La régression de Poisson multiniveau généralisée au sein d’un devis longitudinal : un exemple de modélisation du nombre d’arrestations de membres de gangs de rue à Montréal entre 2005 et 2007

Les données comptées (count data) possèdent des distributions ayant des caractéristiques particulières comme la non-normalité, l’hétérogénéité des variances ainsi qu’un nombre important de zéros. Il est donc nécessaire d’utiliser les modèles appropriés afin d’obtenir des résultats non biaisés. Ce mémoire compare quatre modèles d’analyse pouvant être utilisés pour les données comptées : le modèle de Poisson, le modèle binomial négatif, le modèle de Poisson avec inflation du zéro et le modèle binomial négatif avec inflation du zéro. À des fins de comparaisons, la prédiction de la proportion du zéro, la confirmation ou l’infirmation des différentes hypothèses ainsi que la prédiction des moyennes furent utilisées afin de déterminer l’adéquation des différents modèles. Pour ce faire, le nombre d’arrestations des membres de gangs de rue sur le territoire de Montréal fut utilisé pour la période de 2005 à 2007. L’échantillon est composé de 470 hommes, âgés de 18 à 59 ans. Au terme des analyses, le modèle le plus adéquat est le modèle binomial négatif puisque celui-ci produit des résultats significatifs, s’adapte bien aux données observées et produit une proportion de zéro très similaire à celle observée.

Analyse de sensibilité de l’effet d’un programme de prévention avec randomisation : application de trois techniques d’appariement pour balancer les groupes contrôle et expérimental : distance de Mahanalobis, score de propension et algorithme génétique

Les analyses effectuées dans le cadre de ce mémoire ont été réalisées à l'aide du module MatchIt disponible sous l’environnent d'analyse statistique R. / Statistical analyzes of this thesis were performed using the MatchIt package available in the statistical analysis environment R.

Prendre le loisir au sérieux : les pratiques sportives des jeunes professionnels comme observatoire de l'individuation hypermoderne.

La présente thèse porte sur l’interface entre les pratiques de loisir sportif des élites professionnelles au Québec et l’évolution récente du capitalisme cognitif. En se concentrant sur les activités récréatives de l’élite de prestige (Coenen-Huther 2004) composée de diplômés universitaires en début de carrière, population nommée ici jeunes professionnels hypermodernes (JPH), l’étude vise à décrire l’articulation entre l’espace social du loisir sérieux (Stebbins 1982) et les transformations des modes de vie hypermodernes. L’enquête qualitative menée est composée d’entretiens biographiques conduits auprès de jeunes adultes professionnels amateurs de sport et d’une observation participante réalisée à Montréal au sein de deux équipes d’Ultimate. Elle pose un regard critique vis-à-vis des théories qui prônent l’émergence d’un individu réflexif et autonome qui serait épargné de toute forme de contrainte normative extérieure. Contrairement à ce genre d’interprétation, l’approche configurationnelle développée par Norbert Elias (1991) est mobilisée pour montrer comment les maillages d’interrelations entre JPH nous permettent de comprendre de manière relationnelle l’évolution des processus de socialisation propres à la « classe créative » du capitalisme post-industriel.

La conversion entre intimité et publicité : essai d'imagination sociologique

Avec ce mémoire, j’ai souhaité cerner ce qui serait le propre d’une conversion, soit ce que j’ai appelé un processus de trans-formation. Avec ce concept original, j’ai voulu orienter le regard de l’observateur vers les points de basculement de l’intimité à la publicité qui caractérisent les conversions. Pour ce faire, il m’est apparu fertile de mobiliser et de réhabiliter l’étude des valeurs, un thème classique en sociologie. Des valeurs portées par des individus aux valeurs publiques, la notion de « valeur » recèle le potentiel heuristique nécessaire pour étudier les conversions à différentes échelles d’analyse et par-delà des qualifications a priori religieuses, politiques, sexuelles, etc. Avec cette perspective théorique pragmatique inspirée par Dewey et articulée à la sensibilité aux positions sociales des cultural studies, je me suis donné les moyens d’analyser la façon dont change au cours d’une vie ce à quoi les gens tiennent. Cette représentation dynamique de la conversion vient ajouter des éléments de compréhension à un phénomène trop souvent appréhendé à la lumière de « lectures préférées » modernes et coloniales qui demandaient à être subverties pour redonner place à l’exercice de l’imagination sociologique. Les apports du concept de trans-formation sont illustrés à partir de la comparaison de quatre études de cas individuels : Paul Claudel, un écrivain converti au catholicisme ; Michelle Blanc, une transsexuelle québécoise ; Joe Loya, un Mexican American qui modifie ses conceptions du bien et du mal en isolement carcéral ; et Mlle Pigut qui est devenue « vegan ».

