Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Dept. of Gerontology) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-108).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 1997. / Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Sociology. Also available online.

No description available.

Within the broader literature on migration, Japan is often portrayed as straddling two categories, one of a homogenous country and another of a multicultural society. The arguments on both sides are supported through the historical evidence, analysis of media resources, as well as narratives of Japanese residents. This inquiry seeks to highlight voices of migrants within these debates. This dissertation focuses on the urban – rural residential experiences of international migrants in Kanto and Tohoku regions. This inquiry treats international migration processes in terms of moving between the contexts of different countries as well as between urban – rural locations. These global – local experiences of migrants are set within broader milieu of the social and spatial stratifications created through neoliberal competition. The theoretical framework for this analysis is based on post-structural understandings of identity, migration, and economy. This study draws on qualitative methods, including, ethnographic data, interviews, content and textual analysis of job advertisements, as well as cognitive mapping. These sources allow us to create a unique portrait of migrant subjectivity that pulls from different contexts of fluid, spatial identities which mediate migrants’ interpretations of living and working in neoliberal Japan. The findings of this dissertation support the thesis that intersectional social identities such as gender, ethnicity, and social class, have a spatial component.

This thesis examines the experiences and impact of wartime mobilization in the county of Devon. It argues that a crucial role was played by the county’s elites who became the self-appointed intermediaries of the war experience on a local level and who took an explicitly exhortative role, attempting to educate Devonians in the codes of ideal conduct in wartime. These armchair patriots, defined by the local commentator Stephen Reynolds as ‘provincial patriots’, superintended the patriotism of Devon’s population, evaluating that patriotism against the strength of their own. Through a critical exploration of Reynolds’ definition of Devon’s elite as the police-men and women of patriotism, this thesis reveals the ambiguities, constraints and complexities surrounding mobilization and remobilization in Devon. The evidence from Devon reveals the autonomy of Devon’s citizens as they attempted to navigate the different challenges of the war while they weighed-up individual and local interests against the competing requests that the ‘provincial patriots’ prescribed for them. In many cases, their responses to the appeals and prescriptions from Devon’s elite were informed by what they considered to be an appropriate contribution to the war effort. Therefore, the choice to participate in the measures introduced in the name of war effort in Devon was not a binary one. A tension between individual survival and national survival in the county was apparent in the encounters between Devon’s elite as agents of mobilization and the county’s populace during the war. Through various campaigns of superintendence in order to police the patriotism of Devon’s people, the ‘provincial patriots’ attempted to navigate through the terrain of these competing priorities and resolve this tension. In their endeavours to mobilize Devon’s populace, the authority of Devon’s elite was criticised and they faced constant negotiation between individual priorities and those of the nation. This analysis of the complexity of the Devonian experience of the First World War is sceptical about the ‘total’ nature of the First World War because the war to some Devonians was not the pre-eminent issue and did not absorb all of the county’s efforts. Rather, a significant part of Devon’s population was primarily concerned with individual priorities and that of the county throughout the war years.

Rural America contributes greatly to the American Community, yet this population is often overlooked and underrepresented in most types of education literature. Choices about residence shape America’s public school system through the formation of school districts and schools associated with these local jurisdictions. Communities with different population densities may have different overall population composition and, therefore, may sort differently into schools. This paper examines the effect that population density, local jurisdictional sorting, homogeneity, peer characteristics, and community social capital may have on student achievement. The first part of this dissertation outlines the importance of rural research and the impact of rural education on all of America. These areas have different economies, opportunities, and peer composition than their non-rural counterparts. The statistically average person is different in rural and urban America. The second part discusses the theoretical implications of locale influence on educational attainment. This theory explains the possible causes of peer effect strength and provides a better predictive model of both rural and urban peer effects. I argue that some level of heterogeneity and high social capital foster strong peer effects, and there is a tradeoff between diverse student body composition and social capital. In the final portion of this dissertation, I explore student achievement using empirical analysis. Based on the analysis in Chapter 4, it appears that student achievement is impacted by peers with and without controlling for teacher effects and social capital (or type) of a locale without controlling for teacher effects. Chapter 5 examines peer effect differences by locale and finds differences in peer effect strength. Suburbs have significantly stronger classroom mean peer effects in elementary school than towns. Skewness influences appear to be the same across grades and locale, and social capital has a positive impact on student achievement in elementary school and a negative impact on student achievement in middle school. The analyses in Chapter 6 conclude that student achievement is impacted by both the average and the percentage of high and low achievers but not similarly by locale. The final chapter discusses the results and their implications for future research and for policy makers.

