- Home
- Conference Proceedings
- Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings
- Conference Proceeding
Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1
- Conference date: 22-23 Mar 2016
- Location: Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Doha, Qatar
- Volume number: 2016
- Published: 21 March 2016
551 - 600 of 656 results
-
-
The Secure Degrees of Freedom of the MIMO BC and MIMO MAC with Multiple Unknown Eavesdroppers
Authors: Mohamed Khalil, Tamer Khattab, Tarek Elfouly and Amr MohamedWe investigate the secure degrees of freedom (SDoF) of a two-transmitter Gaussian multiple access channel with multiple antennas at the transmitters, a legitimate receiver and an unknown number of eavesdroppers each with a number of antennas less than or equal to a known value NE. The channel matrices between the legitimate transmitters and the receiver are available everywhere, while the legitimate pair have no information about the fading eavesdroppers’ channels. We provide the exact sum SDoF for the considered system. We show that it is equal to min(M 1 + M 2 − NE, 1/2(max(M 1;N 2 + max(M 2;N) − NE,N). A new comprehensive upperbound is deduced and a new achievable scheme based on utilizing jamming is exploited. We prove that Cooperative Jamming is SDoF optimal even without the eavesdropper CSI available at the transmitters.
-
-
-
On Practical Device-2-device Communication in The Internet of Things
More LessDevice-to-device (D2D) communication, or the establishment of direct communication between nearby devices, is an exciting and innovative feature of the next-generation networks. D2D has specially attracted the attention of the research community because it is a key ingredient in creating Internet of Things (IoT): a network of physical objects that are embedded with sensors to collect data about the world and networking interfaces to exchange this data. IoT can serve a wide variety of application domains ranging from health and education to green computing and property management. Fortunately, processors, communication modules and most electronic components are diminishing in size and price, which allows us to integrate them into more objects and systems.
Today, companies such as Intel and Cisco are trying to make general purpose IoT devices available to everyday developers, thus expediting the rate at which the world is adopting IoT. Many of those devices are becoming more affordable and the internet is swamped with tutorials on how to build simple systems with them. However, despite the fundamental importance of effective D2D communication in IoT, we have a shortage of work that goes beyond standards being developed to accurately assess practical D2D communication performance of such devices.
We address this gap by studying different communication metrics on representative general purpose IoT devices and examining their impact in practical settings. We share our experiences assessing the performance of different communication technologies and protocol stacks on these devices in different environments. Additionally, we utilize this knowledge to improve “UpnAway”, an agile UAV Cyber-Physical-System Testbed developed at CMU Qatar, by enhancing communication between IoT devices attached to the drones for on-board processing and autonomous navigation control.
Measuring D2D Performance in IoT devices
We investigated the performance of Intel Edison (Fig. 1, a) and Raspberry-Pi (Fig. 1, b) devices because they are the two most representative general purpose IoT devices. The Intel Edison devices are equipped with a dual-core CPU, single-core microcontroller, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 support, 1 GB DDR and 4GB Flash memory and 40 multiplexed GPIO interfaces. Being so highly equipped, they are being rapidly adopted by a substantial segment of IoT developers worldwide. The Raspberry-Pi devices are the currently most widely used devices, so we used them for results comparison and validation. We made our measurements on D2D WiFi and Bluetooth links because, on both the Edison and Raspberry-Pi devices, they are the most user friendly communication interfaces. The Intel Edison devices come with built-in Wifi and Bluetooth interfaces that can be controlled through friendly GUI and the Raspberry-Pi devices can support these technology by simply plugging the corresponding USB dongles.
Our investigations involved accurately measuring RTT, Throughput, Signal Strength and reliability. The experiments involved:
Sending time-stamped packets to an echo-server then using the echo to calculate the round-trip-time (RTT), Exchanging files multiple times then calculating average time-delay over different distances (Fig. 2), (Throughput), Increasing distance between nodes and reading signal strength (Signal Strength), Transferring large files repeatedly to test reliability of different protocols (reliability).
In addition to the data collected, these investigations helped us make some unsettling observations about the Intel's Edison devices. First, we found a bug in configuring BlueZ, the linux implementation of the Bluetooth stack, over Yocto, the operating system running on the Edison devices: the RFCOMM, a reliable protocol by specification, link was unable to catch transmission errors. We suggest using TCP/IP over a BNEP bluetooth connection as a reliable alternative for RFCOMM when using the Edison Devices. Second, we observed that the RTT of WiFi D2D connection between Edison devices was significantly higher than that between the Raspberry-Pi. We suspect that this is attributed to the Edison's energy saving feature.
Investigating A Relevant Application: UpNAway
The second part of our research involved using D2D communication between Edison Intel devices to improve UpnAway. We chose this application because of its significance in improving cyber-physical systems which can contribute to various industrial areas such as aerospace, transportation, robotics and factory automation systems. UpnAway addresses the Cyber-Physical System community's unmet need for a scalable, low-cost and easy-to-deploy test-bed.
The UpnAway testbed, however, this testbed was centralized: The UAV Node Modules (Fig. 4) used to run on a central computer while streaming motion instructions to the drones. It is a given that a distributed system has higher scalability and stability than a centralized one. So we helped the Up and Away team leverage D2D communication to upgrade the testbed to a distributed version of itself. We did this by mounting an Edison device on each drone. Then we established D2D connections between the edisons, their respective drones and the central node. Now, instead of having all computation done in the central node, the central drone now only performs localization and informs each Node Module, now running on the Edison, of its drone's coordinates.
Future Work
In the future, we would like to study the energy consumption aspect of data transmission over D2D connections. Further, we are interested in measuring how these devices perform over different technologies in different environments: outdoors, indoors in an open corridor and inside cars, for example. Such measurements will contribute to the design of many developing IoT systems.
-
-
-
Wireless Car Control Over the Cellular System
More LessNowadays, electric robots play big role in many fields as they can replace humans and decrease the amount of load on humans. There are several types of robots that are present in the daily life, some of them are fully controlled by humans while others are programmed to be self-controlled. In addition there are self-control robots with partial human control. Robots can be classified into three major kinds: industry robots, autonomous robots and mobile robots which will be discussed. One of the main advantages of mobile robots is to provide safety by replacing humans to enter dangerous places like industrial areas, factories, underground rail tunnel, buildings after disasters, etc.
Our objective is to design and develop a mobile robot car that is capable of reaching the needed destination using a camera that will provide a surface monitoring, while being controlled using four directions controller embedded in an Android mobile phone application. It is operated over a cellular communication system (that will provide national and even international (through roaming) coverage for its working area) in parallel with its self-action in presence of obstacle. Its self-action is maintained by an ultrasonic sensors that will be mounted on the car body. This is of crucial importance as disaster areas usually loss their Wi-Fi connections.
Its main role is to provide an insight monitoring for disaster areas, damaged factories with hazard spilled over products and remote anti-terrorist protection. There are many areas where human can't enter due to hazardous and fatal conditions or small dimensions, for instance collapsed buildings, areas after disasters and earthquake, nuclear power plants and so on. For example, the great earthquake that occurred on March 11th 2012 and caused damage to the north part of Japan particularly in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The disaster result in disabling the power supply and heat sinks which leads to release of radioactivity in the area surrounding the plant. Such areas and environment are very dangerous to enter by human being, in this case robotic car can be sent in order to search, discover and provide live communication.
The project is divided into three main units: robotic car, cellular communication system and Android application. The body of the robotic car is a plastic magician chassis programmed using an Arduino micro-controller with collaboration of sensors, motors and shields to avoid the obstacles and enable the surface monitoring of the car surrounding. The cellular communication system aims to build a cellular communication bridge between the Arduino micro-controller and the user interface controller, which is the third part as a user-friendly application which has been designed using Android Studio software, to control the robot through a smart phone at any place in the World. This project establishes two ways of communications; from the robot to the user showing the video content and status about the scenario. And from the user to the robot indicating the direction, distance and/or offloading demands.
We would like to present the project objectives, challenges and results, as well as a comparison to previous state of the art.
-
-
-
Adaptative Network Topology for Data Centers
Authors: Zina Chkirbene, Sebti Foufou and Ridha HamilaData centers have an important role in supporting cloud computing services (such as email, social networking, web search, etc.) enterprise computing needs, and infrastructure-based services. Data center networking is a research topic that aims at improving the overall performances of the data centers. It is a topic of high interest and importance for both academia and industry. Several architectures such as FatTree, FiConn, DCel, BCube, and SprintNet have been proposed. However, these topologies try to improve the scalability without any concerns about energy that data centers use and the network infrastructure cost, which are critical parameters that impact the performances of data centers.
In fact, companies suffer from the huge energy their data centers use and the network infrastructure cost witch is seen by operators as a key driver for maximizing data centers profits and according to industry estimates, the united states data center market achieved almost US\$39 billion in 2009, growing from US\$16.2 billion in 2005 Moreover, the studies show that the installed base of servers has been increasing 12 percent a year, from 14 million in 2000 to 35 million in 2008. Yet that growth is not keeping up with the demands placed on data centers for computing power and the amount of data they can handle. Almost 30 percent of respondents to a 2008 survey of data center managers said their centers will have reached their capacity limits in three years or sooner.
The infrastructure cost and power consumption are the first order design concern for data center operators. In fact, they represent an important fraction of the initial capital investment while not contributing directly to the future revenues. Thus, the design goals of data center architectures seen by operators are high scalability, low latency, low Average path length and especially low energy consumption and low infrastructure cost (the number of interface cards, switches, and links).
Motivated by these challenges, we propose a new data center architecture, called VacoNet that combines the advantages of previous architectures while avoiding their limitations. VacoNet is a reliable, high-performance, and scalable data center topology that is able to improve the network performances in terms average path length, network capacity and network latency. In fact, VacoNet can connect more than 12 times the number of nodes in FlatNet without increasing the APL. Also, it achieves a good network capacity even with a bottleneck effect (bigger than 0.3 even for 1000 servers). Furthermore, VacoNet reduced the infrastructure cost by about 50%, and the power consumption will be decreased with more than 50000 watt compared to all the previous architectures.
In addition, and thanks to the proposed fault tolerant algorithm, the new architecture shows a great performance even when the failure rate equals to 0.3, which means when about one third of the links failed, the connection failure rate is only 15%. By using VacoNet, operators can win till 2 million US dollars compared to Flatnet, Dcell, Bcube and Fattree.
Both theoretical analysis and simulation experiments have conducted and validated to evaluate the overall performance of the proposed architecture.
-
-
-
Narrowband Powerline Channel Emulation Platform for Smart Grid Applications
Authors: Chiheb Rebai, Souha Souissi and Ons BenrhoumaThe characterization powerline networks and investigation of communicarion performances has been the interest of several research works. Despite of its complex noise scenario and variable attenuation, narrowband powerline communication (NB-PLC) systems are key element in smart grids which provide different applications such as remote meter reading, home automation and energy management. Mainly located at the last mile communication, NB-PLC systems participate in monitoring and controlling power consumption at different level from local utilities to final customers in conjunction with wireless technology. To provide a proper communication flow over powerlines, it is primordial to get efficient designed and proven PLC systems responding to smart grids requirements. After PLC system design and development, a major task is the infield test which is a heavy task, time consuming and does not give enough information about system performance and robustness. In one hand, test and verification result are as variable as channel conditions. So, it is not obvious to get relevant information from classical infield test. In the other hand, the behavior of existing industrial PLC systems behavior cannot be accurately reproduced in simulation environment. Therefore, getting a flexible standalone platform emulating NB-PLC channel phenomena allows overcoming verification process difficulty. In literature, few research works are interested in emulating narrowband powerline.
First, the idea of emulating PLC channels using a stand-alone device has started in a broadband PLC by presenting a hardware platform based on a digital signal processor (DSP) and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Then, algorithms have been developed and optimized to reduce complexity and improve real-time performance. Regarding NB-PLC, an emulator has been proposed for indoor channels in the frequency range between 95 and 148.5 kHz using analog to digital circuit for channel transfer function and noise scenario. More flexibility and accuracy in generating the NB-PLC channel behavior has been studied and extended to support frequencies up to 500 kHz. The main challenge was the definition of time varying reference channels and tunable sophisticated noise scenarios for emulation. Both proposed NB-PLC channel emulator only takes into consideration the attenuation as predefined function and noise phenomena. The ZC detection is supposed to be ideal that it does not affect the communication performance.
The objective of this research work consists in proposing a flexible DSP based NB-PLC channel emulator encompassing the channel bottlenecks interfering during communication. The channel attenuation is deduced using bottom up approach and appropriate noise scenarios are defined to meet as much as possible realistic phenomena. The effect of zero crossing variation is also taken into account. The overall parameters are optimized to be embedded on a DSP platform.
-
-
-
The impact of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the Internal Legislation of Qatar: Analysis and Proposals
Qatar ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on May 13 2008, and has signed its Optional Protocol, pending ratification.
All persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity aim the CRPD at promoting the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Optional Protocol (OP) establishes a complaints mechanism. The CRPD creates no new rights for the individuals, but makes it possible the full exercise of human rights to all. Complying with the CRPD requires the states to introduce numerous adjustments to their internal legislation.
The study of high significance for Qatar. At any rate, Qatar has being doing significant efforts, and major progress in catering to the needs of people with disabilities. Already in 1995, Qatar issued the Law No. 38/1995, on aspects of the Social Security system, providing governmental assistance to social groups, including organizations of persons with disabilities. In the 1998, Qatar created the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA, Decree No. 53/1998), a high-level national body that among other things has the mandate to deal with the implementation of those international conventions related to the rights of children, women, and persons with disabilities which has been ratified by Qatar. Following the SCFA's recommendations, Qatar passed in 2004, Qatar passed the Law No. 2/2004, for the protection of people with special needs, which ensures the rights of persons with disabilities in all fields.
According to that law, the people with special needs enjoy special protection in the State of Qatar, by means of:
- Special education, health treatment, disease prevention and vocational training;
- Receiving all the tools and means to facilitate their learning and mobility process;
- Receiving special qualifications and training certificates upon completion of certain training programs and appoint them in areas that would accommodate their obtained skills and training;
- Dedicating around 2% of the jobs in the private sector to people with special needs without any discrimination based on disability.
Nevertheless, the implementation of these efforts is till a work in progress. A United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability, reported after a brief mission in Qatar that there is “a clear commitment from Qatari society to the needs of persons with disabilities”, which are tangible at Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs and at Al Noor Institute for the Blind. The rapporteur stressed that “”it appears that there is a clear commitment from the State and the private sector toward the issues confronting persons with disabilities in Qatar. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the private sector is a big contributor to institutions [for people with disabilities]”. Nevertheless, the rapporteur warned that “it also became clear that much of the caring and development remain almost exclusively disability-specific as opposed to the mainstreaming of the development needs of persons with disabilities. There appears to be a distinct lack of mainstreaming of disability in Qatar”[1].
In 2010, the International Disability Alliance, the global network aimed at promoting the effective and full implementation of the CRPD, recommended that “Qatar adopt a proactive and comprehensive strategy to eliminate de jure and de facto discrimination on any grounds and against all children, paying particular attention to girls, children with disabilities”[2]
The significance of this project comprehends several facets. This project is aimed at helping fulfill Qatar's commitment as requested by the CRPD. Beyond that, and above all, this project would have the direct potential to yield tangible benefits for people with disabilities in Qatar, by helping remove barriers that may prevent their full integration into mainstream society might made harder their personal and professional development. Moreover, this project should help the people with disabilities to become visible in Qatar.
The objectives of the proposed study are:
To analyze the impact that the ratification of the CRPD has on the Qatari legal system;
To elaborate a general framework aimed at defining possible ways in which the Qatari legal system could better develop the mandates of the CRPD;
To elaborate recommendations about possible modifications to the internal Qatari legislation in order to specifically incorporate the mandates of the CRPD into the law of the country.
According to the Census 2010, carried out by the Qatari Statistics Authority, the total number of people with disabilities in Qatar is 7,743, which represents 0.45% of the total population of 1,699,435 inhabitants. Among non-Qataris, the percentage of people with disabilities is of a 0.28%, while among Qatari nationals the figure is six times higher, 1,71%, with 2972 persons with disabilities on a population of 174,279. All these numbers appear as significantly low by international standards, where people with disabilities compose around 10% of the population. Some phenomena could help explain these numbers, though [3].
The significantly low number of non-Qataris with disabilities can be explained by the fact that that group of population are mostly young, healthy workers who come to the country with a work contract, and after having passed medical tests of aptitude for the position. The disability among Qataris would, thus, reflect better the natural rate of disability in the country. However, this rate is still too low for international standards. The causes to this low number could be multiple. First, it may show that in Qatar there is not yet a full awareness about what constitutes a disability, and thus people do not declare themselves–or declare family members–as disabled. Second, it is possible that the tightly knitted family structure provides for the disabled, and thus little or no support is requested for outside the family, causing a considerable under-registration of cases of disabilities, since the disabled do not reach out for specific social or health services. Third, it is also possible that despite all efforts, Qatar still has a relatively poor network of services aimed at satisfying the needs of the disabled, who that way go under-detected in the official statistics. At any rate, the numbers show that there is significant room in Qatar for the development of strategies aimed at raising awareness and implementing programs and services for the disabled.
In that sense, this project might produce very valuable information, and propose high-impact measures to further the protection that Qatar provides to people with disabilities. This project should have, thus, a critical significance to people with disabilities in Qatar, and also to their families.
The Qatari population at large would benefit from this project, since it is ultimately aimed at helping integrate a group of people–the disabled–whose contribution to the country's human capital can be of extreme value, in a context of a growingly complex, diverse global society.
Finally, this project can become a valuable tool to help reaffirm Qatar's leadership in the region in matters of human rights and human development.
[1] Report of the Special Rapporteur's Mission to Qatar - Preliminary Observations (9 – 13 March 2010). http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/specialrapporteur/qatar_2010.doc
[2] IDA CRPD FORUM Suggestions for disability-relevant recommendations 7th UPR Working group session (8 to 19 February 2010). http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/sites/disalliance.e-presentaciones.net/files/public/files/UPR-7th-session-Recommendations-from-IDA.doc
[3] Qatar Statistics Authority. Census 2010. http://www.qix.gov.qa
-
-
-
The Doha Paradox: Disparity between Educated and Working Qatari Women
Authors: Mariam Bengali, Tehreem Asghar and Rumsha ShahzadQatar is considered one of the best places in the world for women to get an education. Research has shown that for every man, there are six women enrolled in tertiary education. This upward trend in the willingness and ability of women to receive higher education is undeniably encouraging. However, though labelled a “vital element within the development process” of Qatar, the Qatari women's role in the labor market is, at best, limited. Recent data demonstrates that the participation of women in Qatar's labor force was a meagre 35%. Qatar, however, has made the empowerment of women in the labor market a significant part of its Development Strategy. The designers for Qatar National Vision have formulated its first National Development Strategy (2011–2016) with Human development being one of the four major pillars of this strategy. One of the aims of Human Development under NDS (2011–2016) is to increase opportunities for women to “contribute to the economic and cultural world without reducing their role in the family structure.” This research, therefore, intends to analyze a) Qatar's success in carving out a more vital role for its female citizens and b) the obstacles in the realization of their goal to establish a more gender-inclusive labor force. The reasons for this analysis are, therefore, not solely to augment and scrutinize Qatar's Development Strategy but to demonstrate that Qatar's extensive investment in education will not reap benefits if the majority of its educated does not take advantage of the various avenues their learning opens up. Whether this is due to unwillingness on the part of women to work or due to gender neutral reasons such as the gap between education, training and job placement or other motives; this research aims to ascertain the reasons for this difference.
-
-
-
Measuring Qatari Women's Social Progress through Marriage Contracts
Authors: Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar and Tanya KaneContemporary Qatari women's social progress can in part be measured through an analysis of current marriage practices. The Islamic marriage contract is a legal and religious document wherein Muslim brides indicate their expectations for post-marital life and an essential step in the marriage negotiation process. The conditions they stipulate in their marriage contracts are symbolic of the degree to which they exercise agency in their personal and professional lives as wives. As part of a larger study on marriage practices in Qatar, we collected and analyzed marriage contracts from a broad range of Qatari families. We treated these documents as archival evidence, reflecting changing bridal expectations from 1975–2013. A content analysis of contracts in our sample demonstrated an increase in the age at marriage for both Qatari men and women. The contracts also show the major areas in which brides negotiated the terms of their married lives including educational, professional, and household expectations. We read these stipulating conditions as moves to guarantee autonomy as wives.
-
-
-
Globalization and Socio-Cultural Change in Qatar
More LessGlobalization is impacting many aspects of life in Qatar and Qatari nationals must increasingly cope with forces generated by economic, cultural, political, and social changes in their country. Because of borrowing, large scale migration, new computer technology, and multinational corporations, many cultural traits and practices in Qatar have been altered. The widespread existence of fast foods, cell phones, the internet, Western movies and TV shows, global electronic and print media, giant shopping malls, and latest fashion designs are some excellent examples of direct and indirect diffusion and exchange of products and cultural features between Qatar and the western world. Despite the continuing positive social and economic outcomes of modernization and development, the inevitable ongoing powerful economic and social changes in Qatar have put the country at a crossroad and created formidable cultural challenges for Qatari nationals. On the one hand, the social and economic consequences of Qatar's development and modernization by 2030 will increase the mutual dependence between Qatar and the expanding global economy and strengthen the continuing cultural contact and interconnection between Qatar and the global culture. On the other hand, in conjunction with the rapid economic and social changes, the country must also commit to making its future path of development compatible with cultural and religious traditions of an Arab and Islamic nation in Qatar. The crucial challenge between continuing the move toward socio-economic development and preserving the Arab-Islamic tradition in Qatar as stated in the Qatar National Vision 2030: “Qatar's very rapid economic and population growth have created intense strains between the old and new in almost every aspect of life. Modern work patterns and pressures of competitiveness sometimes clash with traditional relationships based on trust and personal ties, and create strains for family life. Moreover, the greater freedoms and wider choices that accompany economic and social progress pose a challenge to deep-rooted social values highly cherished by society.” (Qatar National Vision 2030, 2008:4). To minimize the anticipated “intense strain” between the old and new aspects of life and to avoid the clash between traditional cultural values and the emerging modern patterns of social life in Qatar it is crucial for government officials, especially the policy makers in Qatar to understand the perception of Qatari men and women about the ongoing changes and their outcomes and its impact on their culture, religion, family, and social life. Therefore, as an anthropologist I propose to explore the following critical issues that is related to the social and cultural consequences of modernization of Qatar by 2030:
How will the new generation of Qatari nationals internalize the economic, environmental, human, and social developments envisioned by QNV 2030?
Do Qatari nationals find the current economic, social, and cultural changes consistent with core values of their culture or do they feel threatened by these changes?
What strategies, if any, Qatari nationals have devised to deal with threats to their cultural and religious identity?
How do Qataris perceive and feel about the ongoing large-scale social and economic changes and interpret their manifestations and outcomes?
Do they contest or embrace these changes?
Will the socio-economic changes in Qatar sculpt and drive cultural norms and impact cultural practices in Qatar, or the traditional family structure, religious beliefs, and will cultural assumptions direct the process of social change in Qatar?
What will be the impact of the QNV 2030 changes on the national psyche and cultural identity of Qatari citizens?
Will Qatari citizens form a new identity and transform their old religious and cultural identity, maintain the traditional religio-cultural identity, or find a balance between the old and a new one?
This project will offer several significant applied and practical outcomes and benefits for government leaders and policy makers in Qatar. In addition to exploring the perceptions of Qatari nationals toward social and economic change and their consequences for Qatari culture, this project provides an excellent opportunity to identify and assess the: intended and unintended changes in attitudes and behaviors of Qatari men and women regarding marriage, family, work, education, and related social patterns as well as values, ideas, symbols, and judgments, new cultural adaptive kits that are likely to emerge, degree of consistency between the new emerging cultural patterns of behavior and changes in attitudes and behaviors with cultural traditions and social values of Qatari men and women, different mechanisms through which Qatari people combine modern life with local traditions and cultural values, and different meanings that different individuals and groups (e.g., ethnic, gender, class, and age) attach to the ongoing cultural and social changes in Qatar. Furthermore, this project on the impact of social and economic change on Qatari culture and society will provide government officials in Qatar with a new perspective so they can understand the link between the private lives of their citizens and the larger social and cultural issues, and the impact of social change on communities and social institutions in Qatar. This new perspective will enable government and business leaders in Qatar to: chart economic and social progress more effectively and with a clearer vision, assess the life chances of their citizens in a new globalized Qatar, face future problems successfully, and build a stronger bridge between the present and the future through Qatar National Vision 2030. Finally, this project will enhance our understanding of the social and cultural consequence of globalization for Islamic societies in general and GCC in particular. It will help social scientists to understand the unique socio-cultural characteristics of Islamic countries in the Gulf region in their confrontation with the West and global forces. Moreover, it will add to our knowledge about the perception of Muslim Arabs in the Gulf region about the powerful technological, political, and social changes that are taking place in this region. The findings of this project will help social scientists to explain whether Qatari nationals find these changes incompatible with their cultural traditions and resist against them, or find them compatible with the cultural fabric of their society and embrace them.
