteys blogien sisällöillä oli näiden käyttäjien ruoan valintaan. Menetelmät. Lähestymistapa on kvalitatiivinen ja tutkimusmenetelmänä käytin teemahaastattelua. Tutkimuksen otos koostui kolmesta harkinnanvaraisesti valitusta, pääkaupunkiseudulla asuvasta aktiivisesta sosiaalisen median käyttäjästä. Aineistonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin yksilöhaastatteluja, jotka äänitettiin ja litteroitiin. Aineisto analysoitiin käyttäen aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Ruokablogit ovat vaikuttaneet tutkittavien ruoan valintaan muun muassa antamalla inspiraatiota ja opettamalla uusia tekniikoita ruoanlaitossa, antamalla vaihtelua omaan arkiruokailuun ja tutustuttamalla uusiin ainesosiin ja raaka-aineisiin. Uusia ruokia uskalletaan myös kokeilla rohkeammin. Tutkielma avaa sosiaalisen median ruokablogien sisältöjä ilmiönä ja antaa yleiskuvan siitä, miten sosiaalisen median kuluttajat suhtautuvat niihin. Aiempi tutkimus on keskittynyt sosiaalisen median vaikutukseen ruoan valinnassa. Tämä tutkielma kartoitti erityisesti sitä, minkälainen vaikutus ruokablogeilla nähdään olevan ruoan valintaan ja käytännön ruoanvalmistukseen.