Le travail sociologique en contexte révolutionnaire : l’ambiguïté entre science et politique dans la vie et l’oeuvre de Pitirim A. Sorokin en Russie

Pitirim A. Sorokin est l'un des plus importants sociologues américains du XXe siècle. Ses contributions à la sociologie sont non seulement nombreuses, mais surtout diversifiées. La majorité de ses ouvrages furent traduits et toutes les grandes langues du monde ont accès à au moins un de ses livres. Cependant, en Occident, sa carrière précédant son émigration aux États-Unis fut longtemps négligée, les critiques s'intéressant plutôt à ses écrits post-Russie. Par ailleurs, très peu d'écrits francophones existent sur cette grande figure de la sociologie américaine. Remédiant à cette situation, ce mémoire revisite la vie et l'oeuvre de Sorokin en Russie et présente aux lecteurs contemporains la partie éclipsée de sa carrière. Plus précisément, la recherche porte sur la carrière russe de Pitirim A. Sorokin d'un point de vue biographique et sociologique. La question au coeur du travail est la suivante : Comment expliquer la production sociologique de Pitirim A. Sorokin en Russie? Dans une première partie est présentée sa biographie entre 1889 et 1923. L'objectif est de décrire la formation de son habitus et les diverses positions qu'il occupa. La seconde partie, quant à elle, résume les recherches produites par le sociologue avant son exil et montre en quoi ses prises de positions scientifiques furent déterminées par son parcours.

Effet de la classe ou expériences scolaires? : étude sur l'élaboration et la variation des aspirations scolaires réalistes des étudiant(e)s canadien(ne)s au regard des études universitaires

Cette thèse a été réalisée, entre autres, grâce à une subvention reçue du Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture et de son partenaire le ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) Les analyses contenues dans cette thèse ont été réalisées au Centre interuniversitaire québécois de statistiques sociales (CIQSS), membre du Réseau canadien des centres de données de recherche (RCCDR). Les activités du CIQSS sont rendues possibles grâce à l’appui financier du CRSHC, des IRSC, de la FCI, de Statistique Canada, du FRQSC ainsi que de l’ensemble des universités québécoises qui participent à leur financement. Les idées exprimées dans ce texte sont celles des auteurs et non celles des partenaires financiers.

Social construction of economic exchanges: A Weberian approach

The subject-matter of this dissertation is the social construction of economic exchanges, with an emphasis on market transactions. Applying a Weberian approach, the dissertation analyzes the social construction of economic exchanges at the following analytical levels: the agency-level, the institutional-structural level and the comparative-historical level. At the agency-level, the dissertation explores the role that human actors and social actions play in economic exchanges, especially market transactions. Theoretically elaborated and empirically examined is the assumption of market-economic exchanges as particular types of social action. At the institutional-structural level, the dissertation examines the relations of society and culture to market-economic exchanges. The assumption that the market economy is situated in and influenced by a broader social-cultural framework is advanced and evaluated in light of empirical findings. At the comparative-historical level, the dissertation engages in an analysis of the social construction of economic exchanges across various societies and over time. The assumption of the historical specificity of the market economy is reexamined, and the social construction of economic exchanges in traditional, capitalist and post-socialist societies is subject to comparative investigation. In the conclusion, further theoretical, methodological and empirical implications as well as directions for future analyses are discussed. ^

A conceptual framework for understanding contemporary child slavery

This thesis developed a conceptual framework aimed at enhancing our understanding of contemporary child slavery. A new variety of slavery exists today, the result of forms of forced servitude that existed alongside slavery many centuries ago. This is tantamount to slavery. There is, however, a critical lack of awareness about important aspects of the reality of this new child slavery. The framework and definitions of slavery in usage today, though interesting and sufficient to cover historical situations, are unable to adequately describe the conditions of the child slavery. Using existing literature and research, this thesis conceptualized children's labor in a manner that allows a clearer perception of the exploitation of their labor within and beyond the household. Explanatory factors such as culture, the age of victims, the number of hours worked and the ability or not of the victim to volunteer or withdraw their participation in the specific activities were employed to determine if particular situations should be considered as child slavery, repressive child labor or merely as child work. Important distinctions were made between the use of children's mental and physical energy in defined activities. ^

