Lessons Learnt from Communication for Disaster Preparedness: A Study on Six Survivors from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 879-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Faiz Shah ◽  
◽  
Parves Sultan ◽  

Communication is a primary challenge in response to natural and man-made disasters. The purpose of this study is to determine the forms of communications that played a critical role in disaster preparedness during the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami (Tohoku earthquake). The study used a case study research method and included six informants following the purposive sampling technique. Data was collected through unstructured in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that communication in all forms played a vital role in disaster preparedness. In the survivor’s view, however, the impact of broadcast media in establishing situational awareness was limited. Local disaster management efforts, such as, “on call,” or emergency measures, such as, personnel and trucks with communication systems, mobile phone alarms, and sirens were viewed by survivors as useful in transmitting unambiguous, specific messages in a demanding tsunami context. In particular, the study demonstrates that residents’ trust in risk/disaster related messages and mediums play vital roles in subsequent behaviour/response to natural disasters.

Author(s):  
Victor Adoma ◽  
Maxwell Adom Darko

The marketing and sale of alcoholic drinks have of late, witnessed an irresistible boom and alcoholic producing firms are enjoying field days. Drinking of alcohol has become a significant part in the social lives of most young people even though the abusive use of alcohol has been known as a key problem of young people in many societies. A case study design was employed in the research. This research investigates the impacts of alcohol beverage advertisement on the purchasing behaviour of students at Sunyani Technical University. A probability sampling technique was used to select the 300 respondents to participate in the research. Microsoft Excel was used to import data from the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The analysis from the survey data indicates that most of the male students contributed and 18-35 years age category dominated in the study. The survey data designates that students do not take in alcohol and most drink alcohol during special occasions and few take it heavily. The present study explored the impact of alcohol beverage advertisement as a predictor variable on the purchasing behaviour of students at Sunyani Technical University. This means that alcohol beverage advertisement plays a vital role in students' alcoholic purchasing behaviour. Therefore, alcohol producers and marketers should incorporate these elements in adverts intended to attract their targets. The study, therefore, recommended, Alcohol manufacturers and dealers should integrate these elements in adverts intended to attract their targets, most advertisements must be run on televisions, radio, music video, billboard and movies as it is most effective introducing products to consumers, policymakers and all stakeholders in education and health should also take into consideration when planning to introduce policies to control alcohol consumption.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lovro Maglić ◽  
Sanjin Valčić ◽  
Ana Gundić ◽  
Livia Maglić

The tasks of an officer of the watch (OOW) on complex ships during navigation in coastal areas may be very challenging. Almost all the tasks require substantial information processing and timely decision making. Every distracting element should be avoided during navigation. Every call, made through any communication system, activates a new process that the OOW needs to conduct. The new process may interrupt a previously started task. In case of too many incoming calls, the workload of the OOW may increase significantly, thus, their situational awareness may be compromised and the risk of errors may increase. The objective of this research was to analyze the impact of incoming voice calls on the OOW. The research methods used include a questionnaire survey and a series of interviews with experienced officers. The main outcomes refer to the average frequency of incoming calls, duration of conversations and subjective assessment of their influence. The results indicate that, during one watch, an officer needs to answer 14 calls that last 16.19 min altogether. However, the officers consider 45% of calls made during watch keeping as distracting. A possible call management system with the aim to reduce distractions made by low priority calls is proposed in this paper.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arfan Lodhi ◽  
Irum Robab ◽  
Sumera Mukhtar ◽  
Hifza Farman ◽  
Sana Farrukh

This descriptive study explores the impact of washback on ESL students’ performance at secondary level. In this study, the term “washback” refers to the test effect on content of curriculum, learning English, teaching and the activities conducted in classroom. The factors other than the test itself may affect positive washback; lack of positive washback does not make test invalid whereas the negative washback effect occurs when there is lack of construct validity of test. Test design and validity plays vital role in achieving positive washback (Messick, 1996). The study aims to investigate the effects of positive washback and benefits in learning and teaching processes in ESL classrooms, while negative washback effects are destructive and can be a hindrance in achieving the goals in ESL classrooms. Recent research is descriptive in nature and survey based method was adopted for this study. 50 teachers were selected by using purposive sampling technique and 100 students were selected by using simple random sampling technique. Three tools were used for this study including: Questionnaire, Test and Observation checklist. The findings of the study exhibit that negative washback effect has its influence on tests, learning and teaching. The study concludes with a realization of the fact that language pedagogy is affected by washback. However, it is claimed by majority of the teachers that washback affects the selection of teaching methods because exams stress brings pressure and it becomes necessary for English teachers to develop linguistic competence in their students. For future researches it is recommended that other studies should be made in order to find out the impact of washback on the strategies adopted by learners while learning second language.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renée Crawford

