UNAM Gā-aisib Repository (University of Namibia)
Not a member yet
3204 research outputs found
Sort by
Types of stressors and coping responses to stress as expressed by Grade 10 learners in Windhoek
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Educational Psychology (Guidance and Counseling)Managing stress has become a vital part of modern life as it affects everyone, including adolescents; coping with stress requires effective strategies in response to daily problems. To facilitate effective coping requires knowledge of the types of stressors that adolescents face and the ways in which they are coping with these stressors, as well as whether there is a difference in coping between genders. This quantitative study was conducted in eight schools in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. A sample size of 300 Grade 10 learners was utilised. The researcher compiled a checklist and used a self-report inventory to establish the types of stressors, kinds of coping responses to stressors and gender differences in each. The results indicate that academic factors and examinations, as well as body image, increased stress levels. Adolescents employed both approach and avoidant strategies in coping with problems; however, they rely more heavily on avoidant coping. Furthermore, the results indicate that, overall, females experienced higher stress levels than males. Females were more at risk than males; consequently, adults working with them should be more vigilant and supportive. All adolescents should be taught to acknowledge when they are employing unhelpful strategies, and learn the skills to employ helpful strategies instead
An investigation into the use of smartphones in accessing electronic resources at the University of Namibia
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Library and Information Science)This thesis is based on the use of smartphones in accessing electronic resources (eresources) at the University of Namibia (UNAM). The main objective of this study
was to investigate the use of smartphones in accessing library electronic resources at UNAM. The study was informed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM),
Convenience Concept Model (CCM) and Connectivity Theory (CT). In line with the
pragmatic research paradigm, the research design was a case study and a survey was in this case one of the data collection methods in this mixed methods research
approach. The population for this study consisted of UNAM librarians and
undergraduate students. The sample for this study comprised of three hundred and
seventy-two (372) students. To ensure representation at all levels of undergraduate
students, the researcher used the proportionate stratification sample method to
determine sample sizes of each stratum which resulted to 125 first years, 105 second years, 76 third years and 66 fourth years. Students were selected by means of systematic sampling method. Four (4) librarians were purposively selected as the
researcher targeted librarians who had a better understanding of the topic under study. In-depth interviews were conducted with librarians and questionnaires were
administered to students. Content analysis method was used to analyse qualitative data and IBM SPSS was used to generate quantitative data through descriptive statistics. The study revealed that majority of students had smartphones. Students found smartphones convenient because of portability. Furthermore, the study showed that majority of students were aware of library e-resources, which they mostly got to know through their lecturers. The study further discovered that students had at some point accessed e-resources via their smartphones. However, low frequency of access was recorded. Factors that hinder the access and use of smartphones revealed in this study include: network problems, lack of training on how to access e-resources, small screen sizes of smartphones, no access to e-resources off-campus, difficulties in navigating web links through smartphones and a lack of searching skills. The study recommends UNAM Library to take a leaf from the UNAM ICT Policy which supports gadgets like smartphones, to be clear on using mobile library applications, create a mobile Library App for e-resources and introduce a core course on Information Literacy that will include training on how to access e-resources. The study proposes a study on offcampus access to e-resources as an area for further research
In vitro anticancer and anti-inflammatory potential of Tian immune booster
No full textA mini thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Industrial Biochemistry)Tian Immune Booster (TIB) is a Chinese herbal product made up of more than 30 different Chinese herbs and formulated in sugar-coated tablets. TIB is currently approved for use in China, Kenya and Zambia to manage liver and kidney diseases as well as HIV and cervical cancer. The use of TIB to manage diseases is currently based on traditional knowledge and clinical evidence, but scientific validation for this use is not available. Chronic inflammation is one of the contributing factors to the development of different diseases. The current study was aimed at investigating the in vitro anticancer and anti-inflammatory potential of TIB extracts. Anticancer and anti-inflammatory data from the present study may provide more insight into