BUILDING THE COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE OF MP’S TEAMS AND THE COMMUNITIES

Author(s):  
Oleksandr Neprytskyi ◽  
Tetyana Neprytska ◽  
Larysa Kyyenko-Romaniuk ◽  
Tetyana Melnychuk ◽  
Volodymyr Zayachkovskyi

The article studies the issue of establishment of efficient and sustainable communication between a community and an MP and his/her team. Based on the results of focus group discussions, the authors determine and describe the main problems and gaps that exist in parliamentary education of the general public as well as MPs and their teams and outlines the competences and tools necessary for making this communication efficient and mutually beneficial. The aim of the research is to determine the content and methods of the communicative component of parliamentary education for communities and MP’s teams. The methods used include focus group research (to collect the date regarding the mood, views and attitudes of the public and the MPs and their teams); information analysis and synthesis (to structure the collected data and draw conclusions from it). The study showed a considerable lack on behalf of the public to participate in building the communication, a high level of incompetence on both sides that derives from the lack of systemic parliamentary education and the need to systemically use the same communication channels in order to ensure effective and sustainable interaction of the public with the elected officials. 

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1483-1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique M. Hennink ◽  
Bonnie N. Kaiser ◽  
Mary Beth Weber

Saturation is commonly used to determine sample sizes in qualitative research, yet there is little guidance on what influences saturation. We aimed to assess saturation and identify parameters to estimate sample sizes for focus group studies in advance of data collection. We used two approaches to assess saturation in data from 10 focus group discussions. Four focus groups were sufficient to identify a range of new issues (code saturation), but more groups were needed to fully understand these issues (meaning saturation). Group stratification influenced meaning saturation, whereby one focus group per stratum was needed to identify issues; two groups per stratum provided a more comprehensive understanding of issues, but more groups per stratum provided little additional benefit. We identify six parameters influencing saturation in focus group data: study purpose, type of codes, group stratification, number of groups per stratum, and type and degree of saturation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Kathryn Dickey ◽  
Robert John ◽  
Helene Carabin ◽  
Xiao-Nong Zhou

Local cultural norms, values, beliefs, and practices related to toilet use must be understood before planning household toilet promotion initiatives. Focus group discussions may be used to gain this understanding. This paper (1) reports the methods and results of focus group research used in southwest China among the Bai people group to inform a sanitation marketing campaign; (2) reports the advantages and challenges of a multi-cultural research team in focus group research; and (3) evaluates the usefulness of focus group discussions to inform the campaign.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-210
Author(s):  
Addiarrahman Addiarrahman ◽  
Illy Yanti

This study seeks to understand the pragmatism of the development of sharia economic law, and its implications for Islamic financial products in Indonesia. The data comes from the results of interviews and focus group discussions with key informants from academics, practitioners, authorities, and the public. This research finds that pragmatism in the development of Islamic economic law is an approach that still dominates the DSN-MUI fatwas. The pragmatism style used is complex-eclectic pragmatism which is represented through makhārij al-fiqhiyyah, which is to choose a mild opinion by sticking to the strongest method or also called "taysīr al-manhajī". The use of this method is intended to ensure that the fatwa is truly able to answer the needs of the business world, as well as being in line with sharia principles. DSN-MUI also does not use maslahah as a legal consideration in a free or liberal way. Rather, it returns maslahah in consideration of the method, so that it is permissible to use the bay’ al-'inān contract only in a forced state (ḍarurah).


Refleksi ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-180
Author(s):  
Media Zainul Bahri

This article explores the insights of inclusivism and tolerance in Islamic religious education (PAI) textbooks in Brawijaya University (UB) Malang. This article is the result of research by reading textbooks, interviewing six PAI lecturers and focus group discussions (FGD) at UB Malang in December 2018. In general, there are many material aspects in the textbooks that encourage students to be open, respect for diversity and behave tolerant of different Islamic schools of thought. This is emphasized by the PAI lecturers since UB is a public university belong to the public and because in Islam itself there are many different understandings and schools of thought. The spirit of inclusivism, cosmopolitan and tolerance is seen explicitly in PAI UB’s textbooks and becomes the vision of PAI lecturers. If there is a deviation from the book tends to be a closed ideology, intolerant, and against the Republic of Indonesia, then it can be ascertained because of the “lecturer initiative” personally, and do not represent Lembaga Pusat Pembinaan Agama (the Central Institution of Religious Development).


