Before the discovery of oil Saudi Arabia's economic structure was limited, and the majority of the population was engaged in herding and agriculture. Social life was also very simple. The Saudi economy has made tremendous strides since commercial oil production began in 1938. A series of national development plans was formulated, and the government has devoted considerable attention to the improvement of education, the Bedouin lifestyle, and many other aspects of society. Chapter I of this thesis presents background information about Saudi Arabia, and Chapter II outlines the development of its oil resources. Chapters III, IV, and V describe Saudi Arabia's family life, its educational system, and its nomads. Chapter VI offers a summary and suggestions for enhancing future development in the kingdom.

Women's access to elective political office, an indicator of political inequality, was studied by surveying the percentage of women holding elective political positions in national legislatures of 74 countries. This study used a cross-sectional research design with multiple regression analysis.

This dissertation examines the effects of trade liberalization policies (represented by membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization on selected Least Developed Countries' (LDCs) human development (represented by the Human Development Index). In this dissertation, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) policies are theorized to have two distinct types of effects: their direct effect and their indirect effect. Two questions are focused on: first, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected LDCs? Second, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected developing/developed countries (i.e. non-LDCs) holding economic development constant? Using the dependency theory of development as a theoretical basis, this dissertation examines the assumptions of modernization-theory-based policies as expressed in trade liberalization policies (i.e. the implementation of comparative advantage and now market fundamentalism) with world-system analysis techniques. To examine these questions, four panel regression models are constructed to measure the total, direct and indirect effects of WTO policies during the near-term (1998-2003) and during a longer historical term (1975-2000). The data for the analyses are taken from seven different sources of international data. …

This study is a multi-method, two-city, intensive, in-depth qualitative study of Huntington's disease (HD) caregivers (HDCs) in Colombia. I explored the Colombia HDCs' experience through the Hispanic culture of caring. I develop the theory of the subrogate agency based on 5 functional stages of HD from Shoulson and Fanh (1979). This study was conducted in two different regions of Colombia, Medellin and Juan de Acosta, in which high rates of HD cases have been identified. The data were collected through three methods: (a) 56 interviews with HDCs and 8 with physicians; (b) 28 participant observations of Huntington's disease sufferers (HDSs); (c) 4 interviews and 8 focus groups of 6 members each with HDCs of late HDSs. Human agency is the ability to monitor one's own action. This study showed that the gradual and serious loss of all capabilities in HDSs has a social effect on the HDSs' agency. HDSs' survival depends on the subrogation that the HDC offers to the HDS. The HDS retains self-hood, i.e. agency, through the HDC's action. This subrogation causes a paradoxical consequence, resulting in both negative and positive effects on the caregiver. The theory of surrogate agency is supported by the data. Through the progressive …

This research tested the hypothesis that militarization of societies, as defined by the percent of national budgets spent on military expenditures, has adverse effects on women's economic status relative to men's. This study also examined other predictor variables known to affect women's status. Data from sixty different nations were analyzed by means of multiple regression techniques. Results show that the militarization variable increased women's share of agriculture, which suggests that as men are mobilized into military activities, women are left to produce food for the country, a situation which can have contradictory effects on women's economic status. What is more important than militarization in predicting women's economic status relative to men's are high birth rates and sex ratios, which clearly depress women's economic opportunities.

The issue of refugees and the factors which result in forced migration are of growing importance. Currently, one in every 120 people is living outside of his or her nation of origin by force. There appears to be no end in sight to this situation. This paper seeks to examine conditions within a nation which contribute to the production of refugees. Using a model based on Clark's (1989) early warning system, this paper examines both proximate and root causes of refugee migration. The findings suggest that human rights violations have a proximate causal relationship to refugee production. High levels of state autocracy, low per capita energy consumption, larger rural populations, and a recent negative net migration have an associative relationship to refugee production. Further studies are needed to examine the interrelationship between the proximate and root conditions and their effect on refugee flow.

This study examines current domestic provisions and their extent of departure from English common law principles. The purpose of this study is to discover whether differences among state domestic codes are associated with differences among demographic characteristics. If such associations do exist, then some conclusion might be made regarding the feasibility of a national, uniform domestic code. This study examines current domestic provisions and their extent of departure from English common law principles. The purpose of this study is to discover whether differences among state domestic codes are associated with differences among demographic characteristics. If such associations do exist, then some conclusion might be made regarding the feasibility of a national, uniform domestic code.

This study of adoption procedures in Tarrant County, Texas provides evidence with which the program in Tarrant County may be evaluated. In addition, the study outlines a general idea of the adequacy or inadequacy of the adoption statutes of Texas.