Food insecurity is a condition of insufficient access to quality nutritious food; it is often rooted in shocks that interrupt the food production/distribution system in an area. Amidst the capabilities of Nigeria's agricultural system, the number of households across Nigeria experiencing food shortages has increased rapidly. The main reason for this increase were price shocks. This incident highlighted a huge vulnerability in Nigeria's food system, the vulnerability to price shocks. Incidences such as poverty and conflicts magnify the frequency of food insecurity. The ability to reduce vulnerabilities while addressing existing issues in food production and supply depends on a stable economy and innovative policy. As a major oil exporter, Nigeria's economy is affected by oil price fluctuations. This paper analyses the extent of the effect and how such volatility could increase vulnerability in the food system. The analysis in this treatise examines economic and agricultural factors to identify trends that negatively affect Nigeria's current food system.. Oil prices were significant in explaining variation in food price shocks and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Food price shocks are one of the symptoms of economic downturns. Agricultural innovation, and economic policies need to be formulated to prevent such shocks in the future. Given the dependency of economic performance on oil prices, a major move would be to diversify the Nigerian economy; with adequate attention being paid to agriculture.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:15:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flavio CONEGLIAN.pdf: 3421209 bytes, checksum: 9d1c74a273fc454ab47c6d4fabecb805 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study aims to understand how the local rural culture of Guaragi district, Ponta Grossa - PR is reworks using the Internet. Thus, the discussions revolve around the dialectical relationship between modes of rural and urban life. The field data collection relies on the application of two quantitative questionnaires, one for residents who have Internet access and one for residents who have no contact with it in their daily lives. The methodology used for the interviews is the saturation data that seeks to acquire information until they do not bring additional contributions to the analysis. The writing of this search consists of three chapters, the first covers theoretical discussions of countryside, city, rural, urban, territoriality and social representations. The second provides content for the globalization process, media, technologies and the creation and expansion of the Internet. The third chapter presents information and analysis with the field research data. / Este trabalho tem por objetivo compreender como a cultura local rural do distrito de Guaragi, Ponta Grossa – PR se reelabora com o uso da Internet. Dessa forma, as discussões giram em torno da relação dialética entre os modos de vida rural e urbano. A coleta de dados em campo conta com a aplicação de dois questionários quantitativos, um para os moradores que têm acesso à Internet e outro para os moradores que não têm contato com ela em seu cotidiano. A metodologia aplicada para as entrevistas é a saturação de dados, que busca a aquisição de informações até que elas não tragam contribuições adicionais à sua análise. A redação deste trabalho consiste em três capítulos, o primeiro abrange discussões teóricas acerca de campo, cidade, rural, urbano, territorialidades e representações sociais. O segundo apresenta conteúdo referente ao processo de globalização, mídia, tecnologias e a criação e expansão da Internet. O terceiro capítulo apresenta as informações e as análises obtidas com os dados do trabalho de campo.

Orientador: Lígia Ebner Melchiori / Banca: Maria Auxiliadora Dessen / Banca: Olga Maria Piazentim Rolim Rodrigues / Resumo: No Brasil, estudar família é um desafio devido à grande diversidade cultural existente e a variedade de arranjos familiares. Dentro dessa perspectiva, pode-se falar em "famílias brasileiras" formadas por padrões econômicos, sociais e culturais diversos. Partindo do pressuposto de que o conceito de família deve considerar a subjetividade dos indivíduos, esse estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar e conceituar famílias de zona rural e urbana de uma cidade do interior de São Paulo, segundo a perspectiva de adolescentes. Os participantes foram 48 adolescentes de 13 a 18 anos, sendo 16 da zona rural e 32 da urbana. Para atingir o objetivo proposto buscou-se uma abordagem metodológica capaz de permitir uma ampla coleta de informações, sendo utilizados dois instrumentos, um Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar e um Roteiro de Entrevista de Conceituação Familiar. Os resultados indicam que, nessa amostra, o percentual de famílias nucleares ainda é alto. O nível de escolaridade dos pais e a renda familiar são maiores na cidade do que no campo. A ocupação dos pais na área rural é mais ligada ao setor agropecuário e na urbana predomina os setores administrativos e gerenciais. Aproximadamente metade das mães rurais não exerce atividade remunerada e na cidade esse índice é de 9%. Nas duas localidades, a maioria tem casa própria (cerca de 77%). Com relação à rede social de apoio, a pessoa da família mais procurada pelos adolescentes é a mãe, seguida do pai que está assumindo várias funções, além do suporte financeiro tradicionalmente esperado; fora da família, os amigos são os mais procurados e, algumas vezes, fornecem mais apoio que os próprios membros familiares. A principal representação de família, para os adolescentes das duas localidades, é a de suporte emocional/afetivo. Quando abordam a concepção da própria família... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In Brazil, due to the big cultural diversity and the variety of family arrangements, studying family is a challenge. In this perspective, it is possible to talk about "Brazilian families" composed according to different economic, social and cultural standards. Presuming that the concept of family should consider individual subjectivity, this paper sought to characterize and conceptualize families from rural and urban areas of a city in São Paulo state, according to the perspective of teenagers. The participants were 48 teenagers between 13 and 18 years old, 16 from the rural area and 32 from the urban area. To reach this goal, we sought a methodological approach which could permit a broad information collection utilizing two tools, a questionnaire for familial system. Characterization and instructions for family conceptualization interview. The results indicate that the percentage of nuclear families in still high in that pattern. The parents' education level and the family's income are higher in the urban area than in the country side. The parents' jobs are more linked to agro business in the rural area and to the management and administration sectors in the urban area. About half the rural mothers do not have a paid job, while in the city they are 9%. In both places, the majority owns their houses (around 77). When it comes to social support net, mothers are the most wanted by teenagers, followed by fathers, who are taking several functins, besides the tradicional and expected financial support; apart from the family, friends are the most wanted and sometimes give even more support than family members. For the adolescents from both places, the main representation of family is that of emotional/affective support. When approaching the concept of their own families, this category continues to predominate, with inferior percentages... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre