scholarly journals Impacts of Border in Borderland Conflict along the Ethio-Sudan Border: Evidence from Metema Woreda, North-Western Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
TEMESGEN EYILET KEBEDE
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Precise Location ◽  
North West ◽  
North West Ethiopia ◽  
North Western ◽  
Western Ethiopia

The aim of the study is to understand the dynamics of borderland conflicts in one location –Gonder, north-west Ethiopia, specifically, Metema Woreda – which lies along the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The study employed qualitative research methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, case studies, and non-participant observation. The colonial origin of the Ethio-Sudan border is the overall background to the confrontation between farmers and investors over the contested lands in the region. The continued uncertainty over the precise location of the border has aggravated conflict that has yet to be resolved.

scholarly journals The ethnomedicinal plants used for human ailments at Mojana Wodera District, central Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikiyas Abebe
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnobotanical Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Central Ethiopia ◽  
Ethnomedicinal Plants ◽  
Therapeutic Category ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract. Abebe M. 2021. The ethnomedicinal plants used for human ailments at Mojana Wodera District, central Ethiopia. Biodiversitas 22: 4676-4686. An ethnobotanical study was carried out from March 2020 to February 2021 in selected sites of Mojana Wodera District to assess, identifying, and document medicinal plants to treat human ailments. Purposely and volunteer sampling techniques were applied to select 73 practitioners. Of those, 10 practitioners were key informants. Data was collected from informants using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, and walk-in-the-word. The collected data were entered into an excel spreadsheet for statistical analysis. ANOVA and t-test were applied to compare the knowledge of the informants in different groups. ICF and FL values were calculated to identify the most common human ailments and heal the potential of medicinal plants. The result showed that a higher average (p< 0.05) was recorded for crucial informants, illiterate and higher aged group. Still, there was a significant difference between male and female informants (p=0.032) on knowledge of medicinal plants. A total of 45 medicinal plant species (41 genera and 27 families) were identified to treat 35 types of ailments. From this total, 15.6% were endemic for Ethiopia. Family Euphorbiaceae was dominant (11.1%) for this study. In the finding, the leaf was the most widely plant part which is used to prepare remedies (29.79%), followed by root (28.72%), and the most popular remedy preparation was pounding (31.18%). A higher ICF value (0.78) was recorded for dermatological category ailments, and the highest FL (94.12%) occurred for Laggera tomentosa, which was under the therapeutic category of the throat and respiratory.

scholarly journals Supplementing Coursebooks--How, Why, and to What Effect: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
John Harper
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Form Part

This article reports on a case study of one instructor’s use of supplementary materials in an English as a Foreign Language course in China. Starting with the notion that no coursebook can be perfect and that supplementary materials therefore should form part of an English course, the study employed qualitative research methods to analyze the types of supplements used, the instructor’s rationale behind his use of the supplements, and the students’ interpretations of the supplements. Class observations, semi-structured interviews with the teacher, and focus-group discussions with students allowed for the triangulation of data. Findings indicated that the instructor provided a variety of types of supplementary materials in order to cater to different learner needs (specifically, affective needs, language-learning needs, course-content needs). While findings also indicated that learners generally appreciated the instructor’s use of supplementary materials, significant mismatches between instructor goals and learner interpretations suggested that the purpose of the supplements was not always clearly defined. The article addresses these mismatches and provides suggestions for their future avoidance.

scholarly journals Women’s Perspectives on Influencers to the Utilisation of Skilled Delivery Care: An Explorative Qualitative Study in North West Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biruhtesfa Bekele Shiferaw ◽  
Lebitsi Maud Modiba
Keyword(s):  
Health Facility ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Delivery Care ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Skilled Delivery ◽  
Obstetric Danger Signs ◽  
North West ◽  
Danger Signs ◽  
North West Ethiopia

Skilled attendance at birth is widely regarded as an effective intervention to reduce maternal and early neonatal morbidity and mortality. However, many women in Ethiopia still deliver without skilled assistance. This study was carried out to identify factors that influenced or motivated women to give birth in a health facility in their previous, current, and future pregnancies. This descriptive explorative qualitative study was conducted in two districts of West Gojjam zone in North West Ethiopia. Fourteen focus group discussions were conducted with pregnant women and women who gave birth within one year. An inductive thematic analysis approach was employed to analyze the qualitative data. In this study, two major themes and a number of subthemes emerged from the focus group discussions with the study participants. The factors that influenced or motivated women to give birth in health facility in their previous, current, and future pregnancies include access to ambulance transport service, prevention of mother to child HIV transmission service, referral service, women friendly service, and emergency obstetric services, good interpersonal care from health workers, and fear and experience of obstetric danger signs and complications. In addition, reception of information and advice on importance of skilled delivery care and obstetric danger signs and complications from health workers, use of antenatal care, previous use of skilled delivery care, ensuring wellbeing of parturient women and newborns, and use of emergency obstetric care were also identified as influencers and motivators for health facility childbirth in previous, current, and future deliveries. Increased understanding of the factors that influenced or motivated women to deliver in facilities could contribute to developing strategies to improve the uptake of facility-based maternity services and corresponding declines in maternal morbidity and mortality.

