This exploratory qualitative study seeks to describe and understand the career decision-making process of unemployed American women who make up the younger cohort of the baby boom generation, namely those born between 1955 and 1964. Career decision making is a complex process involving a number of generational characteristics as well as personal and economic considerations. Unemployment further complicates this process, especially in the decade prior to receiving retirement benefits. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze semi-structured interviews with eight unemployed younger baby boom women to investigate how their thoughts, assumptions, and opinions affect their career decision-making experience. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model (2005), Erikson's lifespan theory (1959), and selected career development theories provide lenses through which these women's experiences can be understood. Eight themes emerged from the data, including the following: unemployment as a preparation period; career aspirations; digital natives; age discrimination; bioecological systems influence; generativity vs. stagnation; identity expressed in career decision making; and influence of intuition, chance, and personal factors. The findings suggest that the women used the period of unemployment to become self-aware and thoughtful about future career decision making, and enhance their computer as well as career decision making skills. Implications for theory and counseling practice as well as suggestions for future research are provided. / School of Education; / Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES) / PhD; / Dissertation;

ABSTRACT The largest part of this thesis is a novel called Still Life, which explores the mourning process of a mother who loses her baby, and the effect it has on her life and her marriage. The novel alternates between the present and the past (which is 23 years before) so that it illustrates the mother’s reaction to the death of her baby at the time of the death, and her personal development (or lack thereof) many years on.The second part of the thesis is an essay, which reflects on grieving in general and the expression of grief through literature, as well as some of the aspects of the writing process, with particular consideration given to the development of plot,the choice of point-of-view, symbolism, the ending and the choice of writing in a second language.

A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo principal compreender e explicar o desenvolvimento musical dos bebês tendo em vista as suas relações interpessoais no contexto do projeto Música para Bebês. Os dados foram coletados nos encontros de um grupo de bebês (até 2 anos) e seus acompanhantes no projeto de Extensão do Departamento de Música do Instituto de Artes da UFRGS entre março de 2004 e novembro de 2005. Os encontros foram registrados em fitas VHS e, durante a análise, organizados em um protocolo descritivo intitulado Descrição dos Dados de Vídeo (DDV). O referencial teórico utilizado fundamentou-se na educação, na educação musical, na psicologia e na medicina incluindo autores como Piaget (1987), Beyer (1994), Barceló (2003), Stern (1992), Klaus e Klaus (1989), Klaus e Kennel (1992). A pesquisa foi desenvolvida segundo uma abordagem qualitativa e o método utilizado foi de observação longitudinal. A análise dos dados confirmou a hipótese de que o desenvolvimento musical está vinculado às relações interpessoais do bebê e apontou para a importância do processo no seu desenvolvimento musical, ou seja, da promoção de vivências musicais para os bebês. Conforme os dados, o projeto Música para Bebês mostrou-se um espaço no qual tanto os bebês quanto os adultos podem desenvolver as relações interpessoais e as vivências musicais. / The present study aimed mainly at understanding and explaining the musical development of babies considering their interpersonal relationships in the context of the project ‘Music for Babies’. The data were collected during meetings of a group of babies (up to 2 years old) and their companions in the Music Department extension project of UFRGS Institute of Arts between March 2004 and November 2005. The meetings were taped on VHS and were organized in a descriptive protocol, during the analysis, entitled ‘Description of Video Data’ (DDV). The theoretical reference used here was based on education, on musical education, on Psychology and on Medicine including authors such as Piaget (1987), Beyer (1994), Barceló (2003), Stern (1992), Klaus and Klaus (1989), Klaus and Kennel (1992). The research was developed following a qualitative approach and a longitudinal observation method. The analysis of the data confirmed the hypothesis that the musical development is connected to the baby’s interpersonal relationships and it pointed out the importance of the process in his/her musical development, which is, the promotion of musical experiences for babies. According to the data, the project ‘Music for Babies’ showed to be a space in which both babies and adults can develop their interpersonal relationships and their musical experiences.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / Dorothy Durband / D. Elizabeth Kiss / Using constructs derived from expected utility theory and data from the RAND American Life Panel 2012 Well Being 186 and 193 surveys, this study explored the extent to which financial knowledge, financial risk tolerance, and the uncertainty regarding the future need for long-term care were associated with long-term care insurance (LTCI) ownership by baby boomers (N = 1,152). Although extensive studies have been conducted regarding long-term care (LTC) issues facing baby boomers in the United States (U.S.), no studies have been found that investigate whether or not these specific factors were predictive of LTCI ownership by baby boomers. Regression analysis was used to estimate the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables in this study. Consistent with the hypotheses of this study, LTCI knowledge was statistically significantly associated with LTCI ownership by baby boomers. Subjective financial knowledge regarding LTCI had the greatest influence on LTCI ownership. An examination of items used to measure uncertainty regarding the future need of LTC indicated that merely thinking about needing LTC at some point in the future positively influenced LTCI ownership. Baby boomers with higher household income were also more likely to own LTCI. Results of this study may contribute to the existing literature on LTCI ownership among baby boomers. As the need for, and cost of, LTC are expected to increase as the U.S. population ages, study results may also provide information for financial advisors and other stakeholders to better engage baby boomers in ways that promote comprehensive risk management decision making in retirement planning. More specifically, study results may provide stakeholders with information to better understand factors that influence LTCI ownership by baby boomers.