As schools become increasingly culturally diverse, globalisation and cross-cultural exchange challenge teachers in complex but exciting ways. This article reports on the impact of music education for students in a secondary school in Victoria, Australia. Socially inclusive practices were a focus of the study as the school has a high percentage of young people with a refugee background. A number of school-based musical experiences provided opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and negotiation, and diverse communications are described. Music education was used as a vehicle to engage young refugee background students, which was indicative of three primary themes: personal wellbeing, social inclusion (a sense of belonging), and an enhanced engagement with learning. Key findings from this case study research indicated that a music classroom which fostered socially inclusive practices resulted in a positive transcultural learning space. This research raises important questions about the critical role of music education and the arts in contemporary and culturally diverse school contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Ari Setiyaningrum ◽  
Yussi Ramawati

This study aims to analyze the influence of entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, including proactiveness, opportunity-focused, risk-taking orientation, innovation-oriented, customer intensity, resource leveraging, and value creation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business success in the creative economy industry. The study also examined the moderating role of company age on the entrepreneurial marketing dimension's influence on SME's business success. The study used survey methods by distributing questionnaires to 265 SME business owners in North Kalimantan. The sampling method uses nonprobability sampling with a convenience sampling technique. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses and moderated tests using the macro process of SPSS Hayes. The results of this study indicated that in the context of SMEs in the creative industry, customer intensity and value creation play a critical role in business success. Meanwhile, proactiveness, opportunity-focused, risk-taking orientation, innovation-oriented, and resource leveraging found no impact on SMEs' business success. The research also proves that the company's age moderated the impact of customer intensity on SME's success but does not moderate the influence of value creation to SME's business success.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2(J)) ◽  
pp. 104-113
Author(s):  
Obey Dzomonda ◽  
Olawale Fatoki ◽  
Olabanji Oni

The critical role Small and Medium Enterprises play in the economic prosperity of nations cannot be understated. SMEs actively contribute towards economic growth and development through their active role as innovators and agents for change. The authors of this paper believe that leadership styles exercised by SME owners have a bearing on the innovative ability of SMEs. Hence, this paper aimed at investigating the impact of leadership styles on the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs in Polokwane Municipality. A quantitative research method was used and 103 SMEs participated in the survey. The random sampling technique was used. Self-administered questionnaires were utilised to collect data in a survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis. Reliability of the data collection instruments was measured using the Cronbach’s alpha. The results indicated that the SMEs display average levels of entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, the results showed that SMEs display average levels of leadership styles inclined towards transformational leadership style. Furthermore, the results showed a significant positive relationship between the independent variables: leadership styles with the dependent variable (EO) of SMEs. SMEs were recommended to provide flexible leadership styles that will make EO to flourish in their businesses. Furthermore, the policy makers and relevant authorities were recommended to devise and implement a consortium of strategies and policies that can increase the level of entrepreneurial orientation among SMEs in South Africa.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Adryan Adryan ◽  
Erwin Erwin ◽  
Jafrinur Jafrinur

<p>Law Number 32 Year 2004 on Regional Government article 4 stated that the formation of regions could be in the form of merging or splitting one area into two or more regions. The implementation of the splitting or extension will effect the improvement of community welfare, acceleration of public services, and management of regional potential. This study is aimed (1) to describe the consideration of Sungai Penuh City extension from Kerinci Regency; (2) to analyze the influences of city extension in increasing economic growth and potential development of Sungai Penuh City Area; and (3) to understand the impact of city extension on development of Sungai Penuh periphery area. This study conducts case study research with using qualitative and quantitative method, and determines informant using purposive sampling technique. Qualitative analysis is used to achieve the first and the third research purpose, and quantitative analysis is used to achieve the second research purpose. Results stated that the implementation of Sungai Penuh City extension is implemented by considering physical condition, regional function, economy, and social community. Economic growth of Sungai Penuh City after city extension increased 3.13% during 2010 to 2016. The economic growth was also supported by the increase of Human Development Index. The trade sector becomes a potential sector to be developed in Sungai Penuh City. City economic growth has an impact on development of its periphery area through the availability and accessibility of educational, health and agricultural infrastructure.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 225
Author(s):  
Arafat Adeel ◽  
Muhammad Asim

