scholarly journals Developing and testing a South African Brief Cognitive Score in literate and illiterate people of mixed language groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara M. Schutte ◽  
Mukhethwa Tsikane ◽  
Keorapetse Nchoe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Average Score ◽  
The South ◽  
Cognitive Score ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
With Memory ◽  
Reliable Scale

Background: The Folstein mini mental state exam (MMSE) is the most commonly administered assessment of cognitive functioning; however, its utility in illiterate individuals is limited. In South Africa, more than eight million adults are considered functionally illiterate and cognitive evaluation using standard scales is inaccurate. Other countries have developed adapted MMSE scales for their local purposes.Aim: The first aim of this study was to develop a South African Brief Cognitive Score (SA BCS) for use in minimally literate or illiterate individuals. The second aim was to test this SA BCS against the original Folstein MMSE in patients with memory problems.Setting: The study was conducted in Tshilamba, Tshiombo, Tshifudi, Dzimauli and Pile in Venda as well as Rethabiseng and Zithobeni in Bronkhorstspruit for the illiterate study group, and Steve Biko Academic Hospital for the literate study groups.Methods: The SA BCS was developed considering our local requirements and substituting questions needing literacy with items that did not. Both the original Folstein MMSE and the SA BCS were administered to groups of literate and illiterate normal individuals. Thereafter, the tests were repeated in groups of literate and illiterate patients with cognitive decline.Results: Firstly, 33 illiterate and 31 literate subjects were assessed. The average original Folstein score was 29.29/30 for the literate subjects, and for the SA BCS 29.80. For the illiterate subjects, the average score for the original Folstein MMSE was 21.24/30 and for the SA BCS 27.45. Kruskall–Wallis equality of population rank test confirmed a significant improvement in the scores of the SA BCS in the illiterate group when compared to the original Folstein (p = 0.0001). In the second part of the study, 20 literate and 20 illiterate patients were assessed as before. In the literate group, the average original Folstein MMSE score was 20.5, while the average score for the South African BCS was 22.5. In the illiterate group, the average Folstein MMSE was 18.9; and the average score in the South African BCS was 22.8. The Kruskal–Wallis equality of population rank test showed a significant difference (p = 0.008) between the scores of the illiterate versus literate patients when the Folstein MMSE was used to assess cognition. With the SA BCS, no significant difference was found between the groups (p = 0.79).Conclusion: The SA BCS appears to have potential to be a more reliable scale when assessing cognition in illiterate or minimally literate subjects when compared to the original Folstein MMSE.

Growth and movement of the South African abalone Haliotis midae: A reassessment

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJQ Tarr
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Haliotis Midae

Growth rates of a number of Haliotis midae populations around the South African coast were studied by means of tagging. These populations ranged from the cool waters of the western coast to the more temperate environment of the eastern Cape. Standard von Bertalanffy growth curves were fitted and growth parameters derived. These ranged from 0.19 to 0.25 for K, the average rate at which L∞ is approached, and from 156 to 173 for L∞, the average theoretical maximum length. These indicate far higher growth rates than were previously published for this commercially fished species, and the reasons for this difference are discussed. The expectation that growth rates would be fastest in the warmer eastern Cape waters was not realized, there being no significant difference in growth between the Bird Island population on the eastern coast and the Robben Island population on the western coast. These new growth parameters indicate that H. midae in the commercial fishery grounds is attaining sexual maturity some four years earlier, and the minimum legal size some five years earlier, than previously considered. This has considerable significance for modelling studies presently underway. Movement of a small population of adult H. midae was studied over a three-year period, after which 47% of the original abalone were still present on the study site. Of these, 81.5% still occupied exactly the same position on the rocks. This indicates that H. midae that have located an optimum habitat, and that are not disturbed, tend not to move.

scholarly journals Pharmacists’ clinical knowledge and practice in the safe use of contraceptives: real knowledge vs. self-perception and the implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Golić Jelić ◽  
Ljiljana Tasić ◽  
Ranko Škrbić ◽  
Valentina Marinković ◽  
Svjetlana Stoisavljević Šatara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Clinical Knowledge ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Knowledge And Practice

Abstract Background Pharmacists are often the first healthcare professionals that patients contact with their illnesses and requests for medical information, which is enhanced following the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Community pharmacists are expected and required to possess a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills. Self-assessment of these competencies is needed for their self-improvement. Purpose of the study To assess pharmacists’ clinical knowledge and practice in the safe use of contraceptives, and to compare the scores obtained by external observation with pharmacists’ self-assessment of their knowledge as well as investigate the significance of preceptorship experiences. Contraceptives was chosen as the subject area in view of high rates of abortions as a means of contraception in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods A questionnaire approach was used. The questionnaire included the following: the first domain contained two case scenarios (safe use of contraceptives), which evaluated clinical knowledge, a second domain in which pharmacists self-assessed their knowledge to resolve cases from the first domain and a third domain that measured the demographics of pharmacists (including experience in preceptorship). Dispensing practice was evaluated in the second domain. The questionnaires were distributed to a convenient sample of 100 pharmacists at the Annual Meeting of Bosnia and Herzegovina Pharmacists. The results were presented as counts (%). The groups (preceptors and non-preceptors) were compared using Mann-Whitney U test, paired assessments were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Spearman’s correlation was used to assess the correlation between variables. Results Of the 100 pharmacists invited to participate, 84 completed the questionnaire (84 % response rate). There was no agreement between pharmacists’ real knowledge (average score - case 1: 2.71, case 2: 3.3) and their self-assessment (average score - case 1: 3.77, case 2: 3.91). There was no statistically significant difference in the actual knowledge of pharmacists (experienced/non-experienced in precepting), while the difference in the self-assessment was significant between these two groups. Conclusion Pharmacists appear to overrate themselves, which leads to self-enhancement bias, in which the experience in precepting has some influence. Pharmacists’ capability in performing an objective self-assessment of their clinical knowledge needs to be carefully studied in the future to fully benefit patients.

scholarly journals Do Managers Of Global Equity Funds Outperform Their Respective Style Benchmarks? Evidence From South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Heng-Hsing Hsieh ◽  
Kathleen Hodnett ◽  
Paul Van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
The South ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Equity Funds ◽  
Investment Styles ◽  
Stock Picking

The results of our prior research on internationally-domiciled global equity funds suggest that active managers do not provide economic benefits, in addition to their underlying investment style benchmarks. This finding implies that the performances of global equity funds are derived mainly from the broad investment styles followed by the active managers rather than the stock-picking activities of the managers. We replicate our earlier research to investigate the performances of the six well-established global equity funds in the South African unit trust industry. Our results indicate that four out of the six South African fund managers under examination substantially underperform their passively-replicated style benchmarks. Our prior study results indicate that there is no significant difference between the performances of the internationally-domiciled global equity funds and their respective style benchmarks. By contrast, the stock-picking decisions of the South African fund managers are found to destroy value created by their respective style benchmarks in this study. Our findings suggest that investors who wish to follow particular investment styles would be better off by investing in exchange traded funds (ETF) that passively track the performances of their mandated investment styles in the global equity market with minimal costs.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Picture Story Books Reading to Increase Kindness in Children Aged 5-6 Years

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giyati Retnowati ◽  
Rose Mini Agoes Salim ◽  
Airin Y Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Test Score ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Storybook Reading ◽  
Signed Rank ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Signed Rank Test

This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of picture in storybook reading to increase kindness in children. This research involved 31 children aged 5-6 years; they were taken from the kindergarten in Bandung as the participants. The intervention was done by reading eight picture books in eight days. The kindness was measured using a measurement instrument created by the researcher, in the form of nine coloured cards that described the behaviour of kindness. The measurement was also done by seeing through the kindness tree and observation sheets that filled out by the teacher. The data analysis using the Wilcoxon Signed-rank test shows a significant difference in the average score of kindness (p<0,05) before and after picture storybook reading. Two weeks after the intervention, the improvement on all kindness behaviours with the post-test score is greater than pre-test score that still can be found. Observation through kindness tree and observational sheets shows the same result.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Moral Development in the South African Context

1996 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 851-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Smith ◽  
Angina Parekh
Keyword(s):  
Moral Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
The South ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
African Context ◽  
Moral Choices

This study has two aims, to examine aspects of Kohlberg's claims of universality within a unique research context and to explore differences in moral development between black and white South Africans. 81 participants from four different age groups were administered Form A of Kohlberg's moral judgement interviews. Analysis supported the age-relatedness of Kohlberg's stages of moral development and provided some support for the notion that the stages should be evident in various cultures. A significant difference in moral development between black and white groups in the 19- to 28-yr. age group was found. Further, black and white groups had different concerns when justifying moral choices. The results were discussed in the context of the South African system, which until recently has been one of institutionalised racial division.

scholarly journals Assessing service quality in the mobile telecommunications market

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 510-517
Author(s):  
Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy Govender
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
South African ◽  
Mobile Telecommunications ◽  
The South ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Customer Expectations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Telecommunications Market

The South African telecommunications market is vibrant and growing, dominated by two players. It is recognised that service quality plays an important role in establishing a competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to assess ratings of service quality among mobile telecommunications customers. To this end, a survey was conducted among 400 customers using the SERVQUAL questionnaire to measure customers’ expectations and perceptions based on the five dimensions of service quality. The findings indicate that there are gaps between customer expectations and perceptions of service quality. The tangibles dimension exhibited the smallest gap for both companies and the assurance and empathy dimensions revealed the largest gap scores. There were no significant differences in overall expectations between the two companies, but there were significant differences between the companies on overall perceptions of service quality. There was no significant difference in the overall expectations and perceptions between males and females.

