Malay-Islamic Pondok Studies as Platforms for Developing Human Potential: A Qualitative Document Analysis

Class struggle has been a pertinent issue in Literature. Literary texts have always presented conflicts between the oppressed and the oppressor. These conflicts emerge as the oppressed group try to free themselves from the yoke of oppression. While the struggle for a better society used to be carried out by men because they were believed to be brave and strong, women joined them. When this occurred, they work as a united team to complement each other in liberating the society. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine how solidarity of men and women triggers class struggle in Ngugi’s Petals of Blood and Sembene’s God’s Bits of Wood. The texts under study were selected because their thematic content is largely based on class struggle. The analysis was done using Marxism theory which urges the oppressed group to rise and unite so that they can demand for what belongs to them. This tenet was employed in the study to examine how men and women have not only risen but also united to complement each other in the struggle. The study went further to examine the changes that occur in the novels under study when men and women work together to demand for better working conditions and developments. The researcher used qualitative approach in data analysis because the data from the texts under study was non-numerical. The study is significant because it provides an insight on how the unity of men and women can trigger class struggle.

This paper report on a study that was conducted in a selected area in South Africa to investigate male adolescents' utilisation of Sexual and Reproduction Healthcare services. A contextual, explorative and descriptive qualitative design was utilised to conduct the investigation. Twenty male adolescents aged 18-24 years selected by means of purposive (sampling special or unique cases sampling techniques) and snowballing sampling techniques were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using Tesch's approach of qualitative data analysis. The lack of awareness of the services was the most significant hindrance to the utilisation of sexual and reproductive healthcare services by male adolescents. This was linked to differentiated knowledge about the services, poor services in public hospital and clinics, nurses' attitudes and lack of services designed for males. The study therefore recommends the development of strategies to deal with the emerged themes (lack of awareness of the services, differentiated knowledge about the services, poor services in public hospitals and clinics, nurses' attitudes and lack of services designed for males) in order to enhance, increase and improve utilisation of these services by male adolescents for the betterment of their sexual and reproductive health as well as their health in general.

The application of qualitative techniques is increasing and acceptable among the researchers. However, majority of the researchers and postgraduate students did not consider the importance of giving detailed procedures in qualitative data analysis for better understanding of the qualitative results. There is a need to uncover step by step approach in qualitative analysis for better application of qualitative techniques. This article presented a detailed step-by-step approach for qualitative analysis with the aid of a pragmatic illustration. The analytic process presented employed the example of qualitative data transcribed into narrative data to develop basic themes. The employment of Domain Analysis and Thematic Network analysis in the example given helped basic themes to converge to higher order themes. The article submitted that this approach in qualitative analysis will aid thorough understanding of qualitative data interpretation. This is extremely thoughtful approach for the systematic presentation of qualitative analysis.

BackgroundDimensions of social capital relevant to health in pregnancy are sparsely described in the literature. This study explores dimensions of social capital and the mechanisms in which they could affect the health of rural Sri Lankan pregnant women.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative study of solicited diaries written by pregnant women on their social relationships, diary interviews and in-depth interviews with key informants was conducted. A framework approach for qualitative data analysis was used.ResultsPregnant women (41), from eight different communities completed diaries and 38 post-diary interviews. Sixteen key informant interviews were conducted with public health midwives and senior community dwellers. We identified ten cognitive and five structural constructs of social capital relevant to health in pregnancy. Domestic and neighborhood cohesion were the most commonly expressed constructs. Social support was limited to support from close family, friends and public health midwives. A high density of structural social capital was observed in the micro-communities. Membership in local community groups was not common. Four different pathways by which social capital could influence health in pregnancy were identified. These include micro-level cognitive social capital by promoting mental wellbeing; micro-level structural social capital by reducing minor ailments in pregnancy; micro-level social support mechanisms promoting physical and mental wellbeing through psychosocial resources and health systems at each level providing focused maternal care.ConclusionCurrent tools available may not contain the relevant constructs to capture the unique dimensions of social capital in pregnancy. Social capital can influence health during pregnancy, mainly through improved psychosocial resources generated by social cohesion in micro-communities and by the embedded neighborhood public health services.

