Interpretive Methodologies, Quantitative Methods, and Comparative Environmental Politics

Author(s):  
J. Samuel Barkin ◽  
V. Miranda Chase ◽  
Saskia van Wees

This chapter argues for a broader and more creative understanding of the relationship between methods and epistemology in the study of comparative environmental politics. Quantitative methods tend to be associated with comparative inferential questions while interpretive questions tend to be associated with qualitative methods. This chapter argues against these associations. The chapter begins by fleshing out the argument against assumed methodological associations. It identifies the use of quantitative methods in interpretive research as the biggest lacuna in the methodological playing field of comparative environmental politics. It then presents two examples of how to use quantitative methods effectively in interpretive research, without embedding those methods in an epistemological positivism with which they are generally associated. The first of these cases, based on dissertation research by Saskia van Wees, looks at the different patterns of environmental performance and environmental foreign policy in India and China in the period 2002–2012. The second case looks at efforts by Indigenous and traditional communities in Brazil’s Amazon Basin to oppose the construction of dams that would impact their communities.

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Gabriela E. Gui

In today’s America, not every child starts on a level playing field, and very few children move ahead based solely on hard work or talent. Generational poverty and a lack of cultural capital hold many students back, robbing them of the opportunity to move up professionally and socially. Children of immigrants are especially at-risk because, in addition to facing poverty, race, geographical location or economic disadvantages, they are also confronted with failure due to their limited or non-existent English proficiency. This study focuses on the degree to which teachers in a mid-sized urban school district take into consideration the individual needs of immigrant children in the process of their education. The study also examines the preparation teachers have had to equip them with knowledge of best practices in teaching immigrant children, and the relationship between teachers’ practices, beliefs, and their demographic and personal characteristics (age, gender, years of experience, level of education, etc.). Quantitative data was collected via a survey. Interviews with teachers and one central office administrator provided data for the qualitative section of the study. The findings revealed that teachers, in general, appeared to lack knowledge of specific policies for mainstreaming immigrant students into general education classrooms; their use of effective teaching practices for working with immigrant children were limited; and most of the teachers had not participated actively in professional development that focused on teaching immigrant children.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Noorlela Binti Noordin ◽  
Abdul Razaq Ahmad ◽  
Anuar Ahmad

This study was aimed to evaluate the Malay proficiency among students in Form Two especially non-Malay students and its relationship to academic achievement History. To achieve the purpose of the study there are two objectives, the first is to look at the difference between mean of Malay Language test influences min of academic achievement of History subject among non-Malay students in Form Two and the second is the relationship between the level of Malay proficiency and their academic achievement for History. This study used quantitative methods, which involved 100 people of Form Two non-Malay students in one of the schools in Klang, Selangor. This study used quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical inference with IBM SPSS Statistics v22 software. This study found that there was a relationship between the proficiency of Malay language among non-Malay students with achievements in the subject of History. The implications of this study are discussed in this article.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-215
Author(s):  
Cristina Scardulla

AbstractThe use of English as a Lingua Franca is a promising solution to the overcoming of language barriers in a wide variety of contexts and, despite being formally governed by the principle of multilingualism, the European institutions are no exception. This paper aims at shedding light on the perception on the use of ELF within the European Commission, by presenting the results of a questionnaire carried out within the framework of a broader PhD project. The target population is that of interpreters working for the European Commission. The analysis focuses on two specific questions, which address interpreters in their role as communication experts, inviting them to momentarily set aside their opinion on the relationship between ELF and interpretation and rather assess ELF in terms of “communicative effectiveness,” considered as an essential component to a successful communication. Results confirm previous ITELF (Interpreting, Translation and English as a Lingua Franca) studies, in that interpreters believe that ELF tends to decrease the level of communicative effectiveness and that, based on their direct experience, less than half of the speakers in these meetings succeed at expressing themselves effectively when using ELF. Most importantly, they elaborate on what this loss of effectiveness entails in terms of communication quality, interlocutors’ participation rights and multilingualism.


