This thesis presents an account of a sociological research project exploring funeral practices in Stornoway, Inverness and Edinburgh carried out during 2007.  While practices are rooted in Scotland’s Presbyterian past, changes have been occurring over the past decades, and the project explored these changes from the perspective of the reflexive individual and detraditionalisation as described by Giddens (1990, 1991, 1996).  Practices in Stornoway remain traditional, with funeral worship that focuses on God, and community involvement in the conduct of the funeral.  On the mainland, however, funerals show signs of detraditionalisation and personalisation which frequently occur at the suggestion of funeral professionals employed.  This happens through a focus on the deceased during the funeral, commonly through the inclusion of a tribute to the deceased and the playing of music the deceased liked.  The research was carried out using qualitative methods, and involved participant observation at four funerals and the analysis of documents such as <i>In Memoriam</i> notices.  The main research technique employed however was unstructured interviews, involving ministers of religion, humanist funeral celebrants, funeral directors, crematorium staff and a small number of bereaved individuals who had arranged funerals.  Bereaved informants were recruited with the sensitivity of the topic firmly in mind, and the ethical stance taken was informed by the British Sociological Association’s guidelines on ethical practice.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the funeral costs on households. This study was of greater importance in that it makes the public to be aware of ever increasing costs and how this is fundamentally damaging the economic situation of the poor people in the Thulamela Municipality. The major findings of the study were that there existed a gap between what was socially expected at a funeral and what the households could afford in arranging for the funerals. The households used maximal amounts of what they got from burial societies and block contributions. The funerals were not only attended by relatives and friends assisted by undertakers as this would minimize the amounts used, but were attended by multitudes of people who, at the end of the funeral, expected to be entertained with food and drinks. An interesting feature that emerged related to gender was that, in the area of study, women had more to say pertaining to issues of funeral arrangements. In most cases, they were the ones who joined burial societies and gave each other practical support at the time of death. This study is qualitative in nature. The qualitative approach helped the researcher to gain in-depth knowledge about the impact of death in the specific area of study. To explore the topic fully, the researcher conducted focus group discussions and interviews. The respondents in the focus discussions were selected from the households that had bereavement within the last five years directors of five funeral parlours in the municipality were also interviewed. The study highlighted the influence of funeral directors on the expenditure of households in the Thulamela Municipality. The study outlines the misappropriation of funds accumulated over a long period of time in a one day funeral service. The study further revealed the role played by formal insurers, funeral parlour, burial societies and funeral schemes that deceive households in the Thulamela Municipality part of their little income. / Not listed

Inaug.-diss.--Halle-Wittenberg. / Lebenslauf. Includes Aubrey's, Scott's and Blakeborough's versions of the poem, and a German translation. "Literatur": p. [7]-10.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-154).

This work provides a survey of Indian funeral rites, concentrating on ceremonies performed by rural mainland Hindus, who have been divided into the broad social categories of brahmins, caste Hindus and outcastes/tribes. The primary intention is to identify a core of ritual, which can be used as a baseline against which particular funeral performances can be checked. This work also examines the variation of brahminical ritual over time through a survey of ethnographic material taken from Gazetteers and Government Ethnographic Surveys; the Purāṇas, represented by a version of the Garuḍa Purāṇa and a work known as the Garuḍa Purāṇa Sāroddāra; and Caland's summary of Vedic ritual in Die altindischen Todten- und Bestattungsgebräuche. In each of these three sections the funeral rituals have been divided into six stages and these stages have been further divided into sub-sections containing specific rituals or groups of rituals. Sections on untimely death and the role of the widow in her husband's funeral are also included. Particular emphasis is placed throughout the historical survey on the recurrent theme of ambivalence towards death as reflected both in ritual and its interpretation: the relative is loved and honoured but the corpse is frightening and quickly becomes disgusting. The survey examines the relationship between the primary emotional response to death and secondary ideological constructs, and it reveals that while ritual reflects the emotional response to death it does not always reflect secondary ideology. In addition this work includes a summary, in table form, of the variation of funeral ritual according to geographical area for all three social groups; again taken from the ethnographic material of the Gazetteers and Government Surveys.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Sociology)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2008. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Halle-Wittenberg. / Lebenslauf. Includes Aubrey's, Scott's and Blakeborough's versions of the poem, and a German translation. "Literatur": p. [7]-10.

Diss.--Hamburg. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 400-425.

Diss.--Hamburg. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 400-425.