-
-
-
Water Resources and Use in Qatar Prior to the Discovery of Oil
More LessWater Resources and Use in Qatar Prior to the Discovery of Oil Qatar is known as one of the most arid countries in the world with all of the land characterised as dessert which in geographical terms is defined as territory with no surface water. Despite this unpromising situation people have lived on the Qatar peninsula for thousands of years carefully conserving, harvesting and using the scarce water resources. This paper will argue that a better understanding of the conservation and utilisation of fresh water in the past may have implications for the future development of agriculture and water management in Qatar. All the water resources in the past were fed either directly by scarce and sporadic rainfall events or through sub-surface water (fossil water) which formed a fresh water lens floating above a predominantly saline aquifer. The presence of shallow wad is located throughout the country but particularly near the coast are indicative of the occasionally heavy rainfall. This paper will investigate the methods used to provide water to the traditional settlements and more ancient archaeological sites throughout the country. The paper will begin by reviewing the hydrological structure of the Qatar peninsula and its condition prior to the modern over exploitation of water resources from the 1950's onwards. The paper will pay particular attention to the location of settlements around the northern coast where particularly favourable conditions exist as a result of the north Qatar arch. The settlements of the northern coast employed a variety of water catchment methods including modifying shallow natural depressions (rawdhas) to provide either grazing land or in some cases agricultural zones. In some cases such as at Jifara extensive sunken field systems enclosed within mud brick walls were created fed by a series of shallow wells taking advantage of both rainfall catchment and fossil rainwater. In some cases such as at Ruwayda on the north Qatar coast an existing rawdah appears to have been modified to create a garden with trees enclosed by a fortified masonry wall. A variety of well forms were created including shaft wells where water was accessed by buckets or other receptacles lowered by rope (two example of traditional leather buckets with goat hair rope have been found in archaeological excavations in Qatar) and wide shallow stepped wells which allowed direct access to the water either for humans or animals. In the centre of the country access to water has always been more difficult because the freshwater acquifer has been closest to the surface near the coast. As a consequence the majority of human settlement in Qatar has always been close to the coast. Where inland settlement do exist they are usually located either within or next to some geographical feature such as a wadi or a large depression which will act as a catchment area for rainfall. Such settlements are nearly always supplemented with wells which tend to be larger and much deeper than those on the coast. Examples of inland wells include those associated with gardens at Umm Salal Muhammad. The transformation of inland wells with motorised pumps from the 1950's onwards was one of the causes for the depletion and subsequent salinization of the freshwater aquifer in Qatar. In addition to wells and modified rawdahs a number of other forms of water catchment exist. One of the most surprising water sources is the perennial spring (naba‘a) which following periods of heavy or sustained rainfall may result in water literally spring out from the ground. Another unusual source are fresh water springs located off the coast which were traditionally exploited by fishermen and pearl divers. A rare form of water catchment exists in the Jabal Jassasiya rock formations on the north-east coast of Qatar where the natural contours of the rock are modified to form a cistern blocked on one side by a masonry dam. Masonry dams- possibly of medieval date- have also been documented near Umm Salal Muhammad.
-
-
-
Qatar's Standing in Global Energy Governance Institutions
Authors: Lawrence Saez and Harald HeubaumQatar's position in the oil and gas market has changed dramatically since the discovery of oil in the Dukhan field in January 1940. Following its independence in 1971, the Qatari economy has been radically transformed as a result of the discovery of the South Pars/North Dome condensate-gas field in 1971. The discovery of the natural gas field and its subsequent exploitation rapidly made Qatar one of the wealthiest countries in the world (World Bank 2013). Given the transnational characteristics of the South Pars/North Dome field (shared between Iran and Qatar), under the leadership of former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar began playing a leading international role in global energy markets and gas governance institutions. Qatar's international position in energy markets was furthered by former minister of foreign affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani since 1992. Qatar's economic prosperity is directly linked to the sustainability of the wealth generated from natural gas revenues. As such, Qatar has sought to further its leadership role in natural gas governance institutions. This project aims to analyse the role of Qatar as a critical player in emerging global energy governance architectures. The international relations literature on energy governance hastended to focus on the role of the state and markets in the governance of specific energy sector commodities, like oil or natural gas (Lesage, Van deGraaf and Westphal, 2010; Victor, Hults and Thurber, 2012). Other strands in the literature (Goldthau, 2012; Goldthau and Witte, 2010; Van de Graaf, 2013; Victor and Yueh, 2010) have highlighted the growing importance of international institutions and fora (e.g., the International Energy Agency or the G20) in constructing an emerging global energy governance architecture, though these institutions need not be energy commodity specific. In building upon these theoretical approaches, our project attempts to provide more concrete evidence on how specific players (or countries) exercise their influence at a systemic level, particularly in terms of the governance of energy sector commodities within international institutions. In our research project, we offer a case study of Qatar's growing importance in international energy fora, focusing on its involvement in international institutions dealing with natural gas. International institutions and fora relevant to this research include the International Energy Forum's (IEF) natural gas dialogue, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the International Gas Union (IGU) and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP). Unlike the International Energy Agency (IEA) which has received significant scholarly attention in recent years, international institutions focused specifically on natural gas have not been systematically analysed to date despite their important role in collecting and providing industry information, promoting the development of technologies, setting internationally accepted standards, advocating common policy positions and supporting all aspects of governing the industry's upstream and downstream operations. The reason for this lack of industry-related information provision and the voicing of common policy positions is due to the emerging nature of natural gas governance institutions. Scholarly attention to global energy governance institutions has identified the fragmented nature of inter-state energy governance institutions (Leal-Arcas and Filis forthcoming, Dubash and Florini 2011). As the international regime on natural gas grows in importance in global energy dialogue settings, we anticipate that there will be an increasing formalisation of institutional coordination in wide-wide information and advocacy for specific policy coordination outputs. Further, membership in these institutions and fora is significantly broader than membership in the IEA, which is restricted to members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD). Even in that particular instance, membership of the OECD does not automatically guarantee membership in the IEA. Member countries of the IEA must demonstrate that as a net oil importer, the country has reserves of crude oil and/or product equivalent to 90 days of the prior year's average net oil imports, that the country has a demand restraint programme for reducing national oil consumption by up to 10%, legislation and organization necessary to operate on a national basis, coordinated emergency response measures, legislation and measures in place to ensure that all oil companies operating under its jurisdiction report information as is necessary (International Energy Agency 2013). In contrast, membership in the IEF, the IGU and the OGP -which straddle the producer-consumer country divide- is more diffuse, thus making them fruitful cases to analyse Qatar's relationship with other major players in international gas markets and assess its evolving role in emerging global energy governance architectures. At a macro level, the proposed project is innovative because it will be the first effort to analyze Qatar's growing influence in global energy governance institutions dealing with natural gas. Moreover, the project is innovative because it adapts a well-known methodological technique in computational sociology (i.e., social network analysis) to a wider application in international relations research. This methodological technique is used because it will best help us understand the power relations between actors in a global setting. In addition, the research will utilize two other cutting-edge methodological tools used in interdisciplinary social science research, namely multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (mvQCA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). These two techniques will enable us to identify multiple sets of covariate combinations that consistently are associated with a particular output value, specifically as they pertain to the causal factors leading to the emergence of key international relations actors in the global energy governance environment. At a micro level, our research project will offer a detailed timeline to explain Qatar's ascendency in global energy governance, visualizing the development of Qatar's influence over time as well as revealing important insights into the density and strength of the actor network itself. In turn, this will enable predictions about the sustainability, impact and future of Qatar's engagement. By analysing Qatar's participation in energy governance institutions, the proposed research project engages directly with the Qatar National Research Strategy (2012) goals and objectives dealing with the international affairs (SAH 3.1) and public policy, governance and regulation (SAH 3.2). Moreover, in addressing Qatar's growing role in the natural gas markets we would be contributing towards the expanded demand for natural gas objective (EE 1.3).
-
-
-
Who Supports Political Islam and Why?
By Mark TesslerWho Supports Political Islam and Why? An Individual-Level and Country-Level Analysis Based on Data from 56 Surveys in 15 Muslim-Majority Countries in the Middle East and North Africa Background and Significance Islam today occupies a central place in discussions and debates about governance in the Muslim-majority countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Indeed, whether, to what extent, and in what ways Islamic institutions, officials and laws should play a central role, or at least an important role, in government and political affairs are among the most important, and also the most contested, questions pertaining to governance in the region at the present time. As Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, wrote in April 2011 in connection with the democratic transition struggling at the time to take shape in his country, Islamist groups can no longer be excluded from political life but neither does one group speak for Islam nor should the nation's religious heritage interfere with the civil nature of its political processes. Thus, he concluded, Egypt's revolution has swept away decades of authoritarian rule but it has also “highlighted an issue that Egyptians will grapple with as they consolidate their democracy: the role of religion in political life.” Concerns about the place of Islam in political affairs, and about the relationship between democracy and Islam, are equally important elsewhere in the region. The Secretary General of Tunisia's Islamist al-Nahda Party, Hamadi Jebali, described the political challenges facing his country in a May 2011 public lecture and asked, “What kind of Democracy for the New Tunisia: Islamic or Secular?” And again, about the same time, an Iraqi constitutional lawyer and media personality, Tariq Harb, wrote that a central element in the struggle to define his country's political future is the question of how “to balance religion and secularism.” These and many similar statements addressed to the question of Islam's role in government and political affairs were made against the background of political transitions set in motion by the spontaneous and frequently massive popular uprisings that shook the Arab world at the end of 2010 and the first months of 2011 – events popularly known at the time as the Arab Spring. Initially in Egypt and Tunisia, but soon elsewhere as well, most notably in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Libya but also in other countries, protesters came into the streets and public squares to express their anger at decades of what they believed to be misrule by governing regimes that were authoritarian, corrupt, and concerned only with their own privilege and that of their friends. Islamist parties and movements were not in the forefront of these uprisings, although in at least some countries they were involved, sometime heavily, in subsequent political developments. But the questions raised at the time by Gomaa, Jebali, Harb and many others were not only, or not primarily, about the political space that should or should not be given to Islamist movements. These questions were deeper and more fundamental, and they were not new even if possibility of a political transition gave them increased salience and greater urgency in some countries. At most, the uprisings and possibilities for a political transition intensified long-standing and largely unresolved debates about whether, how, and to what extent a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population should be ruled by a government and legal system that are in some significant way meaningfully Islamic. Hypotheses and Analyses It is against this background that my study focuses on the perceptions, judgments and preferences of ordinary citizens about the role that Islam should play in government and political affairs. Drawing on a new dataset constructed by the merging of 56 nationally representative public opinion surveys carried out between 1988 and 2014, I test hypotheses about the explanatory power in shaping attitudes toward political Islam of (1) cultural values, such as those pertaining to the status and rights of women; (2) political evaluations, specifically those concerning the legitimacy and performance of the government in power; (3) economic factors, specifically the degree to which the economic circumstances of the individual are advantageous or disadvantageous; and (4) information and exposure, particularly the variation in the learning experiences associated with education. Judgment about political Islam is the dependent variable in the regression analyses by which these hypothesis and the causal stories associated with each are tested. The analysis includes control variables, including, and particularly, personal religiosity. Although the data are pooled in the initial analyses, they are subsequently disaggregated by gender and age, taken in combination, in order to see if whether or not each hypothesis and the associated causal story has more explanatory power among some subsets of the population than others. These regressions are also run separately for individuals who reside in countries where the government has a strong Islamic connection and countries where such a connection is weak or non-existent. To the individual-level analysis outlined above is added a survey-level, or country-level, analysis in which findings are mapped across countries. More specifically, findings about individual-level relationships, both in general and for demographic subsets of the population, are treated as dependent variables and country attributes are treated as independent variables. Dependent variable measures are both (1) whether or not the individual-level relationship is statistically significant in each survey, and (2) the survey-specific regression coefficients resulting from the individual-level analysis. Independent variables include a large number of political, economic, societal, and demographic country attributes. Information about each attribute at the time the country was surveyed, and also lagged measures for many attributes, was collected and included in the dataset. The addition of this second level of analysis makes it possible not only determine the degree to which various individual-level factors play a role in shaping the attitudes toward political Islam held by ordinary citizens, and whether and how this differs across within-country demographic subsets of the population, but also to identify and characterize the national political, economic, and societal environments in which any of these individual-level causal stories is disproportionately likely to obtain. Data and Measures Space does not permit providing at present a detailed description of the data and a full account of the measures to be employed. Instead, I am attaching a PPT that includes among its many slides: a list of the 56 surveys in the dataset (N = 82,489), giving the country and year in which each was conducted and the sample size; a list of the country attributes on which information has been collected and included in the dataset; and a list of some of the questions about Islam's role in government and political affairs that have been employed to derive a measure of attitude toward political Islam. Almost all surveys contained several of these questions, although in a small number of surveys only one or two were asked. Although beyond the scope of the present discussion, measurement operations included assessments of validity and reliability and procedures to establish conceptual equivalence between measured derived from surveys in which only some of the same questions were asked. Finally, more broadly, the PPT presents preliminary findings from a partial analysis of the data.
-
-
-
Exploring the Lived-Experiences of Caregivers Caring for Elderly Persons in Qatar
More LessIntroduction
In many Arab countries including Qatar, the family as a social institution is thought to be the cornerstone of society. The family is particularly important for older individuals, especially when their physical and/or mental health declines to the point where they can no longer function independently. Once this happens, family members (e.g. spouse or child) often become informal caregivers for the individual requiring care (Chappell, McDonald, Lynn, & Stones, 2007). Caregiving often requires caregivers to acquire specialized knowledge unique to the needs of the individual they are caring for, meet with healthcare professionals at different stages of the caregiving process, and gain unique skills often associated with the work of healthcare professionals (Leiter, Krauss, Anderson, & Wells, 2004). Lastly, caregiving roles are ever changing as both the caregiver and care-receiver age and new challenges present themselves. There is an abundance of social research on the experiences of caregivers for aging individuals whose health status has declined. This existing research has primarily focused on the burdens of caregiving and the different strategies and resources caregivers use to cope with the demands of caregiving. Recently, research has suggested that while caregiving can be burdensome, many benefits can also result for caregivers from their caregiving experience (Corman, 2009). However none of this research has been conducted in Qatar and only a few studies have been done in the Arab region. This research gap is especially problematic since reports suggest that there are problems in older persons' care in Qatar (ESCWA, 2013).
Purpose
This study addresses this aformentioned gap in social scientific inquiry by investigating the experiences of Qatari and non-Qatari caregivers in Qatar who provide care for older family members. More specifically, we focus on exploring the stresses and burdens of caregiving, coping strategies and resources of caregivers, and the benefits of caregiving. As such, this research focuses on the lived-experiences of caregivers and the consequences for caregivers (not only negative) that personal home caregivers experience when caregiving for elderly persons who require support.
Theoretical Framework and Method
One of the dominant models used in exploring the lived-experiences of caregivers is the stress process and coping-process models of Pearlin, Mullan, Semple and Skaff (1990) and Lazarus and Folkman (1984) respectively. Pearlin et al. (1990) provided a conceptual framework that looked at the stressors associated with caregiving; the model focuses on the many related relationships, and the developing and changing nature of these relationships over time, eventually leading to stressor-outcomes. This model of stress allows for the investigation of how conditions develop and are interrelated to each other. One way of dealing with stressors and the burdens of caregiving is to use a variety of resources and strategies that act as buffers against them. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) described coping as a shifting process that varies depending on the stressful encounter or experience, allowing for individuals to mediate the effects of stress on their well-being by managing both internal and external demands that are appraised as taxing (Kelso, French, & Fernandez, 2005; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004). Folkman (1997) described coping as consisting of five different resources: social support networks, utilitarian resources, general and specific beliefs, problem-solving skills, and an individual's health, energy, and morale. In order to gain a more complete understanding of caregiving in Qatar, it is important to account for both the positive and stressful experiences of caregiving, in addition to coping strategies and resources utilized throughout the caregiving experience. The stress-coping process models of Pearlin et al. (1990) and Folkman and Lazarus (1984) were chosen as the conceptual framework because they allow for a scope that looks beyond adjustment and toward positives, thereby forcing attention to both the stressors and benefits of caregiving (Kelso et al., 2005; see also Corman, 2009). Because this study aimed to explore the lived-experiences of Qatari and non-Qatari caregivers caring for older family members in Qatar, this research employed a qualitative research design in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon under study; it relied mainly on participants' views of the situation being studied and draws attention to its complexity (Creswell, 2003). Aligned with qualitative research, this study therefore used an inductive approach to generating knowledge by beginning with interviews and moving towards identifying patterns based on the experiences of participants (Rudestam & Newton, 2001). The primary methodological approach used in this study was transcendental phenomenology as purported by Husserl (1970) and modified by Moustakas (1994). Transcendental phenomenology is a qualitative research strategy and philosophy that allows researchers to identify the essence of experience as it relates to certain phenomenon as described and understood by participants of a study (Creswell, 2003; Nieswiadomy, 1993). As Moerer-Urdahl and Creswell (2004) explained, this approach is valuable when a phenomenon is identified that needs further investigation and has individuals who are available to provide descriptions and insights into the phenomenon. Utilizing qualitative, semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions based on the methodological approach of transcendental phenomenology can assist in gaining a better understanding of the themes that arise in peoples' descriptions of the stressors, benefits, and coping strategies and resources for this sample of caregivers. With this said, phenomenology was chosen because of the researchers' intent to explore and gain a better understanding of lived-experiences of Qatar and non-Qatari caregivers in Qatar.
Findings
In total, we interviewed 22 Qatari and non-Qatari caregivers aging in range from 20–50 years. Two of the caregivers were male and 20 were female. The findings reported in this presentation/poster focus on the different stressors and joys of caregiving and coping strategies and resources caregivers discussed. We also discuss the implications from these findings.
-
-
-
Meanings of Women's Agency: Improving Measurement in Context
Authors: Yara Qutteina, Laurie James-Hawkins, Buthaina A. Al-Khelaifi and Kathryn M. YountDecades of research has been conducted to understand the processes that under gird women's empowerment and one of its core components–women's agency. However, few inroads have been made into the study of how these processes work in Arab Middle Eastern societies. In fact, research on women's agency in the Arab Middle East has generally relied on measurement instruments that have been adapted without rigorous testing. This study is the first in Qatar to explore how women in Qatar understand women's agency scale items.
Aim
The aim of this study is to explore women's interpretations of selected scale items about decision-making, freedom of movement, and gender attitudes.
Methods
Cognitive interviews were conducted with 24 Qatari women ages 18–21. These women previously responded to agency scales as part of a bigger two wave survey study on influences of kin on women's participation in the labor market. The semi-structured cognitive interviews explore one decision-making item, one freedom-of-movement item, and five gender attitude items. Grounded theory analysis techniques were used. Women's responses were coded and analyzed for themes and patterns.
Results
For the decision-making item, the majority of women originally reported that they made their own decisions; yet probing revealed family input as an important part of the decision-making process. We conclude that the response options for this item were not uniformly interpreted by participants, and this variation in interpretation results in the group of women who reported making the decision on their own to be more heterogeneous than the researchers intended. Women's multiple interpretations of the decision-making scale suggest that the item was too vague for the context in which it was measured. On the other hand, women seemed to understand the item measuring freedom of movement as the researchers intended, as almost all participants easily indicated that they needed input from others on the freedom-of-movement item. We conclude that the uniformity in responses is due to the specificity of the item which led to women interpreting the item as intended. Women's responses to gender attitude items were reflective of broader Qatari societal norms rather than their own individual opinions. In their survey responses, women participants reflected less gender-equitable attitudes on some items and higher gender-equitable attitudes on other items. When probed during the cognitive interviews, inconsistencies appeared between their initial responses and their subsequent discussion of gender roles in Qatari society. It appears that these young women are caught between their own beliefs about gender equality and larger Qatari societal norms. These conflicts resulted in inconsistent responses across the gender attitude scale.
Conclusion
Agency measures commonly used in the Arab Middle East are not necessarily appropriate for such a context, especially when used with Qatari young women. Generally, the scale items tested revealed that the items were interpreted in different ways by different women. This highlights the need for deeper exploration into women's understanding of agency scale items before their use in new social contexts. Accordingly, we recommend that scale items be systematically tested whenever a researcher wants to field it in a new cultural context to determine if it is being interpreted consistently across women, and in line with the researchers intent. It is also important to identify scale items which may elicit responses that are representative of societal norms rather than personal beliefs. We recommend that such items are modified to encourage women to express their own opinions.
-
-
-
Effect of Intensive Weight Loss Camp and Maintenance Clubs on Overweight School Children in Qatar
Obesity and overweight continue to raise in Qatar due to a confluence of factors such as genetics, overeating, inactivity, tradition of food-centered social events, convenience, and advertising of energy-dense fast foods, and hot climate making outdoor activities impractical most of the year. Estimates by experts within and outside Qatar point to an extremely high rate of obesity and overweight in Qatar, with the World Health Organization placing the rate at 78%. This places Qatar among the top of countries worldwide in the overall prevalence of obesity and overweight. Childhood obesity in particular has also been rapidly increasing with the combined rate of obesity and overweight hovering around 40%, up from below 30% less than ten years ago. This trend is alarming due to the increased risks for obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, coronary heart diseases, and lower quality of living. Hence, comprehensive obesity prevention interventions are needed to stem the rise of obesity among Qatari children. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated weight loss intervention incorporating lifestyle education, physical activity, and behavioral psychology nudges among Qatari school children. The intervention was designed to integrate family and school support and fit within Qatari school system calendar and schedule. The study was branded Agdar/أقدر and conducted by an interdisciplinary team of collaborators from Qatar (Qatar University, Supreme Education Council, Aspire, Hamad Medical Corporation) and external partners (Imperial College, Leeds Metropolitan University/MoreLife, UK).
In the first year of a three-year intervention study, four randomly chosen schools in Qatar participated in the intervention with a total of 941 Qatari children (316 girls and 625 boys) between 9 to 12 years of age of whom 430 children were qualified to participate in the study. A group of four other randomly chosen schools served as control. Out of 430 qualified children, one hundred children (50 boys and 50 girls) with BMI in the 95th percentile from the intervention schools were enrolled in a two phase weight loss intervention. Phase 1 consisted of an intensive weight loss camp with a highly structured set of activity which combined a range of physical activity, lifestyle learning, dietary control, behavioral nudge techniques, and social activity. The second phase consisted of a ten week after school sessions on lifestyle education and weight management for those children who successfully completed camp. These after school/community clubs were run on school premises to facilitate integration in school schedule. The two phases were designed to be complementary: the camp helps children lose weight and introduces them healthy lifestyle behavior, whereas the after school phase embeds/consolidates the knowledge already learnt and helps in long term weight management. During the camp, children participated in a range of structured interactive and skill based activities including a mixture of water based activity, contact games and electives, where the children were able to choose from a range of physical activities. At camp, participants were subjected to a series of assessments including anthropometric (Weight, Height, BMI, Waist Circumference, Blood pressure), Lifestyle and Physical Activity Questionnaires (diet and physical activity), and Psychometric assessment (self-esteem and subjective well-being). During the clubs, only anthropometric measurements took place to ensure the children get the most out of the sessions focusing on reward and recognition and celebrating success regardless of the magnitude of the health improvement. This phase was designed to provide children and parents with the tools, know-how, and the confidence to carry on with the new healthy lifestyle at home as means to ensure durable weight management.
Data show that out of the 941 children in intervention schools, 430 children or 45.7% were either overweight or obese, having BMI in the top 95th centile by age. This rate is higher than the 42% we observed in a pilot study conducted by our team in 2014 and the 40% prevalence of overweight and obesity among children reported by other studies.
A total of 100 children aged 9–12 completed the camp with a significant reduction in percent BMI SDS of 12.5% (p < .001). The average percent BMI SDS reduction was higher for girls than that of boys (11 vs. 14%). This percent BMI SDS reduction is four times the minimum BMI SDS reduction (3%) required for health benefits in adolescents. The camp also resulted in a significant improvement in self-esteem (p < .001) with females edging males in terms of improvement in self-esteem. A slight but not significant improvement in subject wellbeing was also observed between the start and end of camp (p = 0.128).
These improvements in percent BMI SDS reduction (weight loss) and self-esteem occurred in a group that reported an unhealthy lifestyle profile with respect to physical activity and diet. In fact, participant responses painted a profile characterized by little or no physical activity (1 to 2 times/week) with two thirds of participants reporting fewer than 3 occasions of physical activity in their previous week. Participants' diet was characterized by low intake of fruits and vegetables and high intake of calorie-dense foods including sweets, soft drinks, and fast foods. Girls reported eating more fruits than boys but they seem to indulge more frequently in sweets.
As the camp phase resulted in a significant weight loss among all participants (100% of participant lost weight at variable levels), particularly girls who were more serious in participation, the clubs were found to help participants in weight management. After an initial weight gain during a 3 week period between camp and club phases (percent BMI SDS reduction down to 10%), participants were able to recover and maintain their post camp levels of BMI SDS reduction. Correlations on data suggest that the more clubs participants (particularly boys) attended, the more likely they were to lose weight during the club phase (p = .028).
