Dans le domaine des évaluations des performances des élèves en fin de scolarité obligatoire, et à côté des traditionnelles évaluations scolaires, s’est développé le Programme International pour le Suivi des Acquis (PISA), harmonisé par l’Organisation de Coopération et de Développements Économiques (l’OCDE). Ce programme a atteint une grande notoriété internationale et tente de s’imposer comme programme qui évalue les compétences des élèves. Ce mémoire explore dans quelle mesure les évaluations PISA permettent de prédire les performances scolaires des élèves lors de la transition de la fin des études secondaires vers les études collégiales au Québec. Nous avons construit une variable mesurant l’évolution des performances scolaires entre le secondaire et le Cégep. Nos résultats tendent à confirmer que les évaluations PISA sont en mesure de prédire en partie la continuité des bonnes performances scolaires après contrôle des variables contextuelles des parcours de vie. Cependant, les évaluations scolaires antérieures expliquent mieux cette continuité des bonnes performances scolaires réalisées en première année de postsecondaire que les évaluations PISA. Néanmoins, toujours après contrôle des variables contextuelles, les évaluations scolaires antérieures ne sont pas capables de prédire la différence entre des performances scolaires faibles et fortes lors de la transition secondaire-collégial. Seules les évaluations PISA conservent une faible part pour expliquer ces différences. / In order to assess international student performance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed academic assessments, and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for students reaching the end of the compulsory schooling. This program has achieved international reknown and is intended to become a key program for assessing student performance in skills necessary for success in life. This research presented here explores in to what degree the PISA is capable of predicting academic success of students who are moving into postsecondary studies in the province of Quebec. We have defined a variable allowing us to predict performance results for students as they transition from high school to Cégep. Our results tend to confirm that the PISA assessments are able to predict in part the continuation of good grades in school when variables related to student life are controlled for. However, an even better indicator than PISA assessments is the earlier grades, which explain the grades earned in the first year of postsecondary studies. However, after controlling for some environmental variables, the early grades are not able to predict the difference between low and high scores during the transition. Only the PISA assessments preserve a low part to predict a decline in school performance for those making the transition to postsecondary studies.

Cette thèse propose de saisir les trajectoires biographiques de jeunes Français au regard de l'influence de leurs relations personnelles. Nous y mettons en lumière les contextes de vie et les différents modes de sociabilité qui façonnent des réseaux aux formes et aux effets inégaux sur les destinées.A l’entrée dans la vie adulte, les individus sont invités à investir les rôles majeurs qui vont caractériser leurs positions dans le monde social. Comment les relations personnelles sont-elles mobilisées dans ces occasions ? Qui intervient précisément ? Quelles ressources et contraintes offrent-elles ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nous avons interviewé longuement une trentaine de jeunes adultes aux origines sociales contrastées vivant à Montpellier. Ensemble, nous avons retracé plus de 200 séquences majeures qui ont rythmé leurs parcours, afin de faire apparaitre les épisodes dans lesquels leurs relations ont joué un rôle décisif. Nous avons également reconstitué avec eux le cercle de liens proches qui les ont accompagnés dans les principales dimensions de leur vie sociale. L’analyse des caractéristiques de près de 400 relations, de leur histoire et des contours des réseaux personnels qu’elles forment, nous a permis de mettre à jour des entourages très hétérogènes, à même de contraindre les trajectoires ou d’ouvrir parfois à de nouveaux horizons. L’examen très précis des pratiques de sociabilité, enfin, a révélé des différences culturelles qui concourent à l’élaboration de réseaux aux formes et aux effets si distincts. Cette recherche permet alors de mieux saisir comment des supports relationnels viennent inégalement appuyer l’évolution des individus dans le monde social. / This thesis proposes to understand the biographical trajectories of young French people according to the influence of their personal relationships. We expose the contexts of life and the differents modes of sociability that shape networks with unequal forms and effects on destinies. At the entrance of adult life, individuals are invited to invest the major roles that will characterize their positions in the social world. How are personal relationships mobilized on these occasions ? Who intervene precisely ? What resources and constraints do they offer ? To answer these questions, we interviewed at lenght about thirty young adults with contrasted social origins living in Montpellier. Together, we have retraced more than 200 major sequences that have punctuated their lifecourse, in order to reveal the episodes in which their relations played a decisive role. We have also reconstituted with them the circle of close bonds which have accompanied them in the main dimensions of their social life. The analysis of the characteristics of nearly 400 relationships, their history and the contours of the personal networks they form, has enabled us to reveal very heterogeneous entourage, able to constrain the trajectories or to open sometimes to new horizons. Lastly, the very precise examination of sociability practices revealed cultural differences that contribute to the development of networks with such distinct forms and effects. Thereby, this research allows to better understand how relational supports unequally sustain the evolution of individuals in the social world.

