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The objective of this research was to investigate the microscopic processes occurring at the interfaces of mixed anion III-V heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In particular, efforts were made to characterize the dominant chemical and physical mechanisms that lead to anion exchange and to develop semi-empirical models capable of predicting the atomic scale structure and composition at the interfaces of mixed anion heterostructures for the As/P and Sb/As material systems. This research considers the MBE growth of 20-period superlattices (SLs) formed by allowing a dissimilar anion flux to impinge on a static group-V stabilized surface. Statistical experimental design was used to determine the effects of substrate temperature, V/III growth flux ratio, and anion exposure time on the anion exchange process. The superlattice structures were analyzed via high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and simulation, RHEED analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and other techniques, which allowed for the determination of both chemical composition and atomic structure at the interfaces. Finally, a semi-empirical hybrid neural network was developed that quantifies the effects of MBE growth processes at the interfaces of mixed anion III-V heterostructures by incorporating a first principles kinetic model with back-propagation neural networks.

This thesis investigates the residential segregation of the Asian population in Houston considering segregation among Asian groups as well as segregation of Asians from broader non-Asian groups, namely whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Methods applied in this thesis draw on previous works on residential segregation and measure segregation using indices of exposure and isolation and indices of uneven distribution. The demographic and historical backgrounds of Asian populations are reviewed to identify potential reasons for Asian residential segregation. New major findings from my analysis are that Asians have socioeconomic status similar to whites and, thus, have higher socioeconomic status than blacks and Hispanics who have low socioeconomic status. Other major findings are that Asians have moderate segregation from whites, high segregation from Hispanics and even higher segregation from blacks. Detailed Asian groups are mostly moderately segregated from whites and are more highly segregated from Hispanics and blacks. Also, Asian groups are sometimes highly segregated from each other. In conclusion, residential segregation of both broad racial and ethnic groups and Asians are affected by education and income in Houston area including other factors. Based on my analysis, I predict that the pattern of Asian residential segregation will still follow the previous patterns based on education and income.

Although a relatively large amount of literature dealing with the demography of the People’s Republic of China has been published in recent decades, few sociologists and demographers have engaged in comparative studies of China’s ethnic minority populations. In fact, one of the major problems associated with China’s attempts at modernization today has been the uneven development of the Han majority, and its 55 different minority nationalities. This paper is an attempt to fill this void. I focus on the residential segregation of China’s minority populations from the Han majority in 2000. I calculate dissimilarity indexes of the degree of residential segregation from the majority Han for each of the 55 minority groups. I conduct my analyses at both the provincial and county levels. I then analyze the variation in residential segregation with independent variables, measuring for each minority group its levels of socioeconomic and demographic development and women’s status. Major contributions of my paper are advancing our understanding of the patterns of residential segregation of China’s minority nationalities from the Han majority and rethinking some of the possible causes of ethnic conflict in China today.

In this thesis I focus on segregation between households giving attention to the roles that family type, economic inequality, and race can play in promoting and maintaining these patterns. I first consider three lines of urban ecological theory that have been offered to help explain patterns of segregation. One line of theory emphasizes the role of variation in preferences and needs. The second emphasizes urban structure, market dynamics, and economic inequality, while the third emphasizes the role of race. Research examining the role of consumer preferences in the neighborhood and housing choices of Americans has documented the salience of preferences regarding housing characteristics, neighborhood income, distance to employment, and neighborhood racial composition. Related research shows that these preferences vary with social characteristics such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, stage in the life cycle, and household type. I review these literatures and link them with urban ecological theory and the related literatures on social area analysis and factorial ecology. These theories argue that households within a city are likely to cluster together in space based on mutually shared characteristics and preferences. To explore these theories, I draw oncensus data for Houston, Texas and use the xPx measure to document patterns of contact between households based on family type, poverty status, and race. I also decompose the effects that each of these variables can have separately and in combination with each other. Following this analysis, I estimate a spatial attainment model that predicts characteristics of neighborhoods that individuals in each of the race, poverty and family type groups would live in. Finally, I use computer simulation methods to explore how micro-level dynamics of housing markets can produce patterns of segregation between groups who are similar in their location preferences. Specifically, I explore how the factors of area stratification and group income inequality can lead to segregation between groups who hold similar location preferences.