In summary, the intervention camp was effective in significantly reducing the weight of all participants, despite its short duration of 11 days. After school clubs showed effectiveness in maintaining or further enhancing weight loss achieved in the camp and in engaging parents. The synergistic effect of the camp and after school/community clubs suggests promising potential for successful incorporation of this integrated intervention into the school curriculum, especially since the camp occurs during mid-year school break and the after school clubs during school days. The succeeding cohorts will provide further data for validation of this potential. The one year follow up data are being collected to assess the durability of weight changes and the stickiness of behavioral changes induced by the different phases of this intervention.
-
-
-
New Lights on Mamluk Cartouches and Blazons Displayed in the Museum of Islamic Arts, Doha: An Art Historic Study
More LessThe Mamluk dynasty ruled in Egypt and Syria from the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in 1250 until the Ottoman conquest in 1517. The Mamluk sultanate developed a system of pictorial heraldic blazons and inscribed cartouches bearing the sultans' names alongside with mottos, epithets and blessings dedicated to them. One of the well-known pictorial blazons of Mamluk sultans is the panther in the act of walking. It's attributed to the Sultan Baybars
al-Bunduqdārī (r. 1260–1277). According to the chronicle of Ibn Iyās (d. 1522), “… Baybars attained the panther (sab‘) as emblem representing his equestrian and extreme power …”. He used, for instance, to depict it in architecture and objects made of various materials as well as on his own coins. Two masterpieces attributed to Baybars are displayed in the Museum of Islamic arts (Doha). One of the museum objects is a bronze candle stick inscribed by a eagle as a personal emblem of the Mamluk sultan Muḥammad Ibn Qalā'ūn (reigned three times; 1293–1294, 1200–1309, and 1309–1341). It appears in two varieties – one-headed and the two-headed – and features both on one or two-fielded shields, and at times even without a shield.
In addition to the pictorial emblems, Mamluk sultans had also their own inscribed shields (cartouches) depicted in an oval or circular form. The early shields of this type were simple and started during the early Mamluk period constituting three fields or horizontal stripes, of which the middle one bears the sultan's name. Such shields appear alone or besides emir emblems as seen inscribed in a stick candle in Doha museum of Islamic arts. Sultan emblems developed during the Late Mamluk (Circassian) Burjī period (1382–1517) constituting three fields documenting the sultan's name and epithets accompanied by blessings as mentioned below.
The Mamluk Dynasty developed a heraldic science for emirs as well. Each prominent emir had his own blazon, mostly circular and decorated with the heraldic device reflecting his official post. They inscribed them in their buildings and also depicted them on every possible product dedicated to them, such as vessels, tools and weapons.
The heraldic blazons of the early Mamluks (baḥrī mamluks) were simple and characterized with their circular undivided shield depicting, for instance, the “pen-box” for the post of the sultan's executive secretary (dāwādār) and the “two polo sticks” representing the polo master (jūkandār). In a later period the blazon became divided into three fields (or bars) and occupied in the middle by the heraldic emblem of the emir while the other fields left blank. In the Late (burjī) Mamluk period the emir blazon developed to become composite and occupied by various emblems showing the earliest official post of the emir in the lower field (bar) and ends up with the last one.
In light of his ongoing micro art historic study of Mamluk masterpieces displayed in the museum of Islamic Art, Doha, the presenter endeavors to present the results of the recently examined cartouches of Mamluk sultans’ and heraldic blazons of high ranking emirs and discuss them in historic, art historic and hierarchical contexts.
-
-
-
An Exploratory Study of Teachers' Perceptions of Prosocial Behaviors in Preschool Children
Authors: Yassir Semmar and Tamader Al-ThaniChildren's social development is generally facilitated in the context of the unique, socialization experiences that they encounter at school and at. Such experiences are likely to manifest themselves in prosocial behaviors (e.g., helping, collaborating, and empathizing with peers), or aggressive behaviors (e.g., hitting, bullying, manipulating, rejecting, and teasing). Schools today are fraught with challenging behaviors that lead to stressful and difficult environments for both students and teachers alike. Anecdotal evidence and empirical research point out to the rise of violent and aggressive acts among school-age children. Anecdotal support, from conversations with local school teachers, pre-service teachers' classroom observations, and round-table discussions with both faculty members and students about the rise of children's aggressive behavior acts in schools motivated our study. We believe that it is essential to conduct a study that would help us gain a working familiarity with the extent to which children's prosocial behaviors are present in the preschool classroom. This is critical because students who exhibit antisocial behaviors are even more challenged with the prospect of social competence and academic success as continual conflict is likely to invade their thought processes and disturbs their ability to learn. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the occurrences of prosocial behaviors in preschool children according to the perceptions of their teachers, examine if variations of prosocial behaviors exist among boys and girls, and analyze whether variations of prosocial behaviors exist among children in Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2.
Thirty teachers from different preschool centers in the community participated in the study. They provided information about their perceptions of prosocial behavior of each child in their classes. The instrument that was used in this study is the Prosocial Behaviors of Children Questionnaire, which consists of 19 items. Four subscale scores are calculated by adding individual items: Prosocial Behavior and Social Competence subscale; School Adjustment subscale; Peer Preferred Behavior subscale; and Teacher Preferred Behavior subscale. A high score on any of the four subscales denotes a great amount of prosocial behavior. Teachers were asked to indicate how frequently they observed specific prosocial behaviors in the children of their class, using a 5-poing Likert scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, and frequently). The questionnaire was translated into Arabic and then back-translated to English. The final “Arabic” version was piloted in the Early Childhood Center at Qatar University with the participation of four preschool teachers. The first part of the study relied on having the teachers complete the prosocial behaviors of children questionnaire. This type of self-reporting measure, which is based on teachers' observations and interactions with their students, is commonly used in early childhood education research. The second phase of this investigation employed a causal comparative design in which the researchers tested whether children's prosocial behaviors are related to gender and age. Causal-comparative methods aim at investigating whether one or more preexisting conditions have possibly caused subsequent differences in the groups of participants. The causal-comparative approach also has the advantage of establishing relationships that might be studied experimentally at later points in time.
-
-
-
Trust in Business-Customer Mutuality Relations as a Model of Social Engineering
More LessThe project of social trust
Social trust, Arrow remarked is a social lubricant. The business world requires financial efficiency and expediency for its decisions to be realized. The matter that surfaces in the relationship between trust and business efficiency and expediency of decisions impinges on the profitability, and sustainability resulting in a two-way causality: The firm benefits from the trust of its customers. Customers earn the trust of the firm in its provision of desired goods, services, and trustworthy relations. An example of such trust between business and customers is the Customer Services Department of most large businesses. In small firms and businesses there is no such organized department. But respect of customer complaints and the earnestness to provide reliable products and services to customers prevail in conscious business ethics, although this is left to an understanding, rather than a formal and legal code.
Objective
In this paper we will formalize the inter-causal relations based on business and customer trust that lead to mutual wellbeing. The objective criterion of the wellbeing function thereby, replaces the profit-maximization or expected utility maximization of the financial firm by the project of social consciousness in the interactive business-customer environment. This replacement is not an imposed criterion on business. It is a logical and ethical one. An example here is the trust that society places on environmental goods, services, their suppliers, and business-customer relations. Customers and lobby groups campaign for green and sustainable futures. Corporations prevail on profit and output maximization and risk diversification. Contrarily, the objective criterion of small and medium size firms and microenterprises rests upon the consciousness of trust rather than costly customer service department. The small firms do not undergo corporate governance and corporate social responsibility strictures. The response in these directions is inherent in the type of business they do. Thus social trust between business and customers on dynamic ethical effects in preferences and objective functions is based on the process of learning within the complementary outlook of business and customers on the basis of mutual trust.
Methodological formalism
The formalism of complementary relations in mutual trust is explained by circular causation relations. This kind of methodology can be represented by the following type of schema. This schema will be formalized and evaluated to bring out the empirical validity of the ensuing decision making premised on mutual social trust. Note that the circular causation implies the need for sustainability of ethical values, as by the impact of trust, and this to be sustained by its reproduction in the business-customer relations. Thereby the project of ethical consciousness takes its functional roots in preferences, conduct, and interactive relations. A brief explanation of the circular causation method is provided by Fig. 1. It is to be developed extensively on details in the full paper for oral presentation. Significance of the proposition The global significance of the proposed paper is in its development of extensive and transcultural organizational behaviour based on the ethics of consciousness. This is studied in an institutional and academic framework. Students and scholars in every discipline need to develop the theory of endogenous business and social ethics that is presented in the paper. Practitioners and public authority are in need of realizing the inherent ethics of quality and stability of goods, services, durability, sustainability and prices that they offer with empathy beyond the old understanding of demand the supply mechanism. Such social reconstruction generates and sustains good ethical governance between multiplicities of transacting agents, and transforms society at large. Good conscious corporate social responsibility prevails in the measured implications of measured wellbeing as the social index. In a world of financial and social uncertainties today it is not so much the policed and regulated social environment that is appropriate. Rather, much needed today is the development and sustainability of conscious ethical conduct through human and institutional interactive conscious preferences. This will be the academic and practical message of this paper with its empirical and organizational content.
Figure 1: Circular Causation by Complementary Relations of Mutual Trust T qÎ(W,S) B(q,x(q)) C((q,y(q)) SOC((q,z(q)).
It is evident from Fig. 1 that the vectors induced by the trust-value, q, (x,y,z)[q], generate a complex system of relations if their interdependencies were to be charted by any system method. Instead therefore, the circular causation model is used. This approach simplifies the complexity of the system method. Details will be shown in the paper for academic and practical guidance. The vector (x,y,z)[q] will be given types of variables belonging to (B,C,SOC) respectively, and their interactions defined. The set (W,S) forms a topology on the universal set of ethical values, W, by the functional ontological mapping S. The objective function to simulate is stated in terms of the wellbeing function, Simulate W = W(x,y,z)[q], subject to the circular causation (double arrows in Fig. 1) inter-variable relations between the variables in terms of their explained attributes of ethicality underlying trust signified by the value of complementary mutuality. Now two analyses are launched and explained: Firstly, an explanation of the above simulation problem is done by using the idea of risk and return being replaced by spreading risk diversification over social goods and services, and increasing number of stakeholders, as in the case of development of SMEs and microenterprises to increase mutual wellbeing by trust. Trust is thus a conscious cementing (complementary) value of mutuality of interest and satisfaction spanning the vectors (x,y,z)[q] through circular causation as the trust factor. Secondly, a non-parametric Spatial Domain Analysis is displayed to further bringing out the simulation results of social trust generating and being generated recursively by the inter-causal variables of the vector (x,y,z)[q]. The circular causation and simulation perspective of the wellbeing function are thus brought together by epistemic economic explanation and its application in visual form. The methodology will be of a combination of ethical dynamics and financial economics and analysis. The paper is expected to be approximately 3000 words long.
Principal references for this abstract
Choudhury, M.A. & Hossain, M.S. 2007. Computing Reality, Aoishima Research Institute: Tokyo, Japan. Hammond, P.J. 1989. “On reconciling Arrow's theory of social choice with Harsanyi's Fundamental Utilitarianism”, in G.R. Feiwel Ed. Arrow and the Foundation of the Theory of Economic Policy, pp. 179–221, Macmillan, London, Eng.
Kim, W.C. & Mauborgne, R. 2005. “Creating blue oceans”, in their Blue Ocean Strategy, pp. 3–22, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
MA. Lawson, A. 1997. Economics & Reality, Routledge, London, Eng. Stiglitz, J. Sen, A. & Fittousi, J-P. 2010. Measuring Our Lives, the report of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, The New Press, New York.
-
-
-
Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes for Assurance of Learning at Qatar University
Authors: Khaled A Daoud and Shaikha Jabor Al-ThaniFrom 2006 to 2012 Qatar University transitioned from doing no program level outcomes-based assessment of student learning to implementation of a robust, effective, and institutionally pervasive Student Learning Outcomes Assessment System (SLOAS) that is characterized by a high level of compliance and meaningful improvements to both learning and assessment processes. Keys to the success of the implementation have been support from campus leadership, creation of a structure and processes that support assessment at all levels, and an intensive program of faculty development and faculty incentives. A unique feature of the system is the auditing of annual program assessment reports by external experts. Comparison of results from the fourth and fifth years of the implementation suggest the following trends: a relatively high and increasing tendency to identify learning improvements involving revisions of curriculum and courses, a low and decreasing tendency to identify learning improvements that cost money, and a high and increasing tendency to make changes to assessment processes that make them more meaningful and more manageable.
-
-
-
Death Penalty between Divine Law and Secular Law: Egyptian Criminal Justice System and Counter-Terrorism Law, Quo Vadis?
More LessMuslims, Christians, and Jews advocates of reconciliation's theological concept, and in contemporary legal perspectives and politics, it encompasses acknowledgment (truth commissions, memorials…), compensations, apology, occasionally retribution (punishment), via a unique restorative logic, to rectify wounds and alter hatred. Understanding that Islam plays a crucial role in law and politics in the Middle East, as it includes Islamic legal basis for the application of criminal punishment, especially death penalty, as the Prophet Mohammad said: “[I]f a relative of anyone is killed, or if he suffers khabl (wound), he may choose one of three things: he may retaliate, or forgive, or receive compensation.” Justice plays a dominant theme in the Qur'an as represents one of the Islam's main purposes. In terms of retributive justice, Muslim fiqh (scholars) splits crimes and punishments into three categories: Hudud are prescribed offences cover specific acts (e.g., theft, adultery, slander…), Qisas means retaliation for murder, wounding, and mutilation and for community's improvement, and ta‘zir includes minor misbehaviors, crimes for which retribution is improper (or impossible), and offences not cited in the Qur'an and don't have any fixed penalties as hudud and qisas, which administered at the qadi (judge)’s discretion. Under the Egyptian criminal justice system, and according to Egyptian Criminal Code, the country's attorney general along with the defendants have the option to spontaneously appeals death penalties to the Supreme Court, which can order a retrial and if the retrial results in the same ruling, the defense attorney may again ask the court to grant a retrial procedure. According to Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution 2014, “Islam is the State's religion…and the principles of the Sharie‘a is the principal source of legislation.” In light of this provision's interpretation, the law of God requires that intentional and serious criminals be put to death which means the lex talionis (equality principle) through satisfying the victims’ feelings and then social peace will maintain. Classical Islamic scholars argued that Islamic norms are immutable, based on the Supreme Constitutional Courts' decision on the interpretation of the Sharie‘a values. However, the court believes that the Sharie‘a law include “relative” philosophies and “updated or modern” doctrines which are capable of being adjusted within the social future development through ijtihad (individual reasoning) and Qiyyass (analogy) and without any paradox to the main maqasid (objectives/bulk) of the Islamic jurisprudence. In this domain, the most conventional religious jurists go as far as to claim the renovation of the death penalty for all crimes specified in the Qur'an and others moderate Islamic intellectuals argued for the restoration of the diyyahh whereby criminals can be (forgiven) whereby criminals can be pardoned by their victim's family by giving them compensation. Egypt's Constitution stipulates that all those accused of a criminal offense are “presumed innocent until proven guilty in a fair legal trial in which the right to defend oneself is guaranteed.” The Constitution does not refer to the corporal punishment but confirmed a certain number of guarantees concerning the respect of individual public rights and freedoms. The Penal Code sets this punishment for various crimes. Crimes of this punishment are tried by the criminal circuits of the Appellate courts in which the criminal rules does not offer a fair system of reasonable administration of justice which constitutes a breach of the UN Safeguards ensuring defense of the rights of those facing the death sentence. The Penal law obliged the court to pass the case file to the Mufti (religious leader) for his opinion, before pronouncing this sentence decision to make sure if it is compatible with Islamic law rules or not. In Egyptian law, execution can be postponed by retrial's request, as the right to demand a retrial belongs to the prosecution or the defendant. As a question on the Sharie‘a on the death penalty eradication, and based on the constitutional's moderate interpretation of Islamic norms, as Islam should familiarize to the fluctuations which have come about since the Prophet's period, addressing Talion Law is an outdated practice which should be swapped by the legislature and the judiciary to end up the debate on death penalty not only in Egypt but also in the Islamic World. For decades, reprisal no longer institutes the basis for punishment, as any development appears to aggregate law's secularization, the purpose of which is to isolate the Prince's law from God's law. Regrettably, the rise in various forms of fundamentalism is not favorable to this expansion.
-
-
-
Higher Education in Pakistan - Problems and Prospects in Post 18th Amendment
Authors: Amber Osman and Muhammad Imtiaz SubhaniThis multi-dimensional study will be focusing on investigating the evolution of constitutional position enjoyed by Higher Education while identifying the issues with regard to planning and governance of Higher Education in post 18th amendment scenario. This study will also be emphasizing on governance of higher education at provincial level. Moreover, this research will be giving the recommendations for future course of action in connection with the position of subject of education in the constitution via quantifying the various propositions, which includes: 1- There is the evolution of the constitutional position enjoyed by the subject of higher education. 2- There are the issues with regard to planning and governance of higher education after 18th amendment. 3- There is the moment in the governance of higher education at provincial level. 4- The future of administration of higher education at provincial level is predictable. 5- there is the need for planning and monitoring of higher education at national level. 6-There the need for a body with advocate powers at federal level to interact with international donors for educational funding. 7-There is the need for a body with advocate power to meet the requirements of educational institutions abroad seeking verification and equivalence of educational qualification. 8: There is a bubble in access to higher education in Pakistan. 9: There is gender discrimination in access to higher education in Pakistan. 10: There is no shock in the spending of higher education in Pakistan. 11: There is contribution of universities of Pakistan in generating income for higher education and economy. 12: There is contribution of universities in generating foreign exchanges earnings. 13: Forecasting the performance of public and private sector universities during the period of post 18th amendment in terms of numbers of enrollments, contribution to national income and contribution to Foreign Exchange Earning. 14: There is variance in the perception of public sector Vice Chancellors and private sector Vice Chancellors in connection with the issues raised in the 18th constitutional amendment.
The literacy rate of Pakistan is below average, which describes the education system of our country. The education system of Pakistan requires a complete overhauling from its roots to the top in order to really provide quality education. Higher education is generally expensive for the masses and more so if you're sending your child to private universities. The public and private sector universities do provide scholarships and financial-aid but still the present situation of the higher education requires more and massive improvement. Is the curriculum in public and private sector universities uniform and even if a masters student tries to attain a foreign degree, there are obstacles of bridge courses for him/her to complete first and then to start for the actual degree he/she applies for. All these matters load the individual with monetary burden and in turn effect the growth performance as a nation. With the 18th amendment in place, the government and the universities are trying to take steps to provide quality higher education in Pakistan but still the question of access to higher education to masses, more awareness of the policies of education system remains unanswered. Pakistan has already decided on free and compulsory education for children between 5–16 yrs in the 18th constitutional amendment. Still, children are still not being educated and the education system remains disturbingly poor. The current public and private higher education system requires producing strong youth who can compete in the growing international market with supportive local government system within the country and tranquility at the international level. Actions speak louder than words; This is what Pakistan should do. It is necessary for Pakistan to make substantive investments in higher education, training and curriculum to meet national needs. This will empower our country to produce all-rounded citizens, ready to support the country's economic, political, social, technological, defense needs, partnership for self-defense while safeguarding our religious, cultural heritage and geographical identity. The underlying problems to be explored in this research grant are: 1- Gauging the evolution of the constitutional position enjoyed by the subject of higher education. 2- Identifying the issues with regard to planning and governance of higher education after 18th amendment. 3-(A) Analyzing the governance of higher education at provincial level and (B) forecasting the future of administration of higher education at provincial level. 4- Identifying the need for planning and monitoring of higher education at national level. 5- Identifying the need for a body with advocate powers at federal level to interact with international donors for educational funding. 6- Identifying the need for a body with advocate power to meet the requirements of educational institutions abroad seeking verification and equivalence of educational qualification. 7- The access to higher education. 8- Gender discrimination. 9- Spending on higher education. 10- Sources of generating additional funding. 11- The potential of higher education as a foreign exchange earner. 12- The public and private sector in higher education and its potential. 13- Survey of Vice Chancellors both public and private in connection with the issues raised by the 18th Amendment. The foremost expected benefit on this research sub-theme will help one understand the evolution of the constitutional position enjoyed by the subject of education with particular reference to Higher Education. Identification about the issues, which have come up with regard to the planning and governance of higher education after the 18th Amendment. To explore provincial level role in regards to higher education. Also, the need for planning, monitoring and unit at federal level to interact with international donors in order to facilitate and meet the necessities of educational institutions abroad seeking verification and equivalence of educational qualifications. The major benefit and impact will be achieving future implications of few changes brought about or proposed by the Provincial governments with relation to the higher education administration and to foresee the plans, directions and outcomes by the Federal and Provincial levels, which might entail additional modifications in subject to education in the Constitution. This research study shall be beneficial to the higher education policy makers, public and private higher education institutions, faculty and students of higher education, researchers and all those who are keen to embrace themselves with the post 18th amendment outcomes in relevance to the higher education of Pakistan. The positive and/or negative impacts via various indicators of Higher Education in Pakistan will be forecasted through econometrical techniques to present the post 18th amendment and the future of Higher Education.
-
-
-
Degree of Sustainability Disclosure and its Impact on Performance of Islamic and Conventional Banks
Authors: Haitham Nobanee and Nejla ElliliThis paper examines the degree of sustainability disclosure and its impact on profitability of listed banks in the UAE financial markets during the period 2003–2013. The results show that the level of sustainability, economic, environmental, and social disclosures are at low levels for all UAE banks, Islamic, and conventional banks. The results show significant differences in social disclosures between Islamic and conventional banks and insignificant differences of sustainability, economic, and environmental disclosures between the two banking systems. In addition, the results of the dynamic panel data reveal that sustainability, economic, environmental, and social disclosures have no significant effects on the banking performance of all UAE banks, conventional and Islamic banks.
-
-
-
“Option Contracts” in the Light of Islamic Jurisprudence: Comparative Study
More LessThis research aims to provide an Islamic Fiqhi perspective on the Options Contract, one of the most prominent contracts in international capital markets. The research begins with a historical introduction that illustrates the emergence of this contract and its evolution. It then moves on to explain its terminology and linguistic meanings. The research also addresses the most suitable Fiqhi adaptation (Takyeef) to this contract. The research concludes with many significant findings. Firstly, the subject of contracting is an abstract right, namely, just the right to purchase or to sell, and not something else. It is not an obligation, because an obligation is only a consequence of this contract. Finally, all kinds of this contract are haram because it contains gharar and maysir (gambling).
-
-
-
البناء العاملي لعلاقة كفاءات تسيير المؤسسة التعليمية بجودة الأداء المدرسي دراسة مقومات تنمية كفاءات التسيير بمنهجية النمذجة بالمعادلة البنائيةSEM
More Lessالبناء العاملي لعلاقة كفاءات تسيير المؤسسة التعليمية بجودة الأداء المدرسي دراسة مقومات تنمية كفاءات التسيير بمنهجية النمذجة بالمعادلة البنائية SEM تناولت الدراسة موضوع تنمية كفاءات تسيير المدرسة الجزائرية المعاصرة، باعتبار القوى البشرية الإدارية في أي مؤسسة تمثل أهمية قصوى،وبالتالي يمثل موضوع تنمية كفاءات التسيير والقيادة مطلبا ضروريا للدراسة والتحليل بحثاً عن السبل الكفيلة بتحقيق ذلك. وحيث أن المدرسة بجميع مستوياتها تمثل عصب النظام التعليمي، فإن إدارتها وتسييرها تمثل عملية إنتاجية على قدر كبير من الأهمية تستدعي تنمية كفاءات تسييرها وإدارتها ، ولأهمية دور المؤسسة التعليمية في التنمية المجتمعية المعاصرة فإن القائمين على أمرها مطالبون بامتلاك الكفاءات اللازمة والمؤهلة لتطوير المعارف و فهم متغيرات العصر من حولهم والتفاعل بإيجابية مع متطلبات تحقيق الأهداف المرسومة. الأمر الذي يؤكد أهمية دراسة وإعادة النظر في أنظمة التكوين والتدريب بما يمكن من رسم وتحديد المقومات الداعمة لعملية تكوين وتدريب تسمح للمسيرين بمواجهة تحديات الاستمرار والتطوير ضمن المتغيرات الثقافية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية والبيئية، وبالتالي نجاح مخرجات المدرسة وتجويد أدائها. من هذا المنطلق استهدفت الدراسة استقراء واقع تسيير المؤسسات التعليمية.... بهدف الوقوف على المقومات الضرورية لتكوين ناجع يسهم في إحداث التنمية المهنية للجهاز الإداري. بشكل يواكب الإصلاحات ويستجيب للمتطلبات المعاصرة لتسيير المدرسة الحديثة وفقا لعناصر بيئتها الثقافية من جهة، وتماشيا مع نظام الجودة الشاملة. وتكون مجتمع الدراسة من مدراء المؤسسات التعليمية بالمستويات الثلاثة بواقع عينة بلغ حجمها 315 مديرا موزعين على المستويات: ابتدائي ـ متوسط ـ ثانوي، خلال السنة الدراسية .2015/2014 وأسفرت النتائج المستقاة من الدراسة بعد معالجتها بالأدوات الإحصائية المناسبة، ومنهجية النمذجة بالمعادلات البنائية (SEM) STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING على تحديد النموذج النظري البنائي المتضمن لجملة المقومات اللازمة لتنمية كفاءات الجهاز الإداري في مجال تسيير وإدارة مدرسة معاصرة لمجتمعها، وفاعلة في محيطها، ومن ثمة وضع واقتراح مصفوفة اشتقاق الكفاءات المعنية بالتنمية المستهدفة.الكلمات المفتاحية: تنمية الكفاءات ـ المقومات ـ التسيير الفعال ـ الثقافة المحلية ـ جودة الأداء المدرسي
Title: The elements of skills development for the management of education and training institutions, in the light of the local culture and norms of the TQM (STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING)
Summary: The study focused on the development of skills related to the management of educational institutions, since administrative and human resources in any institution are one of the influential factors on its development and the achievement of its objectives. Therefore, research on skills management becomes more than necessary to enable educational institutions to achieve their goals. If we assume that contemporary schools, in different stages of education, represent the core of the educational system, their efficient administrative management is conditioned by the acquisition of a number of skills necessary to perform the roles defined by the requirements of modern times. That is why, continued calling into question of training strategies is imperative, given the continuing evolution in the field of administrative management of educational institutions. And it is for this reason that the current study focused on the observation of the reality related to the administrative management of these establishments, aiming to determine the elements of successful and effective training of the managers and directors of these educational institutions, and to ensure the practice of modern management that takes into account the elements of authentic cultural environment that surrounds these establishments, in addition to ensuring the spirit of competition that leads to overall quality covered by this management. The population concerned by this study is composed of directors of educational institutions. Each sample includes 315 directors, at 03 levels: primary, middle and secondary, for the school year 2014/2015. The study was able to determine a set of components necessary to acquire skills related to the administrative management of the modern school, and also to provide a training system capable of achieving the goals of sustainable social development.