Flanerie: A post -reflexive mode of urban research inquiry

Urban ethnographic studies in social science usually proceed from within a pre-figured research framework that guides field activity and filters what is considered see-worthy and study-worthy to those phenomena which are in some way necessary for the fulfillment of specific research agendas. Reliance on formalized ethnographic research methods to explore the city, and the reflex to intellectualize that which is observed by using them, frequently leads to the neglect of much of what comprises the ethnographic richness of city-life through an overly-contemplative intellectuocentrism. ^ Flânerie, an avocational, proto-sociological ethnographic mode of urban exploration and observation originating in early-nineteenth-century Paris, is representative of an alternate approach to exploration and study of the city—one less subject to a compressed horizon of ethnographic experience. It affords insight into a broad range of phenomena taking place in interstitial urban space and time which often escape the instrumentally overly-determined gaze of professionalist research inquiry. ^ The present work addressed the fact that the concept of flânerie , though occasionally invoked in discussions of methodology in urban sociology and cultural studies, had not been subjected to a systematic attempt to relate it to the research methods of these disciplines. Though as a typological figure the flâneur is thought to have disappeared long ago, practices represented by the concept continue to be engaged in by persons inside and outside of academia who approach city life and social science with a perspective somewhat transcending the reified dichotomies of private-professional and art-and-science. This study transferred aspects of the experience of the city embodied in the flâneur to the realm of ethnographic urban studies and the building of grounded social theory, finding flânerie to be crucial to the development of a refined knowledge of urban life, and an important means by which previously overlooked social phenomena and silenced avenues of research inquiry might be exposed. ^ The conclusions reached found a “flâneuristic” approach to the city as being beneficial to research practice and the vitalization of urban ethnographic inquiry, by affording opportunities for exposure to, and immersion within, an expanded range of quotidian social phenomena that have frequently escaped the academicist gaze. ^

Middle -class immigrant identities: Dominican-Americans in South Florida

Identity studies of immigrants are complex because of multiple influences affecting identity reconstruction during immigration and acculturation: nationality, socio-cultural differences, occupations, education, spatial and geographic locations, age, gender, and personal attributes. Most immigrant identity studies deal with lower-income immigrants, who do not have the resources of middle- and upper-middle-class immigrants. South Florida is “home” to many middle-class immigrants, including Dominican-Americans. This dissertation interviewed sixty-six Dominican immigrants in South Florida, in order to determine their reconstructed identities after immigration/resettlement and to discover what influences contributed to these changes in identities. ^ The research design of this dissertation utilized an inductive, qualitative model, with the “grounded theory” method of data collection, categorization, and analysis. Participants were selected by a snowball sampling and interviewed with an informal questionnaire. Results were transcribed, categorized, tabulated, and analyzed for conclusions and theorization on immigrant identity. ^ The dissertation addressed numerous influences relating to identity reconstruction: the differing circumstances of immigration, the unique resources of middle- and higher-class immigrants, the nurturing environment of South Florida for immigrants with education and professional skills, and the boundary protection offered by suburban spaces. The interviewees displayed a wide range of age, length of residence in the United States, reasons for immigration, entry ports, settlement, relocations, occupations, and claimed identities. Identity was cross-tabulated with the various influences, as a means of invalidating certain influences and indicating possible trends. ^ The dissertation concluded that middle-class immigrant identities are diverse and multiple, as are the related influences. None of these immigrants had become totally assimilated, nor have they retained dual, non-overlapping attachments or frames of reference. Instead, many of the immigrants seemed to have developed or negotiated two or more identities, according to need, context, and personal interest. A cosmopolitan community such as South Florida seems to have encouraged such multiplicity of identity. However, rather than forming free-flowing identities, most of these immigrants eventually developed diverse and hybrid identities that have bounded attachments to various networks, groups, and places in South Florida. ^

The economic well -being of low -income immigrants in the U.S.: An examination of the impact of the 1996 welfare reform on immigrants

The 1996 welfare reform, for the first time in U.S. history, set a five-year residence requirement for immigrants to be eligible for federal welfare benefits. This dissertation assessed the impact of the 1996 welfare reform, specifically the immigrant provisions, on the economic well-being of low-income immigrants. This dissertation also explored the roles that migration selection theory and social capital theory play in the economic well-being of low-income immigrants. ^ This dissertation was based on an analysis of the March 1995, March 2002, and March 2006 Annual Demographic Supplement Files of the Current Population Survey (CPS). Both logistic regression and multiple regression were used to analyze economic well-being, comparing low-income immigrants with low-income citizens. Economic well-being was measured in the current survey year and the year before on the following variables: employment status, full-time status (35 or more hours per week), the number of weeks worked, and the total annual wage or salary.^ The major findings reported in this dissertation were that low-income immigrants had advantages over low-income citizens in the labor market. This may be due to immigrants' stronger motivation to obtain success, consistent with migration selection theory. Also, this research suggested that immigrant provisions had not ameliorated employment outcomes of low-income immigrants as policymakers may have expected.^ The study also confirmed the role of social capital in advancing the economic well-being of qualified immigrants. Ultimately, this dissertation contributed to our understanding of low-income immigrants in the U.S. The study questioned the claim that immigrants are attracted to the U.S. by welfare benefits. This dissertation suggested that immigrants come to the U.S., to a large extent, to pursue the goal of upward mobility. Consequently, immigrants may employ greater initiative and work harder than native-born Americans.^

