Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 62 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62).

It is a commonly held theory that population is related to levels of social and economic development within a given country or society. The work of Becker in the early 1960s gave much impetus to studies of the relationship between fertility, mortality and migration, on the one hand and their determinants, on the other. The determinants were seen as the social, economic, political and cultural settings of the countries or socities under study. The thesis attempts to apply this theory in relation to the demographic development of Zimbabwe. The thesis postulates that socio-economic differentials within Zimbabwe are sufficiently pronounced as to begin to affect the demographic structure of the country. It is with this in mind that three objectives are set for the thesis: a) the exploration of the demographic structure of the population of Zimbabwe, as a means of furthering the understanding of the nature of the demographic development of the country; b) the development and utilization of data estimation techniques as a means of overcoming the deficiencies in the data collected from official sources; and, c) the investigation of the link between population change, on the one hand, with social and economic development on the other. The hypothesis proceeds through the examination of such social and economic variables as income, education, health and other social indicators in relation to fertility, migration and mortality. Due to the inadequacy of data on the demographic variables, the thesis estimates such data using the recognized relationships among the demographic variables. The estimated demographic measures are subjected to correlation and regression analysis after the development structure of the country has been explored through factor and cluster analysis. Three geographical scales are used in the analyses viz. the province, the district and the local authority area. Use of the three geographical scales exposes the dangers of extrapolating and generalizing national patterns of demographic, social and economic development to the levels of the district and the local authority, as well as exposing different features of the development profile of the country of Zimbabwe. The thesis concludes that there is a differentiation in the demographic profile of the various geographical regions of the country, based on inequitable distribution of resources in the past when the country was under white settler colonial rule. The advent of independence and the introduction of policies designed to reduce such inequalities had not had time to work by the time the 1982 Census, from whose data the study is based, was taken. The thesis therefore recommends that further censuses are required if the effect of such policies are to be measured. It further recommends the use of cross-temporal instead of the cross-sectional data which was applied in this study.

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Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / One of the population structures associated with demographic dividend is “demographic transition”, which is a shift from high fertility and mortality to low fertility and mortality. It is understood that low dependency ratio (shows that there are relatively more adults of working age who can support the young and the old of the populace) is one major factor in achieving a successful demographic dividend (DD) (Esther, 2013). DD refers to the fast-economic growth that is achieved by a country when there are dependency ratios. This definition means that the proportion of people of working age group (15-64) is higher, compared to those of ages lower than 15 and above 64 years (Statistics SA, 2017). / 2022

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Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Menstruation is an integral and normal part of human life, indeed of human existence. Instead of being celebrated as a noteworthy landmark of biological maturity in a young girl‟s life, menstruation has become an organic experience burdened with socio-cultural implications (Ussher, 2006). Existing studies suggest that males often view menstruation in a more negative light, which have shown to promote sexism and negative attitudes towards women (Marvan, Vazquez-Toboada, & Chrisler, 2013). The Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire (MAQ) was designed to assess attitudes towards menstruation among men and women and has been applied in a variety of contexts (Brooks-Gun and Ruble, 1980). Despite the extensive use of this scale in various contexts (Jarrah & Kamel, 2012; Neşe Sahin Ozdemir, 2013) there is limited information on its psychometric properties, specifically the factor structure of the instrument. For the MAQ to be meaningful when used in South Africa, it is first necessary to explore the psychometric properties of the instrument when applied to a South African sample. Participants (n = 163) for the study were young male students from the University of the Western Cape who were recruited through purposive sampling. Permission to access students was obtained from the registrar‟s office. Informed consent was obtained from participants for data collection and for use of the data for research purposes. The questionnaires were anonymous in order to protect participant identities. To further ensure confidentiality, all data was kept on a password protected personal computer. Furthermore, this study utilised a cross-sectional research design. Two self-report measures were administered: the MAQ and a demographic questionnaire. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to uncover the underlying structure of the MAQ. The study found that both the EFA, as well as the forced factor solution, did not produce a meaningful pattern of loadings. All ethical guidelines stipulated by the University of the Western Cape were strictly adhered to.

This thesis explores the aspirations of black South Africans who were born after the end of apartheid. These young people are controversially referred to as the ‘born free' generation. They were born into a democracy that officially offers them equal opportunities but continues to grapple with a legacy of racial discrimination, spatial segregation and unequal educational provision. Despite the majority of ‘born frees' experiencing poor educational attainment and high levels of unemployment, existing research indicates that those in this category hold ambitious future aspirations, although these rarely come to fruition. The focus of my work is the aspirations of rural youth and draws upon ten months of ethnographic data collected within a township in Mpumalanga province. It analyses selected curriculum content, observations, focus groups and interviews with two groups of young people – those in their last year of schooling and those two years out of school. Through ethnographic observations in one secondary school in particular, I elucidate how students' schooling environments relay particular discourses concerning what constitutes a ‘good education' and what it means to aspire towards a ‘good life.' Integrating insights from feminist, poststructural and postcolonial theories, I consider how the discourses of the ‘new South Africa' are transmitted within the schooling environments, homes and wider social and political arenas which these young people occupy, thereby creating and structuring ways for them to speak and think about their futures. My analysis engages with the shifting attachments that shape how South Africans living in a rural area construct their narratives of the future and demonstrates how these young people's performances of identity are both spatially constructed and affectively negotiated. By considering the silences and contradictions in their imaginaries, this thesis shows how the discourses through which these imaginaries are constructed create boundaries around ways of being and becoming that are deemed valuable and those that are not. In problematising an understanding of aspiration as an individual disposition, my research demonstrates that the hopes of young, black South Africans are rooted in social and spatial inequalities.

Background: Snoring is a common sleep disorder and it is associated with many modifiable risk factors and chronic diseases. This cross sectional study tries to identify association of snoring with smoking, alcohol intake before sleep and hypertension among Asian Indians. Methodology: A total of 241 Asian Indians ˃ 18 yrs were studied. Self assessment questionnaires seeking history of hypertension or cardiovascular disease were used to assess the outcomes. Demographic data and data related to snoring were obtained by using the Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disordered Questionnaire (SA-SDQ). The items selected for inclusion from the SDQ were at junior high school reading level, five-level Likert scale response, formatted so that higher numerical values represented greater symptom severity. Results: Snoring was found to be associated with smoking, alcohol intake before going to bed, and hypertension. This association was present even after controlling for confounding factors like Age, Body Mass Index (BMI), and Gender. Conclusion: Insight into association of snoring with modifiable risk factors like smoking and alcohol before sleep and also between snoring and chronic disease like hypertension might help in early detection and management of chronic diseases both in snorers and their annoyed partner/ family.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Don Schlagenhauf, Florida State University, College of Social Science, Dept. of Economics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 15, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

A revision of the author's thesis, University of California at Berkeley. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-171).