Keywords
Skills, Skills Development, Constituent Elements, Management of Educational Institutions, Local Culture, TQM.
-
-
-
Road Traffic Accidents in Kuwait (Triangulation Method Study)
More LessThe study has revealed the pattern and trends of motor traffic accidents in Kuwait City from 2010 to 2011. It shows that the accident occurrence was increasing every year, passengers and pedestrians are always at highest risk of being injured or killed on the road, young males are highly prone to motor traffic accidents. The study has also identified qualitatively (by interviews) that the technical element of the highway construction, irresponsibility, poor management, cell phones, alcohol and drugs, age of the victims and poor condition of services as the important risk factors associating to the cause of traffic accidents in Kuwait. In order to reduce traffic accidents in Kuwait City, it is recommended that the government should review legislation regarding employment of drivers. Working conditions of police force should be improved, public road safety campaigns should be conducted, and new driving license system should be imposed. The use of cell phones while driving should be restricted. The hospital and police record keeping should be strengthened, the hospital staff, traffic police and ambulance personnel should be considered for intensive training on emergency and preparedness, and regular vehicle inspection should be introduced in Kuwait City.
-
-
-
Translating Conversational Implicature from English into Arabic
More LessConversational implicature is known as an additional meaning indirectly implicated by saying another thing. In this sense, the aim of this thesis is to discuss the problems of translating conversational implicature from English into Arabic. It is concerned with the conversations between characters selected from three English literary works, two novels Lord of the Flies and Nineteen Eighty-Four both of which are written in prose for analysis along with their Arabic translations. In order to determine how to resolve the problems of translating conversational implicature from English in to Arabic, two theoretical frameworks are implemented for the descriptive analysis of the selected texts. The first is the Skopos approach that concentrates on the purpose of the translation which in turn determines the methods and strategies of translation that are employed to form a functional translation of the target text. The second is Grice's Implicature that implicitly agrees on the “purpose or direction” of those conversations in which each participant (speaker and listener) cooperates to achieve the purpose of the conversation. These two theories, along with their rules, provide appropriate standards by which to measure the accuracy of such translations from English language into Arabic. The study's descriptive analyses reveal that the translators encountered problems and obstacles during the translation of those texts into Arabic for several reasons, including linguistic, social and cultural. To overcome these problems, the translators followed different approaches and techniques to achieve consistent coherent Arabic text, equivalent to that of the original. Most of the source texts are translated into Arabic adequately enough on the whole in spite of breaches to the rules and maxims of translation. In conclusion, the study reveals that both the Skopos and Grice theories are successful and applicable at varying levels, in translating conversational implicature from English into Arabic. Nevertheless, Grice's approach is more successful in translating the conversational imlicatures within the framework of this study. Accordingly, this study answers all the designed questions.
-
-
-
Digitally Reconstructing and Analysing Historic Villages in Qatar
More LessThis paper analyses the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) reconstruction of four abandoned villages in northwestern Qatar, Al Ghariya, Al Jumail, Al Khowir, and Al Areesh, using Building Information Modelling (BIM) techniques developed for contemporary architecture to visualise and understand how the villages functioned and were organised. In addition, we isolate specific buildings and analyze their environmental performance through light and shadow studies, thermal performance of the walls and interior spaces, and wind simulations. Through this interrogative process, we are quantitatively exploring the sustainability of traditional building practices and understanding the underlying geometric logic of spatial organization in historic Qatari architecture. This research is an extension of a reconstruction and analysis of Al Jumail I co-published in 2013 in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. The additional village models allow for comments on common patterns and individualisation in village and house construction in Qatar prior to oil and gas development. I also identify the innovative ways in which Qatari people dealt with their environment prior to industrialisation that might be integrated into sensitive regional design today. The analyses focus on the ephemeral qualities of these villages to seek out deeper structures and meaning in the organisation of historic Qatari villages – particularly the inter-relationships between what and where people built and how they lived their everyday lives. Other elements, like the location and storage of water, and proximity to economic resources, such as inter-tidal fish traps, are related back to the BIM analyses and primary and secondary qualitative resources on Islamic architecture and urban design. The mapping and reconstruction of each village is based on a combination of photographic documentation I completed when I was in Qatar in 2013, GIS data from Google Earth, and existing AutoCAD plans of each village. I analyse the two-dimensional plans using DepthMap, a spatial syntax visualisation and analysis program. Through this, I map not only the buildings, but also the primary and secondary arterial routes through each village as well as the geometric relationships between buildings. This allows us to identify structures with higher or lower accessibility and relate these to qualitative data on who lived where and did what within the village. It also measures the rate of penetrability of each structure, which sheds light on how architecture embodies Islamic concepts. One of the things that Besim Selim Hakim discusses in detail in his book, Arabic-Islamic Cities and Planning Principles, is the emergence of planning and house models in conjunction with Islamic jurisprudence and the Madhab, or schools of law. Professor Hakim used Tunis and its development in the 8th century according to 12 principles of Maliki law, much of which revolve around notions of maintaining privacy while allowing public access through the urban core. In our first analysis of Jumayl, we discovered that the highest level of public accessibility, the main public roads are clear and run through the town, radiating out from the central public suq and the community mosque. Secondary roads away from the suq are the second order, with the high walls of the individual houses blocking visibility and accessibility into the private residential spaces. Access to the courtyard of an individual house represents the third order. The access to the internal residence blocks (which also exhibit a subtle hierarchy of spatial access as there can be multiple smaller buildings arranged around the courtyard) is the final and most private order. The spatial syntax analysis software visualises a hierarchy of space and spatial permeability. In other words, there are four orders or levels in a continuum of privacy versus public accessibility that are constructed through the courtyard walls, avenues, and building structure and placement. At play are alternating lines of vision and occlusion that reinforce the Islamic notions of gender, home, function and the organization of public and private spaces. One of the main remaining questions I have, though, is how might the topology - what might be described as the “ambient” land in which a building is placed - impact some of these design decisions. I'm also deeply interested in Harriet Nash's work on how stars were used to determine time and the distribution of water in Oman. What's particularly fascinating to me about Nash's work is her identification of a central nexus along the main falaj (or irrigation canal) from its source in the nearby mountains and how this nexus has a specific site line for stargazing built in. In other words, the arrangement of space that begins with all the elements described by Professor Hakim also includes consideration for all these other ephemeral qualities – including the relationship of the individual to the larger cosmos. I know from my other research in different parts of the Gulf that folk astronomy played a big role in weather prediction and the scheduling of economic events, including both maritime and terrestrial navigation. None of this has been documented for Qatar, so it would be interesting to include an astronomic simulation in the digital analysis to see if there are also star-gazing sites in these primarily fishing villages. I plan to import both the 2d plans and the terrain data into a CAD software and then extrude the 2-dimensional plan into 3 dimensions, matching the models carefully with my own database of geo-located photographs and site notes. The resulting models can then be subjected to a suite of BIM analyses that visualises how the buildings performed in different seasons using recorded climactic data on heat, solar movement, wind, and tides. By correlating the results with pre-existing ethnographic data, the analysis illuminates the ways in which social hierarchy was materially and spatially expressed according to Madhab. The results complement and expand upon the existing literature of Gulf architectural history, which has emphasized the use of passive cooling or visualising the typologies of individual house, but rarely explores the range of these strategies within the context of the buildings’ location and orientation. It also allows us to grasp the complexity and diversity of building and settlement typologies and offers a set of methodologies applicable to the analysis of archaeologically recovered structures and towns. This is particularly relevant to Qatar, given that the historic built environment isn't as comprehensively documented as some of the other countries in the Gulf and that access to water on the peninsula was more limited.
-
-
-
The Cultural Innovation Sub-system
More LessThis is a paper in progress, which deals with the progress of the concept of the National Innovation System, from a perspective of developing countries (particularly in the Arab Region), keeping in mind the different aspects of entrepreneurship based on the contributions of Schumpeterian economics. It examines three possible focus areas for NISs, including technological (The Research & Development/Science & Technology approach to innovation), non-technological (Innovation methods other than product innovation), and Cultural/Creative Industries. We argue that in the context of some developing countries with inadequate R&D infrastructures and economic development, the Cultural-Creative industries perspective can be more effective in strengthening innovation. We present three lenses that can help shed the light on the contribution of cultural and creative industries to innovation in these contexts. This paper makes a number of propositions, related to the effectiveness of R&D spending aiming to improve innovation in developing countries, and comparing the impact of supporting innovation through cultural industries versus R&D in the same context. We then propose certain expected areas where investments in cultural industries can strengthen innovation. The view taken is argumentatively opposed to some existing entrenched beliefs about the value of technical innovation, R&D efforts, and registering patents, particularly within a context lacking suitable network, scientific, and industrial infrastructures. The theoretical propositions are not - as of yet - supported by hard economic data due to the difficulty of capturing the construct and lack of suitable statistics, but the work is in the process of being refined and adapted. Presenting the theoretical contributions at this conference presents a number of synergies due to the high value placed on cultural resources, innovation, and the need for sustainable economic development. The argument will help spark a fruitful discussion on the propositions and refine the analysis related to building robust and powerful innovation systems in the region, supported by significant and solid cultural foundations.
-
-
-
Livability of High-Rise Districts - Case Study of West Bay in Doha
More LessDoha, the capital of the state of Qatar, is a small Gulf city that grew as a port settlement on pearling and fishing activities. Since the mid-seventies, Doha has begun the process of accelerated growth based on the rising price of oil. The city witnessed a massive urban transformation in 2005 that continues to the present day. Doha is scheduled to host the FIFA World Cup 2022. Consequently, a number of significant projects and infrastructure works are being undertaken and will continue until the event's launch. Designers and planners usually focus on design merits of tall buildings and the impact on the skyline and the city image, discarding the integration of the building with the ground level. In West Bay, tall buildings meet the ground level with security gates and parking spaces that weaken the buildings' approaches and diminish the vitality of the street. The distribution of land uses complicates the accessibility for people. Insufficient parking spaces and lack of transportation choices exacerbate the traffic congestion problem and reduce the number of visitors to the area. Additionally, West Bay has a non-utilized waterfront allocated for embassies that prevents the entire area from enjoying this interesting waterfront. The current situation in the study area is a result of rapid urbanization, globalization and a non-integrated urban planning process that pressured urban designers and planners to overlook the importance of livability of urban spaces. Livability can be defined as a group of factors that together contribute to enhancing the quality of life and the experience of urban spaces. When governments take into account livability factors in the legislative framework and planning process of the city, the impact on human well-being is significant. Cities from around the world that have integrated livability principles into their regulatory framework have succeeded in having 24-hour bustling high-rise district such as San Francisco, Vancouver, Beijing, and many more. This research investigates the livability of high-rise districts, focusing on the West Bay of Doha as a case study. The study explores the implementation of livability principles through both urban legislation and the urban planning process for high-rise districts in the existing literature. It analyzes a series of case studies from Europe, North America, Asia and the Gulf that are considered to be best practices of livability. The case studies cover all aspects of the research problem and propose best solutions and strategies for a more livable urban spaces. The results of the comparative analysis of case studies produces solutions that have been adapted to solve the problems of livability in West Bay. The site analysis is conducted using data collection tools to: 1. investigate the study area; 2. identify the absence or presence of livability indicators; 3. assess the problems caused by the tall buildings interface with street level; 4. identify the government's plans for developing the study area; 5. and explore people's general perceptions and knowledge of livability. A walk through, social media discussions, interviews, and focused groups were undertaken to formulate an in-depth investigation regarding both the problem and the proposed approach. The study develops and proposes an approach to solve the problem of livability in the West Bay high-rise district and future high-rise developments in Doha. This approach includes a legislative framework for high-rise districts that adopts livability principals within an integrated urban planning process using form-based codes and 3d visualizations which will eventually contribute to the human well-being and overall sustainability and welfare of Qatar. The research investigates the livability of high-rise districts, focusing on West Bay tall buildings as a case study. Tall buildings in West Bay meet the street level with security gates and parking lots that affect both the accessibility and the approach to the buildings. Insufficient parking spaces along with the lack of public transportation choices frustrate people and exacerbate the traffic congestion in the study area. The lack of services and amenities within the residential towers accompanied with poor pedestrian circulation make it hard to perform everyday activities. The current situation has been formulated as a result of uncontrolled globalization and rapid urbanization that have required high-rise building typology as a prerequisite for further development of the country. The development of West Bay was focused on the design qualities of tall buildings, ignoring their integration at the street level which have resulted in having a public realm that does not support daily activities and needs of people. To solve the problem, the research suggests the need to have a framework of regulations that adopt livability principles within an integrated urban planning process and a shift from conventional codes to form-based codes. The following are different hypothesis derived from the research problem: Main problem: Livability of high-rise districts.
Hypothesis 1: The need for a regulatory framework that adopts livability principles.
Hypothesis 2: The need for an integrated urban planning process that adopts livability principles.
Hypothesis 3: The need for shifting from conventional codes to form-based codes Tall buildings in West Bay of Doha are designed to meet the ground level with security gates and parking lots that affect the livability of the area.
To investigate the problem and test the hypothesis, a literature review was conducted in four main subject areas:
1. Livability: generally exploring livability definitions and principles and tackling other specific issues such as: - Livability in high-rise districts, - Integration of livability principles with regulations. - Integrated UPP that fosters livability principals for high-rise developments.
2. Tall Buildings: investigating advantages and disadvantages of tall buildings, impact on surrounding urban space and how to overcome and mitigate the negative impact through regulations.
3. Integrated Urban Planning Process: exploring its definitions, components and benefits.
4. Form-Based Codes: identifying importance, difference from conventional codes and their effect on the quality of public realm.
The conducted literature review revealed the need to propose a legislative framework that fosters livability principles. This legislative framework requires two essential components; an integrated urban planning process and a contemporary version of urban design and planning codes. First, an integrated urban planning process that includes all possible stakeholders along with community engagement in a process of complex and collaborative communication. Second, a contemporary type of codes that is presented in both text, illustrations and utilizes the building form as a main organizing element. Form-based codes is an example that have proved its capability to visualize the resulting space before its establishment. On this basis, the research analyzed eight case studies of best practices from Europe, North America, Asia and the Gulf to cover different aspects of the problem.
-
-
-
Reasons for Participation in Household Surveys in the Arab Gulf Countries, Qatar
Authors: Elmogiera Elawad and Mohammed Bala AgiedParticipation in public opinion surveys in the State of Qatar is voluntary, and respondents are not offered incentives for participating. Nevertheless, rates of participation in face-to-face surveys conducted by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University remain at levels that far exceed those observed in Western and even other Middle East contexts. This study aims to understand why Qatari citizens participate in household surveys conducted in the country. Using data from a 2015 survey of 823 Qatari households, we examine the reasons underlying individuals’ decisions about participation in surveys.
-
-
-
A Mathematical Model for Space Planning to Minimize Travel Distance
By Li HanIntroduction
The purpose of this research is to investigate how mathematical knowledge can be applied to space planning in design. To begin, it is useful to know how mathematics was utilized in the past to reach creative and logical design solutions. The design process is a multilayered and multifaceted investigation and it aims to find an optimized solution for a defined problem. Since optimization is a mathematical term, it is reasonable to assume many design problems can be solved using mathematical models. Mathematics and design were inseparable from the beginning. In ancient civilizations people build houses and temples facing north. However, without a compass, how would one know which direction is true north? “North” was a decision. Our ancestors decided to call north the direction to which the shortest shadow of the day points (Evans 1998, 28). However, it is difficult to tell where the shadow is shortest. Our ancestors used simple tools such as a stick and a string to draw an arc on the ground. They observed and marked the shadow where it first intersects with the arc and also where it last intersects with the arc. They would draw a line between the points and find the middle point. What our ancestors really cared about was their relationship with the sun and exposure to sunlight. Although it is very easy for a modern person to understand this ancient method, it is not easy to reach this solution independently if the answer has not been given. The orientation of a building is a design problem and it was solved by simple mathematical deductions by our ancestors. A good designer cannot be ignorant about the various aspects of science related to design. For example, design decisions for space planning—location of the fire exit, travel distance, orientation of the building—can be calculated using mathematical models, especially optimization problem solving. A typical question in calculus illustrates how mathematics can be applied to design problem solving (Tsishchanka 2010). A farmer has 2400 ft. of fencing and wants to fence off a rectangular field that borders a straight river. He needs no fence along the river. What are the dimensions of the field that has the largest area? The mathematical model is: Maximize: A = xy Constraint: 2x+y = 2400
Research
Nevertheless, many design problems are more sophisticated. In this research a case study of a space planning project for an extension of an existing out-patient hospital is conducted. The goal of this case study is to find mathematical models for achieving optimal solutions of (1) overall travel distances in one day and (2) numbers and locations of exits. A patient's travel distance is defined as the total distance traveled by the patient inside the hospital from the entrance to the exit. This research began by looking at the importance of the center, shapes of a building and locations of entrances and exits. The objective was to understand how decisions on those design elements affect the total travel distance, and then to identify applicable mathematical formulas to minimize travel distance in one day. In order to apply any mathematical formula the designer first needs to establish the constraints, constants and variables. In this research, the project requirements such as numbers of visitors, numbers of rooms, functions of rooms and hierarchy of spaces and adjacencies are based on similar projects and are hypothetically established. There are two levels in this outpatient hospital. This research focuses on the ground level, in which the designer needs to do space planning to accommodate Internal Medicine, Emergency, Radiology and Imaging, Pharmacy and Intravenous Therapy Departments. Preliminary research revealed that Emergency should have its own entrance that should be close to the parking lot for easy access. Pharmacy, Radiology and Imaging, and Intravenous Therapy are shared functions of other medical departments—especially Pharmacy, which 90% of patients use just before leaving the hospital. 10% of patients from Internal Medicine will need to do an x-ray, CT or MRI with the Imaging Department, while 35% of patients from Emergency will need to use the Imaging Department. The question is where each department should be located to minimize travel. The existing site conditions such as the location of the new entrance, parking location and city traffic are arbitrarily decided to support the research. The project requirements have not themselves been verified for optimization. The arbitrary decisions may not reflect true human needs, but in any case they affect the calculated results. However, they would not affect the validity of this research because it depends on inherent mathematical logic. It is worth noting that the focus of this research is purely on functionality and individual topics. The goal of this research is to offer insight into how simple mathematical formulas could help solve design problems. However, these formulas can never offer a fully-fledged creative design solution, because all the problems are infinitely more sophisticated than a controlled scenario, especially when aesthetics are concerned.
Conclusion
Design is often considered to be an applied art rather than an applied science in today's world. In recent history, designers were separated from engineers and builders. When a beautiful freehanded line can communicate everything on paper, the need of knowing the radius and tangency became less important. In addition, the knowledge required to understand mathematical formulas is often beyond designers’ reach. For example, many designers may not be able to fully comprehend Milutin Milankovitch's arch theory of masonry construction, even though it has significance in civil engineering and architecture (Foce 2008). Designers often are disengaged with rapid developments in science and leave them to civil engineers or mechanics. Nonetheless, this disengagement isolates designers from the rest of the team and makes them less effective. In order to rediscover design, new approaches are needed. This research reestablishes the connection between mathematic and design through space planning, and seeks to offer some different perspectives of what design really is.
References
Evans, James. 1998. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. Oxford University Press.
Foce, Federico. 2008. “Milankovitch's Theorie Der Druckkurven: Good Mechanics for Masonry Architecture.” In Nexus Network Journal, edited by Kim Williams, 9,2:185–209. Nexus Network Journal. Birkhäuser Basel. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8699-3_3.
Tsishchanka, Kiryl. 2010. “Optimization Problems.” Courant Institute of Mathematical Science of NYU. Accessed October 04, 2015. https://cims.nyu.edu/ ∼ kiryl/Calculus/Section_4.5–Optimization%20Problems/Optimization_Problems.pdf
-
-
-
Demystifying Islamic Law
By Faisal KuttyThose teaching in the area of “Islamic law” (however imprecise that term is) can appreciate the difficulty in conveying information on sources and major principles. People unfamiliar with the Arabic language have enough struggles with the new lingo and could benefit from an overview of the main sources, principles and methodologies in pictorial form. This flowchart is a very basic representation or big picture of “Islamic law.” It is best viewed as a digital document where you can adjust the size. It is only an attempt to give some perspective to the introductory student in this area, but nevertheless a caveat is in order at the outset. Any endeavor that attempts to provide a simple overview of a complex system always runs the risk of oversimplification. Clearly, it is an impossible task to set out detailed discussions of the Islamic system's principles, institutions and their interactions and permutations in such a static fashion. For a more detailed and nuanced explanation of most of what is set out on the flowchart, you may wish to download and read Part 5 of Faisal Kutty, The Myth and Reality of Shari'a Courts in Canada: A Delayed Opportunity for the Indigenization of Islamic Legal Rulings, 7 U. St. Thomas Law Journal 559 (2010), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract = 1749046. The idea is to demystify Islamic law and allow for people to see the involvment of human agency in the process with the objective of making it easier to reform Islamic rulings to address contemporary realities and challenges.
-
-
-
Public Versus Private Higher Education in Qatar: Quality, Returns and Matching to the Labor Market
By Rana HendyEducation is the major driver of growth. Recently, special attention is being given to the mismatch between the education system and the skills required and needed by the labor market. The aim of the present research is threefold. First, it assess the higher education system in the state of Qatar through a comparison of the quality of education provided by public versus private universities. The second goal of the research is to understand- using a new micro dataset that is collected for the purpose of this study- the mismatch that exists between the Qatari's labor market and the education that one receives at the university level. Third, this research makes an effort towards understanding the returns of education in Qatar, which help puting the first two objectives of this study into a relatively more complete framework. The collection of a quantitative mico dataset represents an important goal of this study. This dataset follows individuals who graduated from a public or a private university in Qatar to see whether these do participate in the labor market or not and, to what extent their jobs (if working) are matching their field/area of education. The sample is designed to include graduates who have a bachelor degree in one of the three disciplined (biological sciences, computer sciences or business administration). A representative sample of graduates from Qatar University (as the main public/national university in Qatar) on the one hand and, from Carnegie Mellon University (as one of the well-based private universities in Qatar) on the other hand. This quantitative dataset is also complemented with a qualitative one that allows us- through round-table discussions- to ask students about the main challenges they face in entering the labor market as well as their views about the quality of education they receive/ed. The literature on this topic has clearly focused on the quality of higher education institutions but not on how this supposedly high quality education will help graduates once they are in the real world. This missing element is not often thought of when discussing education although it should be. The present research attempts to amend that especially, for the case of case. The outcome data from this project fills a gap in terms of the mismatch between what university education offers and the labor market needs particularly in Qatar. Other studies have focused on other countries from the Middle East and North African region but the present study aims to fully comprehend how these same matters affect Qatar. Although there is research done on education in the context of Qatar, there isn't a lot of exploration neither of the quality of university education nor the labor market mismatch, possibly because the unemployment rate is really low. However, the unemployment rate does not reflect the number of graduates (female graduates in specific) who have decided to go out of the labor force and become inactive only because they believe that they will not find the job that they desire and that matches their education within the Qatari's labor market. Therefore, the unemployment rate in Qatar possibly neglects in its calculation a large part of the population who should rather be called “discouraged unemployed”. Based on my discussions with my Qatari students, the majority of them consider themselves as discouraged rather than unemployed or inactive. To identify the effect of public versus private higher education institution characteristics on the labor market outcomes, we first need to isolate the factors that could have affected the individual's choices between the public and the private education in the first place (correct for this selection bias). For instance, factors as the household wealth may affect the choice between public and private institutions. As an example, while wealthier individuals may select into private higher education institutions because they can afford the costs, the poorer individuals may not. Thus, labor market outcomes in this case may be a function of the individual's socio-economic characteristics rather than the institution they attend. Studying the factors that come into play and where exactly the problem lies will help in providing officials/policy makers with the answers they need in terms of how to solve the issue of mismatch as well as the issue of low participation rates (especially for women). This research will result in yielding answers that will hopefully be turned into policy actions. Research is great on its own but, it is in the best interest of Qatar, considering that the state is moving into a knowledge based economy. This research and the policy recommendations it will produce will help to bridge the ever-present gap between education and the labor market.