Hispanic American Catholics are a growing immigrant population in the United States, with Hispanic cultures and Catholicism woven together in unique ways. This situation presents a window through which can be examined the dynamic between individualism and religiosity. Four logistic regression models were estimated utilizing data from the Pew Research Center 2013 Survey of U.S. Latinos, in order to investigate the correlates of Hispanic American Catholic support for women in the Catholic priesthood. Religious individualism (self-determination) was measured in two dimensions, while cultural individualism (acculturation) was measured in one dimension. The first three regression models test three hypotheses related to religious and cultural individualism, while the fourth model factors in all of the variables used. Findings generally supported the saliency of religious individualism over against the hierarchal dogma of the Catholic Church, but not the saliency of cultural individualism. However, findings also exposed the complexities inherent in both Catholic religiosity and acculturation among Hispanic American Catholics.

The issue of women's reproductive rights has become an international concern in the recent decade. Ongoing debates on women's reproductive rights in world conferences and conventions have heightened the need for empirical research and theoretical explanations of women's reproductive rights Nevertheless, very few sociological studies have treated women's reproductive rights as a dependent variable. This study examines the effects of family planning programs and the processes of modernization on women's reproductive rights. Several facets of modernization; processes of socioeconomic development, secularization, women's education, and levels of gender equality are considered. The study involves 101 countries identified by the World Bank (1994) as developing countries. It is argued, on the one hand, that variations in women's reproductive rights in developing nations may be explained by the social changes brought about by modernization processes. On other hand, the universality of the anti-natalistic population policies in developing countries in the late 20th century provides a strong state control over fertility rate, which may contribute to the attainment of women's reproductive rights. Using linear structural equation analysis, the study finds that fertility decline due to family planning programs leads to the achievement of women's reproductive rights. The empirical findings support the hypothesis that socioeconomic …

Theory: The literature on volume of tourism in developing nations, does not provide empirical measures necessary for rigorous hypotheses testing. While there have been ample studies on volume of tourism among developed nations, very little has been done regarding developing nations. Several theories from the dependency school, world systems and modernization offer theoretical explanations, but these explanations have not been adequately translated into empirical models, for studying the volume of tourism. Hypotheses: To improve the ability to explain volume of tourism and to identify the factors that affect the volume of tourism in developing countries, the study tests four hypotheses based on the theories of Modernization, World System and Push- Pull. Methodology: The study uses Confirmatory Factor Analysis to examine the factors that are likely to influence the volume of tourism. Shift Share analysis is also used to study regional variations in volume of tourism. Findings: The study found support for the fact that aspects of modernization are some of the most important determinants of volume of tourism. This finding has policy implications for developing nations trying to encourage tourism as an important economic sector. Shift Share analysis revealed that in the last decade Sub - Saharan Africa, East Asia …

U.S. immigration procedures are complex and may elude the average individual seeking admission to the United States. Understanding this, the current study investigates how information resources are used by potential migrants to learn about the migratory process. Using a mixed-methods approach, I interviewed 30 Mexican immigrants with unauthorized immigration experience about the process of gathering migration information in the pre-migration phase. Qualitative data were coded using seven themes generated from the primary research questions, including: Information Resources, Resources Used During Migration, Motivation for Migration, Method of Migration, Lack of Information/Misinformation, Types of Help and Types of Information. Findings suggest that the factors motivating migrants to come to the U.S. are combined in complex ways and lack of information about legal alternatives to unauthorized migration is an important factor influencing method of migration. Also, while access to new information resources is increasing, these resources are not being tapped for migration information.

Decentralized renewable energy procurement has gained traction in recent years for its potential to alleviate rural energy poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries. Hence, this study investigates if deploying renewable energy can mitigate rural energy poverty in developing countries as often claimed. Because any energy regime cannot be initiated or sustained without the conviction of local political leaders, the study also evaluates the extent to which government investments in the development of renewable energy technologies and the energy sector, affect the environmental quality (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions) of developing countries. Energetic theory and environmental inequality constitute the key conceptual premises guiding this study. Ordinary least squares regression is utilized to analyze the relationship between key variables. The results reveal that as of 2010, use of renewable energy can indeed support rural electrification. Higher GNI per capita and use of conventional fuels are also positively related to rural electrification, all else equal. As for environmental degradation in 2005 and 2008, R&D investments actually tend to increase GHG emissions; procuring energy from either renewable or non-renewable sources is however, found to be environmentally detrimental, net of all other variables. Finally, some evidence is found for the role of aid funds and …

This study examines the relationship between oil development and social change in Iran. The research focused on the years since 1953 examining the economic structure through the five development plans which were the major vehicles of social transformation. Within this framework the importance of oil, industrialization, land reform,, the labor force, education and health are discussed. Demographic and stratification changes are covered such as changingpopulation patterns, migration, minorities, social classes, and the distribution of wealth. Cultural and social values are then treated with emphasis on the Shah and arms, social control and social behavior. The paper concludes: oil revenues were frequently squandered without real socio-economic benefit to the masses. Economic's mismanagement and rigid social control increases pressures in society causing the 1978 revolution.