biological activities of TIB in terms of the potential to treat cancer and protection against inflammation respectively. The anticancer effects of TIB towards human cervical cancer (HeLa) and human malignant melanoma cell lines was evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay at extract concentrations between 1.56 and 100 μg/mL. The albumin denaturation assay was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of TIB at concentrations between 3.12 and 200 μg/mL. The anticancer and anti-inflammatory potential of TIB was tested for single and combined extracts. No anticancer activity was observed with TIB towards HeLa and melanoma cells, with IC50 values ≥ 100 μg/mL for all extracts. TIB exhibited good anti-inflammatory activity, with IC50 values ranging from 14.53 ± 0.87 to 163.84 ± 10.59 μg/mL for single extracts and from 12.30 ± 0.29 to 44.85 ± 2.77 μg/mL for combined extracts. Minimal anticancer activity may be an indication that TIB does not directly kill cancer cells. Good anti-inflammatory activity revealed by this study support the traditional use of TIB. In future, in vivo anticancer and anti-inflammatory studies on TIB may be considered
Investigating the influence of the performance management system on employees' productivity at Namibia Training Authority
No full textA research thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (Public Sector Management)The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of the performance management system
on employee productivity at Namibia Training Authority (NTA). The specific study objectives
were, firstly to investigate the effects of performance planning on employees' productivity;
secondly to examine the influence of performance appraisal on employees' productivity; thirdly,
to investigate the relationship between performance feedback and employees' productivity; and
fourthly, to examine the influence of performance improvement on employees' productivity. A
descriptive research design, utilising a quantitative approach with regards to the impact of the
performance management system on employee productivity was adopted for this study. The
explanatory variables consisted of performance planning, performance appraisal, performance
feedback and performance improvement and their effects on employee productivity. A sample size
of 220 participants from a target population of 537 members through random sampling was
selected and used. A google form questionnaire was utilised to gather data, and with the aid of
SPSS, results obtained were processed and presented in the form of pie charts, bar graphs and
tables. Under performance planning, the study revealed that the majority of participants (59%)
strongly agreed that the inclusion of staff contributes positively to performance as well as that
planning encourages the commitment and understanding of the set goals and objectives (51% of
the participants agreed). A few participants (20%) were not sure of whether or not long and short term planning was the best for NT A. With regards to performance appraisal, the study established
that performance appraisal influences positively individual performance ( 40.5%), performance
appraisal is valuable to the performance of the organisation (45.9%) and that performance
appraisal makes employees to work harder than expected (38.2%). Results showed that
performance feedback and performance improvement positively impacted hugely on employee
productivity. The regression analysis conducted revealed that all the four independent variables
had a statistically significant impact on employee productivity (p<0.05) and that they caused a
93.6% variation on employee productivity. The study concluded that without proper performance
planning, appraisal, feedback and improvement, chances of high employee productivity were low.
Recommendations made were that performance planning should involve the staff in order to
enhance their understanding of their duties. Performance reviews should also be centred on the
commitl;Ilents of the individual employees to meet the organisational objectives and that
performance feedback should be fair, unbiased and adequate to all employee
An investigation into factors affecting strategy implementation at the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration Management StrategyThis thesis investigates factors affecting strategy implementation at the Namibia Students
Financial Assistance Fund. The study used qualitative methods to collect the data. The
primary data was gathered through interviews, using a semi-structured interview guide
with staff members at different levels. Field research was undertaken with a sample size
of 30 people selected using stratified sampling. The researcher used Excel to do the
content analysis by analysing responses from interviewees through coded responses and
consolidated them into themes. The major outcome of the study concludes that the Fund
faces numerous factors affecting strategy implementation. Namely: Leadership directive,
Communication, Guidance from human resources management, Process/system and
Technology, Organisational Culture, Organisational structure, Organisational resources,
Performance management system and Control and monitoring. The same factors affecting
strategy implementation have been harnessed under the challenges faced by NSF AF in
strategy implementation.