This study was conducted to comprehensively analyze household waste management and the effectiveness of TPS-3R in Gorontalo City. This analysis identifies the level of effectiveness of TPS-3R and the basis for formulating recommendations for sustainable waste management policies in the Gorontalo City area. This study was conducted on a sample population of 8 villages and 8 waste generation locations spread across the 8 villages and 4 TPS 3R located in 8 villages. Furthermore, this study uses Purposive sampling in determining the location based on the condition of waste generation, and data collection using the Checklist Form of waste generation and the condition of TPS 3R then interviews with the village government with the Guttman analysis approach for quantitative data for the Checklist Form and interview analysis using the Miles and Huberman approach for qualitative data analysis. The problem of waste generation and household waste management in Gorontalo City is still not optimal, where community involvement in preventing waste generation is not yet effective, facilities and infrastructure such as TPS-3R are not optimal in reducing waste generation due to several obstacles such as unclear management and institutions and the active role of the village government is not yet too strong due to the existence of waste management regulations from the region directly by the Environmental Service so that there needs to be clear coordination and collaboration in terms of law and regulations in the future.

Thematic villages have a big role in reducing the poverty rate in Semarang City. The existence of tourism-oriented development will encourage thematic villages to have more impact on the people's economy. The River Tubing Mayangsari thematic village has the potential to be developed, therefore there is a need for planning and design recommendations for tourist destinations. The method used is a quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis approach in data analysis and data collection techniques using field techniques and literature/document studies. The results obtained in this service are recommendations for socio-economic planning and infrastructure design for the Mayangsari River Tubing. This community service is expected to become a consideration and recommendation for the Regional Development Planning Agency for the City of Semarang in bringing the Mayangsari River Tubing Thematic Village to a Tourist Destination in the City of Semarang.

During 2008 and 2009, post-apartheid South Africa and the global community experienced major economic turbulence, bringing into focus the need for skills development across the major South African economic sectors to resuscitate its failing economy. The solutions lay in organisations re-evaluating their current operational strategies by streamlining their organisations, and adopting aggressive, lean, and cost-saving approaches to remain competitive. The study introduced the need to address this issue by exploring the environments that play a role in the quality of life in South Africa. A qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis approach was used to establish the skills gap between the business market and training institutes, in an effort to alleviate the negative effects of the current state of the economy. The need for skills growth and for cost-cutting, cost-saving, and an optimisation skill a skill descriptively and applicably seen in industrial engineering is apparent. The role of graduate institutions in facilitating the growth of human capital development in the work environment has become a critical factor in South Africa, aimed at improving the productivity and economic growth of the country. In this paper, the focus is on three main areas of discussion: the institutional environment of students; exploring the student-lecturer relationship; and the work environment. The study highlights the influence these three environments have on industrial engineering skills and competencies attained by industrial engineering university student graduates, and how this ultimately creates a way for the South African economy to grow.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the influence of internal and external factors on the entrepreneurial performance of rural indigenous women entrepreneurs (RIWEs) in Sarawak.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a qualitative approach in data collection and analysis. Data are collected by means of a semistructured interview from 19 RIWEs at rural areas in Sarawak. Data are then analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo software.FindingsThe study finds that RIWEs’ decision to start their business is mainly motivated by pull factors such as ego to succeed, ability to be self-employed and financially independent and to contribute to household income. The important personality traits of RIWEs to succeed in the entrepreneurial venture include self-belief, perseverance, commitment and risk-taking. Functional competencies and relationship competencies are cited as the most important core competencies to succeed. In terms of external factors, social networks, financial resources and support, business training and workshops and government’s preferential treatment policies are found to be important to RIWE’s entrepreneurial success.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few that explores the determinants of successful RIWEs in an emerging economy.

