Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Parent And Child Perceptions Of Barriers And Enablers Influencing Active School Travel, Katherine Wilson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Physical activity plays a fundamental role in developing and sustaining the health and well-being of children. Walking is the most common form of physical activity for people of all ages and the daily journey to and from school is a convenient opportunity for children to be physically active through the use of active school travel. This thesis uses a mixed methods approach, using: (a) parent and child surveys to examine how perceptions of barriers influence children’s active school travel; and (b) participatory mapping exercises and qualitative GIS to understand environmental influences on children’s journeys to and from school. Results suggest …

Geosimulation And Multicriteria Modelling Of Residential Land Development In The City Of Tehran: A Comparative Analysis Of Global And Local Models, Hossein Hosseini

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Conventional models for simulating land-use patterns are insufficient in addressing complex dynamics of urban systems. A new generation of urban models, inspired by research on cellular automata and multi-agent systems, has been proposed to address the drawbacks of conventional modelling. This new generation of urban models is called geosimulation. Geosimulation attempts to model macro-scale patterns using micro-scale urban entities such as vehicles, homeowners, and households. The urban entities are represented by agents in the geosimulation modelling. Each type of agents has different preferences and priorities and shows different behaviours. In the land-use modelling context, the behaviour of agents is their …

Exploring The Health Benefits Of Nature For Children In Urban, Suburban, And Rural Settings, Suzanne Tillmann

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A growing body of research suggests that increasing children’s exposure to natural environments can have positive benefits for their overall health and well-being. Using a mixed-methods approach, this thesis uses (a) surveys and spatial analyses within a geographic information system framework to examine how individual-level and environmental factors are associated with children’s health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and (b) semi-structured focus groups with children to understand how children living in a rural community define nature, experience nature, and perceive the benefits and drawbacks of nature. Results suggest that in addition to a number of important individual level variables, certain environmental …

Youth Engagement In Artisanal And Small-Scale Mining In The Upper East Region Of Ghana, Lydia Osei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Youth unemployment remains a prevalent problem in sub-Saharan Africa and many of its governments are grappling with it. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), however, is gaining prominence in generating employment avenues for the youth. In fact, ASM provides jobs for thousands of youth and is considered to be ameliorating hardships in many rural areas. ASM has therefore been broadly acknowledged as a ‘poverty-driven’ activity. Given the sector’s contribution (both legally and illegally) to rural livelihoods, governments and development partners interested in poverty reduction are uncertain of how to deal with the growth of ASM. Policymakers and development partners seem confused …

The Other Side Of The Enclave: Local Perspectives On The Onset Of Mass Tourism In Jamaica, Shenika A. Mcfarlane-Morris

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mass tourism development in the Global South is widely celebrated as a major source of jobs and foreign exchange, but it is also widely criticized for creating spatially and economically segregated enclaves that frequently have negative social, cultural, and environmental impacts. There is a large literature that details both the economic advantages and disadvantages of mass tourism development. However, critiques of mass tourism have done little to reorient the nature of the industry, as countries of the Global South such as Jamaica have generally placed much greater emphasis on the economic performance of the industry than on the associated inequalities. …

A Gendered Perspective On Migrant Women Farmers’ Lived Experiences In The Brong-Ahafo Region Of Ghana, Jemima Nomunume Baada

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examined the lived experiences of migrant women in rural areas of the Brong-Ahafo Region (BAR) of Ghana. Notwithstanding the depth of research on internal migrations in Ghana, little is known about women who have migrated from the Upper West Region to rural settlements in BAR to farm. Using 30 in-depth interviews, 5 focus group discussions and 10 key informant interviews, the study investigated migrant women’s productive and reproductive challenges, how they navigate these limitations, and the current state of livelihood improvement interventions. The findings revealed that migrant women’s livelihoods may not have improved as they had expected pre-migration, …

Rekindling The Flame: An Exploration Of The Relationships Between Health, Culture And Place Among Urban First Nations Men Living In London, Ontario, Cindy Smithers Graeme

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this dissertation, I present the findings of a community-based participatory research project with the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC). Embracing a decolonizing methodology that draws upon strengths-based and intersectional approaches, I qualitatively explore the relationships between health, culture and place among urban First Nations men living in the city of London, Ontario.