The sheer size of the baby boomer cohort has prompted a great deal of research on life outcomes and potential social strain or benefit of such a large cohort. A major contingency for the baby boomers was the experience of the Vietnam War. Many young men had their life course trajectories interrupted when they were drafted to military service or enrolled in college in an effort to evade the draft. This study uses the Life Family Legacies data to investigate how the Vietnam War may have affected later-life health outcomes of this cohort. Comparing physical health as captured by activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), this study found that baby boomer veterans' outcomes are similar to those of their nonveteran peers. When comparing mental health outcomes by prevalence of PTSD, findings show that those veterans who served in combat or combat support units are much more likely to show persistent signs of PTSD. Findings from this study suggest that the effects of combat are a crucial distinction when comparing outcomes between veterans and nonveterans.

During the last quarter of the twentieth century, there has been a significant expansion in the means by which parents in the United States might use technologies to watch their children. Watching and worrying about children are not new to the job of parenthood, but the ways of watching now available to parents represents a change of degree so great as to represent a change in kind. The parental gaze has become technologized. This dissertation investigates what happens when man-made devices insert themselves into this most basic of human endeavors. Parenting desires, social expectations, and technological capacities have co-evolved in the United States to a point where the norms of parental watching are increasingly technology-based. This is a "mixed methods," cross-case study. It delves into the particulars of three distinct media while looking for patterns of use and effects across the different technologies. The core of this investigation is three case studies of particular surveillance technologies that all came to prominence, in terms of their popularity or frequency of use, in the United States in the last thirty years. The three subjects of these case studies--fetal ultrasound, Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway's 1984 pregnancy advice and guide book What to Expect When You're Expecting, and baby monitors--are all media that offer parents the opportunity to be better and less anxious parents by enhancing their powers of parenting observation. They form an optical--textual--acoustic triad that demonstrates the breadth of media that are enlisted into surveillance practices. These new anxiety technologies change thinking, perceptions, and attitudes. They serve both to introduce new human capacities and to direct and to mold existing capacities. They have also helped to change our ideas of what is possible. A few overarching characteristics of American parental thinking have helped to pushed surveillance to prominence. Middle class American parents of the last quarter of the twentieth century have come to feel that the world is a more dangerous place for their children. They perceive their offspring as more vulnerable to dangers and as less capable of avoiding these dangers on their own. Parents also feel an increased sense of personal responsibility for the safety of their children. It is not that that contemporary parents have warmer or deeper feelings toward their children, but rather that contemporary parents believe that they both can and should control a much broader range of dangers to their children than parents in the past believed they could control. The "anxiety technologies" of this study serve in part to bring home to their users the riskiness of parenting and the vulnerability of the fetus/infant. These technologies have come to promote responsibility expansion, efficiency orientation, and risk focus for parents. While these technologies do provide parents with a great deal more focused information, many of the perceived enhancements in powers to effect outcomes are presumptive, illusory effects of actual increases in information. Information without influence is as likely to contribute to anxiety as to power.

The purpose of this study was to examine the financial portfolios of near-retiree women and compare their assets to near-retiree men. This study also investigated how economic and demographic factors were associated with the probability of holding aggressive assets and the level of savings. Socioeconomic variables were used to create a profile of the investment behaviors and to examine the level of savings among near-retiree women and men. Specific variables key to the study included household income, age, marital status, education, race, and self-reported health of near-retiree women and men. The descriptive statistics indicated that overall, average levels of all asset categories for the female group were much lower than they were for the male group among near-retirees. According to the findings of this study, women tended to invest in safer assets such as CDs, savings bonds, and T-bills rather than in more aggressive assets such as stocks, business assets, and real estate assets. The results from both the logistic regression and Ordinary least squares regression analyses indicated that gender had no statistically significant impact on the investment and savings behavior among near-retirees aged 51 - 64. However, household income, age, marital status, education, race, and the self-reported health status of near-retirees were all significant determinants of the investment and saving behavior among near-retirees aged 51 - 64. For example, near-retirees, with higher income, older, married, higher education, Whites, and in good health, were more likely to own aggressive assets and reported higher level of savings as compared to other near-retirees. This study also explored socioeconomic factors associated with the level of savings among near-retiree women aged 51 - 64. The findings of this study indicated that household income, age, education, and race were significant determinants of the level of savings among near-retiree women aged 51 - 64. The results of the OLS regression analysis showed that women with lower income, younger, less education, and non-Whites reported lower levels of savings than did other women. Implications of the findings, limitations of the current study, and suggestions for future study were presented in the final section. (88 pages)