Sotho-Nguni Orthography and Tone-Marking

1949 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Wishful Thinking ◽  
The South ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Different Parts

FOR years now the question of orthography in the South African Bantu languages has kept the authorities busy. It flares up periodically in different parts of the country, and local committees are called from time to time to deal with the conflagration.In the past, unfortunately, these committees have too often concerned themselves with the problems of one language only, and apparently ignored both the effect their decisions would have on literature exchange and the attempts of previous committees to solve similar problems in related languages. Thus we have Zulu and Xhosa, very closely related languages, with considerable orthographical differences, while North Sotho and Tswana now differ from each other and from South Sotho, which (perhaps wisely) has set its face against orthographic change since 1906.Until Dr. Jacob Nhlapo launched his campaign for Southern Bantu linguistic unity, few people had seriously considered the possibility of an orthographic system which would cover both the Nguni and Sotho groups, the feeling being that such unity lay in the realms of wishful thinking in view of the virtual impossibility of achieving unity within the groups.The present article is an attempt to combine the experience of past efforts into a system that would actually be applicable to these two language groups. The acceptance of such a system would naturally involve great sacrifices of tradition and prestige from both parties. This aspect is not to be ignored, but at the same time can have little connection with the scientific elaboration of an alphabet. Consequently the argument “The Sotho (or the Nguni) would never accept such a solution” must be relegated to the sphere of practical politics.

scholarly journals Investigating e-mail overload in the South African banking industry

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Burger ◽  
C. Rensleigh
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Banking Industry ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
E Mail

The information workers of today have a wide range of information sources available to make valuable decisions, so much so that it can lead to information overload. The purpose of this research was to investigate the extent of information overload in the South African banking industry. The empirical part of this study was done at the Standard Bank of South Africa, where 115 questionnaires were distributed to three categories of employees. It was found that e-mail is one of the most used computer-mediated applications and is used more than the World-Wide Web, instant messaging or peer-to-peer file sharing. Of the respondents, 65% felt overwhelmed by the amount of e-mails they received as 25% received more than 60 e-mails per day. A third of the respondents dedicated three hours or more to e-mails per day. Respondents agreed that the implementation of policies is important to ensure compliance with legislation, protection of privacy rights and copyright, and the filtering of spam. In conclusion, the respondents indicated that formal training in e-mail management should make a significant difference in the usage of e-mail within the organization and reduce e-mail overload. 

scholarly journals Art investment in South Africa: Portfolio diversification and art market efficiency

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdi Botha ◽  
Jen Snowball ◽  
Brett Scott
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Price Index ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
House Price ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Government Bond ◽  
The South ◽  
Bond Price ◽  
House Price Index ◽  
Significant Difference

Art has been suggested as a good way to diversify investment portfolios during times of financial uncertainty. The argument is that art exhibits different risk and return characteristics to conventional investments in other asset classes. The new Citadel art price index offered the opportunity to test this theory in the South African context. Moreover, this paper tests whether art prices are efficient. The Citadel index uses the hedonic regression method with observations drawn from the top 100, 50 and 20 artists by sales volume, giving approximately 29 503 total auction observations. The Index consists of quarterly data from the period 2000Q1 to 2013Q3. A vector autoregression of the art price index, Johannesburg stock exchange all-share index, house price index, and South African government bond index were used. Results show that, when there are increased returns on the stock market in a preceding period and wealth increases, there is a change in the Citadel art price index in the same direction. No significant difference was found between the house price index and the art price index, or between the art and government bond price indices. The art market is also found to be inefficient, thereby exacerbating the risk of investing in art. Overall, the South African art market does not offer the opportunity to diversify portfolios dominated by either property, bonds, or shares.

scholarly journals The cross-cultural application of the social axioms survey in The South African police service

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Barnard ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann ◽  
Deon Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Item Bias ◽  
The South ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Police Service ◽  
Social Axioms ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
South African Police

The objectives of this study were to investigate the replicability, construct equivalence, item bias and reliability of the Social Axioms Survey (SAS) in the South African Police Service (SAPS). A cross-sectional survey design was used. the participants consisted of applicants who had applied for jobs in the SAPS (n = 1535), and the SAS was administered to them. An exploratory factor analysis utilising target rotation applied to all 60 items of the SAS revealed four interpretable factors (Social Cynicism, reward for Application, Fate Control, and Spirituality/religiosity). Values of tucker’s phi higher than 0,90 were found for seven language groups (Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Swati, Tsonga, Venda and Pedi). Analyses of variance found that item bias was not a major disturbance. Unacceptable alpha values were found for some of the scales of the SAS.

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