When Culturally Significant Songs are Decontextualised: The Initiation Song Somagwaza, A Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Dowling ◽  
Somikazi Deyi ◽  
Anele Gobodwana
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Ritual Music ◽  
Constant Comparative Method ◽  
Small Focus ◽  
Over Time

While there have been a number of studies on the decontextualisation and secularisation of traditional ritual music in America, Taiwan and other parts of the globe, very little has been written on the processes and transformations that South Africa’s indigenous ceremonial songs go through over time. This study was prompted by the authors’ interest in, and engagement with the Xhosa initiation song Somagwaza, which has been re-imagined as a popular song, but has also purportedly found its way into other religious spaces. In this article, we attempted to investigate the extent to which the song Somagwaza is still associated with the Xhosa initiation ritual and to analyse evidence of it being decontextualised and secularised in contemporary South Africa. Our methodology included an examination of the various academic treatments of the song, an analysis of the lyrics of a popular song, bearing the same name, holding small focus group discussions, and distributing questionnaires to speakers of isiXhosa on the topic of the song. The data gathered were analysed using the constant comparative method of analysing qualitative research.

scholarly journals “Stages of change, smoking behavior and acceptability of a textmessaging intervention for tobacco cessation among cigarette, dokha and shishasmokers: A qualitative research study.”

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e029144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusra Elhidaia Elobaid ◽  
Andrea Leinberger Jabari ◽  
Aisha Al Hamiz ◽  
Abdul Rizzak Al Kaddour ◽  
Sherif Bakir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Tobacco Cessation ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions

ObjectivesTo explore: (A) the underlying motivators and barriers to smoking cessation among young Arabic speaking smokers and (B) to examine the suitability and preferences for tobacco cessation interventions (specifically text messages) and study the possibility of enrollment methods for a randomised controlled study using text messages as an intervention for tobacco cessation.DesignQualitative research using focus group discussions and content analysis.Setting(s)Two universities, one of them is the first and foremost comprehensive national university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The third setting is the largest hospital in the UAE and the flagship institution for the public health system in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.ParticipantsSix focus group discussions with a total of 57 participants. Forty-seven men and 10 women. Fifty-three of them were current smokers.ResultsThe analysis of six focus groups was carried out. Main themes arose from the data included: preferences for tobacco cessation interventions and acceptability and feasibility of text messaging as tobacco cessation intervention. Different motives and barriers for quitting smoking including shisha and dokha were explored.ConclusionInterventions using text messaging for smoking cessation have not been used in the Middle East and they could potentially be effective; however, tailoring and closely examining the content and acceptability of text messages to be used is important before the conduction of trials involving their use. Social media is perceived to be more effective and influential, with a higher level of penetration into communities of young smokers.

An Anthropological Analysis of Evil Eye, Evil Spirits, and Ancestral Spirits Afflictions: Parengi Porja Tribal Women Views About Illness Etiologies and Its Treatment Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-283
Author(s):  
Srividhya Samakya V. ◽  
T. Subramanyam Naidu
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Tribal Population ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Treatment Practices ◽  
Tribal Women

This article aims to understand the perception of Parengi Porja’s ways of illness treatments and health management. The Parengi Porja is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Population (PVTG), inhabiting the hilly regions of Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. They strongly believe in supernatural agents as being the cause of illness. For this study, the Parengi Porja tribal mothers were purposively selected from five villages situated in the study district. We used participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, case studies, and semistructured interview schedules. We conducted five focus group discussions (FGDs) to understand the reasons for illness, and its diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Data types include demographic variables, incidences of illnesses, and their management. The study shows that this tribal population has its own understanding about the illness etiology and management strategy to regain healthy life.

Disability and Social Exclusion

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina I. Tobias ◽  
Sourav Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Community Activities ◽  
Individual Interviews

This article explores the experiences of social exclusion of individuals with visual impairment (IWVI) as they negotiate their daily lives in their homes and societal settings in the Oshana and Oshikoto regions of Namibia. Employing qualitative research approach, this research tried to better understand the lived experiences of IWVI. Nine IWVI with ages ranging from 30 to 90 years were initially engaged in focus group discussions, followed by semi-structured in-depth individual interviews. The findings of this research indicated that IWVI experience exclusion from education, employment and social and community participation as well as relationships. Based on these findings, we suggest more inclusive policies to address social exclusion of IWVI. At the same time, this group of individuals should be empowered to participate in community activities to promote interaction with people without visual impairments.

