In order to better inform Canadians about the high level of calories, fat and sodium in most restaurants, policy makers and health advocates have suggested that nutritional information be added on the menu. But, before consumers can read this information there are other cues that bias calorie perceptions. These cues create certain expectations about the healthfulness of the menu items. For example, restaurants create “health halos” in which consumers are led to believe that their options are healthy when in reality they may not be (Wansink & Chandon, 2006). Do consumers notice this incongruence? Would their choices differ when nutritional values differed from expectations? The main objective of this research was to examine if calories, fat and sodium on a restaurant menu influence consumers to make healthier food choices. The moderating role of expectations about a restaurant’s food drawn from the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm was also examined to determine if consumer food choice differs when nutrition information is incongruent to expectations. Lastly, consumers’ sensitivity to price was studied when calories, fat and sodium were present. Undergraduate students (n=240) from the University of Guelph in a between and within-subjects design responded to three surveys. Discrete choice experiments were used with different levels of calories, fat and sodium to study the effect of these attributes on menu item choice. Findings indicate that nutrition information does lead to healthier choices when expectations are positively disconfirmed but not when they are negatively disconfirmed and when objective information is provided. Further, participants’ reported calories and fat to be more important than sodium. From a health, nutrition and policy maker’s standpoint, this finding is indicative of the fact that consumers do use calories, fat and sodium information on a menu, albeit, selectively.

This thesis examines the experiences, beliefs, motivations, and perceived costs and benefits of women who are childless by choice in Southern Alberta. I investigate the naturalized and normalized understandings of femininity, motherhood, and citizenship more broadly, and what this means for voluntarily childless women. Using data collected from 21 semi-structured qualitative interviews, I draw on a Foucauldian feminist framework to explore the narratives of voluntarily childless women, and, through subsequent examination, to explore issues of choice, responsibility, pronatalism, identity, and stigma. I first consider how the women negotiate their childbearing decisions in light of competing pronatalist, capitalist, and cultural demands. I then focus on techniques of identity construction by highlighting the negotiations of voluntarily childless women in relation to the physical, emotional, and social costs and benefits of their reproductive decisions. Finally, I explore the varying sources of pressure and support that impact women’s experience in daily life. / viii, 215 leaves ; 29 cm

This study offers a hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of Malaysian parents who selected an international education for their children. Data collection was conducted at one international school in Kuala Lumpur, and consisted of both a survey and interviews. The study focused on parents’ own educational background and experiences, their expectations and motivations for selecting an international school, factors affecting school choice, and attitudes to cultural and self-identities within the context of international education. Findings suggest that Malaysian parents from different age groups as well as varying ethnic and linguistic backgrounds had similar motivations for sending their children to an international school. From the data analysis, three themes emerged: aspirational priorities, discouraging influences, and enabling factors. By scaffolding my examination within the theory of reproduction in education and notions of social and cultural capital, I examined how multiple forms of economic, cultural, and social capital are recognized and mobilized in the search for a quality education in an increasingly globalized market. I conclude that Malaysian parents in this study chose an international school for their children based on experiences forged in four spheres of influence: individual, social, national, and global. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-06-30 07:36:19.755

<p>This study examines how families judge and choose high schools. The review of literature relating to school choice provides a theoretical framework for the study. The review includes an international perspective including both developed countries such as United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, England and Wales, the Netherlands, Scotland and Sweden, and developing countries including India, Chile, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa. The context within which school choice occurs in South Africa is examined. This context includes continued influence of Apartheid policies and current legislation including the South African Schools Act, The Admission Policy for Ordinary Schools Act and the Norms and Standards for Schools Funding. The literature review includes a critical analysis of the research, both Local and International, which addresses questions as to which factors are considered when judging and choosing schools, who makes the choice school, when the choice of school is made and which sources of information inform the choice of school. The empirical study examines the process of high school choice in urban Cape Town. The group areas Act and other Apartheid policies have created a situation where the respondents have a large number of high schools from which to chose. The selected area reflects diversity in Socio-Economic status, including both privately owned homes and council rental flats and houses. The study is limited to English medium or dual medium schools in the area. It includes both co-ed and single gender schools.</p>

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Background: The foods people choose to eat can determine their health status because inadequate or excessive amounts of certain food components are associated with risk of disease. A number of factors influence the foods people choose and the amounts of these foods, such as social situations, habits, advertising and the cost of food (Delormier, et al., 2009). The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions and environmental factors that are associated with food choices and the extent of perceptions to adherence to dietary advice among women with type 2 diabetes. Objectives: 1) To describe food behaviours of women who have diabetes, within their own daily food patterns; 2) To describe the perceptions of women who have diabetes about their social, economic and environmental situations that influence their food choice;, and 3) To identify the perceptions that are associated with the intent or ability to adhere to recommended health and nutrition behaviours. Methodology: Semi-structural individual interviews were used to collect data from 20 women with type 2 diabetes. The Food Choice Map was used to generate the food patterns and food perceptions, Interviews were recorded and transcripts were analyzed by using principles of the Theory of Planned Behavior, constant comparison method to extract themes, and coded by Nvivo software. In addition, the women completed a demographic questionnaire. Results: Of the major factors that the women perceived as influencing their food behaviours, four major factors enabled women to follow nutritional advice, while three factors acted as barriers to following the advice. Groups of women were identified: those who wanted to follow advice and did, those who did not want to follow advice and did not, those who wanted to follow advice but could not, and those who wanted to follow advice but experienced psychological conflict in doing so. Conclusion: Results showed that food behaviours could be better understood through multi-dimensional factors. The four groups of women with diabetes according to perceived intent or ability to adhere to health and nutrition advice was possible in this study, but further studies are needed to justify the use of these groupings in interventions that enhance adherence to dietary advice in the context of type 2 diabetes. Background: The foods people choose to eat can determine their health status because inadequate or excessive amounts of certain food components are associated with risk of disease. A number of factors influence the foods people choose and the amounts of these foods, such as social situations, habits, advertising and the cost of food (Delormier, et al., 2009). The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions and environmental factors that are associated with food choices and the extent of perceptions to adherence to dietary advice among women with type 2 diabetes. Objectives: 1) To describe food behaviours of women who have diabetes, within their own daily food patterns; 2) To describe the perceptions of women who have diabetes about their social, economic and environmental situations that influence their food choice;, and 3) To identify the perceptions that are associated with the intent or ability to adhere to recommended health and nutrition behaviours. Methodology: Semi-structural individual interviews were used to collect data from 20 women with type 2 diabetes. The Food Choice Map was used to generate the food patterns and food perceptions, Interviews were recorded and transcripts were analyzed by using principles of the Theory of Planned Behavior, constant comparison method to extract themes, and coded by Nvivo software. In addition, the women completed a demographic questionnaire. Results: Of the major factors that the women perceived as influencing their food behaviours, four major factors enabled women to follow nutritional advice, while three factors acted as barriers to following the advice. Groups of women were identified: those who wanted to follow advice and did, those who did not want to follow advice and did not, those who wanted to follow advice but could not, and those who wanted to follow advice but experienced psychological conflict in doing so. Conclusion: Results showed that food behaviours could be better understood through multi-dimensional factors. The four groups of women with diabetes according to perceived intent or ability to adhere to health and nutrition advice was possible in this study, but further studies are needed to justify the use of these groupings in interventions that enhance adherence to dietary advice in the context of type 2 diabetes.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.