The aim of this study was to analyze whether the impact of socialization on new employees’ reputation is positive or negative. To aware the potential employees about factors that can help in bringing out constructive rapport in the professional life, it was important to explore the importance of socialization and forming association in the organization. Variables studied were socialization, grouping, relationship with other employees, and new employees’ reputation. A sample size of 250 respondents was taken for data screening to carry out this research through simple random sampling technique. This was correlative research and multiple linear regression analysis was used to check the impact of independent variables on employee’s reputation. It was a quantitative as well as qualitative research and data was collected by distributing questionnaires. The result suggested that socialization and association with your colleagues play a vital role in creating good reputation while grouping will not be that helpful. The employees can be social and perform team building attitude rather than forming a group. The study tells about the importance and the level of overall socialization an employee must pursue to get promotion. The balanced socialization can help employee in building up rapport when he is a new entrant in any organization.


Author(s):  
R. Jayaseelan ◽  
C. Pichandy ◽  
N. Boobalakrishnan

Information and Communication technology has played a vital role in various aspects of our life. In our present study, we focus on the impact of ICT in communication, education and learning. ICT ushers with both negative and positive impacts on the life of humans. It influences students’ knowledge, attitude and skill. ICT promotes a learning environment, among teachers and students, by providing virtual space and experience, mediated through technology. Smart classroom induces interest, elicits students’ attention, elevates their understanding capacity, grasping skills and memory, with the help of multimedia teaching aids. It brings focus to the topic. In this fast-moving technology mediated world, usage of mobile phones and social media has become inexorable. The global phenomenon—anytime, anywhere learning—is made possible because of the ubiquity of smartphones. With traditional classroom learning on one side, social media platforms, on the other side, are providing virtual spaces for unconventional and collaborative learning. Students choose such technologies as supportive alternatives for their academic-intended communication with teachers and peers. Through this study, the researchers aim to measure the attitude of college students towards social media and the related influence on their academic performance, with reference to Coimbatore region. A survey was conducted among 507 college students from Coimbatore, chosen through a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The demographic variables—including age, gender and educational qualification and the dependent variables—included Academic performance, Time spent on social media per day, Time spent on social media during weekdays, Time spent on social media during weekends. Further result states that there is sizeable relationship between the employed social media attitude variables and the academic performance of the students, and no relationship with the time spent on social media. However, it was found that among social media attitudes, addictiveness and communication are the best predictors of academic performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Obey Dzomonda ◽  
Olawale Fatoki ◽  
Olabanji Oni

The critical role Small and Medium Enterprises play in the economic prosperity of nations cannot be understated. SMEs actively contribute towards economic growth and development through their active role as innovators and agents for change. The authors of this paper believe that leadership styles exercised by SME owners have a bearing on the innovative ability of SMEs. Hence, this paper aimed at investigating the impact of leadership styles on the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs in Polokwane Municipality. A quantitative research method was used and 103 SMEs participated in the survey. The random sampling technique was used. Self-administered questionnaires were utilised to collect data in a survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis. Reliability of the data collection instruments was measured using the Cronbach’s alpha. The results indicated that the SMEs display average levels of entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, the results showed that SMEs display average levels of leadership styles inclined towards transformational leadership style. Furthermore, the results showed a significant positive relationship between the independent variables: leadership styles with the dependent variable (EO) of SMEs. SMEs were recommended to provide flexible leadership styles that will make EO to flourish in their businesses. Furthermore, the policy makers and relevant authorities were recommended to devise and implement a consortium of strategies and policies that can increase the level of entrepreneurial orientation among SMEs in South Africa.


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