2012 ◽  
Vol 201-202 ◽  
pp. 975-978
Author(s):  
Hong Fei Wang

For the manufacturing task of manufacturing collaborative alliances, the relationship between manufacturing task programming and manufacturing resources deployment is analyzed and the model for the span of manufacturing task with time sequence constraint is constructed. The problem of span programming of manufacturing task with time sequence constraint is analyzed by integrating qualitative and quantitative methods from production period for the manufacturing task. The mathematical formulations of influential factors and task span are constructed, and the optimal values of task span are obtained. By analyzing the results of quasi-quantitative study, some meaningful results that benefit to programming for collaborative manufacturing task are achieved.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42
Author(s):  
Hazlin Kadir @ Shahar ◽  
Razaleigh Muhamat @ Kawangit ◽  
Rosmawati Mohamad Rasit ◽  
Badlihisham Mohd Nasir

This article examines the relationship between learning and behavioural evaluation among religious officers in Malaysia after attending the Manual on HIV/AIDS in Islam Training Programmes organized by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (JAKIM). The training programmes were implemented to deliver the most accurate and the latest information on HIV / AIDS as well as to train religious officers in Malaysia to address the issues among Muslims. The training programmes apply the theoretical and practical activities where participants had the opportunity to carry out outreach activities with People Living with HIV / AIDS (ODHA). Quantitative methods through questionnaires were used to obtain data. A total of 350 religious officers who had attended the training programmes were selected as respondents by simple random sampling technique. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between the learning and behavioural evaluation. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis found that there was a significant relationship between learning evaluation in terms of the information obtained from programmes’ contents and behaviour evaluation with r = 0.489 and sig = 0.000 (p <0.05) at the medium positive range.. While the relationship between learning evaluation in terms of the information obtained from outreach activities with behavioural evaluation showed a strong positive correlation with the strength values obtained were r = 0.539 and sig = 0.000 (p <0.05). This analysis shows that the information acquired through the training program Manual Islam and HIV / AIDS has been successful in changing the behaviour of religious officers’ awareness in terms of the role of dakwah to ODHA. ABSTRAK Artikel ini bertujuan melihat hubungan antara penilaian pembelajaran dengan penilaian tingkah laku dalam kalangan Pegawai Agama di Malaysia setelah mengikuti Program Latihan Manual Islam dan HIV/AIDS anjuran Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM). Program latihan ini dilaksanakan untuk menyampaikan maklumat yang tepat serta informasi terkini isu HIV/AIDS di samping melatih Pegawai-pegawai Agama di Malaysia untuk menangani isu tersebut dalam kalangan umat Islam. Program latihan ini berbentuk teori dan praktikal di mana peserta program berpeluang melaksanakan dakwah secara temu seru (outreach) dengan Orang Yang Hidup dengan HIV/AIDS (ODHA) secara langsung. Kaedah kuantitatif melalui soal selidik telah digunakan untuk memperoleh data. Seramai 350 orang Pegawai Agama yang telah mengikuti program latihan ini dipilih sebagai responden melalui teknik pensampelan rawak mudah. Analisis korelasi Pearson dijalankan bagi mengenal pasti hubungan di antara penilaian pembelajaran dengan penilaian tingkah laku peserta yang mengikuti Program Latihan Manual Islam dan HIV/AIDS. Hasil analisis ujian korelasi Pearson tersebut mendapati bahawa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara penilaian pembelajaran dari segi maklumat yang diperoleh daripada kandungan program dengan penilaian tingkah laku dengan nilai r = 0.489 dan sig = 0.000 (p<0.05). Kekuatan hubungan ialah positif sederhana. Manakala hubungan antara penilaian pembelajaran dari segi maklumat yang diperoleh daripada program temu seru dengan penilaian tingkah laku pula menunjukkan kekuatan hubungan positif kuat dengan nilai yang diperoleh ialah r = 0.539 dan sig = 0.000 (p<0.05). Analisis ini menunjukkan bahawa pembelajaran yang diperoleh melalui program latihan Manual Islam dan HIV/AIDS ini telah berjaya mengubah tingkah laku Pegawai Agama dari segi kesedaran peranan berdakwah kepada ODHA.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabeen Hussain Bhatti ◽  
Farida Saleem ◽  
Ghulam Murtaza ◽  
Tazeem Ul Haq

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between green human resource management (GHRM) practices and the environmental performance (EP) of firms belonging to industries that may lean toward environmental pollution (e.g. oil and gas). The authors propose a holistic (serial mediation) model based on the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory and the social exchange theory (SET) and integrate organizational, i.e. perceived organizational support (POS), and individual, i.e. innovative environmental behavior (IEB), factors as explanatory mechanisms. The authors then test the model in a developing country context.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from white collar workers in the oil and gas industry in Pakistan. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique and the PROCESS model 6 were used to analyze the hypothesized serial mediation model.FindingsThe authors found support for the fully meditating serial mediation model. Although the direct effects of GHRM and EP were insignificant, the total effects and indirect effects through POS and IEB were significant. Similarly, the research also found support for organizational and individual factors as explanatory mechanisms in the relationship between GHRM and EP.Originality/valueThis research adds to the existing literature on GHRM and the corporate EP link through proposing and testing a model of the mediating effects of POS and IEB. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence of this model in the oil and gas sector using an Asian developing country as the context of study.


