Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis aims to understand the ways in which the representations of female labour in advertising are interpreted by women from the new working class as well as the ways in which such representations collaborate with their class and gender habitus. In the field of Communications, it is based on audience research within Cultural Studies, thus drawing on the lived experiences and the everyday life of subjects in order to observe the conformation of their identities in reference to the established relation between communication and culture. This is an important study given both the current gaps within Communications in terms of the articulation of the concepts of class and gender as analytical categories as well as the necessary contribution to the field of advertising reception. The theoretical and analytical assemblage of the topic is built upon Pierre Bordieu s articulation of social theory (especially his concepts of class and gender habitus), Jesús Martín-Barbero s take on mediations, and Néstor García Canclini s concept of media consumption. I empirically mapped out the studied context drawing on a quantitative survey with 396 women in the city of Santa Maria (RS, Brazil). In qualitative terms, I worked with a group of seven women from the new working class, whose ages ranged from 30 to 45 years-old, who lived in the aforementioned city as well. The group s class and gender identity was investigated through data collected throughout one year of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and assisted distribution of adverts selected by the informants, relating and comparing the perception they have of the representations of female labour in advertising to their own experiences and self-representation. Results point to a critical reading when it comes to comprehending the formats, spaces, and logic of the messages of advertising, highlighted by their rituality. In reference to the representations of class and gender, advertising messages sustain the double subordination to which women from the working class are submitted. Even though the group of women herein studied recognise the appreciation of the lifestyle of the working class, the idealisation of work, and the male domination, there is a tendency, within these women, to appropriate values present in advertising by means of the naturalisation of the space and the role which are socially assigned to them as working class women. / Esta tese tem como objetivo central compreender de que modo as representações do trabalho feminino presentes na comunicação publicitária são interpretadas por mulheres da nova classe trabalhadora e como essas representações colaboram para a conformação dos seus habitus de classe e de gênero. No âmbito do campo da comunicação, trata-se de uma pesquisa com foco nas audiências filiadas aos Estudos Culturais. Portanto, aproxima-se das experiências vividas na cotidianidade pelos sujeitos para observar a conformação de suas identidades a partir da relação instituída entre comunicação e cultura. O estudo justifica-se pelas lacunas encontradas no campo da comunicação na articulação dos conceitos de classe e de gênero como categorias analíticas, bem como pela necessária contribuição no âmbito dos estudos da recepção publicitária. A formulação teórica e analítica do objeto de estudo dá-se pela articulação da teoria social de Pierre Bourdieu (em especial em seus conceitos de habitus de classe e de gênero) e a perspectiva das mediações de Jesus Martin-Barbero e do consumo midiático de Nestor Garcia Canclini. Na instância empírica, mapeamos o contexto estudado a partir de uma pesquisa quantitativa, aplicada entre 396 mulheres, na cidade de Santa Maria/RS e, de modo qualitativo, com um grupo de sete mulheres da nova classe trabalhadora, de faixa etária entre 30 e 45 anos, residentes nesse lugar. A identidade de classe e de gênero do grupo foi investigada através de dados coletados ao longo de um ano a partir de observação participante, entrevista em profundidade e assistência compartilhada de comerciais selecionados pelas informantes, relacionando e comparando a percepção que elas têm das representações do trabalho feminino na publicidade com suas próprias experiências e sua autorrepresentação. Os resultados apontam para uma leitura crítica no que diz respeito à compreensão dos formatos, espaços e lógicas da mensagem publicitária, evidenciados a partir da ritualidade. No que se refere às representações de classe e de gênero, entende-se que, de um modo geral, as mensagens publicitárias sustentam a dupla subordinação a que estão submetidas as mulheres da classe popular e que, embora o grupo estudado reconheça a valorização do estilo de vida da classe média, a idealização do trabalho e a dominação masculina, há, entre as entrevistadas, uma tendência à apropriação destes valores circulantes na publicidade pela naturalização do espaço e do papel que ocupam socialmente como mulheres e como classe trabalhadora.

This thesis studies the mixed data types kernel estimation framework for the models of discrete dependent variables, which are known as kernel discrete conditional functions. The conventional parametric multinomial logit MNL model is compared with the mixed data types kernel conditional density estimator in Chapter (2). A new kernel estimator for discrete time single state hazard models is developed in Chapter (3), and named as the discrete time “external kernel hazard” estimator. The discrete time (mixed) proportional hazard estimators are then compared with the discrete time external kernel hazard estimator empirically in Chapter (4). The work in Chapter (2) attempts to estimate a labour force participation decision model using a cross-section data from the UK labour force survey in 2007. The work in Chapter (4) estimates a hazard rate for job-vacancies in weeks, using data from Lancashire Careers Service (LCS) between the period from March 1988 to June 1992. The evidences from the vast literature regarding female labour force participation and the job-market random matching theory are used to examine the empirical results of the estimators. The parametric estimator are tighten by the restrictive assumption regarding the link function of the discrete dependent variable and the dummy variables of the discrete covariates. Adding interaction terms improves the performance of the parametric models but encounters other risks like generating multicollinearity problem, increasing the singularity of the data matrix and complicates the computation of the ML function. On the other hand, the mixed data types kernel estimation framework shows an outstanding performance compared with the conventional parametric estimation methods. The kernel functions that are used for the discrete variables, including the dependent variable, in the mixed data types estimation framework, have substantially improved the performance of the kernel estimators. The kernel framework uses very few assumptions about the functional form of the variables in the model, and relay on the right choice of the kernel functions in the estimator. The outcomes of the kernel conditional density shows that female education level and fertility have high impact on females propensity to work and be in the labour force. The kernel conditional density estimator captures more heterogeneity among the females in the sample than the MNL model due to the restrictive parametric assumptions in the later. The (mixed) proportional hazard framework, on the other hand, missed to capture the effect of the job-market tightness in the job-vacancies hazard rate and produce inconsistent results when the assumptions regarding the distribution of the unobserved heterogeneity are changed. The external kernel hazard estimator overcomes those problems and produce results that consistent with the job market random matching theory. The results in this thesis are useful for nonparametric estimation research in econometrics and in labour economics research.