Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal

Construction and Validation of an Arabic Questionnaire on the School Dropout Factors (QSD)

Ali ELLOUMI, Aicha CHERIF — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This article presents the principles of construction and validation of a questionnaire on the phenomenon of school dropout by illustrating various aspects from a measurement tool prepared to study the different factors of this reality. The standardized theoretical models were adapted and completed for the needs of the study. Educational institutions and, in particular, middle school must establish a clear vision and mission regarding the training that every social professional will demand. School has always played the role of a pupil’s education, but the fact that a significant number of secondary students are abandoning their programs without having completed their course of studies, is a specific symptom of an educational crisis that is occurring within them. For this reason, the present study aimed to validate a key tool to establish the causes, whether endogenous or exogenous as to why pupils leave college without having completed their qualification. Different aspects of validation are discussed: The acceptability by studying data concerning the description of school dropout, the validity of constructing a score on the causes of school dropout, the reliability of the components of the questionnaire, the validity of the construct of the tool. The full questionnaire, with the origin of the questions, instructions for the interviewers and coding mode are presented in the methodology. The questionnaire design, consisting to determine the reasons of early dropout Tunisian pupils. The questionnaire took into account the theoretical proposals of several scientific researches. The instrument developed was validated with a sample of 750 pupils (including 675 respondents) in Tunisian colleges with a national dropout rate of 10%. The respondents (317 girls and 358 boys) have an average age of 14.11 years. The 68 items questionnaire was designed to identify, among the population of pupils quitting their school, 7 categories of factors that potentially lead to Tunisian children dropping out, Institutional, Sociological, Economic, Personal, Family, Cultural and Geographical- with their respective subcategories. Knowing the reasons why college pupils abandon a middle school in particular will allow educational actors to analyze administrative and/or academic requirements and take mitigation measures to minimize school dropout.

Conceptualizing Narrative Health and Medicine to Develop Cultural Competence to Improve Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kent Willis, Colleen Marzilli — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 07:59:21 +0000

Narrative health is a technique that healthcare professionals can use to connect with patients. The events of 2020, including the global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have identified that patient care is largely dependent upon relationships within the healthcare environment. Relationships in the healthcare environment are established through a trusting exchange between the patient and provider, and one technique to develop this relationship and trust is through narrative health. Narrative health provides the exchange of information between patient and provider in a discussion-like manner, or narrative health. This strategy promotes cultural competence amongst the healthcare professional team and improves communication between the patient and provider. Narrative health is an important concept for healthcare professionals to understand, and narrative health should be a part of any healthcare professional’s toolbox, especially in vulnerable times like the COVID pandemic. The inclusion of narrative health in practice has the potential to improve patient outcomes and empower healthcare professionals and patients.

Redefining the Practice of the Old Profession with Technology: Sex Work and the Use of Whatsapp for Clientele Management

Naa Adjeley Suta Alakija Sekyi, Brandford Bervell, Valentina Arkorful — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 07:59:37 +0000

Technology has revolutionized the culture within contemporary society. Especially for communication and sharing of information, social media has taken the epicenter. The proliferation of social media technologies in our daily communication has infiltrated into all facets of life from education, commerce, family and friends, relations etc. However, an aspect of socio-cultural life which is sex trade has also been influenced by social media technological diffusion. A notable and popular social media platform today purported to be complementing the activities of sex workers is the WhatsApp technology. In view of this, the study focuses on unraveling the actual use of WhatsApp by sex workers in managing their clients. Accordingly, the study employed the qualitative approach with the phenomenological transcendental design to find out actual usage experiences of commercial sex workers in the Cape Coast metropolis of Ghana. A purposive sample based on snowballing technique was used to collect data from fifteen (15) sex workers based on a semi-structured interview guide. A thematic analysis centred on a deductive approach was used to analyze the qualitative data. The findings revealed that sex workers had favourable and positive impressions or attitude towards WhatsApp usage. They also found WhatsApp to be very useful and benefitted immensely from it in various ways. Irrespective of this, sex workers were beset with challenges such as stigma from future leakage of their nude information as well as internet network constraints in using WhatsApp. The study derived a model based on the findings for future validation through quantitative modelling analysis.

Language and Art in Senegal: The Crossbreeding of Identities in Music

Ibrahima Sarr — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 07:59:51 +0000

Senegal is a melting pot of several civilizations mainly originated from the West (Europe) and the East (the Arab world). Assuming that language and culture are intrinsically related, the settlement of those people and their status as dominant minority sparked and strengthened the use of their languages in formal domains. In the long ran, as they became domesticated, thus now considered African languages because they have contributed to mold the cultural identity of younger generation, they involve in all linguistic interaction. Arab, in its classical form, remains a symbol of Islam which earns it a certain degree of sacredness. Nevertheless the contact situation with the other languages forced it to crossbreed in special ways like borrowings and interferences. As for the other foreign languages, namely French, English, Spanish, and German at a least extent, they are made to carry the weight of local cultures.