The present study aims at understanding the reality of teacher research in the Sultanate of Oman, how to benefit from such research in the improvement of teacher development and the teaching-learning process, who should do that, as well as informing current literature with updates on teacher research, a topic that is not yet given adequate attention in Oman. The study implemented a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis of 50 researches done by school-teachers and 22 interviews with research teachers, school head-teachers and educational specialists. The study revealed that teachers are interested in doing research. Teachers, school administration and supervisors benefit from teacher research. Teachers use their own ways to take advantage from their own research and to share it with other teachers and help them value its results and recommendations. The study recommends that a culture of teacher research should be founded in schools, teachers should be supported to do research and more research should be done to explore the extent to which teacher research meets the criteria of educational research so that it can be trustworthy and useable for schooling improvement.

The comprehensibility of insurance policy documents is an important issue but often overlooked. The lack of comprehensibility of the policy can cause misunderstandings and even disputes between insurance providers and policyholders. In the realm of legal texts of which insurance policy is a part of, discourse markers play an important role in enhancing or impeding the comprehensibility of the contents. The role of discourse markers within insurance policies has not been extensively studied. Thus, there is a significant research gap in exploring how these linguistic elements contribute to the comprehensibility of insurance policies, ergo, affecting readers’ comprehension. The study employed a mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative data analysis to examine the use of discourse markers in insurance policy documents and how they contribute to the policy's comprehensibility. The quantitative analysis involved the frequency counts of the use and distribution of the discourse markers in the policy documents. The qualitative analysis involved the analysis of data from a semi-structured interview that gauged the policyholders’ perceptions on their comprehension of the policy documents concerning the use of discourse markers. 839 discourse markers were identified based on six categories of discourse markers: contrastive, elaborative, inferential, temporal, conditional, and reference. Each category plays a specific role in shaping the narrative and ensuring the clarity of contractual details. The interview data indicate that familiar and common discourse markers could facilitate understanding, but complex and unfamiliar discourse markers might detract comprehension and readability. The findings pointed out that the challenges of understanding the legal documents are observable across various groups of policyholders. Insurers can resolve this by using more common and familiar discourse, making it more inclusive and comprehensible for all consumers.

Management literature is replete with cases of companies that use competitive strategies in the markets in which they operate. However, organizational success often depends on other variables, such as political action, which has been neglected in more detailed studies in strategy literature in general. Researchers such as Epstein (1969), Mizruchi (1992), Schuler (1996), Hillman and Hitt (1999), Blumentritt (2003), Boddewyn (2003), Hadani (2007) and Tian, Hafsi & Wu (2009) have stressed the importance of political strategies, claiming that organizational decisions and actions are influenced in practice by them. In the competitive international markets corporations use political strategies to influence stakeholders in order to conquer segments of the market that they focus on and also to prevent from other adverse interests. In this context, home country governments also assist domestic MNC's international ventures using their state owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper aims to examine the political strategies practiced by a Brazilian multinational engineering company in its international operations in its dealings with home country state owned enterprises. The methodology employed was the single case study, using a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis at a large Brazilian multinational engineering company. The findings revealed that political strategies directed at SOEs from home governments are critical to a company's internationalization process.

The article examines the economic impact of digital nomads. The purpose of the study was to identify the positive and negative consequences of the presence of digital nomads on the local economies of host regions. The methodological basis of the research was the mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative data analysis, as well as the study of the experience of the most popular destinations for digital nomads — Indonesia, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand and Estonia. Indicators of employment, the price level, the state of infrastructure, and the dynamics of small and medium businesses were considered. The results show that digital nomads are becoming an essential factor in local economic growth. They contribute to increased income in sectors such as rental housing, public catering, co-working, and related services, stimulating entrepreneurship and employment among residents. At the same time, negative consequences emerged: rising real estate and rent prices, an additional burden on transport and communal services, and increased social segregation between residents and foreign specialists. Based on the analysis, recommendations for a balanced policy to attract and regulate digital nomads are provided. Such a policy should aim to maximise the region's economic benefits while minimising social risks.