Dans le domaine des évaluations des performances des élèves en fin de scolarité obligatoire, et à côté des traditionnelles évaluations scolaires, s’est développé le Programme International pour le Suivi des Acquis (PISA), harmonisé par l’Organisation de Coopération et de Développements Économiques (l’OCDE). Ce programme a atteint une grande notoriété internationale et tente de s’imposer comme programme qui évalue les compétences des élèves. Ce mémoire explore dans quelle mesure les évaluations PISA permettent de prédire les performances scolaires des élèves lors de la transition de la fin des études secondaires vers les études collégiales au Québec. Nous avons construit une variable mesurant l’évolution des performances scolaires entre le secondaire et le Cégep. Nos résultats tendent à confirmer que les évaluations PISA sont en mesure de prédire en partie la continuité des bonnes performances scolaires après contrôle des variables contextuelles des parcours de vie. Cependant, les évaluations scolaires antérieures expliquent mieux cette continuité des bonnes performances scolaires réalisées en première année de postsecondaire que les évaluations PISA. Néanmoins, toujours après contrôle des variables contextuelles, les évaluations scolaires antérieures ne sont pas capables de prédire la différence entre des performances scolaires faibles et fortes lors de la transition secondaire-collégial. Seules les évaluations PISA conservent une faible part pour expliquer ces différences. / In order to assess international student performance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed academic assessments, and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for students reaching the end of the compulsory schooling. This program has achieved international reknown and is intended to become a key program for assessing student performance in skills necessary for success in life. This research presented here explores in to what degree the PISA is capable of predicting academic success of students who are moving into postsecondary studies in the province of Quebec. We have defined a variable allowing us to predict performance results for students as they transition from high school to Cégep. Our results tend to confirm that the PISA assessments are able to predict in part the continuation of good grades in school when variables related to student life are controlled for. However, an even better indicator than PISA assessments is the earlier grades, which explain the grades earned in the first year of postsecondary studies. However, after controlling for some environmental variables, the early grades are not able to predict the difference between low and high scores during the transition. Only the PISA assessments preserve a low part to predict a decline in school performance for those making the transition to postsecondary studies.

Certain aspects of our modern diet have been implicated in thedevelopment of non-communicable diseases. For instance, energyconsumed in excess of an individual's physiological requirements maylead to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes mellitus, gall bladder disease,coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and possibly some cancers.Although many of these diet-related diseases can be controlled by modernmedicine, they cannot be cured. Instead, prevention through public healthstrategies is the only satisfactory solution. One of the major strategies forprevention of diet-related diseases in Australia is to modify the nationaldiet (Rogers 1987). In April 1979, the Commonwealth Department of Health responded to theWorld Health Organisation's call for the development of national food andnutrition polices by proposing the Dietary Guidelines for Australians. "TheDietary Guidelines for Australians provide advice to the general populationabout healthy food choices, so that their usual diet contributes to ahealthy life-style and is consistent with minimal risk for the developmentof diet-related diseases" (National Health and Medical Research Council1992:ix). However, in order to achieve the aim of the dietary guidelines,supporting educational programs are required. This is because it isbelieved that as consumers become more informed about food, nutrition,health, and the dietary guidelines, they are more likely to begin changingtheir diet in the directions recommended by the CommonwealthDepartment of Health and Family Services (1998a). Public health professionals believe that behaviour-change theories arebeneficial in gaining an understanding of the evolution of peoples' foodand nutrition behaviours. Behaviour-change theories are typicallyintegrated into dietary interventions as a means of educating theAustralian population about healthy food choices. However, attempts tochange Australians' food and nutrition behaviours by applying behaviour-change theories have been adiaphorous. Therefore, public health professionals need to explore traditional food and nutrition practices inorder to determine more effective dietary change strategies for the Australian population. Qualitative research is complementary to existing quantitative studies onbehaviour-change. Since qualitative methodologies focus on the whole ofhuman experience and the meaning ascribed by individuals living theexperience, these methodologies permit broader understanding and deeperinsight into complex human behaviours such as food consumption thanwhat might be obtained from grossly measured quantitativeclassifications. Grounded theory was the qualitative methodology chosenfor this study because it allowed me to theorise about the rationale forconsumers' current food choices. Bread and Cereal consumption waschosen as an important staple food group in which to explore thisphenomenon. Thus, this research was designed to discover, understand,and theorise about the rationale for consumers' current Bread and Cerealfood choices. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with22 participants living in South-East Queensland. Adult males and femalesfrom three-generational families of varying ethnicity were recruited frommy personal network of associates. Interviews were analysed usinggrounded theory methodology for data analysis. The resulting Grounded Substantive Theory of Food Autonomy posits thatconsumers have different levels of power when it comes to selecting theBreads and Cereals they want to eat and that their power to choose themis governed by micro- and macroenvironmental forces.Microenvironmental forces envelop sociofamilial powers such as parents,partner, and offspring whereas macroenvironmental forces envelop thesociopolitical powers of the food industry, health professionals, andinstitutions. These forces influence a consumer's capacity to select theBreads and Cereals they want to eat. Consumers engage in the process ofinformation gathering in order to overcome these prevailing influences. The significance of the Grounded Substantive Theory of Food Autonomy asa means for explaining how consumers acquire food autonomy fromprevailing influences in order to eat the Breads and Cereals they desirehas important implications for public health nutrition education andpractice. An understanding of the life long nature underpinning a person'sfood behaviour will help nutrition and dietetic professionals understandbetter the range of change that is likely to be possible, and the best waysto facilitate food autonomy through appropriate education and compatibledietary interventions. Autonomy is not a new concept but when associatedwith food it introduces the public health professional to a paradoxicalperspective for studying consumers' food behaviour, which has beencustomarily looked at via the decision making process of food choice andbehaviour-change theories with adiaphorous effects.

Syftet med avhandlingen är att utforska äldre människors föreställningar om och förhållningssätt till den egna framtiden, döendet och döden. Det är ämnen som hittills har fått begränsad uppmärksamhet. En bakomliggande orsak till detta är att äldreforskning och dödsforskning sällan har förenats. Dessutom synliggörs äldres döende och död nästan inte alls i offentlig debatt, trots att ålderdomen är den fas i livet då döden normalt inträffar. Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med 27 äldre kvinnor och män i åldrarna 70–91 år, vilka alla bodde i ordinärt boende och betraktade sig själva som relativt friska. Genomförande, analys och tolkning av intervjuerna har utgått från ett livsloppsperspektiv, där både en abduktiv och en hermeneutisk ansats tillämpades. I analys och tolkning framkom kontrasterande mönster i de intervjuades funderingar på den egna framtiden och döden, i deras samtal med någon om döden, i deras erfarenheter av döende och död, och i vad de trodde hände efter döden. Resultaten visar också att funderingar och agerande inför en krympande framtid utgjorde centrala inslag i de äldres vardag och att de intervjuade laborerade med olika tidshorisonter. Ett annat resultat handlar vad som är rätt tidpunkt i livet för att fundera på döden, samtala med andra om döden, för att planera inför döden och för ett ”efter döden”. Det är en komplex bild av äldres föreställningar om den egna framtiden, döendet och döden som framkommit, där teman som åldersmönster, ett förlängt livslopp, ansvar, kontroll och värdighet är centrala inslag. Avhandlingens resultat kan bidra till en bättre förståelse för äldre människors situation i ljuset av en krympande framtid, döende och död. / The aim of the dissertation is to explore older people´s thoughts and conceptions about their own future, death and dying. It is an academic field that, to date, has received limited attention. One reason for this is that gerontology and thanatology has rarely worked together. The discussion is also absent from public debate. At the same time, advanced age is normally the time when death occurs. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 27 older women and men, aged 70-91, all of whom lived in ordinary housing and who regarded themselves as being in good health. The research process, in all phases, adopted a lifecourse perspective, and both abductive and hermeneutic analytic tools were used. The analysis and the interpretations revealed contrasting patterns regarding whether the participants thought about their future and death, had conversations about these subjects, whether they had previous experience related to dying and death, and their ideas about what happens after death. The results indicated that reflections about and actions to handle a diminishing future were central elements in the everyday life of the participants, who experimented with various time horizons. A key pattern concerned what was “the right time” for reflections about death, and for the planning of arrangements related to death. A complex overall picture of older people´s conceptions about their future, death and dying emerged in the results, where age patterns, a prolonged life course, responsibility, control and dignity were central themes. The results may contribute to a better understanding of older people´s existential situation, in the face of a diminishing future, death and dying.