Social measures and disruptive innovations in entrepreneurship education to cope with COVID-19

Ileana Hamburg — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 07:59:59 +0000

Entrepreneurship education (EE) can increase students’ entrepreneurial skills and intention but research results and experience show that entrepreneurship education still pursues conservative models, rather than forward-looking ones. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced all types and levels of education and training including entrepreneurship one. The article suggests several measures to be taken, also social ones, as a result of COVID-19 and how entrepreneurship education can be improved in order to support innovations and to be available for all. Advantages of an interdisciplinary perspective in EE and of mentoring as well as contribution of disruptive innovations at EE improvement are presented. An example of a European project in this context with contribution of the author and conclusions are given.

A Comparative Analysis of Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon Polluted Soil in the Island Forest Ecosystem and the Low land Forest Ecosystem in the Niger Delta through Enhanced Natural Attenuation Process (ENAP)

Etiese Etuk, Kingsley C. Ogboi, C. A. Nwadinigwe, Wali Elekwachi — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 08:00:13 +0000

The Niger Delta region has witnessed environmental pollution arising from oil activities over the years of oil exploration and production. Soil fertility in both the Lowland Forest Ecological Zone and Island Forest Ecological Zone were investigated to establish the consequences of oil pollution on the soil and remedial actions to restore back quality and fertility of the soil. A suitable cost effective and environmentally friendly technology to handle the pollutions in the Niger Delta region can be found in Remediation by Enhanced Natural Attenuation Process (ENAP) which facilitates the activities of microorganisms to biodegrade the hydrocarbon impacted soil. The study compared the bio-physicochemical parameters of the oil spill polluted soil with particular reference to areas of oil production of the two Ecological Systems with those of the unaffected soil as well as their response to bioremediation interventions using ENAP. The results demonstrated significant decrease in the values of the key indicator parameter, the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH). But for the unenhanced process, the result showed low level of reduction of TPH values for the polluted soils. A degradation trend was demonstrated with time leading to significant TPH reductions and improved key soil fertility indices. The result showed that the level of the nutrient status of soil in the region can be improved through the natural attenuation process.

Comprehensive Project Risk Management Methodology

Luis F. Copertari — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 08:00:29 +0000

The objective of this paper is to introduce and discuss the basics of a methodology called the Probabilistic Critical Path Method (PCPM) for managing the previously identified risks (uncertainty) of the three project management dimensions: time, cost and return (performance). An interactive Graphic User Interface (GUI) has been designed for visualizing the tradeoffs among these three dimensions as well as their uncertainties on a flat computer screen. The user can choose to visualize the probability of failure (exceeding some user given due date, budget or not exceeding a given Minimally Attractive Rate of Return – MARR) or the probability of success (not exceeding the due date and the budget and exceeding the MARR). PCPM allows for comprehensive project risk management and it constitutes a new integrative project risk management framework. This paper shows that it is possible to integrate all three project management dimensions (time, cost and return) and show their known risks as well as determining the optimal cost and the associated time and return for such optimal cost. Finally, it is possible to interactively show all this multidimensional information on a flat computer screen.

Land Tenure Regimes and Women’s Land Rights in Uganda; Legality and the Land Legal Framework.

Prudence Kemigisha — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 08:00:43 +0000

A review on the implications of land tenure regimes on women’s land rights is relevant in the Ugandan context and other countries in Africa due to the fact that land is in many ways the most important productive resource to possess or have access to. Rights over land are associated with social identity and help to regulate what people do with that land as a source of livelihood. Despite the critical contribution of land resource, it is not equitably distributed. The position of women in land accessibility, control and ownership is still precarious under the different tenure regimes in Uganda. A literature review was conducted to assess the implications of the tenure regimes on women land rights in Uganda, with specific reference to the land legality and the legal framework. From the literature reviewed, the study indicates that women’s right to land under the land holding systems are largely limited to access rights but not ownership rights. Ugandan women face significant challenges accessing justice when their rights are violated. The lack of clear distinction between legitimacy and legality of land rights makes it difficult to attain effective women’s rights to land. A combination of contemporary and customary law still restricts land rights of women in that the statutory instruments in place have failed to grant women the right to land. The study recommends that the necessary change required to narrow the gender gap in land rights necessitates simultaneous struggles over the norms and legal structures governing women’s land rights.