This dissertation explores the cultural and socioeconomic factors that influence adult role transitions in Ghana. Guided by a life course theoretical framework, and using a nationally representative survey (2003-2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys), I estimate accelerated failure-time (AFT) log-normal models that control for the potential effects of unobserved heterogeneity due to the possible omission of certain relevant covariates. The models reveal that when the most optimal hazard distribution function is specified in an event history model, the problem of unobserved heterogeneity becomes significantly reduced. Results from both non-parametric and parametric models suggest a convergence in marriage and parenthood timing among contemporary young women and young men in Ghana compared with their older cohort, highlighting the salience of sociocultural timing on individuals’ life course decisions. The study also utilizes qualitative data from 30 in-depth interviews conducted in Aburi in the Eastern Region of Ghana, during the summer of 2010. The qualitative approach complements the survey methods by uncovering the influential role of the religious institution, a growing sense of individualism, as well as an emerging consumerist culture on family formation decisions in Ghana. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that the spread of information technology in the rapidly globalizing world has had differential effects on two birth cohorts in Ghana. / Thesis (Ph.D, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-12-19 15:00:23.689

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This thesis examines how tourism affects conditions for young adults in rural areas. Such a study lies at the intersection of research about tourism impacts, adult transition, and rural areas. The aim is to examine how largescale tourism affects the opportunities for young adults living in rural areas; their perception of place and the perceived opportunities and obstacles that tourism provides. The thesis utilizes a mixed method approach. A quantitative study based on micro-data on individuals identifies the patterns and magnitudes of the mechanisms by which tourism affects population change among young adults. Interview methods are used in the case study area, Sälen, to investigate these mechanisms in depth. Finally, the rural–urban dichotomy is explored in a conceptual study that asks how tourism affects the perception of a local village as either rural or urban. Young inhabitants in rural areas are rarely considered in tourism research; therefore, the main contribution of this thesis is that it illuminates how tourism affects conditions for young adults in rural areas. The thesis reveals a substantial impact on the adult transition, mainly due to easier access to the labor market and a good supply of jobs during the high season. Further, the large number of people passing through creates flows of opportunities to make friends, get a job, or just meet people. All of these factors contribute to high mobility in these places, and to the perception of them as places where things happen. The high mobility in Sälen implies that fixed migrant categories (such as stayers and leavers) are largely insufficient. The tourism environment creates a space that is always under construction and continually producing new social relations mainly perceived as opportunities. Conceptualizing this as a modern rurality is a way to move beyond the often implicit notions of urban as modern and rural as traditional.

This thesis examines how tourism affects conditions for young adults in rural areas. Such a study lies at the intersection of research about tourism impacts, adult transition, and rural areas. The aim is to examine how largescale tourism affects the opportunities for young adults living in rural areas; their perception of place and the perceived opportunities and obstacles that tourism provides. The thesis utilizes a mixed method approach. A quantitative study based on micro-data on individuals identifies the patterns and magnitudes of the mechanisms by which tourism affects population change among young adults. Interview methods are used in the case study area, Sälen, to investigate these mechanisms in depth. Finally, the rural–urban dichotomy is explored in a conceptual study that asks how tourism affects the perception of a local village as either rural or urban. Young inhabitants in rural areas are rarely considered in tourism research; therefore, the main contribution of this thesis is that it illuminates how tourism affects conditions for young adults in rural areas. The thesis reveals a substantial impact on the adult transition, mainly due to easier access to the labor market and a good supply of jobs during the high season. Further, the large number of people passing through creates flows of opportunities to make friends, get a job, or just meet people. All of these factors contribute to high mobility in these places, and to the perception of them as places where things happen. The high mobility in Sälen implies that fixed migrant categories (such as stayers and leavers) are largely insufficient. The tourism environment creates a space that is always under construction and continually producing new social relations mainly perceived as opportunities. Conceptualizing this as a modern rurality is a way to move beyond the often implicit notions of urban as modern and rural as traditional.