Thesis (MA (Demography))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

The link between socioeconomic status (SES) and health and mortality has been well-established, but evidence continues to suggest that this relationship begins in early life with parental SES. There is evidence that allostatic load (AL) mediates the relationship between SES and mortality, and SES is inversely associated with AL across the life course (Seeman et al. 2004; Seeman et al. 2008; Hawkley et al. 2011; Evans & Kim, 2012). Existing longitudinal studies using biologically objective health outcomes are limited, and this study incorporates measures of both perceived stress and the body's physiological response to stress, observed over time, in older adults. Using the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), this dissertation aims to fill gaps in the literature by exploring the associations between socioeconomic status across the life course, allostatic load, and mortality. I examine 1) how SES in childhood affects SES, perceived stress, and allostatic load in older adults; 2) how childhood SES affects change in allostatic load over 5 years; and 3) if childhood SES indirectly impacts mortality risk through SES and stress in late adulthood. Results add to existing findings by showing significant relationships between SES and mortality in late adulthood, with allostatic load and perceived stress partially explaining this relationship. Results also contribute to the field showing an indirect relationship between childhood SES and allostatic load in late life. Individuals who grew up in low SES households show significantly higher allostatic load scores in late adulthood. This association is mediated mostly by educational attainment, but wealth also plays a role. This study also provides two examples for studying allostatic load across two time points, and results show that childhood SES affects allostatic load change in a similar manner to a singular measure. The findings highlight the importance of the association between childhood SES and adult educational attainment, as the effects carry over into many adult outcomes. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 17, 2016. / Aging, Allostatic Load, Health, Life Course / Includes bibliographical references. / Isaac Eberstein, Professor Directing Dissertation; Dan McGee, University Representative; John Taylor, Committee Member; Michael McFarland, Committee Member.

Health economics has expanded enormously as a sub-discipline in the last four decades, drawing primarily on the theoretical foundations of welfare economics. The toolkit for the economic evaluation of health care now extends from the humble cost-minimisation exercise, through cost effectiveness measures, to the more complex cost utility or cost benefit models. These methodologies have differing strengths and drawbacks. This paper evaluates those attributes on both the practical and theoretical dimensions. On the practical dimension: The developing country context differs from the wealthier country context in a number of ways. This paper considers the differences in resource constraints and the differences in health priorities and asks to what extent the methodology is able to accommodate these variations. On the theoretical dimension: Few health care evaluations are conducted in a Pareto Optimal world. This paper considers the extent to which the welfare economic foundations of a methodology are successfully imported into its construction, and then how that foundation translates into its practical application.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / W. Richard Goe / The chief aim of this research is to assess the influence of rural amenities on population change amongst all non-metropolitan counties in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) from 1980 to 2000. Rural amenities, as defined by this research, are the attributes of a non-metropolitan locale that enhance the quality of life of the people living or visiting there. First, I discuss the general patterns of population change in non-metropolitan areas during these three decades as well as the possible influence of rural amenities during this time period. I then examine how rural amenities have been studied by past research in order for me to hypothesize their influence on non-metropolitan population change in the United States. Additionally, I draw on past research in order to guide my conceptualization and measurement of rural amenities. Using data from the United States Census of Population, the National Outdoor Recreational Supply Information System (NORSIS), and David McGranahan’s (1999) Natural Amenity Scale, a panel model data set was constructed for the aforementioned counties from 1980 to 2000. This research constructed a panel data set using data from the aforementioned sources for the years of 1980-2000. Accordingly, in this model the change scores on two measures of population change (absolute population change and percentage population change) were regressed on the amenity and control variables. Regression diagnostics were then used to examine the extent to which specific regression assumptions were validated by the data. Results suggest that climatic amenities, river and ocean based amenities, and warm weather recreational amenities were most significantly associated with increase in population amongst the counties examined by this study.

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This thesis presents the results of a 'total reconstitution' of the parish of Colyton in Devon. The demographic patterns found in Colyton have been extensively studied by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure. However, many of the details of the parish's social and economic history had not been well researched. As well as providing the outlines of the economic and social structure, the original Colyton reconstitution was enhanced by extending the database using a diverse collection of records. This provided a check on the coverage of the parish registers, and highlighted the problem of missing marriages in the 1650 to 1750 period. The main benefit of using this method, however, was that demographic patterns could be analysed in a class-specific manner. Demographic change in Colyton proved to be both class- and gender-specific. It was evident that males and females behaved according to different socio-economic imperatives and that, consequently, it was appropriate to view their demographic actions as 'gender-specific'. The result of gender-differentiated economic activity and migration was unbalanced sex ratios. This led to the conclusion that the balance of the population should be given a central position in historical demographic studies since distorted sex ratios are an effective population growth inhibitor.