It is recommended that there was a need to improve the executive management that has
been perceived as the most important driver for strategy implementation. Therefore, it
should manage other factors listed in this study and take a stronghold on the strategy opted
for effective strategy implementation. This would help to steer the Fund in the direction
set out in attaining organisational goals and objective
Determinants of tax evasion among small and medium enterprises in Windhoek
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration FinanceToday it is widely accepted that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the essential
catalysts for the economic development of any country; however, researchers have a
growing concern on the determinants of tax evasion among SMEs. Using a mixed method
design, the study aimed to assess the determinants of tax evasion among SMEs in
Windhoek. A questionnaire was used to interview the respondents who own SMEs in
Windhoek. Data was entered and analysed in SPSS. Descriptive statistics and regression
were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that the economic determinants that
influence the tax evasion by SMEs in Windhoek are: penalties, perception on governn1ent
spending and fmancial constraints. Tax mentality and tax morale, perception on equity
and fairness of the tax system and attitudes of the taxpayer are the non-economic
determinants that influence tax evasion. The study found that age, marital status and
education has effects on tax evasion. In the study, the researcher also discovered that
taxpayers have a negative attitude towards taxation. The study recommends that
govermnent must give the consumer a proper subsidy under a competitive firm's market,
the consumer will voluntarily and fully declare unit tax so that the firm cannot cheat, and
that the cheating and auditing costs can be saved, thus Pareto improving and efficient
taxation without evasion becomes practicable. Government should understand the
nation's behaviour towards taxes and through the Ministry of Inland Revenue set up
strategies that would encourage and enable start up SMEs to pay ta
Data analysis of Markarian 421 observed by the high energy stereoscopic system (H.E.S.S.) in January 2017
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in PhysicsThe investigation of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is one of the most important areas
of contemporary astrophysics. In general, the term AGN refers to the existence of
energetic phenomena in the nucleus (central region) of a galaxy which cannot be
attributed to the stars in that galaxy. Blazars are AGN that are viewed from Earth head on, and that exhibits extra-ordinary large variability on time scales sometimes less than
hours, often displaying highly irregular and flare-like behavior. Among blazars
detected at very-high energies, Markarian 421 is one of the brightest and best studied.
It was detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in January 2017
during a flaring state. H.E.S.S. is a y-ray astronomy array of telescopes, located in
Namibia, near the Gamsberg mountain, an area known for its excellent astronomical
observational conditions.
The observational data from the H.E.S.S. experiment was used in this case to obtain
and explain the light curve and the energy spectrum for the seven data sets recorded in
January 2017. With the Model++ (also called Paris Analysis) standard cuts analysis,
an excess of 115.5 y rays, for Nan = 122 on-source and Naff = 108 off-source events
are detected at the 19.9cr significance level. We have observed that the energy
spectrum, can be well described by a power-law with spectral index 3.22± 0.27
decreasing in flux as the energy increases. Fitting the observed Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED) with a power-law with exponential cut-off is observed to have the
spectral index 0.80 ± 1.61 with the exponential cut at 2.53 ± 1.70 TeV photon
energy.