Diglossia and Local Identity: Swiss German in the Linguistic Landscape of Kleinbasel

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edina Krompák ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Local Identity ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
Written Form

The city of Basel is situated in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in the geographic triangle of three countries: France, Germany and Switzerland. Everyday urban life is characterised by the presence of Standard German and Swiss German as well as diverse migrant languages. Swiss German is ‘an umbrella term for several Alemannic dialects’ (Stepkowska 2012, 202) which differ from Standard German in terms of phonetics, semantics, lexis, and grammar and has no standard written form. Swiss German is predominantly used in oral forms, and Standard German in written communication. Furthermore, an amalgamation of bilingualism and diglossia (Stepkowska 2012, 208) distinguishes the specific linguistic situation, which indicates amongst other things the high prestige of Swiss German in everyday life. To explore the visibility and vitality of Swiss German in the public display of written language, we examined the linguistic landscape of a superdiverse neighbourhood of Basel, and investigated language power and the story beyond the sign – ‘stories about the cultural, historical, political and social backgrounds of a certain space’ (Blommaert 2013, 41). Our exploration was guided by the question: How do linguistic artefacts – such as official, commercial, and private signs – represent the diglossic situation and the relation between language and identity in Kleinbasel? Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study, a corpus was compiled comprising 300 digital images of written artefacts in Kleinbasel. Participant observation and focus group discussions about particular images were conducted and analysed using grounded theory (Charmaz 2006) and visual ethnography (Pink 2006). In our paper, we focus on signs in Swiss German and focus group discussions on these images. Initial analyses have produced two surprising findings; firstly, the visibility and the perception of Swiss German as a marker of local identity; secondly, the specific context of their display.

scholarly journals America in Pakistani Print Media: A Semiotic Discourse Analysis based Study of Pak-Us Relationship

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Muhammad Akber Sajid ◽  
Muhammad Riaz Khan
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Qualitative Research Design

Print media semiotic discourses are one of the best sites for ideological investment and their role is very significant in the production and dissemination of certain ideology. The aim of the present study is to critically decode the semiotic discourse(s) of Pakistani English newspaper DAWN (daily) with special reference to the representation of Pak- Us relationship through the analysis of the semiotics discourses. The data for the present research has been collected from the mentioned newspaper. The time span for data collection ranges from October 2018 to December 2018. Out of ten (10) caricatures which represent Pakistan attempting to survive at its own rather than depending on America one was purposively selected for linguistic and semiotic analyses. The study is descriptive and utilizes qualitative research design. For this purpose, the researchers have devised an amended research model by drawing upon Fairclough (1995), Kress (2010) and Kruger’s (2000) research models to analyse linguistic, semiotic and focus group discussions data. The semiotic analysis has also been validated by incorporating the remarks of focus group participants. Based on the analysis of data the study concludes that noting is absolute in politics as far as Pak- Us relations through semiotic discourses are concerned. Additionally, the research reveals that print media semiotic discourses work insidiously to represent socio- political changes by employing linguistic and meta-linguistic devices and techniques.

scholarly journals Diagnostic SWOT appraisal of the wicker handicraft entrepreneurship development in Kashmir, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-201
Author(s):  
M. A. Islam ◽  
A.A. Wani ◽  
G.M. Bhat ◽  
A.A. Gatoo ◽  
Murtaza Shah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Traditional Art ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Employment Generation ◽  
F Statistics

Critical analyses of the perceptions on SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) have become a fundamental element of multi-criteria decision making for developing wicker handicraft entrepreneurship. The study examined the effectiveness and prioritization of entrepreneur's perceptions towards SWOT categories and factors and provided insights for developing wicker handicraft entrepreneurship in Pulwama district of Kashmir. Data were collected through structured interviews and focus group discussions of 100 wicker handicraft entrepreneurs of 20 villages selected by multi-stage random sampling. Simple descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis. Results showed that the factors like income generation (19.30%) and employment generation (19.00%) were viewed as most important strengths while labour intensive and less remunerative livelihood (18.80%) and seasonal subsistence (18.70%) were identified as main weaknesses. Further, poverty alleviation (20.70%), preservation of traditional art craft (19.00%) and improvement in public-private relations (17.50%) were adjudged as strong opportunities whereas limited marketing facilities (20.70%), lack of co-operative societies (18.90%) and harassment by officials in withies collection (16.50%) were seen as chief threats. The challenges (weaknesses and threats) (50.40%) for wicker handicraft entrepreneurship outweighed the prospects (strengths and opportunities) (49.60%) while the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) (54.80%) prevailed over the external factors (opportunities and threats) (54.20%). F statistics (p<0.05) indicated significant differences between the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats). The results projected the basis to the policymakers to prioritize and address the prominent challenges and reinforce the prospects for conceptualizing, formulating and implementing the strategies for strengthening the wicker handicraft entrepreneurship.

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