-
-
-
أثر برنامج خبرة الابحاث للطلبة الجامعيين على تدريس التاريخ بجامعة قطر
More Lessيهدف البحث الى تبيان أثر نواتج الابحاث الطلابية الممولة من مؤسسة قطر والتي يمكن تطويرها الى تطبيقات علمية لخدمة بقية طلاب الصف الدراسي وعلية فان هذا البحث يهدف الى عرض نموذج تطبيقي لأستاذ المادة والذى يمكن استخدامه في تدريس التاريخ بطريقة تدرب الطالب على التفكير الناقد والاتصال ومهارات التعلم التعاوني من خلال اشراك الطالب في تدريب لطرح تساؤلات بحثية في التاريخ مثل اين؟ وكيف؟ وماذا؟ ولماذا؟ ومن؟ من خلال المصادر الاولية والتي تساهم في تفسير المصدر. ولعل من بين المشاريع البحثية التي اشرفت عليها د. شيرين المنشاوي كباحث رئيسي هو مشروع بحثى بعنوان «قطر كملتقى طرق: طلاب يكتبون تاريخهم الشخصي ≫ UREP08-049-6-004والذى فاز بمنحة ممولة بدورته الثامنة. سعى هذا البحث الى زيادة قدرة الطلاب على التفكير النقدي و تنمية مهارات الكتابة لديهم وذلك عن طريق كتابة تاريخهم الشخصي و ربطة بتاريخ المنطقة وايضا ربطة بأحداث محلية او دولية. وقد تم تقديم نفس التجربة في الفصول الدراسية التي اقوم على تدريسها بقسم العلوم الانسانية بجامعة قطر وخاصة في المقررات المختصة بتعريف التاريخ وكيف يكتب التاريخ، في الفترة ما بين عام 2011 وحتى الان فنادرا ما طلب من طالب من قبل ان يكتب عن تاريخه هو او تاريخ ثقافته او هويته أو حضارته والاحداث التي شكلت تلك الثقافة أو تلك الهوية، ويقوم النشاط على ثلاث منهجيات. المنهج النظري: يقوم الطلبة بتجميع كل المصادر الاولية والدالة على تاريخهم مثل: (1) وثائق: شهادات الميلاد، شهادات المدارس، شهادات تقدير، شهادة زواج الوالدين، أسماء شجرة العائلة، مذكرات، خطابات، ختم على وثقيه السفر، اوراق حكومية، بطاقات سفر... الخ (2) صور: صور شخصية، رسم فنى، صور لحيوانات اليفة...الخ (3) أثار: سيارات قديمة، مباني قديمة مملوكة للعائلة ، ملابس قديمة، اثاث، نقود قديمة، مجوهرات قديمة، ماكينة خياطة قديمة...الخ. ويتبادل الطلاب المعلومات مع عائلتهم بالمنزل لكى يقموا بمساعدتهم بالمصادر التي تدل على حياتهم وحتى يمكن التوثيق لتاريخهم الشخصي. المنهج التطبيقي: أقدم كأستاذ للمادة ورشة عمل للطلاب عن أنواع المصادر الاولية ومدى قوتها او ضعفها وكيفية استخدامها في التاريخ. وكذلك انواع المصادر الثانوية وكيفية التحقق منها و كيفية التوثيق لها. وكيف يمكن الجمع بين المصادر المختلفة لتوثيق تاريخهم الشخصي. وعلية يقوم الطلاب بفحص المصادر الاولية مستخدمين عدد من الاسئلة البحثية مثل أين ومتى وكيف وبتحليل هذه المصادر يتم الكشف عن كثير من المعلومات المفيدة والتي تسجل تاريخهم. وفى محاولة لتوسيع دائرة البحث تعرض ادلة خاصة بالطلاب للبحث فاذا ادعى طالب انه فنان جيد فعلية ان يقدم الاسكتش الفني والجوائز التي حاز عليها واذا ادعى انة ادار حلقات للنقاش عديدة فعليه ان يقدم شهادات تثبت ذلك. ان الوثائق الخاصة بالطالب هي مصدرا غنيا للاستفسار فعلى سبيل المثال فان طالب ولد في الخليج قد يحمل وثائق سفر من الكويت ، وشهادة ميلاد من قطر وهوية الأسرة المصرية. وفى هذا السياق يختبر الطالب الوثائق مع الرواية الشفهية من خلال الاسرة للوصول الى التفاصيل. ان رحلة شتوية لطالب قطري مثلا مع جدة في مخيم للعائلة في الصحراء يمكن أن يسفر عن قصص متقاربة او مختلفة عن سابقتها في المشهد المتغير والسريع في دولة قطر والتي قد تفسر المسارات الاجتماعية إلى للحياة الحالية بدولة قطر. المنهج المقارن: وفى هذه المرحلة يقوم الطلاب بمقارنة خبراتهم التي اكتسبوها وهذه المرحلة تتيح للطلاب العمل سويا لكى يتبادلون الافكار حول المصادر ولكى يعمقوا تحليلاتهم الأولية والمبنية على حجج سليمة (مصادر) و الحجج المضادة ايضا. وفيما يلى نتائج موجزة للتجربة الصفية: -يعتقد كثير من الطلبة أن مادة التاريخ هي عبارة عن تجميع بعض الأسماء والتواريخ، التي يجب تذكرها وكتابتها في الامتحان، لكنهم لم يدركوا أنه، من خلال قراءة المصدر وتفسيره، يمكن التفكير بأنفسهم في الحقائق التاريخية المختلفة، ويكون الأمر ممتعًا عند طرح عدد من الأسئلة البحثية ومحاولة الإجابة عنها باستخدام أدلة تدعمها. لذلك اظهر هذا النشاط و المنقول عن المشروع البحثي الممول من مؤسسة قطر أن التاريخ أصبح أكثر إثارة عندما يتم دراسته وكتابته من مجموعة من المصادر الأولية ومقارنتها ببعضها البعض للوصول الى الحقيقة حتى اذا كان هذا التاريخ هو كتابة تاريخهم الشخصي. -من أهم المخرجات التعليمية لهذا النشاط هو تغيير طريقة تفكير الطلبة في كتابة التاريخ و من خلال التعمق في فهم المصادر والتحقق منها. -لاحظت كأستاذ للمقررات التي تم تطبيق هذا النشاط فيها تفاعل الطلاب مع عائلاتهم لكتابة تاريخهم الشخصي ومن ثم ادماج العائلات في تعليم ابنائهم وإعطائهم فرصة كتابة تاريخهم من ابعاد اجتماعية تاريخية واقتصادية و جغرافية حيث اثبت هذا النشاط ان اشراك الاهل مع الطلبة في عملية التعلم هي نقطة هامة حيث لا يجب ان يتوقف دعم الاهل للطلبة بمرحلة الثانوي بل لابد و ان يتعدى للمرحلة الجامعية بشكل المشاركة. -سعى هذا النشاط الى فتح دوائر أوسع للطلاب لكتابة تاريخهم الشخصي لاكتشاف أثر الحركات السياسية والتاريخية ، والاجتماعية ، والحروب و الهجرات التي أثرت في حياتهم هو وسيلة لهم لفهم التاريخ وبشكل اعمق وهو ما اتاح لهم الاطلاع على قواعد بيانات وموارد المكتبة الأرشيفية والخرائط، وغيرها من المصادر الأولية ذات الصلة، وما إلى ذلك ليتم دراستها. -هذا التطبيق هو ناتج مشروع بحثى بعنوان «قطر كملتقى طرق: طلاب يكتبون تاريخهم الشخصي ≫ UREP08-049-6-004وممول من برنامج خبرة الابحاث للطلبة الجامعيين والذى اضحى اداة تعليمية فعالة من حيث فهم عميق للتاريخ عن طريق كتابة الطلاب لتاريخهم الشخصي مستعينين بعدد من المصادر الاولية. ونهاية فقد عرضت في هذا البحث لنموذج تطبيقي بحيث يمكن استخدام فكرة كتابة التاريخ الشخصي مستندا على مصادر أولية في تطبيق منظم للتفكير الناقد في مقررات التاريخ. والهدف هو ان يستخدم القائمين على تدريس مادة التاريخ والمعلمين هذا النموذج لتدريب الطلاب علية والاستفادة منة. وعلية يكون عناصر تصميم النموذج هي: مصدر اولى بحيث يمكن استخراج المعلومات التي نحتاجها منة لكتابة التاريخ الشخصي و قائمة من الادلة المتاحة، للإجابة على قائمة من الاسئلة البحثية. وسنتأكد من تحقيق هذا التصميم التعليمي للغرض الذى صمم من أجلة عندما يستطيع الطالب ان يربط بين المصدر والادلة المتاحة ليستنتج الاجابة الصحيحة والتي تتطلب مجهود عقلي ليصل لاستنتاج هذه الاجابات. ان مثل هذا التطبيق التعليمي يدمج كل من التفكير الناقد والاتصال ومهارات التعليم التعاوني لإيصال المعلومات التاريخية عن طريق اشراك الطلاب في التساؤلات البحثية التاريخية من المصادر الاولية. وعلية تقترح الباحثة ان يعطى اساتذة المادة مساحة اوسع لتدريس المصادر من خلال كتابة الطلاب لتاريخهم الشخصي حيث يتيح هذا التطبيق الفرصة للطلاب بان يجمعوا معلومات من مصادرها الاولية ومن ثم التفكير في تفسيرها والتركيب والتحليل وهو اتجاه تعليمي جديد وفعال واستراتيجية تكمل الأشكال التقليدية في تدريس التاريخ مع الدروس والقراءات الأسبوعية والتي تنجح ولكن بشكل جزئي وعلية يقترح تبنى هذا التطبيق من قبل أساتذة التاريخ خلال تدريس مادة التاريخ.
-
-
-
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Effectiveness of UN Policy “Highlight on the Legal Side”
More LessIn light of the massive economic transitions the world has witnessed over the past century, along with the irresponsible social, economic, and environmental practices of several multinational enterprises, the UN has acknowledged that its international conversation with respect to rights and freedoms, primarily limited to governments, and has been unable to achieve same tendency in enterprise. Especially that “Social” responsibility is primarily related to corporates' duty. To this end, and due to its vital contribution to the development process, the UN rules with regard to social responsibility legal rules are likely to be reviewed. Since the 1960s, the UN has started adopting international legal and social initiatives for enhancing corporates' role in the process of sustainable development, such as “OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 1976”; “Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy 1977”; (UN Initiative for Business Sector; “United Nations Global Compact's 2000”), and most: Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the UN: “Protect, Respect and Remedy 2011”. All these provisions intended to perfect UN policy aiming at standardizing and moralizing economic activities of corporates by urging them to respect a set of rights. This UN policy, in spite of progressing in the right path, still suffers from several deficiencies in the legal aspect, specifically with regard to the level of efficiency and capacity to sustain activating corporates respect to the above-mentioned rights. Investigating the legal aspect of UN policy may seem as a violation of doctrinal and literature research, towards either the nature of the social responsibility which essentially lies on a non-obligatory concept, or towards the very concept of obligation in the international law itself, that often adapts the “soft power” and not the “forcing stick” which implies a dialectical character to this paper, and challenges the readers' insight through establishing a legal doctrine that contradicts the common one of the significance of the mentioned responsibility while “legalizing” it. The legal aspect of this responsibility has been widely discussed in western legal doctrine, particularly in terms of reinterpreting the understanding of the rights implicit in this responsibility, and the roles assigned to the partners, specifically to UN and to corporates as well. Based on the above, this paper represents a legal and critical study on the effectiveness of the UN policy regarding corporate social responsibility. It investigates its policies legal framework towards both, the issue of protection and consistency of this policy. It then discusses the international legal control that guarantees corporates' both, respect and commitments to these rights, either through the legal nature of the international conversation, or through the legal nature of the international control over the issue of corporate social responsibility.
-
-
-
Seeking God's Assistance to Govern: A Comparative Analysis of Islamization Policies in Pakistan and Egypt
More LessThe uneasy relationship between religion and politics is a dominant feature of many post- colonial Muslim majority states. Two most prominent cases in this regard are Egypt and Pakistan. This paper does a comparative analysis of the two countries under the regimes of Anwar Sadat in Egypt (1970–1981) and Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan (1978–1988). The analysis takes into account the changed role and status of the state in context of public and private life, construction of the new and modification of existing institutional structures to implement Islamic visions of the two leaders. It is noteworthy that even though both leaders tried to Islamize the polity the trajectory followed was radically different. The paper argues that this difference can be attributed to the lack of a universal understanding of the notion of an Islamic State. Furthermore, because of the lack of coherence in defining an Islam state, the question of achieving an Islamic government is also addressed which does aim to seek a universal form of governance. In most cases, Islam is used as a tool to gain legitimacy by the ruling regime. This legitimacy then translates into a political catalyst for governance. State and society relations also played a factor in establishing some form of government whose relationship was classified by the authoritarianism of the regime. The conclusion emphasizes the current situation in both countries. One of the question raised in this paper is can religion and state coexist? Based on the cases of Pakistan and Egypt, religiosity harms society's trust with the state. As religiosity increases, radicalism increases and the Jammat-i-Islam and Muslim Brotherhood movements prove radicalism is the product of a divided, constructed state. The same question is raised in terms of Islamic laws and instiutions. Because there in no universal set of laws or institutions in the imagined Islamic state, one is left wondering how to create a state bearing in mind the need of the ummah, or Muslim community. Islam thus served as the legitimizing principle to govern and in order for Islam to be the political catalyst for change, devout Muslims were chosen to represent the people. Having pre-existing government structures allowed both leaders to achieve a path of Islamic revivalism more fluently. The post-colonial nature of the state impacted the cultural and national identity of both states as many did not know where they came from or what group to identify with. Both leaders raised the question of whether or not to resort back to one's colonial heritage or create a new sense of universalism within the state. In Pakistan, one's ethnic background was important when defining one's personality whereas in Egypt it was one's level of religiosity created their identity. Catering to the needs of a diverse and population became more difficult for each state to achieve. More institutions were created as a result even if some groups were completely marginalized from the process. Once independence was achieved, a new government structure was created in order to meets the demands of the society. With two governments moving in the direction towards a ‘theocracy in its purest form’, power became the authoritative. In terms of institutionalism, Zia believed governance was the knot which tied his Islamization program together whereas Sadat believed text was the same knot. Under different names, both states adopted institutions which ensured Islamic and Shari ’a law were compatible with every functioning institution. Therefore, Pakistan and Egypt fell under the category of a sue do theocracy. Even leaders who came after Zia and Sadat envied them for their dedication towards their missions. What both leaders did so well was manipulate the society in which they were the authority by convincing that whatever they did politically was justified. Even though much of both societies were marginalized, they eventually became convinced that in the long-run they would be better off. In terms of the current situation in both countries, data suggests Pakistan falls under the category of a democracy while Egypt a closed anocracy. Such a situation can be attributed to the Islamization policies adopted in the 1970’s. The only way such decision were defended was by claiming God had chosen who had the right to govern and establish an Islamic state. Believing one was chosen by God to rule was the first miscalculation, the second being believing religion and politics are inseparable. Both leaders became obsessed with the idea of Foucault's bio-politics, that they forgot what Islam was really all about. If Zia and Sadat had understood what the Quran said about governance, they would realize no one form of government exists and it is up to both the leader and its citizens to decide how they wish to be governed. It is up to Islamic scholars and those qualified to speak and interpret Islam to recommend laws and institutions to govern a society. If governments continue to regulate one's religious practices and behaviors, the freedom to practice faith decreases, with state legitimacy rising from the leadership point of view. To conclude, the changing nature of Muslim-majority states can be rendered to the rise of Islamic movements after the post-colonial era. Both Anwar Sadat and Zia ul-Haq felt their respective states were moving in the wrong direction because of the lack of religious fervor. Because of the lack of understanding of Islamic law and jurisprudence, two different visions for an Islamic state were created in the minds of both leaders. This resulted in two radicalized states whose approach to governance differed. Although the trajectory towards Islamizing was different, the desire for power and need to be accepted by society was similar in both cases. Overall, this comparative analysis takes into account all of the aforementioned factors while coming to the conclusion there is no concrete definition of Islamic governance and the impact of these Islamization programs will always exist unless a radical shift in ideologies occurs.
-
-
-
Employability Enhancement Model for Young Qatari Graduates
Authors: Gokuladas Vallikattu Kakoothparambil and Sandhya MenonIntroduction
Qatar, as a progressive nation, has recognized the importance of investing in human capital with a view to have a strong developed economy and to facilitate the transfer of technologies. As such, well educated workforce is essential for creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge effectively. Improving the quality at every level of education system from early childhood to adult training is a strong prerequisite for turning Qatar into a knowledge based economy (Planning Council, Government of Qatar, 2007). In order to support Qatar's rapid economic growth and increasing presence on the world stage, it is imperative that young Qataris are motivated to play key roles in all areas of economic and social development through appropriate guidance in identifying opportunities for right kind of engagement. However, there has been a growing concern over the employability of Qatari youth (General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2012) especially in the wake of the influx of multi-national companies in Qatar. Quite often, university graduates in Qatar are ill-prepared to take on the challenges of being in the labour force because they are less informed about rigorous standards being adopted in public sector employment and the many career opportunities in the private sector (General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2012), though this phenomenon has not been particular about Qatar as many other countries in the world face the same concern that those who are leaving higher education institutions are not equipped to meet the demands of labour market (Marzo-Navarro et al., 2009). Thus, the main objective of this study is to evolve a theoretical model of employability enhancement of young Qatari graduates that could be further explored through empirical research programs in Qatar. Theoretical Framework Employability may be crudely defined as the possibility to survive in the internal or external labour market (Thijssen et al., 2008). According to Ronald et al., (2005), the term employability varies from different stakeholders like employer, employment seeker and policy makers. While employers consider someone with appropriate employability skills and attributes may be ‘employable’, this may be only the minimum criterion when considering candidates, whereas from job seekers perspective, a lack of availability of enabling supports (such as transport to work) or contract terms (such as the requirement for shift work) may mean that a specific job is not acceptable. From a policy-maker's perspective, the fact that the person does not take the job and remains unemployed suggests that (within the context of a specific vacancy or job role) the person is not ‘employable’. A well educated workforce is essential for creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge effectively. The spectacular growth and increasing diversification of Qatar's economy has opened up number of avenues for Qatari nationals in the arena of education, training and employment opportunities, especially for youth. Qatar National Vision 2030, which is the driving force behind these developments, is intended to empower all nationals, and more directly women, by identifying respective goals to advance their position and status in the society (Al Matawi, 2011). Improving the quality at every level of education system from early childhood to adult training is a strong prerequisite for turning Qatar into a knowledge based economy (Planning Council, Government of Qatar, 2007). In view of the above, it is the need of the hour to device a research model that would be of greater advantage for carrying out research in the area of employability in Qatar. Of late, Qatar has made major improvements in the Education and Training Sector, yet there is still a need for continued development (Supreme Education Council, 2012). An analysis of the current situation of the education system shows that Qatar still faces challenges affecting both supply and demand for education and training and its right connection to the labor market. In order to overcome such challenges, we have to answer the following research questions. To what extent the young Qatari graduates are aware of the employability skills required to be possessed by them that are most suitable to their immediate assignment? What are the qualities/attributes that various industries in Qatar looking out while recruiting young graduates? To what extent such attributes are incorporated in the outcome based learning in various Higher Education institutions in Qatar? Proposed Employability Enhancement Model Various models on employability (Law and Watts, 1977, Bennette et al., 1999, Yorke and Knight, 2004, Bridgstock, 2009, Popovic & Tomas, 2009) have undoubtedly brought about specific qualities that prospective employees need to possess in order to be employable soon after their studies. Most of these studies emphasis more on those interpersonal qualities that a young graduate may lack because of the transition stage of adolescence. Also, the complexity of employability and the variety that exists in curricula of higher education mean that no single, ideal, prescription for the embedding of employability can be provided (Yorke & Knight, 2004). However, most of these studies were conducted in developed nations where the context of employability would be different from that of a developing nation where education systems could be at its infant stage. As such the quality of capabilities that individuals from these countries possess would be different from that of their counterparts in various other countries. For example, the major challenges that are in the way of enhancing the competitiveness of Qatari nationals include underachievement of Qatari students in math, science and English language at all levels, weaknesses in educational administration including the preparation and development of teachers, insufficient alignment between the national curriculum and the needs of the labor market, low standards in some private schools and inadequate offerings of multiple pathways beyond the secondary level, resulting in limited opportunities for Qataris to continue their education after secondary school and throughout their lives (Supreme Education Council, 2012). This context brings about the necessity of having a tailor-made Employability model for young Qatari graduates that could substantially result in their better employability as specified in Fig. 1. LaunchPAD Model of Employability Proposed LaunchPAD model of employability revolves around following four major pillars that could result in employability of young graduates. Launch Prepare Action Deploy Launch This stage is characterized by all those activities undertaken by the educational institution on the arrival of new undergraduate. This includes activities like making students understand the purpose of education, helping them to set goals as per their own capabilities and imbibing in them a sense of achievement so as to motivate them to reach their goals in the best possible manner. Prepare Soon after the Launch stage wherein students become aware of their own capabilities and the goals set forth by them, they move on to the next stage called Prepare wherein they became aware of employability skills that the industry they look forward to be a part of, require them to possess. This stage requires tremendous support and feedback from each industry in Qatar from time to time with respect to various skill requirements set forth by them. This data from the industry would be helpful for the educational institutions to incorporate such qualities into the graduate attributes in their outcome based pedagogy. Action Having understood the technical and non-technical knowledge and skills requirements of various industries, the Action stage will have specific industry based training programs to enhance the employability of target students who aspires to become part of such industry. The knowledge and skills acquired at this stage would make the student more confident in aligning their goals with that of the industry. There is a need to filter the students to ensure that they acquire certain degree of proficiency in terms of these skills to move to the next level. Deploy At this stage, student having acquired necessary theoretical knowledge and skills vis-à-vis the industrial requirement, they need to experience the workplace so as to put into practice their knowledge and skills. This could be arranged in collaboration with various industries through activities like internship, projects, apprenticeship etc. This opportunity not only provides students to get a feel of the workplace and to choose the appropriate company of their choice but also facilitates employers to identify the right talent for their organization. Efficacy of LaunchPAD Model of Employability Qatari youth make up 15% of the Qatari population, who are generally driven by highly influenced by tribal authority and traditional culture. With globalization, family life in Qatar is also undergoing substantial changes, particularly as women are increasingly encouraged to take part in economic, political and social activities. In order to support Qatar's rapid economic growth and increasing presence on the world stage, it is imperative that young Qataris are motivated to play key roles in all areas of economic and social development through appropriate guidance in identifying opportunities for right kind of engagement. This approach is especially relevant for those who pursue tertiary education wherein often university graduates are ill-prepared to take on the challenges of being in the labour force because they are less informed about rigorous standards being adopted in public sector employment and the many career opportunities in the private sector (General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2012). LaunchPAD Model of Employability, simplistic in nature, has been developed from a practitioner's point of view. This model is expected to motivate students to set their own goals and help them to achieve those goals through systematic interventions from educational institutions and industry. This model will eventually help graduates to perform “graduate level job” by not just resorting to any job after graduation (Pool & Sewel, 2007), by helping them to secure a “self-fulfilling” occupation. This model will be of great assistance to educational institutions, industry firms and training organizations in Qatar to ensure right kind of talent is available at the right kind of work environment to achieve greater economic growth.
References
Al-Matawi, S. (2011). Key Issues, Challenges and Opportunities Confronting Qatari Youth Today. Background paper for Qatar Human Development Report: Expanding Capacities of Qatari Youth. Doha: Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning and United Nations Development Programme.
Bennett, N., Dunne, E. and Carré, C. (1999), “Patterns of core and generic skill provision in higher education”, Higher Education, Vol. 37, pp. 71–93.
Bridgstock, R (2009) The graduate attributes we've overlooked: enhancing graduate employability through career management skills, Higher Education Research & Development, vol 28, no 1, pp 31–44.
General Secretariat for Development Planning, (2012). Expanding the Capacities of Qatari Youth. Available at http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Qatar/Qatar_HDR_2012_English.pdf (Accessed on 01 July 2014).
Law, W. and Watts, A.G. (1977), Schools, Careers and Community, Church Information Office, London. Marzonavarro, m., pedrajaiglesias, m., riveratorres, p. (2009)“Curricular profile of university graduates versus business demands: Is there a fit or mismatch in Spain?” Education & Training, Vol. 51 pp.56–69.