Indigenous cultures are broadly defined as a “systems of belief, values, customs, and traditions that are transmitted from generation to generation through teachings, ecological knowledge and time-honoured land-based practices” (McIvor & Napoleon, p. 6). Culture is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of Indigenous health …

Imagining The Unimagined Metropolis: Privilege, Liminality, And Peripheral Communities In The Contemporary Urban Situation, Colton R. Sherman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Various works of psychogeographic literature explore privileged and non-privileged communities and spaces through narrative and character development. Novels of this sort—specifically those by China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, and J.G. Ballard—feature narratives where their respective protagonists undergo a liminal metamorphosis and transform from a monotonous, albeit privileged urbanite into a free-associating inhabitant of the urban periphery: the unimagined, non-privileged space of urban detritus. By engaging with these authors’ novels alongside the works of the Situationists, Walter Benjamin, Rob Nixon and others, the goal of this thesis is to explore how the dominant urban epistemologies are subverted—whether or not they should be …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Smartphone Nutrition Intervention For Adolescents, Sarah A. Cappuccitti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A diet high in fruit and vegetables is associated with the prevention of many chronic diseases; however, only one in ten Canadian students in grades 6 to 12 consume the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Using smartphones to deliver nutrition interventions is an emerging area of research, although to-date these interventions typically limit their focus to weight loss. The overarching purpose of this research is to redevelop and evaluate an existing smartphone application for an adolescent population. This thesis used a mixed-methods approach to gain adolescent perspectives on how to redevelop the app and to evaluate its use …

Exploring Geographic Variations In Community And Consumer Food Environments For Children, Catherine Dubreck

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research indicates that diet influences the risk of childhood obesity, as well as other related health issues such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Given that families are spending more money on food away from home now than ever before, it is crucial to understand the food environment (FE) as it pertains to children. This thesis examines geographic variations in children’s FEs among varying levels of neighbourhood urbanicity and socioeconomic status, and Canada-US differences in three North American study areas: London, ON, Middlesex County, ON, and Rochester, NY, through the use of children’s menu audits and GIS-based analysis. In …

Community-Based Health Planning And Services And Women’S Access To Health Care In The Upper West Region Of Ghana, Joseph Asumah Braimah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) policy was implemented in 1999 to improve access to Primary Health Care (PHC) services in Ghana, particularly in rural and remote areas as part of global efforts to achieve universal health coverage. Despite this initiative, health care access in the Upper West Region (UWR) remains poor with wide gender disparities. Yet, little is known about the impact of CHPS on women’s access to health care services in the UWR of Ghana. This study therefore examines the role of CHPS on women’s access to health care services in the region. Data were obtained from …

Therapeutic Landscapes Of Home: Exploring Women’S Perceptions And Experiences Of Home As A Place Of Birth In London, Ontario, Caren Thayer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Home birth is a very controversial issue in today’s research literature. Using a therapeutic landscapes approach, this thesis focuses on the perception and experiences of home as a place of birth in London, Ontario, Canada. Thirty interviews were conducted during the summer of 2014 with women who lived in the London area and either planned a home birth in the previous two years or were currently pregnant and planning a home birth. Results demonstrated that women chose home birth, and did not choose hospital birth, due to the need for comfort, control, and support. Key themes around barriers included overwhelming …

Wind Energy Policy, Development, And Justice In Ontario And Nova Scotia, Canada: A Comparison Of Technocratic And Community-Based Siting Processes, Chad Jr Walker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis primarily examines wind energy policy and development through the lens of local acceptance and environmental justice in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada. It has been argued that encouraging more participatory planning alongside introducing financial benefits, can powerfully shape local responses. With little in the Canadian context to substantiate this claim, this dissertation attempts to fill a gap in the literature. The thesis also investigates a methodological question within the social scientific, mixed method literature. Using a small subset of this literature associated with wind energy development, research was undertaken to examine potential relationships between research design and method …