Author(s):  
Oladokun Omojola

Substantial literature exists to support the growing importance of focus group research, having been around for decades. Its ubiquity under the scholarship radar is not in doubt while the analyses of findings commonly seen are scholarly and significantly sophisticated. However, these analyses have been found to be limited in scope for fresh adopters of the focus group method, non-literate beneficiaries of research findings and business people who are critically averse to lengthy textual statements about outcomes. This article introduces the use of symbols as a means of analyzing responses from small focus group discussions. It attempts to demonstrate that using symbols can substantially assist in the prima facie determination of perceptions from a focus group membership, its patterns of agreement and disagreement, as well as the sequence of its discussions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 377-388
Author(s):  
Annastasia Ipinge ◽  
Cathrine Tambudzai Nengomasha

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the recognition of record management profession in the Namibian Public Service. The objectives of the study are to determine appreciation of the importance of records record management; establish policies that support records management; find out the promotion of the records management function in the public service; establish training and job opportunities available for the record management professionals; and come up with recommendations on how the recognition of the record management profession could be enhanced in the public service of Namibia. Design/methodology/approach This case study used qualitative data collection methods, namely, focus group discussions and interviews. The two ministries and records keeping staff who took part in the focus group discussions were conveniently selected, whereas the two government offices where one key informant each was interviewed were purposively selected. Findings This study revealed that the records management profession was not well recognised in the public service of Namibia. The hiring of staff with low educational qualifications and the hiring of records keeping staff with some Diploma qualifications into the same positions as those without qualifications were all evidence of this. In addition to these was the failure to re-grade the records keeping staff through the establishment of a records management cadre. Practical implications The study recommends the creation of record management units in all offices, ministries and agencies headed by qualified record managers supported by qualified records management staff, finalisation and implementation of the records management policy, as well as the creation of a records management cadre. Originality/value The findings of the study on which this paper is based could inform policy for decision makers, and for the records management keeping staff, a strategy for advocating for recognition of their profession was planned.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
George Kojo Scott

This research analysed how the public expenditure management as practiced in the District Assemblies of Ghana affect service delivery. The research adopted a mixed-method research approach where qualitative and quantitative data were gathered using questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. Multistage sampling was used to pick the respondents for the questionnaires, key interview informants and the participants in the focus group discussions. Thirty four out of 170 district assemblies which existed by 2008 were sampled. Participants in the study included 612 District Assembly (DA) officials, 1020 citizens, 28 national/regional officials and 20 participants in focus group discussions. Quantitative data, measured by using scaled-items, were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression while qualitative data were examined thematically. The study established that expenditure management practices had positive significant influence on service delivery. The study recommends that, the DAs should prioritize expenditures to key service delivery areas such as; those that enhance poverty reduction, improve on Human Capital index and strengthen Innovations practices. DAs should strengthen electronic, automation and appropriate technologies for better expenditure management and service delivery. There should be laws to ensure stiffer penalties and enforcement of sanctions on those involved in malpractices in public expenditure management practices, while persistent efforts are made to implement recommendations of Auditor General’s reports on DAs expenditures management practices.


2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Lau ◽  
David Gordon ◽  
Christina Pantazis ◽  
Eileen Sutton ◽  
Lea Lai

Author(s):  
Molefe Coper Joseph

This chapter presents a case-study drawn from a qualitative study which explored how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Botswana perceive and respond to recent global emphasis to engage men as stakeholders in gender and development so as to achieve gender equality and to empower women. This case-study was purposively selected from sixteen focus group discussions held with different organizations across the country. The chapter specifically looks at efforts by the Botswana Institute of Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders (BIRRO), an NGO established by a group of rehabilitated ex-convicts to empower other ex-convicts by way of facilitating their re-integration into society. They established this NGO after realizing that the rate of reoffending is high due to negative stereotypes attached to ex-convicts. Despite facing some challenges, BIRRO is trying to counteract the disenfranchising criminal identity which members of the public attach to people who once committed a crime.


Author(s):  
Greg Myers

AbstractContemporary democratic politics involves, not just constitutions, elections, and representative bodies, but complex processes of more direct consultation with the public. The value of these processes depends on their openness to voices, topics, and styles of expression that might be excluded from other forums. In this paper I analyze focus group discussions, one of the genres used for public consultation, and the ways that discussions are framed by facilitators. The facilitators' turns are seldom in the form of free-standing questions or statements requiring a response from the participants. Instead, the kinds of interventions they make—probes, prompts, formulations, and metacomments—can be understood in terms of what Sacks (1992) called second-speaker tying rules; that is, they construct coherence by presenting the facilitators' turns as following from what has already been said by a participant. These turns signal that participants are entitled to speak and the facilitator is listening; they also signal the kind of additional response that is wanted. These additional responses call for wider range, greater specificity and personal context, or further reflection on the wording or form of the statement. I argue that a forum does not extend consultation with the public just by removing institutional constraints to allow opinions to be spoken; it should also enable talk that would not otherwise have had an occasion to happen.


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