Social science research has been concerned with various aspects of residential segregation and why aggregate patterns of segregation emerge and become established in urban areas. This thesis aims at gaining a deeper understanding of which mechanisms influence patterns of residential segregation by examining people’s mobility behavior. People’s residential mobility behavior is a crucial factor for understanding outcomes of segregation on the aggregate level. By both including individual and neighborhood characteristics in the analysis, more insight is gained in how ethnic and socioeconomic compositions of neighborhoods affect individuals’ mobility decisions. Swedish register data from 1990-2006 is used to estimate neighborhood choice models for the greater Stockholm area. The results show that individuals are likely to choose neighborhoods in which the population is similar to themselves, regarding both migrant background and income. The analyses also find some limited support for mechanisms of native-flight and avoidance when looking at Swedes’ mobility behavior. Nevertheless, economic resources seem to be of more relative importance for Swedes' and immigrants' neighborhood choice than the percentage of migrant groups living in a neighborhood.

Reformen om det fria skolvalet i svensk utbildningspolitik från 1992, har idag börjat visa sina tydliga spår. Skillnaderna mellan skolorna kan vara betydande, men om man inte tar vara på möjligheten att välja skola så faller poängen med det. Då blir det bara de elever som har föräldrar som har en akademisk utbildning och som har en bättre social bakgrund som utnyttjar möjligheten att välja skola. Undersökningen är baserad på fem intervjuer varav fyra med rektorer och en med skolpolitikern i Örebro kommun. Vad undersökningen ämnar att besvara är vilka konsekvenser det fria skolvalet gett i Örebro kommuns grundskolor utifrån de fyra rektorerna och skolpolitikerns perspektiv. Resultaten av min undersökning visar att det finns ett starkt samband mellan elever som utnyttjar möjligheten att välja skola och familjer med studievana.

A number of mechanisms were used in the past to racially divide South Africa's population, among them, the most notable being the Group Areas Act. Apartheid was more than just the physical separation of race groups. It was supported by an apparatus designed to inequitably provide and distribute social amenities, education, housing etc. In addition, it was a psychological exercise designed to enforce the notion of white superiority on the people. Now that the Group Areas Act has been repealed, the racio-spatial patterns of the South African city are expected to change as the doors of the previously prohibited residential areas become "open" to all South Africans. The following dissertation is concerned with the residential desegregation process. Its central argument is that the practice of segregation stretches far beyond the limits of the law. Informal processes will replace formal legislation so that the segregation of the South African population will continue. The main focus of the argument is that in the post-apartheid period, disadvantages based on income will have the same effect as the differences based on race did, in the old South Africa. Affordability will play a major role in determining who gets access to the housing stock in the "White" residential areas of the old South Africa. Estate agents, the state, and the development companies will be amongst the key actors in determining not only who gets access to middle income housing but also in the new racio- spatial patterns that are likely to develop in the residential areas of South Africa's cities. Lastly, desegregation is about getting people of different cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds together to live as a single integrated community - a difficult task in a society in which decades of separation have made us virtual strangers. The study, which was conducted in the Borough of Queensburgh and the Bellair-Sea View-Hillary areas,has revealed that ,as a result of the reasons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the rate of residential desegregation has been slow. Also the old forms of segregation are being replaced by new forms in the shape of ethnic pockets within the former "white" residential areas. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

For many years blacks have been restricted from occupying housing in the suburbs and inner parts of Durban. The Group Areas Act accommodated them in the rural and unserviced parts on the periphery of the city. Townships were later developed for them as far away from the city centre as possible. The scrapping of the Act in 1991 saw many of those people who could afford housing in the city and in the suburbs moving into houses and flats in predominantly white areas. The aim of this dissertation was to examine the process of residential desegregation in a former white suburb. The study was conducted in Westville. a middle- to upper-class residential area which is presently inhabited by both blacks and whites. The severe shortages of land and housing, accompanied by the continuing unrest in the townships and changes in the family size and needs. influenced the migration of blacks to Westville. This migration started as early as 1987 despite the legal. financial and racist impediments prior to the repeal of the Group Areas Act in 1991. Most of the black households in Westville bought their houses through the estate agents. Income was the main criterion to determine whether blacks qualified for the purchase of property. Most of the buyers who qualified for loans and could afford to pay for services in the suburbs were those with more than one income earner per family. The process of residential desegregation was enhanced by the positive attitudes of the households towards their neighbourhood. The positive demographic and biracial social interaction among all residents also played an important role in the integration process. Problems were experienced when some whites showed signs of prejudice which emanated from the clash of cultures. such as blacks slaughtering cattle and Muslims sacrificing animals. Although the abolition of the Group Areas Act in 1991 was not wholeheartedly accepted by all whites. they were gradually accepting the right or blacks to choose any residential neighbourhood in which they wished to live. / Thesis(M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

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