Statistiken visar att den psykiska ohälsan hos ungdomar ökar. Rapporter, teorier och tidigare forskning pekar på att övergången mellan barn och vuxen är skör och att skolan har en stor betydelse för individen. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka ungdomens upplevelser av nuvarande livsfas samt av det skolsociala stödet. Studien har tillämpats en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer för att besvara syftet. Åtta ungdomar från Stockholm i åldern 18–19 år intervjuades. Empirin analyserades med hjälp av flertalet teorier: moderniteten och individen, livsloppsperspektivet samt ett utvecklingsekologiskt perspektiv. Resultatet indikerar att ungdomar står inför en mängd val som genererar press och stress. Sociala medier är vidare ett fenomen som ungdomen pekar ut som en stor del av livet som genererar en stor del stress och press. Det finns dock en positiv aspekt med sociala medier, ungdomen menar på att plattformarna utgör möjligheter att känna samhörighet. Vänner, familj och lärare utgör det största stödet för ungdomen. Ungdomen anser att lärarna är den profession som i skolan omfattar det största skolsociala stödet. Skolkuratorn är mångt och mycket en främling på skolan och borde enligt ungdomen vara en mer involverad profession i skolans dagliga arbete. / Statistics show that the mental health of adolescens is increasing. Reports, theories and present research indicates that the transitions between child and adult is fragile and that schools are of great importance for the adolescens. This study aims to investigate the youth’s perspective on the current phase of life and the experience of school social support. The study used a qualitative strategy with semistructured interviews to answer the purpose. Eight youths in the ages 18–19 from Stockholm were interviewed. The result was analysed using several theories: modernity and the individual, the lifecourse perspective and a developmental ecological perspective. The result indicates that adolecents are facing a variety of choices that generate pressure and stress. Furthermore, is social media a phenomenon that the youths pointed out as a major part of their life. Although it also generates a great deal of stress and pressure there is a positive aspect with social media. The youth believes that the platforms makes opportunities to feel connected with others.  Friends, families and teachers are the greatest support for the adolecents. They think that teachers are the profession that make most of the school social support at school. The school counseling, is by large, a stranger and according to the youth, should be a more involved profession in the school’s daily work.

Alors que dans les médias, les migrations sont présentées comme le résultat de crises humanitaires, l’expatriation et la mobilité internationale sont dépeintes comme les résultats naturels d’une globalisation qui sert autant aux pays du Sud qu’au pays du Nord. Or, un nombre grandissant d’Européens font le choix de s’installer dans un Sud à long terme, malgré la sécurité supposée offerte par les États « providence » ou de « bien-être » desquels ils proviennent. Dans la littérature universitaire, ces derniers sont souvent identifiés comme des agents reproducteurs des systèmes postcoloniaux ou comme des migrants privilégiés. Dans un contexte où la Commission Européenne s’est donné le mandat, depuis maintenant une quinzaine d’années, de favoriser autant la mobilité internationale que l’entrepreneuriat chez les jeunes, qu’en est-il des jeunes Européens qui s’engagent dans le développement d’un projet entrepreneurial dans un Sud, alors qu’ils sont encore au début de leur carrière professionnelle? Cette recherche vise à décrire l’expérience migratoire et d’entrepreneuriat de jeunes adultes et adultes middle-aged Européens dans la ville de Mexico en particulier. Nous avons effectué une enquête ethnographique d’une durée d’un an et demi situé dans la ville de Mexico qui tient compte des temporalités inhérentes aux processus migratoires et entrepreneuriaux. Les données sont tirées des récits biographiques des participants, de différentes activités d’observation en lien avec leur vie entrepreneuriale et leur condition de migrants « du premier monde », ainsi qu’une expérience de quotidienneté partagée. À travers une lorgnette principalement interactionniste, la thèse présente les caractéristiques des trajectoires de ces entrepreneurs, les quêtes qui sont à la source de la constitution de leur projet entrepreneurial et la place qu’ils occupent socialement dans le contexte de la métropole de Mexico. Nous retenons que les migrations Nord-Sud peuvent aussi impliquées un processus d’incorporation marqué par des ruptures, des difficultés ou de nécessaires négociations identitaires, tout comme les migrations traditionnellement étudiées. Cela dit, leur expérience contient aussi son lot d’aspects connectés aux conceptions divisant les « Nords des Suds » qui sont enracinés dans le contexte local particulier, la ville de Mexico, et qui se révèlent dans l’interaction sociale en présence des homologues mexicains qu’ils rencontrent. / While in the media, migration is presented as the result of humanitarian crises, expatriation and international mobility are portrayed as the natural results of a globalization that serves the countries of the South as much as the countries of the North. However, a growing number of Europeans choose to settle in the South for the long term, despite the supposed security offered by the « welfare » states. In academic literature, the latter are often identified as reproductive agents of postcolonial systems or as privileged migrants. In a context where the European Commission has given itself the mandate, for about fifteen years now, to promote both international mobility and entrepreneurship among young people, what about young Europeans who engage in the development of an entrepreneurial project in a South, while they are still at the beginning of their professional career? This research aims to describe the migration and entrepreneurship experience of young adult and middle-aged adult Europeans in Mexico City in particular. We carried out an ethnographic fieldwork located in Mexico City for a year and a half, aiming to consider the temporalities inherent to migratory and entrepreneurial processes. The data is drawn from the biographical accounts of the participants, from various observation activities related to their entrepreneurial life and their condition as "first world" migrants, as well as a shared daily experience. Through a mainly interactionist lens, the thesis presents the characteristics of the trajectories of these entrepreneurs, the quests that are at the core of the constitution of their entrepreneurial project and the place they occupy socially in the context of the metropolis of Mexico. We retain that North-South migrations can also involve a process of incorporation marked by ruptures, difficulties or necessary identity negotiations, just like the migrations traditionally studied. That said, their experience also contains aspects connected to the conceptions of a world divided between the "North of the South" which are rooted in the particular local context, Mexico City, and which are revealed in the social interaction in the presence of the Mexican counterparts that they meet.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Social support has been shown to positively impact various aspects of health across the lifespan, including sexual health and well-being. While past research on sexual well-being has tended to focus on the earlier stages of the life course, notably adolescence and young adulthood, this is a largely ignored area of research past the reproductive stage of life. Current research finds that while social support, from partners, family, and friends alike, has generally positive influences on health in mid to late adulthood, these outcomes are varied in regards to sexual well-being. This thesis aims to (1) assess the role of friend support in the sexual well-being of older adults and (2) to explore if physical and mental health are significant mediators of this relationship, using data from Wave II of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). This study found that sixty two percent of older adults are not having sex as much as they would like and 61% feel that their sex life is lacking in quality. Increased feelings of openness with friends was associated with satisfaction with sexual frequency (p=.055). However, a significant association could not be established between satisfaction with quality of sex life and friend support. In addition, physical and mental health status were not found to be significant mediators.