As for the light curves (the radiation flux as a function oftime), the scarcity ofthe data
could not reveal any meaningful variability pattern to be deduced from these January
2017 observation
The implementation of gender mainstreaming in a correctional service facility: A case of Elizabeth Nepemba Correctional Facility in Kavango West Region
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts in Gender and Development StudiesThis study primarily aimed at investigating the implementation of gender
mainstreaming in the Namibian Correctional Service, specifically Elizabeth
Nepemba Correctional Facility in Kavango West Region. The study was guided by
the following specific objectives: to explore the progress made in the application of
gender mainstreaming practices; to examine the progress made in the application of
gender mainstreaming and to identify the challenges associated with the application
of gender mainstreaming in the Namibian Correctional Service. The study employed
a qualitative research design and a case study method. The population of the study
consisted of development planners and correctional officers. The study sample was
made up of 17 participants, 2 development planners from the Ministry of Gender
Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, 13 correctional officers from
Elizabeth Nepemba Correctional Facility as well as 2 correctional officers from the
Namibian Correctional Service Headquarters. Primary data was gathered using an
interview guide through face-to-face interviews and the data was analysed using
thematic analysis. This study found that, while the policy framework for gender
mainstreaming is in place in the Correctional Service; the implementation is still
lacking. In fact, gender mainstrean1ing is being considered an add-on function, and
not part of the organization's primary functions. Thus, by making public managers
only talk about gender mainstrearning and not being able to act towards its proper
implementation, gender mainstreaming initiatives are not organization-driven. The
study recommends that, leadership in the Namibian Correctional Service should
refrain from addressing gender mainstreaming as an add-gender-and-stir approach,
should instead acknowledge the role of both sexes as development, sound
governance and democratization partners of all times. Gender inequality cannot be
adequately addressed by viewing it based on improvements in women's work and
representation but rather when it is seen within the broader framework of sound
'
social welfare, development, democracy, and governance. Therefore, the Namibian
Correctional Service next Strategic Plan of Action need to be gender responsive and
well in line with Namibia's international and national commitments towards
realizing a zebra crossing of 50-50 gender equality across all economic, social and
political setting
Space-time modelling of unemployment rate in Namibia
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Applied Statistics and Demography)Among major and burning issues in the developing world is the problem of
unemployment. Not being employed does not only have a negative effect on the wellbeing of an individual, but also pose a great concern to policy makers at all levels of government. Namibia like any other developing country especially in Africa, continues to carry the burden of a high unemployment rate, varying across regions.
This study aimed at determining whether variation in unemployment rate is due to regional clustering and if covariates such as education, sex, age, population density and time have effects on the regional unemployment rate variations. To achieve these objectives, the study used a Fully Bayesian (FB) spatial smoothing approach with temporal trends to assess regional variations in the unemployment rates obtained from the Namibia Labour Force Survey data of 2014, 2016, and 2018. Results indicated that most of the variation in the average unemployment rate was due to the temporally unstructured effect and not regional clustering, while the effect of age, sex, and population density were insignificant. Educational level on the other hand was found to have a significant negative effect on the variation of unemployment rate. Furthermore, the probability map showed a long-term increasing risk of unemployment rate in regions such as Kunene, Omaheke and Kavango West. In conclusion, results showed that the variations in the unemployment rate in Namibia are not due to regional clustering, nor do covariates such as sex, age, population density have a significant effect on them. However, introducing the the unstructured time trend component in the model significantly explains the variation in the unemployment rate over time and space. Also, educational level has a significant negative effect on the variation of unemployment rate. Lastly, the thesis showed that the best response distribution for modelling rates and proportions is a beta distribution
Inclusive placement effects of learners with and without special educational needs in selected secondary schools: Oshikoto region
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education (Inclusive Education)The aim of the study was to explore the effects of inclusive placement on learners with and without special educational needs in secondary schools in the Oshikoto region of Namibia. The research methodology was in the form of a qualitative inquiry. The study employed a phenomenological approach which allowed an in-depth examination of the experiences of learners with and without special educational needs in the inclusive settings. The approach enabled the researcher to gain an understanding of the learners’ experiences and the challenges when including learners with and without special educational needs in regular classrooms. Structured interviews and observations were carried out to collect data from a sample of ten learners with special educational needs and ten learners without special educational needs. Learners were sampled purposefully. Data was analysed by employing the thematic content analysis method. The findings revealed high cooperation and much social interaction among the learners with special educational needs and their peers without special educational needs. However, it was observed that there was a large gap in academic performance between learners with special educational needs when compared to their peers without special educational needs. The sources of the difference were found to be rooted in various different factors, such as the lack of or inadequate teaching and learning resources to support learners with special educational needs, the improper use of inclusive teaching methods (differentiation) and the non-inclusive nature of the curriculum. The study concluded that there were some academic and social benefits in inclusive placement, however there also a number of challenges which need to be addressed to enhance the learning of different learners. The study recommends rigorous training of teachers to enable them to cater for different learners in inclusive classes. The study further recommends curriculum adaptation to respond to diverse needs of all the learners