New Zealand has a well-established network of accommodations, transportation, and visitor activities developed specifically for backpackers. These tourists account for almost ten percent of the country’s international visitor expenditure. To date, the majority of backpacker research has focussed on the traditional market segment of student and youth travellers, though a few quantitative studies have also researched the needs and preferences of older travellers using hostels and backpackers’ accommodations. Though more than 50 percent of New Zealand’s international visitors are over age 40, few currently stay at this type of accommodation. Using New Zealand as a case study, this thesis explores, qualitatively, the perspectives of older backpackers: their self-perceptions, their travel motivations, their needs and expectations in accommodation. In addition, it examines the points of view of the owners of small, independent backpackers’ accommodations to gain their perspectives on hosting a multi-generational clientele and on what the implications might be of expanding this market. Key findings show that older travellers who use backpackers’ accommodations technically meet all Pearce’s (1990) original definitions of “backpacker” – they prefer budget accommodations, they are socially interactive, they travel independently and flexibly, they travel for longer holidays than do most, and they choose informal and participatory activities. However, these travellers reject the self-definition of “backpacker”, an impasse that presents a lexical challenge to both scholars and tourism marketers. The final section addresses the impacts and implications of “backpacker” nomenclature on baby boomer travellers, academia, and the backpacker industry at large.

This is a study of a generation of women who are about to enter the climacteric period of their life, the menopause. Born between the years 1946 and 1956 they have been the object of continuous scrutiny by various interest groups. Because they are seen to be unique, many acronyms and titles, the most noted being the 'Baby Boomers' have been attached to them. The women of this generation have been classed as a Very active' generation, leaving a clear mark on society and the re-emerging women's movement. As they near menopause they are approaching a stage that could be seen as their last reproductive transition. For many women there is no cultural ritual, nor a single story to guide them through this period They are however not without advice. The 'big voices' of the drug companies, the medical system and the media, all tender their guidance as the dominant voice. These women have been told what to do by experts throughout their whole lives. It seems 'expert advice' on their reproductive phases have been penned mostly by men in the interests of treating, controlling and saving them. Control of their body remains a key struggle, both physically and linguistically. The purpose of the research was to study the expectations of this post-war, Baby Boom generation of menopause. The study shows that some women have made decisions to embrace non-medical help and accept menopause as an inevitable transition, while others are willing to consider medical help to enhance their 'quality of life '. Believing it is time to look after themselves, it seems many women will take a pragmatic view and accept medical opinion that the menopause is a deficiency disease, even if this requires them to become part of the consumer driven/drug company push for a 'symptom free' menopause. They wish to remain untroubled and express a willingness to do whatever they need to fulfil this. Their fervent hope is that the menopause will not upset their career, family or 'life'. Consequently a large majority of these women will think about or actively pursue hormone replacement therapy.

Sustainability has been an important and discussed issue during the last decades. Sustainability has been defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This concern for the environment includes both the business world as well as individuals. As the green market continues growing, and in order to keep up with consumers’ new wants and needs firms may have to adjust their marketing strategies to them. Marketing practice has taken a new approach towards sustainability and many organizations have started to implement sustainable marketing. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate Baby Boomers and Generation Y values towards sustainability and if they act in accordance to their own values. Furthermore, the results and the analysis will help to find if there are any similarities or differences between these generations and their values towards sustainability and sustainable consumption. Previous researches have been focused on sustainability, consumer behavior, and only a few of them included the study of a generation. However, there are not any currently researches in academic literature that includes both generations and their values towards sustainability. This study is based on a qualitative research on Baby Boomers and Generation Y. Two focus groups have been conducted in order to get a deeper understanding of these generations’ values towards sustainability. However, it is important to point out that it is not possible to draw general conclusions from the results. The results show that there are common values and differences between the generations. This thesis has laid a good foundation for possible future research about the generations and sustainability. The results from the study may be of some valuable for Swedish retail businesses and sustainable/organic products manufactures. Moreover, it could help marketers to adapt their marketing strategies to suit these generation’s needs.