Planning Council. Government of Qatar (2007). Turning Qatar into a Competitive Knowledge-Based Economy. Available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/KFDLP/Resources/ QatarKnowledgeEconomyAssessment.pdf (accessed on 01 July 2014).
Pool, L.D & Sewel, P. (2007) The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability, Education + Training, Vol. 49, Issue.4, pp. 277–289.
Popovic, C and Tomas, C (2009) Creating future proof graduates, Assessment, Learning and Teaching Journal, vol 5, pp 37–39.
Supreme Education Council, (2012). Education and Training Sector Strategy 2011–2016. Available at http://www.sec.gov.qa/En/about/Documents/ Stratgy2012E.pdf (Accessed on 01 July 2014).
Ronald W. McQuaid and Colin Lindsay, (2005). The Concept of Employability. Urban Studies, Vol. 42, No. 2, 197–219, February 2005.
Thijssen, J.S.L., Van Der Heijden, B.I.J.M., and Rocco, T.S., (2008). Toward the Employability–Link Model: Current Employment Transition to Future Employment Perspectives, Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.165–183.
Yorke, M. and Knight, P.T. (2004), Embedding Employability into the Curriculum, Higher Education Academy, York.
-
-
-
A Qualitative Study of Student Perceptions, Beliefs, Outlook and Context in Qatar: Persistence in Higher Education
Authors: Batoul Khalifa, Ramzi Nasser, Atmane Ikhlef, Janet S. Walker and Said AmaliQatar has gone through an educational reform in year 2000; its educational and particularly schooling system went through a major overhaul from K-12 reaching higher education providers. The major reasons for the educational reform were to increase the level of student academic achievement. Concomitantly, the rapid growth of Qatar's economy over recent decades has created a situation in which the demand for skilled labor far exceeded the supply of qualified Qatari nationals. The Qatar National Development Plan identified acute needs for highly educated and skilled Qatari nationals in the areas of health and biomedical sciences, engineering, energy and environment, and computer and information technology (Qatar National Development Strategy, 2011). Two significant higher education providers' serve post-secondary students, being Qatar University (QU) and American Branch Universities at the Qatar Foundation have grown tremendously over the years. Understanding the factors that affect Qatari students' post-secondary persistence and achievement is crucial for achieving the country's human capital growth. Tinto (1975) deposited his theory about student integration into the academic and social system of the higher education providers, Tinto suggested a multidimensional component which underlined the higher education community engaging students in all aspects of higher education including academic and non-academic. Tinto's theory basically hypothesizes that persistence is determined by the match between an individual's motivation and academic ability and the institution's academic and social characteristics. A second and major model is Bean's (1986) student's intention to stay or leave into the attrition model, derived from psychological theories and based on attitudinal research of Ajzen and Fishbein (1972) which later developed by Bentler and Speckart (1981). Key ideas from the model suggest that a strong association was related to intentions and behaviors and that an undergraduate student decision to persist or dropout was strongly related to affect. One conclusion about student engagement was students need to be satisfied and academically prepared especially those in the first years to achieve success and maintain continuous enrollment in higher education (Astin, 1985; Tinto, 2005; Kuh, 2001, 2007). Tinto's integration theory has received considerable validation of non-academic factors and impacting student continuation (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1977; Terenzini & Pascarella, 1977; Chapman & Pscarella, 1983; Pascarella & Chapman, 1983). The latter model has received empirical validation and support based on a large number of studies that looked at background information as the socioeconomic levels of students' families and its effect on postsecondary continuation in higher education (Astin & Oseguera, 2004; Sewell & Shah, 1968). With the large number of studies coming from the United States (US) and other western countries (Kenny & Stryker, 1994; Dekker & Fischer, 2008) have underlined the differences on how students develop and internalize beliefs, needs, and wants that in turn impact academic motivation to persist and succeed in higher education. While few studies have emerged from the Middle East, the recent establishment of the Middle East and North Africa Association of Institutional Research has prompted many researchers in this area to seek the understanding and experiences of students in higher education. In Qatar for instance, the first year experience study and National Association of Colleges and Employers Survey have just recently been implemented at Qatar's national public university. Faced with the danger of students dropping out from the university, and a large number of students who are likely to remain in the first years for longer years reflects the dangers of higher education being a bottleneck to economic development and human resource development (Qatar University Fact Book, 2011). One clear indication and dangers of Higher education completion rates as anywhere in the world is disparaging. It has been reported that in the US for instance 55% of undergraduates who begin study at a 4-year institution complete a degree at that same institution within 6 years of their initial enrollment and another 7% completed baccalaureate degrees within six years after attending two or more institutions (Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004; Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2007). Pascarella (1985) and Adelman (2006) came to the conclusion that continuous enrollment is the most powerful variable in explaining degree completion and time to degree. There are several factors academic and non-academic likely to affect students as they make the transition to post-secondary institutions. Many students may experience stress, anxiety, withdrawal, and even depression (Robbins, Lauver, Le, Davis, Langley & Carlstrom, 2004; DeStefano, Mellott & Peterson, 2001; Feldt, Graham, & Dew, 2011; Wie, l & Zakalik, 2005). There are also a variety of non-academic challenges that have bearing on the likelihood on academic persistence and success of students. A fairly large body of research undertaken in a number of countries have examined the experiences of international students, and compared their experiences to those students of native to the host country. Academic factors (i.e., secondary preparation) appear to influence postsecondary success (see Robbins, Lauver, Le, Davis, Langley & Carlstrom, 2004). But also a range of non-academic factors, influenced by culture and values, thus may contribute to challenges faced by students in higher education in their local context. This study attempts to address Qatari student challenges in their lives in the higher education in Qatar. The study draws on student, perceptions, beliefs, outlook and context; we approach the study through grounded means by leading interview questions through exploration and probing. The approach is grounded in ways that no specific theory drives the questions rather the responses from the interview often call upon theory to justify the findings. The sample will be made of 35 students who were interviewed through probing and questioning techniques. The questions will probe and guide students with converging responses leading to themes. The long-term goal of this line of research is to provide the Qatari society with mush needed scientific information regarding the challenges that its students face in completing their university education at the competence needed to build Qatar's human capital to support its rapidly expanding economy. Finally, we believe that is a broader regional need for specific and focued information on this topic as the study findings are directly applicable to students from several other countries in the region.
Reference
Adelman, C. (2006). The Toolbox Revisited: Path to Degree Completion From High School Through College: U.S. Department of Education. Ajzen, L., & Fishbein, M. (1972). Attitudes and normative beliefs as factors influencing behavioral intentions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21(2), 1–9.
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of college student personnel, 25(4), 297–308.
Astin, A., & Oseguera, L. (2004). The declining” equity” of American higher education. The Review of Higher Education, 27, 321–341.
Bentler, P., M. & Speckart, G. (1981). Attitudes “cause” behaviors: A structural equation analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(2), 226–238.
Chapman, D., W., & Pscarella, E., T. (1983). Predictors of academic and social integration of college students. Research in Higher Education, 19, 295–322.
Dekker, S. & Fischer, R. (2008). Cultural differences in academic motivation goals: A meta-analysis across 13 societies. Journal of Educational Research, 102(2), 99–110.
DeStefano, T.J., Mellott, R.N., & Peterson, J.D., (2004). A preliminary assessment of the impact of counseling on student adjustment to college. Journal of College Counseling, 4, 113–121.
Kenny, M. E. & Stryker, S. (1994). Social Network Characteristics of White, African-American, Asian and Latino/a College Students and College Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study.
Kuh, G. (2001). Assessing what really matters to student learning: Inside the national survey of student engagement. Change, 33(3), 10–17.
Kuh, G. (2007). What student engagement data tell us about college readiness. Association of American College and Universities (AAC&U).Peer Review, 9(1), 4–8. Retrieved June 26, 2015, from http://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/what-student-engagement-data-tell-us-about-college-readiness.
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Buckley, J. A., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. C. (2007). Piecing Together the Student Success Puzzle: Research, Propositions, and Recommendations. ASHE Higher Education Report, Volume 32, Number 5. ASHE Higher Education Report, 32(5), 1–182.
Lotkowski, V.A., Robbins, S. B. & Noeth, R. J. (2004). The role of academic and non-academic factors in improving college retention. ACT Policy Report. Qatar National Development Strategy (2011). Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning: Doha. Pascarella, E. T. (1985). Racial Differences in Factors Associated with Bachelor's Degree Completion: A Nine-Year Follow-up. Research In Higher Education, 23(4), 351–373.
Pascarella, E. & Chapman, D. (1983). A multi-institutional path analytical validation of Tinto's Model of college withdrawal. American Educational Research Journal, 20, 87–102.
Pascarella, E. & Terenzini, P. (1977). Patterns of student-faculty informal interaction beyond the classroom and voluntary freshman attrition. Journal of Higher Education, 48, 540–552.
Robbins, S.B., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A., (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 261–288.
Sewell, W., & Shah, V. (1968). Social class, parental encouragement, and educational aspirations. American Journal of Sociology, 73, 559–572.
Terenzini, P. & Pascarella, E. (1977). The relation of students precollege characteristics and freshman year experience to voluntary attrition. Research in Higher Education, 9, 347–366.
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 89–125.
Tinto, V. (2005, January). Taking student success seriously: Rethinking the first year of college. In Ninth Annual Intersession Academic Affairs Forum, California State University, Fullerton (pp. 05–01).
Wie, M., Russell, D.W., & Zakalik, R.A., (2005). Adult attachment, social self-efficacy, self-disclosure, loneliness, and subsequent depression for freshman college students: A longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 602–614.
-
-
-
Adjustment to College in the United States: Perceptions of Qatari Students
Authors: Janet Walker, Jennifer Blakeslee, Batoul M Khalifa, Ramzi Nasser and Atmane IkhlefGiven the rapid growth of Qatar's economy over recent decades, workforce demand for highly-skilled Qatari nationals has increased (Berrebi, Martorell, & Tanner, 2009; Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2008). There is therefore a great deal of interest in supporting Qatari student success at high-quality post-secondary educational institutions, both in Qatar and abroad. An increasing number of Qatari post-secondary students, particularly males, are specifically choosing to attend college in the United States, with 1,191 Qatari college students studying abroad in the US (Institute of International Education, 2014). Because these Qatari students are earning degrees abroad for the purpose of fulfilling critical jobs when they return, it is important to understand factors contributing to the academic persistence and performance of Qatari students in the US. This qualitative study is part of a collaborative research effort undertaken by investigators based in the United States and Qatar to better understand Qatari student perspectives on their post-secondary adjustment and success. Here, we report findings from structured interviews with Qatari nationals studying abroad in the US, all of whom were males who were, or had recently been, undergraduates at state universities and/or community colleges in Oregon (n = 21). Approximately two-thirds were in business or economics programs and about a third in STEM programs (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics). Most of the interviews were conducted in Arabic and translated into English for transcription, coding, and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The goal of the study described here was to augment the existing literature about international college student persistence and academic performance with a qualitative, open-ended exploration of Qatari students' perceptions of the barriers to, and facilitators or potential facilitators of, their adjustment to college in the United States. In general, study findings resonate with much of what is known about the adjustment experiences of international students in unfamiliar settings—specifically regarding second language proficiency, other academic factors, social support, and daily living experiences—with additional lessons learned for specifically supporting Qatari students in English-speaking post-secondary institutions. For example, second language proficiency consistently appears in the literature as the most important factor influencing international student adjustment, particularly since a lack of proficiency in the host language can interact with other potential stressors in both academic and sociocultural domains. In the present study, Qatari students almost universally reported challenges related to mastering English to an extent that would make it possible for them to undertake college-level coursework successfully. In particular, students noted that they lacked the specialized vocabulary needed for college-level work, and many lacked confidence in their ability to communicate with other students and professors. These experiences contributed to a sense of isolation and caused problems in daily situations in the community, such as shopping or social settings with English-speaking students. Students also described how their college adjustment was hampered by problems with English despite having participated in classes and programs—both in Qatar and abroad—that were intended to improve their English language proficiency. Students also reported factors that facilitated adjustment by helping them overcome perceived English deficiencies, and many said their English improved as a result of being in English-only environments, for example, through a home stay program, by seeking out English-speaking friends, or through taking classes with non-Arabic speaking students or professors. Beyond language difficulties, many other academic factors can pose challenges to international students' adjustment. Studies have documented several types of stressors resulting from a mismatch between students' previous academic experiences and what is required for success in the host institution, and many of these are reflected in the Qatari student experiences in Oregon. For example, students may be under prepared in terms of mastery of prerequisite material, may be accustomed to teaching and learning styles that differ from those typical of Western higher education, and may experience additional academic stress if they feel that they are failing to live up to family expectations and/or the expectations of a sponsoring organization in their home country (Smith & Khawaja, 2011). In this study, it was common for students to describe themselves as academically unprepared for college in the US, noting differences in expectations between secondary school in Qatar and college in the US, both in terms of the level of effort required, and the expectation for the student to be responsible for his own education. Students also reported academic stress and confusion related to unfamiliar requirements and policies, insufficient or ill-informed advising, or professors that did not understand how to teach international and/or Arab students. Overall, the main facilitators of successful academic adjustment cited by the Qatari students were interactions with helpful students, faculty and staff. Many emphasized that other Arab students were their first line of academic support, some received helpful support from American tutors and advisors, and smaller classes were seen as beneficial. Social support is another key theme that appears frequently in the literature on international students' adjustment (Araujo, 2011; Smith & Khawaja, 2011; Zhang & Goodson, 2011). A lack of social support can contribute to feelings of loneliness, homesickness and/or isolation, and it can also mean that students have fewer resources to draw on in their coping efforts. The literature consistently reflects that international students tend to rely on support from “co-nationals” or “co-culturals,”— i.e., other students from similar backgrounds—though relationships with students from the host country are also important contributors to international students' adjustment and well-being (Al-sharideh, Goe, & Al-sharideh, 2014; Du & Wei, 2015; Hirai, Frazier, & Syed, 2015; Zhang & Goodson, 2011). In this study, the Qatari students consistently described how they relied on social support to combat loneliness and isolation, but also for practical information and advice. Almost universally, other Qatari students, as well as students from other Gulf or Arab countries, were seen as the key source of social support. However, these students typically reported having no American friends, though this tended not to be viewed as a problem. Indeed, students described spending most of their discretionary time with co-culturals, and while this was primarily viewed very positively, it could also be a distraction from academic responsibilities. Lastly, research on international student adjustment frequently includes a focus on daily living challenges that arise in an environment that is structured by unfamiliar rules, laws, mores and expectations. However, these difficulties were only somewhat reflected in this study. While the students reported some challenges related to housing and generally feeling “shy” when interacting in the community, the most stressful situations appeared to stem from interactions with formal authority Figs. (immigration officials and the police). More frequently, however, students commented that they felt comfortable and welcomed by Americans and by the Oregon towns and communities in which they were studying. Students in the university towns found them “safe,” “calm,” “quiet,” and “comfortable,” while students in Portland noted that they had chosen to attend school there because the city had a reputation for having little crime, and because the residents were seen as helpful and welcoming. Although this study is limited by the small sample size and the fact that all of the students were attending college in Oregon, findings suggest avenues for further exploration. A key area for future investigation would be the development and testing of programs, policies and interventions consistent with study findings and existing research, and also, in most cases, consistent with what the participants themselves suggested as ways of improving Qatari students' adjustment experiences. For example, students offered several recommendations to reduce adjustment stress through efforts undertaken in Qatar to improve students' preparation prior to their departure for the US. Many comments focused on the need for improved instruction in English, with suggestions regarding how college preparatory programs could be improved to focus on academic writing and reasoning in English. Further, students and researchers alike recommend secondary school information sessions and intensive pre-departure orientation programs focused on what to expect academically, socially, legally, and culturally when studying and living in the US, with experienced study abroad students playing an important role in these efforts. Additionally, some students reported very positive experiences from homestay programs in the US, specifically for accelerated language practice and practical support adjusting to the new country, and such experiences could be better developed and marketed to pre-departure Qatari students.
References
Al-sharideh, A. K. a, Goe, W. R., & Al-sharideh, K. a. (2014). Ethnic Communities within the University: An Examination of Factors Influencing the Personal Adjustment of International Students ETHNIC COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY: An Examination of Factors Influencing the Personal Adjustment of International St, 39(6), 699–725.
Araujo, A. A. De. (2011). Adjustment Issues of International Students Enrolled in American Colleges and Universities: A Review of the Literature. Higher Education Studies, 1(1), 2–8. doi:10.5539/hes.v1n1p2
Berrebi, C., Martorell, F., & Tanner, J. C. (2009). Qatar's Labor Markets at a Crucial Crossroad. The Middle East Journal, 63(3), 421–442. doi:10.3751/63.3.14
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2, 77–101.
Du, Y., & Wei, M. (2015). Acculturation, Enculturation, Social Connectedness, and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese International Students. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(2), 299–325. doi:10.1177/0011000014565712
Hirai, R., Frazier, P., & Syed, M. (2015). Psychological and Sociocultural Adjustment of First-Year International Students: Trajectories and Predictors, 62(3), 438–452.
Institute of International Education. (2014). Open Doors Data: International Students: All Places of Origin. Institute of International Education, 1–7. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/All-Places-of-Origin/ Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning. (2008). Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016. Doha. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/All-Places-of-Origin/2008-10
Smith, R. a., & Khawaja, N. G. (2011). A review of the acculturation experiences of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(6), 699–713. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004
Zhang, J., & Goodson, P. (2011). Predictors of international students' psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States: A systematic review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(2), 139–162. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.11.011
-
-
-
Kids Channels Cause of Autism Spectrum and Leaving the Child Less than Two Years for Television is a Crime
More LessBy how the brain works for the Very young child's mind when they are born to be his mind Loader with operational program acquired genes text of this operational program is to pay attention to what is repeated, pay attention to visual and auditory stimuli. The basis of learning is repetition and stimulate the senses Comes from the interaction, in order for this program works must interact with the child to stimulate the child's mind and its cells nerve The most important year of the child is the first year then the second and child neglect in the first two years whether to let him watch TV or maid or not to interact with it leads to stop some senses and stop the mental and linguistic age of the child in the event that a child has been neglected in the first months or that the brain did not stimulate becomes less active in subsequent years. To answer questions from parents of children autism spectrum more than 300 children from various Arab countries as well as Arab expatriates residing in the foreign and Arab countries and found that 90% of children have been exposed to neglect inadvertently leaving them in front of children's channels in the first year for a long time or screens devices in the first year or Second – The majority of them left by parents to watch the channels that repeat content and songs. We also found more cases that lead to leaving the child of the TV is 1. Working mother 2. Expatriate mother or traveling 3. Pregnant another child early 4. Busy father 5. Ignorance of the seriousness of the TV. We also found the answer from the mothers of the children and some of the videos that the child's behavior after the birth and to the pre-watch TV normally be in terms of sounds, movement and visual communication, hearing, especially in the first 6 months. We also found symptoms of autism spectrum emerged after the child's addiction to watch these channels which - Lack of eye contact - Lack of attention to the appeal - Link TV or screens - Age-stop linguistic and stop mental age where he does not fit the true age - Non-participation of children playing - Trouble sleeping and eating Repetitive movements - problems in some senses such as smell - touch - taste - and the sensitivity of sound. We have reached the symptoms depend on several factors and varies from child, including 1-In any month of the child's age began to watch TV for a long time in the first year it led to a mental age and freeze them know mental age of a child. 2-how much the period that lasted for Child Show TV screens or devices and the way parents interact with the child and that will affect the senses And by how the brain works and the impact of television addiction children how we came to cause these symptoms TV and how it works to freeze the mind and the senses. The child is born and all the memory empty for the senses and the sense of each storage and retrieval program It must be filled to the age of 18 months and the formation of memory for each sense. Repetition is the basis of learning, The basis for the work of the senses is the interaction What happens when you watch the child to repeat content channels and songs and cartoons. First, the sense of sight To operate the sense of sight must be watched repeated things and stores it in memory of sight colors, sizes and shape as well as the normal speed stored in memory in order to be considered and very young children learn best by relating to real live people. In the case that the child was TV it stores the two-dimensional images without the size without touching without smell. What happens in a child's memory - will not be storage size and shape and the smell will not prolong the consideration of the fact things Because he used to watch Photos shown great speed and two-dimensional resulting in lack of eye contact of the child things really are not two-dimensional 2. Example hearing Natural that a child hears different intensity, size and level far and close sounds and different directions And heard his name many times and pay attention to the call and stores voice his name and repetition soon be named in memory of hearing When you call it retrieves the sound of the voice memory and quickly analyze the mind and pay attention to the call quickly In the case of watching TV heard voices and one level - from one direction - will store specific sounds like what you watch from songs and animation films - Due to the channels repeating the content of the songs and songs will be stored these sounds in the audio memory and where the child spends a long time without having heard the sound of his name or Call it will become the voice of his name store down memory because the foundation is repetition will lose the sound of his name and therefore will not respond to the call of his parents, although he pay attention to the voices of the TV - also cause sensitivity of the hearing because the ear will be used on a one-level sounds also happen speech problems Because child labor channels to repeat songs, therefore the child tends to happen almost addictive frequencies songs to find that the child does not respond to the call of his father, but as soon as the employment of children are attracted to channel quickly even if the child was in another room 3. The lack of movement and sitting in front of the TV for a long time Problem will happen in the system estimate distances, balance and touch 4. Eating natural person is an important topic when watching TV in a mind will not eat cares tastings - this is what happens to the child while watching TV will be attentive to the TV will weaken the sense of taste and also in the future and also will not be digested without eating has swallowed digest TV addiction will lead to feelings and not to freeze the growth of social relations and do not care even in the absence of the mother in some cases 5. Speech and becomes a child receives only laziness happens to think and speak weaken the speech where language acquisition results from the interaction with others and not to watch TV and weaken the sense of touch, smell, at least in this moment of interaction depends mental age As the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended preventing children less than two years of watching TV and that our recommended weaning in two years and we recommend that leaving the child less than two years, is television crime.
We demand from channels that repeat content and songs put a warning on the channel to prevent viewing of less than two years for the prevention of the spread of autism spectrum Recommendation prevent children less than two years to watch TV once, especially in the first year of interaction with the child as much as possible with sound and movement and smile and touch. There are some people messages, most of which prove that the child is exposed to neglect is intentional to leave him in front of children's channels, especially with a nanny does not speak baby language was the mother is busy with work or pregnancy in the most important months needed for the child to interact and evolve and also busy mothers to the Internet and social networking sites and it is clear that children channels a major reason for the increased prevalence of autism spectrum leaving the child who is less than two years, is to watch TV screens is a crime.
*Channels of the most influential in the children come to the fore Channel Toyyour aljannah TV by 70% and it shares Space Toon – BRAAEAM TV - Tom and Jerry. Message from one of the mothers of children born harmony boy and girl Posted says that the child has a lack of eyes contact - do not pay attention to the appeal - does not realize what around following orders - the child likes to eat only cake and yogurt An inquiry was made of them Does the child and the girl child and how much TV they been seen an hour and why his sister was not affected The answer is as follows: From the age of 6 months, the child watches TV more than 7 hours per day Is his sister was watching TV a period equal to the period of her brother or less? The answer is that the mother of his twin sister was watching TV a period of not less concerned with road a lot - and always come out with me and leave the other child sits at home with his grandmother. The findings of the researcher:
1. For the prevention of autism spectrum prevents a child less than two years, is to watch TV once and interaction with the child as much as possible with sound and movement and smile and touch and play and that leaving the child less than two years for a maid or TV crime.
2. A children's channels must repetitive writing a warning on its screen to prevent children less than two years of viewing because they cause symptoms of autism spectrum.
3. Can restart the mind and the senses again by reverse engineering and without medication starts to work the mind and the senses notice of appeal identifying himself and prolong the matter and get ready to learn and make up for lost and begin the appearance of improvement in the first week.
-
-
-
Neuroscience and Interior Architecture: Impact on Autism
Authors: Mohamed Cherif Amor and Ahmed ElsotouhyProposal Summary Behavioral evidences indicate that fluorescent lighting among the indoor environmental variables (i.e., noise, ambient temperature, and air quality) plays a critical role in facilitating or hindering daily activities for the neurotypical population (people who do not have autism, dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder, bipolar disorder, or ADD/ADHD) (Rashid & Zimiring, 2008). For a neurodiverse population (e.g., ADD/.ADHD, Autistic, etc.), this becomes more complex (Amor, Oboyle, Pati, Pham, & Jou, 2014; Amor, Pati & OBoyle, 2013; Pati, Amor, & OBoyle, 2012). Specifically, autistic subjects become more distracted under fluorescent lighting, which generates agitation, hyperactivity, stress, and weaker cognitive skills, hence contributing to negative health and performance effects. For autistic subjects, functional neuroimaging suggests increased neural activity in sensory areas of the brain normally associated with stimulus driven processing, and decreased activity in areas normally associated with higher cognitive processing. Hence, people with autism show unusually high activation in ventral occipital areas and abnormally low activation in prefrontal and parietal areas (Baron-Cohen, S. 2004). These findings remain controversial and debatable (Dawson, G. & Watling, R. 2000; O'Neil, Meena & Robert Jones, 2007), particularly that the impact of environmental stimulus (light, color, sound, etc.) were not included. In a collaborative research between Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, Hamad Medical Center Neuro-Radiology and Clinical Imaging Department, and Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs, the purpose of this research is to: 1) explore and compare behavioral and neural responses and their impact on cognitive processes of autistic subjects, when exposed to 3 types of fluorescent lighting Correlated Color Temperatures CCT, and 2) explore the impact of different color temperatures on the activation of the prefrontal and parietal areas, brain regions associated with cognition that experience minimal neural activity for people with autism. An experimental design will be used; subjects will be exposed to three types of correlated color temperatures in three applications—healthcare, academia, and commercial—while their neural and behavioral responses will be recorded. The participants undergo 1) an anatomical scan and 2) a functional scan, using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) technology. Behavioral data will be analyzed using t-test factor analysis and one-way analysis of variance, while the neural data maps will be analyzed using FSL Neuroimaging Software. This research aims at providing behavioral and fresh neural benchmark data for designers, architects, facility planners, and industry professionals relative to lighting color temperature that facilitates or inhibits cognitive skills of autistic subjects.