Alors que dans les sociétés de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, le mariage représente traditionnellement le point de départ de la séquence des événements démographiques associés à la formation de la famille, aujourd’hui cette séquence s’est complexifiée. Suite à l’effritement des modes traditionnels du passage à l’âge adulte, les jeunes citadins reportent leur mariage, le contexte de l’initiation sexuelle est plus fréquemment prénuptial et le nombre de naissances hors mariage semble augmenter. Peu d’études se sont penchées sur l’analyse de la séquence de ces événements sous l’angle du parcours individuel. L’objectif central de ce mémoire est d’explorer, de décrire et d’expliquer les changements survenus dans les parcours d’entrée en vie féconde des femmes durant leur jeunesse en utilisant comme unité d’analyse l’entièreté des parcours. Utilisant les données EDS du Burkina Faso, nous synthétisons en parcours, sous forme des séquences d’épisodes, les calendriers du premier rapport sexuel, de la première union et de la première naissance. Avec l’analyse séquentielle, nous identifions quatre catégories de parcours : nuptial, sexualité prénuptiale, maternité prénuptiale et célibataires. La méthode permet également une catégorisation plus fine des parcours et une visualisation de modèles de transitions. Nous analysons ensuite l’association entre les caractéristiques individuelles et les parcours suivis grâce à des modèles multinomiaux. Nos résultats confirment l’augmentation des parcours non nuptiaux auprès des jeunes. De plus, ils montrent qu’un niveau de scolarité plus élevé augmente la probabilité de suivre un parcours non-traditionnel, notamment chez les femmes urbaines, le milieu de socialisation à l’enfance ayant aussi un effet sur le choix du parcours. / In West African societies, marriage has traditionally represented the first step of the sequence of demographic events regarding the formation of the family. Currently, this sequence has become more complex. Following the erosion of traditional patterns of entrance into adulthood, urban youth tend to delay marriage, to increasingly engage in premarital sex while premarital births among youth seem to rise. Our study considers demographic life courses of entry into reproductive life as individual sequences of states. The main purpose of this study is to explore, describe and explain changes in young women’s sequences of entry in reproductive life using individual sequences as the unit of analysis. Using data from the 2003 Demographic and Health Survey of Burkina Faso, we synthesize the timing of first sexual intercourse, first union and first birth into sequences. Using Sequence Analysis methods, we identify four main categories of entrance in reproductive life: marital, premarital sex, premarital childbearing and singles. These methods allow a finer classification and a visualization of complete sequences and their transition patterns. We then analyze the association between individual characteristics and the sequence that women follow. Our results confirm that non-traditional sequences rise among younger generations. We also show that while women’s years of instruction increase, the probability of starting a sequence by premarital sex rises and the probability of starting a sequence by a marriage falls dramatically. Finally the childhood place of residence seems to moderate these effects by increasing the probability to follow a non-traditional sequence for urban women. / En las sociedades del Africa subsahariano el matrimonio representa tradicionialmente el inicio de la secuencia de eventos demográficos asociados a la formación de la familia, pero esta secuencia ha sufrido transformaciones. Como consecuencia de la erosión de los modelos tradicionales del paso a la edad adulta, los jovenes citadinos tienden a retardar el casamiento, el contexto de la primera relación sexual es cada vez mas prenupcial y los nacimientos prenupciales han aumentado. Pocos estudios han analizado la secuencia estos eventos bajo la perspectiva del curso de vida individual. El objetivo central de este estudio es explorar, describir y explicar los cambios en la secuencia de la entrada a la vida fecunda empleando las secuencias de episodios completas como las unidades de análisis. Utilizando los datos de la EDSBF-2003, sintetizamos en secuencias individuales los calendarios de la primera relación sexual, de la primera unión y del primer nacimiento. A traves del análisis secuencial, identificamos cuatro tipologías: nupcial, sexualidad prenupcial,maternidad prenupcial y solteras. Obtenemos una clasificación mas fina de las secuencias al visualizar distintos modelos de transición. Empleando un modelo multinomial analizamos la asociación entre las características de los individuos y las secuencias. Nuestros resultados confirman que las secuencias no nupciales ganan terreno en las generaciones mas jóvenes. Además, un nivel de escolaridad mas elevado aumenta la probabilidad de empezar una secuencia con una relación sexual. El medio de socialización en la infancia modera estos efectos, ya que las mujeres urbanas tienen una probabilidad mas elevada que las rurales de seguir una secuencia no nupcial.

No description available.