The thesis is a comparative study of, Egypt, Sudan and Yemen, three countries with similar social and economic profiles, yet with a variable dynamic in achieving reductions in child mortality levels. The study begins with a consideration of the individual country backgrounds and then presents comparative findings on population health and child survival. Empirical results on the correlates of child survival are presented, together with a selective review of the related techniques of analysis. The analyses of survival to age five was based on data from the PAPCHILD surveys carried-out in Egypt (1991), Sudan (1992/93) and Yemen (1991/92). The aim was to investigate the determinants of child survival with the innovation of adjusting for the effect of a family's "child mortality background". Methods of analysis included life-table analysis, logistic (marginal and multilevel) and Cox regression models. The transition to better child survival could further benefit from the spacing of births, the avoidance of higher-order births, and the concentration of childbearing in the central reproductive ages. Unequivocally, deaths of older siblings prior to the birth of every index child were strong predictors of poor survival settings. Deaths of older siblings after the birth of the index child were rare, yet captured "immediate" risk spells. Events of conception, birth and death of a subsequent sibling entailed time-varying excess risks. Evidently, adjusting for measures of familial child losses explains much of the "between-households" variation in mortality risks and spell-out "within-households" inter-dependencies of survival. Households further correlate in risks to child survival when they belonged to the same geographical cluster. The novelty in representing the latter correlation with a "regional" component of unmeasured effects was in aid of pertinent policy recommendations. Further, the study makes recommendations on reducing reporting errors of demographic data collected from mothers. Critical findings and policy implications are: for Egypt, better child survival rates are achievable by narrowing "regional" socio-economic gaps and sustaining lower fertility rates; in Sudan, the slowing pace of declines in child mortality were not best explained by relations with observed correlates, and appears further underpinned by the country's economic crisis; in Yemen, child mortality levels can be reduced by a third if the timing between successive births could be extended to two years, net of key promotive socio-economic interventions.

This research aims at determining the demographic characteristics of the population of Cyprus over 1881-1982, using all available data from censuses, registration and surveys. The thesis consists of two main parts. The first part focuses on the period from 1881 to 1960 and refers to the entire population. The second part deals with the period after 1960 and mainly focuses on the majority Greek Cypriot population, virtually no information being available for the Turkish minority after this time; the island was partitioned between Greeks and Turks in 1974. Chapter 1 describes the objectives of the thesis and the data available. Chapters 2-7 refer only to the period up to 1960. Chapter 2 deals with the growth of the population and changes in the distribution by age and sex. In Chapter 3 it is established that mortality transition was under way by the 1880s while it is argued that female mortality was slightly higher than male mortality before 1911. Chapter 4 traces changes in marriage patterns after 1911 and their relationship to changing ratios of males to females. In Chapter 5 it is argued that although fertility had decreased slightly by the 1940s, an uninterrupted declining trend was only established in the 1950s. In Chapter 6 migration is considered; emigration from Cyprus was substantial in the period 1955-1960. In Chapter 7 differences between Greeks and Turks in mortality, fertility and nuptiality are examined. In Chapter 8 it is established that fertility for Greek Cypriots had reached low levels though above replacement by 1976 while mortality had reached low levels by 1982. There was substantial emigration between 1974 and 1978. In Chapter 9 the validity of the mortality and fertility estimates is assessed by using them to project the population of Cyprus from 1921 onwards. Chapter 10 presents a summary of the major findings.

Traditionally, demographers have studied the determinants of nuptiality, sexual behaviour and fertility patterns from the perspective of women. The 1994 Cairo UN International Conference on Population and Development was an important turning point in demography. Since then, there have been efforts to understand the role of men in shaping nuptiality, sexual behaviour and fertility patterns and how men can be involved in population policies. This analysis of male nuptiality, sexual behaviour and fertility is based on data from the 1992 and 1996 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the 1994 Zimbabwe DHS. The aim was to investigate issues of male demography for these two countries. Methods of analysis included descriptive statistics, life table analysis, logistic and hazard regression models. Results show that most of the socio-economic characteristics are not very important determinants of male demography in these two countries. Age at marriage is higher than that of women but there is little evidence that age at marriage for men is rising. Polygamy remains popular in Tanzania, where the proportion of men in polygamous unions is more than twice that in Zimbabwe. However, intensity of polygamy is low, as the majority of polygamous men have only two wives. Age at first sex is earlier in Tanzania than in Zimbabwe and is falling in both countries, more so in Zimbabwe than in Tanzania. Fertility, measured in terms of the number of children ever born per man, is higher in Tanzania than in Zimbabwe. Then again, the differentials in the rate of childbearing did not widely vary once controls for marriage duration and type of union are made. The study makes recommendation for the improvement of the quality of demographic data collected from men. Questionnaires need to be more detailed by, for example, including questions on the timing of various unions that men might have. In the study of male fertility, there is also need for information from more than one partner that a man has had. Given the early initiation into sexual relations, the study recommends intervention policies such as early sex education and a wider campaign for safe sex given the large number of single men who have more than one sexual partner.