Precedents
This line of inquiry finds impetus in Qatar National Research Strategy (2012) Pillar V, Social Science, Arts, and Humanities—develop methodological innovations, new data sources, and new measurements in the social sciences, arts, and humanities. Qatar, while enjoying a period of unparalleled prosperity, is faced with undreamed of opportunities and complex challenges. Among the future challenges is the necessity to establish advanced education, healthcare, and commercial environments that “provide citizens with [built environments] and opportunities to develop to their full-potential” (QNV, 2030, p.18). To address the present need, this study aims at developing a body of neuro-behavioral evidences that can facilitate the development of future design guidelines, further enhancing neurodiverse populations'(i.e., autistic subjects) experiences in their education, work, leisure, and living environments. This subsumes the development of design solutions that do not impede, but rather facilitate. These data are needed particularly that the intellectually challenged institutions are growing in Qatar, including but not limited to Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs, Awsaj Academy, and the Center for Autism. The present line of inquiry and outcomes will provide data that will benefit domestic, regional, and worldwide populations. “It is very difficult to say how many people have this kind of condition in Qatar simply because the statistics are not accurate, as people do not disclose their disabilities because of social and cultural barriers” (Qatar Peninsula, 2013). However, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that the global median rate of autism prevalence has been estimated at 62 per 10,000, although some studies have placed it substantially higher. And for the Middle East, it may be an even bigger concern (Lamb & Lerner, 2015). In a recent study, Simons Foundation for Autism Research Initiative (2014) looked at the prevalence of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome, in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Western Australia, the findings indicated that between 2000 and 2011, the number of diagnoses for each disorder grew between 100 and 700 percent. Likewise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2014) reports that the estimated prevalence of Autism Spectrum Syndrome (ASD) in the United States has increased roughly 29% since 2008, 64% since 2006, and 123% since 2002. Autism statistics in the U.S. is reaching a status which deserves special attention. For instance, more than 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder, and it is predicted that in 10 years the annual services cost to cater for this population will range between $200–400 billion (Autism Society, 2014). Autism, Design and Neuroscience Emerging neuroscience research shows that environmental-related activity such as cognition, perception, way finding, and their behavioral consequences—anxiety, stress, happiness, and arousal—are both reflected in the structures and electro-chemical processes of the brain (Amor, Pati, & O'Boyle, 2013; Pati, Amor, & O'Boyle, 2012; Eberhard, 2007; Mallgrave, 2011; Swanson, 2011; Zeisel, 2006). Behavioral evidences indicate that fluorescent lighting among the indoor environmental variables (i.e., noise, ambient temperature, and air quality) plays a critical role in facilitating or hindering daily activities for the neuro-typical[1] population (Rashid & Zimiring, 2008). For the neuro-diverse population[2], this becomes more complex. Specifically, autistic subjects become more distracted under fluorescent lighting, which generates agitation, hyperactivity, stress, and weaker cognitive skills, hence contributing to negative health and performance effects (Carpman & Grant, 1993; Colman, Frankel, Rit Ritvo, & Freeman, 1976). For autistic subjects, functional neuroimaging suggests increased neural activity in sensory areas of the brain normally associated with stimulus driven processing, and decreased activity in areas normally associated with higher cognitive processing. Hence, people with autism show unusually high activation in ventral occipital areas and abnormally low activation in prefrontal and parietal areas (Baron-Cohen, S. 2004; Howard A. Ring, Simon Baron-Cohen, Sally Wheelwright, Steve C. R. Williams, Mick Brammer, Chris Andrew & Edward T. Bullmore, 1999). These findings remain controversial and debatable (Dawson, G. & Watling, R. 2000; O'Neil, Meena & Robert Jones, 2007) suggesting the need for more systematic research. While there is a growing body of debatable environment behavior literature relative to the impact of fluorescent lighting on cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial outcomes, little is known about the correlation between neural activity and the impact of fluorescent lighting correlated color temperature (CCT) on indoor behavioral outcomes. Neuroscience has revealed that seeing color activates the ventral occipital cortex, including the fusiform and lingual gyri (Hsu, Sharon & Thompson-Schill, 2012; Morita, Kochiyama, Okada, Yonekura, & Sadato, 2004), but little is known about the changes in this neural activity under different lighting color spectrums—Correlated Color Temperature—CCT and Spectral Energy Distribution—SED.
Objectives/Significance of the Study
The objective of this study is to 1) explore and compare behavioral and neural responses of autistic subjects, when exposed to 3 types of fluorescent lighting Correlated Color Temperatures: a) Warm White WW with a 2700 CCT, b) Cool White CW with a 4100 CCT, and c) Daylight DX with 5500 CT, when presented under three different settings—commercial, educational, and healthcare. 2) The second objective is to explore the impact of different color temperatures on the activation of the prefrontal and parietal areas, brain regions associated with cognition that experience minimal neural activity for people with autism, and 3) compare the present findings with a prior study conducted by our group relative to ADHD populations. This research aims at providing innovative behavioral and neural benchmark data relative to lighting color temperature that facilitates or inhibits cognitive skills of a autistic subjects.
Research Design and Methods
An experimental design will be used for this study to collect behavioral and neural data. The same group of autistic subjects will be exposed to three categories of pictures—academic, commercial, and healthcare, including three different types of Color Correlated Temperature (CCT) for each category. A comparative analysis of behavioral and neural data will be performed to identify similarities and differences. Also, an IRB protocol for conducting the present investigation will be requested from the Virginia Commonwealth University and Hamad Medical Center. A purposive sampling strategy will be used to identify 50 participants living in Doha, Qatar. The sampling will be used in two phases: 25 subjects first year (subjects age ranging between 6–12 years old) and 25 additional subjects for the second year experiment (subjects age range between 12 and up). Participants for this study will be recruited through a close collaboration with Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs. Data on brain activity will be collected via Functional Magnetic Research Imaging (Siemens 3T) at Hamad Medical Center Neuro-Radiology and Clinical Imaging Department, which is a multi-user neuroimaging facility. The participants will undergo 1) an anatomical scan T1 (5 minutes) and 2) an EPI functional scan (17 minutes), while a random sequence of three types of digitally generated high resolution illustrations from the aforementioned categories (i.e., warm white 2800 CCT, cool white 4100 CCT, and daylight 5500 CCT) will be projected by a computer controlled visual presentation system (E-Prime). Each image category will include 6 images (2 commercial, 2 educational, and 2 healthcare interior environments) for a total of 72 images (18 images blocked by application, 18 randomly organized, then reverse the order) that every participant evaluates. Concomitantly, the participants will be asked to respond to each image by fiber optic button devise, rating each image on a seven-point Likert satisfaction scale of 1 = very dissatisfied and 7 = very satisfied. This procedure will approximately last for 20–30 minutes for each participant. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM8, Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London, UK, will be used in the imaging preprocessing as well as the statistical analysis.
Anticipated Findings and Dissemination Plans
It is anticipated that the comparison of neural and behavioral data will indicate that the least satisfying color is the Warm White Color Temperature (2800 K). The Cool White 4100K and Full Spectrum 6000K correlated color temperatures might generate better levels of behavioral satisfaction and neural activation of the Cerebellum, the Superior Temporal Gyrus, the Middle Frontal Gyrus, and the Angular Gyrus, respectively responsible for critical structure of social interaction, analytical tasks, and memory retrieval that are very suggestive for the activation of the neural cognitive processes. Members of the research team will contribute papers to peer reviewed international journals, including but not limited to the Health and Environmental Design Research Journal (http://her.sagepub.com/), and the Environment and Behavior Journal (http://eab.sagepub.com/). Team members will also deliver presentations at relevant international conferences, such as the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture annual conference (http://www.anfarch.org), the Healthcare Design annual conference (http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com), and the Environmental Design Research Association (www.edra.org). Similarly, the research findings will be published with QScience.com, an innovative and collaborative, peer-reviewed, online publishing platform from Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ) (www.Qscience.com). The outcome of the research will be further shared with the HBKU Faculty Forum lecture series.
- [1] Neuro-typical (NT) is a concept coined in the autistic community as a label for people who are not on the autism spectrum. The term eventually became used for anyone who does not have atypical neurology, however, in other words, anyone who does not have autism, dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder, bipolar disorder, or ADD/ADHD (National Symposium on Neuro-diversity, 2012).
- [2] Neuro-diverse (ND) is a concept where neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. These differences can include those labeled with Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyscalculia, Autistic Spectrum, Tourette Syndrome, and others (National Symposium on Neuro-diversity, 2012).
-
-
-
Effective Stakeholder Engagement for Better Water and Energy Governance
More LessThe world is experiencing serious water and energy challenges. The growing world's population is one of the factors that contribute to shortage of resources and make them on top of the global future challenges. The current world's population is 7 billion and it is expected to grow to be 9 billion in 2050. In view of this fact, and if the current consumption rate of water and energy continued, the need for new resources will be increasing. These facts demand the cooperation and coordination of all parties, researchers, policy makers and stakeholders. The latter here means all those who are affected in a way or another by water and energy challenges, the suggested solutions, and results of any newly developed approaches. Stakeholder engagement has been gaining in popularity in water and energy industries for better governance of resources. There is a trend of involving stakeholders in public policy decisions; citizens should know how those decisions are taken. Involving citizens in decision making and in governing the water and energy supply will help governments bring to light the challenges more effectively and manage resources more successfully. At global level, numerous case studies have been carried out to bring stakeholders engagement precisely; this is how the process of engaging stakeholders began to take serious steps towards practice rather than staying in the theoretical stage. However, decision makers need to know with evidence; the best principles that work and the working area of stakeholder's contributions. So far, careful assessments for evaluating the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement are still needed. Such experienced evaluations are essential for understanding how far engaging stakeholders helps in inclusive governance of resources, in both water and energy sectors. This research assesses and evaluates the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement in policy implementation and decision making. It is an evidence-based assessment that helps policy makers know the best working principles and the perfect areas where stakeholders contribute efficiently. Before the assessment stage, the research sheds light on some must- to- study areas: Motives of Stakeholder Engagement Numerous factors flag the necessity of sustainable development of how the resources are governed to better face the future challenges. The main four motives are: demographic and economic trends that push the demand of new resources and limit the ability of governments to respond efficiently; climate change that plays a critical role in scarcity of resources; socio-political issues including new policy, regulations, standards, and sustainability goals, all call the need of adaptive governance; and technologies that accelerate communication and boost relationships. Listing down stakeholders at all levels and the power of each party. The research categorizes stakeholders under three groups: marginalized groups (citizens, poor, youth, and women); novice stakeholders (long-term institutional investors and property developers); and prime stakeholders (governments, suppliers, service providers, involved business and organizations, civil community, lawmakers, and farmers) Barriers Hinder Effectiveness of Engagement: Stakeholders engagement is a somehow complicated process and affected by a verity of factors; it differs from place to another, and from individual or organization to another. However, barriers are common and identifiable. Addressing those barriers help in overcoming them. The following are examples of common barriers and the reasons behind them: Absence of public awareness and concern. The engagement is complicated process. Fuzziness of the topic of how to use stakeholder leads to difficulty of consultation limitation of funding, staff and time lack of leadership and political will lack of strong legal statements that support the case Irregularity of the information Reluctance to give up power and resistance to change lack of sufficient capacity getting consultation from prim categories is not easy Stakeholders Engagement Approaches Engagement of stakeholders comes with a wide range of different approaches. Public information programs, citizens' referenda, workshops, and taskforces, are just a few examples. These approaches are based essentially on objectives, time, and place. The diversity of approaches and its dependency on several factors makes the engagement principle complicated for decision makers. Stakeholders can be engaged through two main approaches: formal and informal. These approaches based essentially on web applications. The research shows the upsides, as well as, the downsides of each approach. The comparison is combined with on-the-ground experiences and case studies. After shedding light on each approach, the research suggests which approach is working for each kind of stakeholders, stage of policy, objectives, and governance level. Key principles and a Checklist for Public Action Providing decision makers with a supportive guide of how to use stakeholder engagement successfully is very useful. This research outlines the necessary requirements for having effective engagement that results in benefits at both short and long term. The offered principles along with Checklist for Public Action, self-assessment tools, and indicators help decision makers discover the defect areas that need improvements. For formal principles, the research discusses the importance of the following systematic, comprehensive approaches for decision makers. It is the way for obtaining far better results and outputs for both the time involved and the required resources. Thus, any issues related to stakeholders, or any rising risks can be managed in more efficient ways. Know your stakeholders very well: address all stakeholders who will be subjected to outputs. Define what motivates them, how will they interact, and the responsibilities they can take over. Answer some questions like who will be affected by the results? Map the objectives of stakeholder's involvement. Put limits to decision making engagement. Depict how their inputs will be used. Share information: distribute the required information and provide stakeholders with suitable resources for both financial and human levels. Put assessment frameworks. The process of engaging stakeholders requires a type of assessment at different stages. These assessments help give feedbacks that are essentials for improvement and adjustment. Outline the process of stakeholders' involvement with precise and transparent policy and legal frames. Surround the process with responsible authorities and organizational principles is necessary. Customize the type and level of engagement to meet the requirements. Add flexibility to the engagement process, so that it adapts any unexpected changes. The Assessment stage of stakeholder engagement There is still a persistent question: How effective is the system of engaging stakeholders? The lack of sufficient evaluation of the system with regard to the cost, benefits and effectiveness calls the need of carrying out efficient analyses and assessments. The research offers an assessment which carried out to evaluate how the contribution of stakeholders in decision making is effective. It then addresses the challenges of efficient evaluation, and finally evaluates the assessment tools to underscore their strengths and weaknesses. The research reviews the procedures and results of the available assessment tools to propose models of expected costs, benefits and risks. When stakeholders do engage successfully, it can be a win-win for decision maker and society. Stakeholders engagement is an absolute necessity for facing the current and future global challenges. The only decision for decision maker is not whether to engage stakeholders, but it should be when and how to effectively engage them. The decision makers need an evaluation of stakeholders engagement that discloses the key principles and the perfect areas where stakeholders contribute efficiently. This research helps them know which approach is perfect for which stakeholder, objective, policy, and governance level.
-
-
-
Locations of Temporary Distribution Facilities for Emergency Response Planning
Authors: Rojee Pradhananga, Danya Khayal, Shaligram Pokharel, Fatih Mutlu and Jose Holguin-VerasResource planning in emergency response phase is challenging primarily because the resources have to be delivered to the affected regions in a timely manner and in right quantities. Disasters such as the hurricanes, epidemics and chemical explosions in general impact large regions and emergency supplies are needed for several days. Demand for the resources in one location at a period may not exist in the next period; or, a particular location may have a very high demand in the subsequent period. This dynamic change in the demand patterns adds further challenges in the planning process. The change in demand both in terms of the location and the quantity is usually tackled through allocation of resources at the prepositioned facilities. However, prepositioned facilities may be small in numbers and distribution of resources to the affected area may require additional funds for transportation and other overhead costs. In such a case, distribution of resources through a number of temporary facilities, located near the demand centers can significantly improve the distribution process thereby decreasing the supply response time. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a network flow model for emergency response planning which provides location and allocation plans of temporary distribution facilities for short distribution periods in the planning horizon. We assume that the individual demands in close vicinity are grouped at so-called aggregated demand points (ADPs). The distribution process initiates from a central supply point (CSP) which is a collection point that continuously acquires the resources and prepares them for distribution. In each distribution period, resource available at the CSP is allocated to the temporary distribution centers (TDCs) to distribute to the ADPs. The model considers periodically changing demands at the ADPs and supply availability at the CSP. Therefore, the decision on location and allocation are the dynamic decisions carried out in each distribution period, and the TDCs located in a period are functional temporarily only for the period. The model allows delayed satisfaction of demand when resources in a planning period are insufficient, and allows transfer of excess resources from a relief facility to another in the next time period. The consideration of the dynamic decision, transfer of excess resources and provision of delayed satisfaction of demand make the proposed model unique and more representative to the actual relief distribution. The objective is to minimize the total social cost which is sum of the logistics and the deprivation costs of all distribution periods. The logistics cost consists of the fixed set up costs and the transportation costs. The deprivation cost is the penalty cost associated with the delayed satisfaction of the supplies. The model is tested in a network for numerical analysis. The analysis shows that the location of TDCs in a time period influences the total cost of response. The results show that relief response can be more effective if movement of excess resources from one period to next is allowed. When such a movement is not allowed, it can increase shortage cost and eventually the total cost of emergency response. The analysis also shows solvability of the model in large and complex problem instances within a short computation time which shows the models' robustness and applicability to solve practical size distribution problems.
Acknowledgement
This research was made possible by a NPRP award NPRP 5 - 200 - 5 – 027 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.
-
-
-
Making a Culturally Sensitive Symbol Dictionary for Non-Verbal Communicators in the Arab Region
Authors: Amal Ahmad and Amatullah KadousIntroduction
Speech is a complex process requiring intellectual and physical capabilities. At times, this process can become compromised making the verbalization of thoughts difficult, therefore other methods of communication may be required. Alternative and augmentative forms of communication (often known as AAC) can help individuals with a wide range of speech and language such as Autism, Downs' Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Aphasia. Examples of alternative means of communication include the use of symbols to convey a message often with synthesized text to speech. This has proven to be an effective alternative and can allow people to hold conversations, participate (Light & McNaughton, 2012) and enhance their quality of life (Hill, 2012). However, there have been some challenges in achieving this in the Arab region due to the lack of Arabic symbol inventories and reliance on Westernized symbols (Hock & Lafi, 2011), and as a result, uptake and the positive outcomes of using AAC have been limited. The Arabic symbol dictionary research team has endeavored to create a new freely available resource that will be the first of its kind and is focused on creating culturally, environmentally, religiously and linguistically appropriate symbols for the Arab AAC community. Through engagement with AAC users, teachers, therapists and parents using a participatory approach, the team have found that current Westernized symbols are not appropriate for the region's culture and lifestyle. This paper aims to discuss what factors the team has taken into account to ensure the symbols are appropriate for the Arabic AAC population. Considerations to be discussed include; cultural adaptations, religious sensitivities, linguistic factors and suitable portrayal of the environment.
Method
At the outset of the project an expert group of advisors advised against the creation of a brand new symbol set and suggested the development of symbols that could complement existing symbol sets. As the research team adopted a participatory approach to solve design and developmental processes, a self-selecting AAC forum of teachers, therapists and parents was introduced to a choice of freely available symbol sets to compare to those they already used. Their choice would form the basis for the symbol dictionary development. The choice having been made, it was then essential to develop a set of criteria in collaboration with the AAC forum that would inform the adaptations made to any symbols that were felt to be culturally inappropriate or lacking in linguistic correctness. Criteria used to review the symbols included; flipping symbols especially those with arrows to follow Arabic sentence orientation from right to left, adapting dress to be modest and in line with Qatari and the modern general Arab dress code, adding darker physical features to characters, changing symbols which contained affection and/or mixing with the opposite gender, reducing greenery in the environment, consideration of social hierarchy, including nanny/maid in symbols related to the family unit, the inclusion of religious holidays and customs, local landmarks and food. Based on these criteria, the graphic designer would adapt the symbols and post them to the team's closed Google+ group for internal review. Once the symbol was reviewed by 3 team members, the symbol was uploaded to the Arabic Symbol Dictionary Symbol Manger where the AAC forum would later vote on a batch of adapted symbols. Symbols accepted as culturally suitable were then uploaded to the ‘Tawasol’ website for download for free by the public. Comments were analyzed and adaptations were made accordingly to the symbols that were voted as culturally inappropriate by the AAC forum and were re-voted on with the next batch of symbols.
Results
In the first round of voting where participants were asked to select their preferred symbol set, the ARASSAC symbol set was chosen. However only 3.4% of symbols were marked as ‘good’ due to the symbols being culturally sensitive. A number of symbols (‘batch 1’) were then adapted by the graphic designer and were voted on by 63 voters. The symbols' cultural acceptability increased to an average scoring of 4.14 out of 5 due to the cultural, religious, linguistic and environmental changes. 16.5% of comments were in relation to changes that needed to be made to the representation of culture (6.8%), religion (7.2%), language (2.4%) and environment (0.1%). A much smaller group of 21 voters voted on the second batch of newly developed symbols and the symbols' average cultural acceptability rating was 4.03 out of 5. 16.8% of comments were in relation to changes that needed to be made to the representation of culture (14%), religion (1.4%), language (1.4%) and environment (0%). The main comments regarding culture included ensuring women were wearing a black Abaya and Shayla and if they were in colored clothing that they did not “look like a maid”. There were mixed comments about whether children should be represented in the symbols as wearing traditional Qatari dress or non-traditional dress. Physical features also were commonly commented on with requests for darker skin tones and facial hair for older male Figs. (e.g. father). Concerns were also raised about some hand gestures used in the symbols that did not agree with the Qatari culture (e.g. hand over chest to indicate ‘thank you’ is not used in Qatari culture). Symbols with Qatari foods such as those with rice and meat/chicken needed to have whole joints of lamb/chicken on the rice rather than small pieces. In terms of religious feedback this included ensuring women's hair was covered, symbols related to eating showed the character eating with the right hand, the five daily prayers showed the correct position for the sun and that women's feet were covered during prayer. Linguistic feedback suggested that symbols for pronouns needed to include the dual form as well as including male and female versions of each symbol, both features of the Arabic language. Environmental feedback included reducing greenery.
Discussion
The results showed a steady improvement in voters' rating of the cultural appropriateness of the symbols. The majority of comments were related to the representation of attire in the symbols and this has been discussed in detail internally within the team and also with participants. Many therapists and teachers requested that characters should be dressed in traditional Qatari dress and many others suggested this would only serve the needs of the Arabic Gulf AAC users and would not appeal to the general Arab population. Through conducting a survey the team came to the conclusion that it was best to create symbols with general Arab clothing and traditional Qatari dress to serve the needs of the widest Arabic AAC population. The differences in results between voting session two and three could be attributed to a number of factors. In the third session, voters were strongly encouraged to provide detailed comments about the suitability of the symbols and this may have caused them to be more critical in their feedback. Furthermore, the second round of voting was primarily on symbols of nouns where their representation tended to be universally accepted compared to those voted on in the third round of voting, which were predominantly actions, interactions and concepts that were less concrete and difficult to convey. It is also possible that voters were more confident with the voting process in the third round of voting and this affected the way they voted, giving them the confidence to be open with their opinions.
Conclusion
The contribution of the AAC forum and AAC users to this project has yielded ample feedback that is essential to making the Arabic Symbol Dictionary relevant and useful. The Arabic Symbol Dictionary team has made an active effort to maintain open communication lines with participants to guarantee, where possible, that the symbols are culturally, religiously, linguistically and environmentally appropriate. It is for this reason, and the lack of freely available culturally appropriate symbols, that participants have requested access to these symbols much earlier than their official release date. Participants also regularly contact the team with lists of words which they require adapted symbols for, that do not exist in available symbols sets or are inappropriate for the Qatari setting. Any symbols that have been designed and voted on have been added to the Tawasol website on a share alike creative commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0 license)[1] so they can be used by the community and companies providing communication devices. The team is also concurrently seeking feedback from other GCC and Arabic speaking countries to ensure this resource is utilized and made available to a widespread audience. With the majority of Arab countries having between 4–5% of disabilities attributed to speech impairments and numerous Arab countries showing between 13 and 15% of all disabilities related to communication, (Disability in the Arab Region, 2014) the need for such a resource is becoming increasingly apparent.
References
Hill, K. (2010). Advances in augmentative and alternative communication as quality-of-life technology. Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America, 21(1), 43–58.
Hock, B. S. & Lafi, S., M. (2011). Assistive Communication Technologies for Augmentative Communication in Arab Countries: Research Issues. UNITAR e-Journal, 7(1), 57–66.
Light, J., & McNaughton, D. (2012). Supporting the communication, language, and literacy development of children with complex communication needs: State of the science and future research priorities. Assistive Technology, 24(1), 34–44.
Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) League of Arab States, (2014). DISABILITY IN THE ARAB REGION AN OVERVIEW. Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
-
-
-
Momentum for Education Beyond 2015: Improving the Quality of Learning Outcomes & Enhancing the Performance of Education Systems in the GCC: Kuwait & Qatar Cross Country Analysis
Authors: Faryal Khan and Iman ChahineThis cross-case study analysis is based on two case studies in two GCC countries: Qatar and Kuwait. The studies gathered data through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze existing learning outcomes, teacher efficacy, and the extent to which the instructional strategies align with curriculum expectations in math, science, and reading. The analysis was carried out in two stages. First, we conducted separate within-case analysis on each country using matrices to discern patterns and compare trends. In the second round, we conducted cross-case analysis identifying main themes across both sites, and comparing and contrasting findings across school districts. To conduct the within-country and across-country analysis, we employ three parallel processes: meta-analysis of quantitative data; coding and categorizing strategies, and display strategies. The cross case analysis is motivated by the global efforts to promote the use of quality learning indicators in education and by the Framework for Action for EDUC 2030. We argue that the effective use of educational outcomes is essential to improving the overall quality of learning.
Cross Case Context and Purpose
The cross case analysis is conducted on two GCC Member States, Qatar and Kuwait, two countries with emerging economies and comparable income-levels. The purpose of this analysis is to provide insights on the challenges and constraints that are impeding improvement in the quality of education and system-performance in the GCC countries, as well as inform potential prospects for education post 2015. The specific objectives of the analysis are three-fold: 1) to examine learning outcomes in each country in order to ascertain strengths and weaknesses of the education systems in achieving the Education for All Goals; 2) monitor progress for achieving EFA goals by gathering quantitative and qualitative data; and 3) identify potential measures to develop a post-2015 education approach in the GCC Countries.
Cross Case Research Questions
This cross case analysis targets that following questions: What are the patterns in teaching efficacy across cases/sites? Are there differences in efficacy beliefs between males and females across content areas (math, science, and reading) and grade levels (Grades 4 & 8)? What are the instructional strategies that teachers employ to help students achieve learning outcomes, content and cognitive processes, specifically in grade 4? How is the performance of grade 4 students in Qatar compared to their counterparts in Kuwait in mathematics?
Cross Case Analysis Methodology
Individual case studies were conducted using quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Each case was examined and a case matrix developed to include the major concepts of the research questions. Following the development of individual case reports, a cross-case matrix display was developed for each of four critical issues underlying the related research questions (teacher self-efficacy, instructional design/strategies, and learning outcomes/student achievement.) Sample of schools Data in the cross analysis was collected using two random samples: 22 public schools from Kuwait and 28 independent schools in Qatar (See Table 1 & 2 attached). Individual case studies were based on multipurpose and nationally representative samples of boys and girls schools randomly selected from 6 districts in Kuwait and 7 districts in Qatar. The choice of participating districts was based on data availability, using surveys addressed to: 1) school principals and subject coordinators, 2) math, science and reading teachers, and 3) students in grades 4 & 8. We employed four data collections techniques to collect qualitative and quantitative data: survey questionnaires, observation of selected classrooms, tests, and focus group discussions. Student questionnaires identify student cognitive and affective dispositions towards learning and teacher surveys measured teaching efficacy and beliefs.
Cross Case Analysis Findings/Discussion
We employ two units of analysis: teachers and students. For teachers, we focus on the following themes: teacher self-efficacy and instructional design/strategies. For students, we focus on learning outcomes/student achievement. The two case studies suggested shared similarities and differences across the aforementioned themes.
Theme 1: Learning Outcomes/Student achievement in math (grade 4) There was a significant difference (p = .000 at α < .05) of around 5 points in the group mean score between the females and males' scores across districts. In particular, the females (mean score = 19.26 points) outperformed the males (mean score = 14.21) in all six districts. However, in Qatar, overall, boys (Mean = 36.85, SE = 1.199) in Grade 4 did significantly better than girls (Mean = 31.99, SE = 1.508) on math achievement test with a 5-point group mean score higher than that of the girls.
Theme 2: Teacher Self Efficacy In Kuwait, we found significant differences (p = .04 at α < .05) in teachers' perception regarding their ability to teach their subjects across the different governorates. Furthermore, we noted significant variations across governorates in terms of how teachers perceive the impact of their efforts on student achievement. For example, we found significant differences in degrees of agreement on Q10 (When a low-achieving child progresses it is usually due to extra attention given by the teacher) (p = .015 at α < .05); on Q12 (The teacher is generally responsible for the achievement of students) (p = .045 at α < .05); and on Q13 (Students' achievement is directly related to teacher's effectiveness in teaching) (p = 0.28 at α < .05). The differences were mostly prevalent between the suburban (such as Al-Ahmadi and Jahraa, the two largest governorates in Kuwait) and the urban districts, which comprise four suburban governorates. Moreover, significant differences in level of agreement were reported in the way parents in different governorates perceive the role of the teacher (Q14: If parents comment that their child is showing more interest in mathematics at school, it is probably due to the performance of the child's teacher) (p = .015 at α < .05) (See Fig. 10). For the same reason, the differences seem to arise between urban (Hawalli) and suburban (Jahraa) governorates. We noted significant differences between teachers' responses across girls and boys schools particularly in relation to teaching effectiveness and student learning. Furthermore, across math, science and literacy teaching, we also noted significant differences (p = .010 at α < .05) only in teachers' expectations regarding other teachers' beliefs in their students' learning. On the other hand, in Qatar we found significant differences between female and male teachers' responses on q2 (I will continually find better ways to teach mathematics), q17 (I wonder if I will have the necessary skills to teach Mathematics), q18 (Given a choice, I will not invite the principal to evaluate my mathematics teaching), q20 (When teaching mathematics,
I will usually welcome students' questions). Across districts, we found significant differences among teachers in q2 (I will continually find better ways to teach mathematics) and q12 (The teacher is generally responsible for the achievement of students in mathematics). Across Grade levels, we noticed significant differences between teachers on q9 (The inadequacy of a student's mathematics background can be overcome by good teaching) and q14 (If parents comment that their child is showing more interest in mathematics at school, it is probably due to the performance of the child's teacher.) We also compared teachers' expectations of their students across subjects, school districts, Grade level and gender and found significant differences in teachers' expectation only across Grade level.
Theme 3: Instructional design/strategies In both countries, an examination of the results of the Teaching Method survey indicated that, particularly for math and sciences there is a more focused approach on basic drill and practice techniques. Additionally, there was a moderately low rate of integrating computer applications in teaching mathematics and sciences at the middle level. Implications Qatar and Kuwait case studies yielded different findings with respect to teacher self-efficacy and student achievement (grade 4). However, the commonality that emerged concerned teaching methods, namely the focus on drill and practice in teaching. This has implications to policy and practice. However, teachers cannot carry the responsibility alone. We argue that unless teachers are supported with well-designed curricula and assessment strategies to improve teaching and learning, it would be hard to improve quality in education outcomes and learning thus achieving the post 2015 goals.
-
-
-
Sporting Events and Inter-Religious Relations: Qatar's World Cup 2020
Authors: Gurharpal Singh and Lawrence SaezThe development of mega sports events over the last thirty years has been underpinned by the case of urban regeneration or national developments. The literature on urban policy and planning highlights the interplay between mega-sporting events and notable transformation in urban development (Gratton and Henry 2002, Hiller 2000, Chakley and Essex 1999). As cities and nations have sought to bid competitively for major sporting events (e.g., the World Cup, the Olympics, Asian Games, and regional sports competitions) to both showcase achievement as well as create opportunities for the development of new physical infrastructure. They also provide a potential forum from which to enhance the tourist industry towards the host cities or countries. The issue of urban regeneration through sporting events has become a major theme for urban policy and planning. The impacts of seemingly ongoing economic restructuring, technological as well as policy change has meant that the basis for many urban economies has undergone fundamental shifts within which certain areas have high levels of social exclusion and deprivation (Hall 2004). The concept of urban regeneration through sporting events includes both physical and social dimensions (Page and Hall 2003). The physical component of urban regeneration is primarily concerned with architecture and image, whereas the social dimensions of urban regeneration are concerned with improving the quality of life of those who already live in target areas. Only rarely, if at all, have the implications of mega-sporting events been promoted for their social or cultural significance. The London 2012 case for the Olympics, for example, was predicated on the importance of London as capital which promoted and valued social, ethnic and religious diversity of an increasingly cosmopolitan society (Fussey, Coaffee, Armstrong, Hobbs 2011, Raco and Tunney 2010). The value of sport to further enhance such social change should not under-estimated, whether it is at the level of the city or a nation. Although some of the literature on urban planning has stressed the potential sociological transformation that emerges from hosting major sporting events, primarily through the construction of a national identify (Tomlinson and Young 2006, Horne and Manzereitter 2006), there is a major gap in the literature on the impact of sporting events on inter-religious relations. The Qatar World Cup of 2022 offers a major opportunity to rethink the implications using sport as way of facilitating better cultural and inter-religious relations in one of the most conflict torn regions in the world. This particular event will allow for the assessment of the impact of hallmark events on a social fabric that is maintained though abidance by specific religious norms. Some research has attempted to explore the potentially disruptive social transformation that participation by female athletes and spectators in sporting events could have on sociocultural sensitivities in Muslim countries (Amara and Brown 2008, Jahromi 2011). In contrast, this paper will outline the potentially constructive social transformation that a major sporting event could have on enhancing inter-religious relations. This paper will map out the areas of potential analysis for such a project. The paper will examine the institutional resources available for such an exercise and evaluate the policy effectiveness of the promotion activities associated with the Qatar World cup bid and the organisational process which aim to encourage better social diversity and interactions. The paper will outline details of a major project which will develop a framework of working with the key stakeholders to develop policy effective initiatives that can further strengthen a better understanding of inter-religious and inter-cultural relations. Our paper will draw upon analysis based on social survey research conducted in countries where large sporting events have been held in countries with significant religious heterogeneity. The findings from these surveys will be linked to future survey research in Qatar.
-
-
-
Personalizing the Museum Experience in Qatar
More LessIntroduction
Museum Personalization was identified as one of the six most important emerging trends for museums in 2015 by the Center for the Future of Museums.[1] It is an approach that focuses on the individual visitor rather than generic visitor groups and can be applied to a range of work areas including exhibit experiences, operations, marketing/communications and retail. The commonly perceived benefit of this approach is that visitors enjoy an enhanced or ‘tailored’ museum experience and museums/institutions gain longer-lasting and more meaningful relationships with their audiences. Simple forms of personalization have been employed by museums since the early days of digital experimentation in the 1980s, however, as priorities have increasingly shifted towards understanding and building audiences, this approach is offering exciting new opportunities and more sophisticated applications are now being explored. The potential for personalization has been significantly expanded by advances in technology over the past five years, especially in mobile phones, e-commerce, social media and wearable tech. Context two recent examples of museum personalization can be found at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York City and the Dallas Museum of Art. The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum reopened to the public in December 2014 with its ‘Smart Pen’, allowing visitors to collect their favorite objects and chart their activities over repeat museum visits. Within the first five months of operation the museum had recorded almost 1.4 million digitally collected objects and more than 54,000 new ‘visitor made designs’.[2] This has provided fascinating new insights into their collection. In 2012, the Dallas Museum of Art scrapped admission fees and introduced an innovative membership program that rewards individual visitors for participating in museum activities with digital badges and points. These can be redeemed for special rewards such as free parking, workshops, VIP events and film screenings. After two years of the membership program, overall attendance figures have increased by 29? and financial donations have risen by 19?.[3] Museums are not alone in developing personalization approaches and much inspiration has been taken from other industries such as e-commerce (personal retail recommendations), theme parks (wearable personalization devices), communications (social media aggregation), education (personalized learning e.g. Khan Academy and ClassDojo) and healthcare (customized health plans).
Research Purpose
Qatar Museums is the lead body for museums in Qatar with two open museums[4], three gallery spaces[5] and several new museums in development. The stated core purpose of the organization is to be ‘a cultural instigator for the creation generation’[6]. One of the key challenges to achieving this ambitious goal is the development of regular museum visiting habits in local audiences. This requires Qatar Museums to provide engaging museum experiences that attract visitors and cultivate long-lasting and meaningful relationships with those visitors. This paper explores the potential impact of museum personalization as a tool for achieving these goals.
Methodology
In evaluating the potential impact of museum personalization to museums in Qatar, this paper looks at three areas of research: An extensive review of international museums that use personalization approaches or techniques, focusing on both the benefits that they bring to museums and audiences as well as the challenges that they present. An evaluation of Qatar's technology landscape and how well suited this is to facilitate the introduction of personalization approaches in museums. An analysis of ongoing qualitative and quantitative audience research commissioned by Qatar Museums, focusing on Qatar-specific perceptions towards the use of technology. Summary of Key Findings International Review Summary – Through the extensive review of international museums using personalization techniques, the key benefits and challenges of museum personalization have been identified. These can be split into two categories: benefits for visitors; and benefits for museums/institutions. Main benefits for museum visitors: An increased sense of control and ownership Tailored content delivered at the best place and time. The ability to record and chart ongoing personal experiences and achievements Greater awareness of the ‘museum community’. A more comfortable and convenient visit Main benefits for museums/institutions: An enhanced reciprocal relationship between the museum and visitors Greater ability to identify changing audience needs Strengthened relationships with education professionals and community leaders Enhanced operational effectiveness Innovative new income generation streams. The research has also exposed some of the most common challenges and shortcomings of museum personalization – Over-complicated and unintuitive personalization systems. Creating unwanted distractions from other museum experiences. Unsustainable technical infrastructure Privacy and data protection concerns Qatar's Technology Landscape Summary – Technology is a key part of Qatar's 2030 National Vision and transformation into a knowledge-driven economy. Qatar's comparatively small population and geographic size has enabled the rapid development of cutting edge technology infrastructure such as fiber optic internet, 4G mobile phone networks and WIFI enabled public parks. There has also been considerable effort to develop e-government with 547 new digital services introduced since 2013 in areas such as healthcare, utilities, education and Islamic Affairs[7]. Qatar's advanced technology infrastructure is coupled with a healthy appetite for the consumption of technology goods and services. A 2013 survey revealed that the average household in Qatar owned three mobile phones, two computers and one smart phone[8]. Today's figures will undoubtedly be higher. Broadband internet penetration rates are at 85? placing Qatar alongside highly advanced economies such as South Korea and the United Kingdom.[9] Qatar's youth are leading the way with 98? of citizens aged between 15 and 24 using smartphones.[10] The advanced technology infrastructure in Qatar, together with the healthy appetite for technology goods and services, provide fertile conditions for the application of personalization approaches in Qatar's museums. Museum Audience Research Analysis Summary – Qatar Museums has an ongoing program of audience evaluation research that looks into a wide range of issues including general perceptions towards the use of technology. The research has indicated that there are positive links made between technology and creativity. ‘Everything creative now has something to do with technology’ – Qatari Mother[11]. However, it has also revealed some important concerns, particularly from parents regarding their children's perceived over-exposure to technology. Some also link this over-exposure to a general lack of physical exercise. ‘Our children do not have this energy and vitality, they are sitting at the computer all the time, they sit 8 hours, 5 hours, it is too much. When we were their age we would jump and hop and play, they do not do anything.’ – Qatari Mother[12] ‘I have to provide them with an education that benefits them. It cannot be play all the time; be it in malls, or using a Play station or a computer. Computers can be a means of distraction, of learning and of leisure’ – Arab Non-Qatari Mother[13] ‘I have a technology problem at home. All my children have laptops; even the 4 year old boy. My children spend all their time using this equipment, to the extent that my son of 4 refuses to go out because he prefers to complete his laptop session.’ – Jordanian Father[14] Although museum personalization is often presented as a way of counteracting the alienation created by technology, these genuine concerns of over-exposure will have to be carefully considered for any future development in Qatar.
Conclusions and Significance of the Research
This research provides strong evidence that museum personalization has the potential to have a significant and positive impact on the development of regular museum visiting habits in Qatar. It also exposes some important challenges that will have to be overcome through careful planning and extensive audience testing. Findings from this research will provide ideas and inspiration for Qatar's operational museums as well as opportunities to embed museum personalization into the development of new museum projects and audience engagement programs.
References
[1] Elizabeth Merritt, Trends Watch 2015, 2015, American Alliance of Museums.
[2] http://labs.cooperhewitt.org/2015/5-months-with-the-pen/
[3] https://www.dma.org/press-release/dallas-museum-art-s-dma-friends-program-home-100000-members.
[4] Museum of Islamic Art and Mathaf Museum of Modern Arab Art.
[5] Al Riwaq Gallery, QM Gallery 10 (Katara Cultural Village) and the QM Fire Station Artist in Residence Centre.
[6] QM Website – http://www.qm.org.qa/en/our-purpose.
[7] Qatar Digital Government, Executive Highlights, p. 1, 2015, ICT Qatar.
[8] Qatar's ICT Landscape, p.5, 2013, ICT Qatar.
[9] Ibid (p.10).
[10] Ibid (p.22).
[11] QM Future Audience Evaluation: Phase 2, Part 2, p.74, 2012, Qatar Museums.
[12] QM Future Audience Evaluation: Phase 2, Part 3, p.48, 2012, Qatar Museums.
[13] QM Future Audience Evaluation: Phase 2, Part 3, p.60, 2011, Qatar Museums.
[14] QM Future Audience Evaluation: Phase 1, p.25, 2011, Qatar Museums.
-
-
-
Health Self Determination Index
More LessThe Health Self Determination Index (HSDI) is a tool to measure the degree to which legal systems allow a person is able to make choices and decisions based on their own preferences and interests with regard to their health. The HSDI measures the degree to which a given regulatory environment recognize, guarantees and protects a self-determination with regard decisions affecting a person's health. The HSDI is intended to be global in scope, that is, to measure all countries around the world. The HSDI is empirically-based, that is, is based on data representing the state of affairs of health laws and regulations. Data come from four strategic areas – Abortion and contraception; – End-of-life; – Reproductive choices; – Access to regenerative medicine. The goal of the Index is to: – Provide an up-to -date tools to assess the degree of health self-determination – Raise awareness of how self-determination is treated differently around the world – Foster an evidence-based dialogue between policymakers, patients, the medical community and society on key issues affecting a person's life Current state of implementation – Complete dataset for 43 countries – Partial data set for over 100 countries – Available to the public at www.freedomofresearch.org – Preliminary data published Management – The Project is currently directed by Andrea Boggio, Associate Professor of Legal Studies at Bryant University (USA) – Structural is currently provided by the Associazione Luca Coscioni, a not-for-profit organization based in Rome (Italy) – Various activists, policymakers and academics are assisting the project as advisors – No person is currently remunerated for contributing to the Project Future directions – Expand the dataset to all countries around the world – Expand the Index to new areas of policy. Areas identified as priority are (1) medical use of marijuana and other illicit drugs, and (2) access to palliative care and pain management drugs – Maintain the current dataset up-to-date – Create a network of collaborators and advisors who guarantee the quality and growth of the project – Publish annual reports on the state of affairs of health self-determination Need for funding – Hire personnel to assist project development – Publishing annual report – Collecting data – Website and other structural costs – Approach: To truly advance freedom of research and treatment, we must learn how to measure it comprehensively and rigorously. In this spirit we build a multi-dimension grid of issues and sub-issues that enabled us to clarify and operationalized freedom in particularly contested areas of policy. Measurement questions: Monitoring and measuring freedom. Thinking about freedom as a matter of degree facilitates measurement. Actions are thus “free” on a scale from absolute prohibition to complete absence of constraints. Since law and other regulatory instruments constitute key sources of constraints in modern societies, we can monitor and measure freedom by reviewing the regulatory environment in which researchers, health care professionals and patients do research, provide health care, and seek treatment. This review allows us determine the degree to which we can say that actors are “free” to pursue the aspirations to expanding medical knowledge, foster patients’ well being and choose the best treatment.
Methodology
We adopted a multi-step methodology that is inspired by other efforts to build indexes and ranking in other domains of social life (human development, freedom of press, social progress, happiness, corruption, and economic freedoms). Identification key areas of medical research and treatment that raise important questions of freedom. Four areas that raise important questions of freedom, and thus can lead to key insights as to the degree of freedom that researchers, health care professionals and patients enjoy, were selected. These four areas are: Assisted reproduction technologies (ART); Research with human embryonic stem cells (hESC); End-of-life decisions; Abortion and contraception. Operationalization of the meaning of “freedom” in each of these key areas. To operationalize ‘freedom’ in each of the four areas of medical research and treatment, key regulatory conditions that constrain actors to some degree were identified. Furthermore, a list of questions was prepared for each of the areas. These questions capture the nature of these conditions and the degree to which the regulatory framework limits actors’ freedom to pursue the proper goal of each area of inquiry. Measurement Points (from 0 to 12) are assigned for each answer of each question. The highest score is allotted to the regulation that recognizes the highest degree of freedom. Progressively lower scores are assigned to less free environments, that is, regulatory environments that limit freedom moderately, severely, or entirely. The score 0 was assigned to blank prohibitions. If data are not available, the answer is not included in the calculation. For each country, we report the level of completion of data collection.
Data collection
To assign the points, each question needed to be answered. To this end, data were collected from various sources including primary sources (statutes and other regulatory documents) and secondary sources (scientific papers and policy reports). As of March 2014, we have completed data collection for 42 countries. Ranking Points were then added to a total. The result quantifies the degree of freedom that key actors enjoy while acting in each of the areas of medical research and treatment selected. The points of each area were then added and their total represents the score of each country. Countries were then ranked based on the overall score.
-
-
-
Qatari Media Roles in Maximizing the Qatari Soft Power and Overcoming the Glocal Social Challenges of Hosting World Cup 2022
More LessFrom the moment in 2010 when the World Cup was awarded to the tiny oil-rich nation with little soccer history, the event had been shrouded in controversy. Allegations of corruption abounded and investigations commissioned. But FIFA have repeatedly insisted that the competition would not be taken away from Qatar, even if that meant moving it from its traditional summer spot in the calendar. As things stand, the first ever World Cup in the northern hemisphere winter is a go, but that decision is only the start of a complex few years ahead for everyone involved. Since the controversial decision for Qatar to host the tournament, the opinions of both fans and those in the footballing community at large have mostly been against the decision. The president of the German football association said that the decision is “a burden for all of football.” Various writers have called the decision “FIFA's folly,” a “farce,” and a “disaster.” Others have said the award “make[s] no sense” and “you might as well hold the World Cup on Mars.” The plan is troubled by more than mere unpopularity—allegations of bribery and corruption have surfaced repeatedly over the five years since the vote was taken. The situation worsened when FIFA admitted it was likely that the tournament would have to be moved from its traditional June–July timeslot to sometime during the winter months due to the extreme summer heat in the region. This proposed move would have massive effects, both logistical and financial, on professional football leagues throughout the world. Shifting the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter would be financially detrimental to professional football leagues and the many businesses that depend on them. The study employed a mixed descriptive – method design combining both content analysis of 1246 Qatari media items (including Qatari newspapers, television news and editorial material from 11 December 2010 till 30 September 2015) plus field study via semi structured interviews with 100 senior level experts and surveying 500 as a stratified random sample from diversified Qatari respondents. The study depended on well structured scales to measure media interest capacity and respondent's exposure and interaction. Qatar struggled to host this event either in the preparation stage or after winning the bid and the Qatari media concentrated only on the external aspect of hosting this event as reactive action instead of being proactive. The study depended on “issue attention cycle model” as a theoretical framework. The cycle has five stages as follows: (The pre-crisis stage, alarmed discovery, euphoric enthusiasm, realizing the true costs, declining interest and the post-crisis stage). The study wondered that Qatari media didn't cover the Qatari society internal challenges of hosting the world cup such as the cultural and social issues that contradict with Qataris religion, values and traditions. As Qatar is not accepting homosexuality, (LGBT) (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual community) or selling beer in the stadiums, it is expected to witness cultural conflict. In a very small country like Qatar, as there are no World Cup-ready stadiums, and entire cities that are necessary to host the event don't exist yet, all of the venues and stadiums need to be built from scratch. As we saw with the record $50-billion Sochi Olympics, building these things from scratch is an incredibly expensive and unpredictable enterprise. This will require massive infrastructure, up to $200 billion — four times the amount Russia spent on the historically expensive Sochi Olympics. Costs are already getting so out of control that Qatar will only build eight stadiums, as opposed to the 12 that were originally planned. This will impose certain challenges either in allocating fund for social, educational and infrastructure services or in creating terrible traffic jam in the preparation and hosting stages. The result of this traffic jam could lead to prevent or limit fans turnout. This of course will weaken the championship. The study hypothesized that there is a significant relationship between Qataris exposure to passive news about the world cup and their reluctant or refusal attitude toward hosting this event. The study suggested a comprehensive integrated communication strategy that Qatari media must adopt via issue attention cycle model in qualifying and orienting the Qatari society to deal with ethical, social and cultural challenges of hosting this event. The internal public opinion is vital not only in supporting the Qatari institutional efforts but also in guaranteeing the event success. Overcoming the internal challenges will enable Qatar from maximizing the social impact of a global event as equal as the economic benefits. This would be reflected positively on Qatar's Nation Branding Strategies as an extension to the Qatari extensive efforts in emerged mediating, peacemaking and humanitarian role all over the world.
-