Waqf is a crucial instrument for providing socio-economic assistance in various sectors, including social finance, health, education, and socio-religious practices. It indicates that there are different levels of effectiveness in fulfilling socioeconomic needs, and this could be primarily associated to the effective and proper management of waqf. Post-amendment to the Waqf Act in Sri Lanka in 1982, there has been a significant increase in disputes and issues related to waqf in Sri Lanka, involving its managers, stakeholders, and various parties. As a result, over 5,000 waqf cases are currently unresolved at the Waqf Board of Sri Lanka, involving numerous accusations of corruption, mismanagement, misappropriation, and underuse of mosques and waqf properties. The challenges can be connected to the inadequate management of Sri Lanka's fundamental waqf administration and legal system. This study employs a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis to understand the issues. It gathers data from various sources, including books, theses, journal articles, and other relevant materials, especially legislation and legal reports. This study primarily focuses on providing brief descriptions of case studies and waqf conflicts in Sri Lanka. The findings include the most common categories of disputes, their primary causes, methods for dispute prevention, the waqf tribunal's resolution and settlement procedures, and the relevant laws. To further advance waqf in Sri Lanka, this study evaluates the operation of waqf tribunals in other jurisdictions. It is recommended that the Board may consider waqf disputes highlighted by amendments to the law and effective administrative procedures of the tribunal to minimize and prevent waqf conflicts, with the assistance of Shari'ah scholars. This study indicates that the recommendations might assist waqf administrators in Sri Lanka in attaining appropriate waqf management. Sri Lanka needs to develop a proficient waqf dispute resolution system. Keywords: Waqf Dispute, Recommendation, Management, Tribunal, Sri Lanka

Learning a foreign language not only satisfies the acquisition of linguistic competence but also enable the exploration of a wide range of new cultural and professional opportunities. However, code-switching and code-mixing is one of the problems that arise in the language classroom. This research aimed to investigate the complications arising from the use of English as the main language of instruction for learning French, including the impact on language proficiency, language attitudes and language policies. In this study, we examined the impact of code-switching on the teaching and learning of French in Kumasi High School, St. Louis Senior High School, Accra Academy Senior High School, Achimota Senior High School, Notre Dame Girls’ School, Fiapre, and Wesley Girls’ Senior High School. The study employed the stratified sampling method where we have questionnaires playing a significant role in the aid of data gathering for the study from the different senior high schools across the country and the purposive sampling through interview and observations where some of the participants were physically contacted and those outside of Ashanti, called on phones for an unstructured interview. The study used a qualitative approach (questionnaire, interviews and observations) for data collection, analysis and presentation. The results revealed that learners were interested in using English as a medium of instruction in learning French and code-switching did not influence their learning failure. Some recommendations have been made to eliminate the use of English as a medium of instruction in the classroom.

We commend Congdon et al for their investigation into the impact of clinical pathways on the development of diagnostic reasoning skills by pediatric residents.1 This is a timely topic of exploration for all educators, as currently there are diverging opinions on the impact clinical pathways have on resident development of diagnostic reasoning skills. Our interests lie with the upstream decision resulting in the initial choice of the clinical pathway followed by the resident, that is, the decision made prior to the resident engaging in the care of the patient, as this is an important area for additional exploration.The Figure1(p.467) shows an appropriate schema for the theory of slow and fast cognitive processes activated in the use of clinical pathways by residents. Unfortunately, if an incorrect clinical pathway is initially chosen, that improper choice may not be identified until the pathway directs the resident to find an alternative diagnosis, the patient falls off the pathway, or the patient fails to progress.2As described, the events that force the revelation of an incorrectly chosen pathway all occur after the conscious decision of selecting a pathway, highlighting the fact that the choice of the clinical pathway is also subject to the same slow and fast cognitive thinking processes that are identified in the diagram. Studies estimate that diagnostic error could be as high as 15%.2,3 Specific education and training in properly choosing patients for a clinical pathway must be incorporated into teaching and perhaps even the algorithm itself. Doing so will support residents' or any clinicians' awareness of the importance of proper initial clinical pathway choice, thereby reducing the reliance on a patient falling out of the pathway to receive the correct care. It follows that the clinician would be more likely to treat patients appropriately the first time.3In an educational environment where high throughput processes are required in the presence of an extensive amount of data, deliberate thought and reasoning may be usurped for pathways that allow for more bias susceptible fast thinking cognitive process.We thank the authors for investigating this fascinating topic that will provoke additional thoughtful debate in the future.