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The periodic fluctuations in numbers of red grouse (<I>Lagopus lagopus scoticus </I>(Lath.)) populations in Scotland and northern England remain a puzzle to population ecologists despite sustained research. Other workers have suggested that territoriality, philopatry and kin selection, as expressed in the differential behaviour between kin and non-kin, can, through their effects on the efficiency of space use, combine to cause cyclic dynamics. However, since the first preliminary formulation of the hypothesis in 1990, little modelling work has been done on the subject. In this thesis, I present a series of models which explore the plausibility of the kin-selection hypothesis for red grouse populations under different assumption regimes. I first develop, analyse and validate a simple, deterministic model using functions of age structure as indexes of the social and, due to philopatry, spatial attributes of the population. A control version of the model is incapable of cyclic dynamics, while a modification, containing the assumed effects of kin selection, produces cycles of realistic period and amplitude. Parameterisation of the model with field data from two studies in north-east Scotland yields output which resembles the observed dynamics. A more detailed study of the possible effects of kin selection and philopatry on individual requirements for space yields a parameterised response function which is then used to study the dynamics of individual family clusters. A model of the relatively short-term process of family cluster formation demonstrates that continuous changes in crowding may have a discontinuous effect on the ability of clusters to form. A socially and spatially explicit simulation model is finally developed to examine the relative importance of these factors in the long-term dynamics. Based on its results, I conclude that spatial heterogeneity in the activity of animals, caused by clustering, is sufficient to produce cycles and that variations in territorial requirements due to differential behaviour between kin and non-kin can have a secondary, amplifying role in the process.

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Throughout history, migration has been an ongoing phenomenon driven by various factors ranging from social, political, economic and environmental situations. Zambia is not immune to migration and has seen a considerable share of its population engage in both internal and external migratory activities. Recognising the important role that migration plays in any economy and how it is influenced by circumstances prevailing at different points in time, this thesis seeks to analyse migration flows between Zambia's regions and the impact that privatisation of state owned enterprises had on migration patterns between 1990 and 2000. Because of challenges in gathering statistics to conduct a thorough quantitative analysis, the study employs a descriptive methodology using statistics collected from the Central Statistics Office online data catalogue and institutions such as the World Bank. The statistics are organised, calculated and analysed using Microsoft Excel and GIS Arcmap. The results indicate that soon after privatisation began in 1991, there was a sharp reduction in employment figures and a reduction in the proportion of urban population. The proportion of rural destined migrants was 2.3 times higher than that of urban destined migrants during the period of privatisation, an indication that people were leaving urban areas for rural areas. Return migration also rose, however, the country experienced both urbanisation and counter urbanisation during the period 1990-2000. Findings of this study show similarities to Beauchemin &amp; Schoumaker's (2006) findings in Burkina Faso were changes in migration patterns were observed after the economy underwent structural change in the 1980's.

This thesis examined three different research questions to help build a knowledge base for future intervention strategies by better understanding the reasons behind smoking among pregnant women in Nunavut. The first study focused more at the individual level and investigates clinical and socioeconomic factors and their relationship to readiness to quit smoking. The second manuscript moved beyond the individual level to the broader social and structural environment to identify a broader range of barriers and facilitators to smoking and smoking cessation among Inuit women. This second manuscript draws upon in-depth interviews focusing on perceptions of smoking, and perceived barriers and facilitators of smoking behaviours. Finally, the third manuscript investigated the perspectives of health care providers regarding the barriers and facilitators of smoking cessation for pregnant women in the Baffin Region of Nunavut and describes perceptions of smoking cessation resources available to health care providers in the Baffin Region.