Evolutionary developmental biology: impact on systematic theory and practice, and the contribution of systematics

Evolutionary developmental genetics brings together systematists, morphologists and developmental geneticists; it will therefore impact on each of these component disciplines. The goals and methods of phylogenetic analysis are reviewed here, and the contribution of evolutionary developmental genetics to morphological systematics, in terms of character conceptualisation and primary homology assessment, is discussed. Evolutionary developmental genetics, like its component disciplines phylogenetic systematics and comparative morphology, is concerned with homology concepts. Phylogenetic concepts of homology and their limitations are considered here, and the need for independent homology statements at different levels of biological organisation is evaluated. The role of systematics in evolutionary developmental genetics is outlined. Phylogenetic systematics and comparative morphology will suggest effective sampling strategies to developmental geneticists. Phylogenetic systematics provides hypotheses of character evolution (including parallel evolution and convergence), stimulating investigations into the evolutionary gains and losses of morphologies. Comparative morphology identifies those structures that are not easily amenable to typological categorisation, and that may be of particular interest in terms of developmental genetics. The concepts of latent homology and genetic recall may also prove useful in the evolutionary interpretation of developmental genetic data.

MODEL UPDATING AND STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES VIA ADVANCED SPINNING FINITE ELEMENTS AND STOCHASTIC SUBSPACE IDENTIFICATION METHODS

Wind energy has been one of the most growing sectors of the nation’s renewable energy portfolio for the past decade, and the same tendency is being projected for the upcoming years given the aggressive governmental policies for the reduction of fossil fuel dependency. Great technological expectation and outstanding commercial penetration has shown the so called Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) technologies. Given its great acceptance, size evolution of wind turbines over time has increased exponentially. However, safety and economical concerns have emerged as a result of the newly design tendencies for massive scale wind turbine structures presenting high slenderness ratios and complex shapes, typically located in remote areas (e.g. offshore wind farms). In this regard, safety operation requires not only having first-hand information regarding actual structural dynamic conditions under aerodynamic action, but also a deep understanding of the environmental factors in which these multibody rotating structures operate. Given the cyclo-stochastic patterns of the wind loading exerting pressure on a HAWT, a probabilistic framework is appropriate to characterize the risk of failure in terms of resistance and serviceability conditions, at any given time. Furthermore, sources of uncertainty such as material imperfections, buffeting and flutter, aeroelastic damping, gyroscopic effects, turbulence, among others, have pleaded for the use of a more sophisticated mathematical framework that could properly handle all these sources of indetermination. The attainable modeling complexity that arises as a result of these characterizations demands a data-driven experimental validation methodology to calibrate and corroborate the model. For this aim, System Identification (SI) techniques offer a spectrum of well-established numerical methods appropriated for stationary, deterministic, and data-driven numerical schemes, capable of predicting actual dynamic states (eigenrealizations) of traditional time-invariant dynamic systems. As a consequence, it is proposed a modified data-driven SI metric based on the so called Subspace Realization Theory, now adapted for stochastic non-stationary and timevarying systems, as is the case of HAWT’s complex aerodynamics. Simultaneously, this investigation explores the characterization of the turbine loading and response envelopes for critical failure modes of the structural components the wind turbine is made of. In the long run, both aerodynamic framework (theoretical model) and system identification (experimental model) will be merged in a numerical engine formulated as a search algorithm for model updating, also known as Adaptive Simulated Annealing (ASA) process. This iterative engine is based on a set of function minimizations computed by a metric called Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC). In summary, the Thesis is composed of four major parts: (1) development of an analytical aerodynamic framework that predicts interacted wind-structure stochastic loads on wind turbine components; (2) development of a novel tapered-swept-corved Spinning Finite Element (SFE) that includes dampedgyroscopic effects and axial-flexural-torsional coupling; (3) a novel data-driven structural health monitoring (SHM) algorithm via stochastic subspace identification methods; and (4) a numerical search (optimization) engine based on ASA and MAC capable of updating the SFE aerodynamic model.