Morphological Bedload Transport In Gravel-Bed Braided Rivers, Sarah E. K. Peirce

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gravel-bed braided rivers, defined by their multi-thread planform and dynamic morphology, are commonly found in proglacial mountainous areas. With little cohesive sediment and a lack of stabilizing vegetation, the dynamic morphology of these rivers is fundamentally the result of bedload transport processes but our understanding of the fundamental relationships between channel form and bedload processes remains incomplete. For example, the area of the bed actively transporting bedload, known as the active width, is strongly linked to bedload transport rates but these relationships have not been investigated systematically in braided rivers. This research builds on previous research to investigate the relationships …

Confrontational Stigma And Contested ‘Green’ Developments: Biosolid Facility Siting In The Rural Landscape, Sarah A. Mason-Renton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines responses and reappraisal of a proposed and now operational biosolid (sewage sludge) processing facility, the Southgate Organic Material Recovery Centre (OMRC), in the Township of Southgate in rural Ontario. This research is grounded in geographical literatures related to the geography of health, emotional geography, and risk perception and facility siting. The significance of this research is based on a relative absence of literature on public perceptions of transformed waste products, such as biosolids, in rural landscapes and the need to better understand these perceptions and felt impacts in the context of rural residents’ attachments to place. This …

Wilket Creek: Urbanization, Geomorphology, Policy, And Design, Danielle Barr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The understanding of the morphology of an urbanized channel is currently limited to a ‘black box’ understanding in that the main driving force of morphological change is hydrologic. This study aimed to expand our understanding of urbanized channels by conducting a socio-geomorphological investigation; that is, the natural and policy-driven events and processes leading to the current channel form. A fluvial audit including historical analysis and fieldwork was conducted in Wilket Creek, a southern Ontario urbanized channel, along with a review of provincial and municipal policy and reports. Overall, it was concluded that the current morphology of Wilket Creek is the …

Quality Assessment Of The Canadian Openstreetmap Road Networks, Hongyu Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) has been applied in many fields such as participatory planning, humanitarian relief and crisis management because of its cost-effectiveness. However, coverage and accuracy of VGI cannot be guaranteed. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a popular VGI platform that allows users to create or edit maps using GPS-enabled devices or aerial imageries. The issue of geospatial data quality in OSM has become a trending research topic because of the large size of the dataset and the multiple channels of data access. The objective of this study is to examine the overall reliability of the Canadian OSM data. A systematic …

Exploring Factors Influencing Children's Use Of A Free Recreation Access Pass: Does Geography Matter?, Joannah M. Campbell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Only a small proportion of Canadian children achieve the recommend daily minimum amount of moderate-vigorous physical activity (PA). The Grade 5 ACT-i-Pass (G5AP) program in London, Ontario offers fifth-grade children a free access pass to multiple PA opportunities at recreation facilities for an entire school year. This thesis used a mixed-methods approach to examine barriers and enablers to children’s use of those PA opportunities. In-depth interviews with recreation service providers afforded an understanding of potential factors influencing pass use. Surveys of child participants and their parents provided data on participant demographics, parental and peer support, and pass usage. Spatial analysis …

Examining The Impact Of A Population-Based Intervention On Children's Physical Activity Levels: The Grade 5 Act-I-Pass Program In London, Ontario, Christine E. Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern caused in part by decreasing levels of physical activity (PA). Identification of effective population level strategies for increasing children’s PA levels is critical for improving overall health. This thesis is comprised of two studies. Study 1 examines how naturally-occurring population-level PA interventions with children have been evaluated in previous studies by conducting a systematic review. A total of 15 papers were included for review and results suggest that naturally-occurring population-based PA interventions are generally effective in improving PA levels of children in a variety of PA domains. Eleven studies included additional evaluation …