Nova Economia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (spe) ◽  
pp. 1157-1186
Author(s):  
Harley Silva ◽  
Jakob O. W. Sparn ◽  
Renata Guimarães Vieira

Abstract: This article offers a theoretical discussion on urbanization, nature and development and some of the links and interdependencies that connect these concepts. The focus is on some of the underlying dynamics and issues of our current development project defined as capitalist industrialization. The article illustrates the role of cities for human development and then argues that the relationship between society and nature could be - and indeed already has been - thought from a different perspective. Finally, the article discusses the transition from “campesinato” (peasantry) to traditional communities as product of extensive urbanization, as form of resistance and as potential blueprint for an alternative development and, potentially, for the Lefebvrian urban-utopia.


Author(s):  
Khalid Abdulkareem Al-Enezi ◽  
Imad Fakhri Taha Al Shaikhli ◽  
Sufyan Salim Mahmood AlDabbagh

<span>This research aims to measure the role of social networks in influencing purchasing decisions among consumers in Kuwait; the research used the quantitative methods, and analytical the technique to get the results, and the research developed a measure to study the relationship between the variables to the study and selection of a sample of consumers of (100). The results indicated that the social networking variables (exchange of information, evaluation of product) possess influence on purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the results indicate that majority of respondents do their digital scanning more often before intend to go to the store. The unexpected results came from the question “traditional advertising (TV, Newspaper, Magazine, Billboards) are more effective than the social networking; 23% agreed, 36% said no, and 41% said sometimes. In light of these findings, the study made a series of recommendations; the most important are; The executives and sales representatives need to understand the benefits offered by social networks, and understand the advantages and functions and tools of social communication, and knowing how to apply them effectively and efficiently, and then use the appropriate social networking tool.</span>


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tallulah Harvey

In recent years, literary studies have become increasingly invested in environmentalism. As science reveals the negative impacts of climate change, and demonstrates a growing concern for humanity’s contribution, literature operates as a form of cultural documentation. It details public awareness and anxieties, and acts as a conduit for change by urging empathetic responses and rendering ecological controversy accessible.To explore the relationship between literature and environmental politics, this paper will focus on the work of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, and his dystopian visions. In his particular brand of sci-fi, there is no future for humanity. Science and technology fail to pave the way for a better and fairer society, but rather towards, as far as Dick is concerned, extinction. He argues that scientific advancement distances us from reality and from a sense of “humanness”. His pessimistic futures are nihilistic but tender; nurturing a love for humanity even in, what he considers to be, its final hours.Unlike the work of other prominent sci-fi writers, Dick’s fiction does not look towards the stars, but is in many ways a return to earth. The barren landscapes of Mars and other planets offer no comfort, and the evolution of the human into cyborgs, androids and post human species is depicted as dangerous and regressive. Dick’s apocalyptic visions ground his readers in the reality around them, acting in the present for the sake of the earth and humanity’s survival. His humanism is critical of grand enlightenment ideas of “progressivism”, and instead celebrates ordinariness. In the shadow of corporate capitalism and violent dictatorial governments, Dick prefers the little man, the ordinary everyday domestic hero for his narratives. His fiction urges us to take responsibility for our actions, and prepares us for the future through scepticism and pessimism, and a relentless fondness for the human.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 238-247
Author(s):  
Suwandi Suwandi ◽  
Mahbub Mandahuri

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is an effect of compensation on job satisfaction mediated by job satisfaction. The object of research at PT ISS Cikarang. The research was conducted using quantitative methods with SEM Smart PLS software as an analysis tool. The number of samples obtained by using a random sampling technique using the Slovin formula totaled 97 respondents. Data collection was carried out using google form in filling out online surveys. The data analysis method used is the R-square test, Bootstrapping, Path Coefficient, and Specific indirect effects. The results of this study indicate that compensation has an effect on employee performance, compensation has a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction, job satisfaction affects employee performance, job satisfaction is able to provide a positive influence in mediating the relationship between compensation and employee performance in PT ISS Cikarang.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document