1,720,960 research outputs found
Advanced Level Students' Perceptions Of The Causes And Effects Of HIV/AIDS:A Case Study Of Masvingo Urban High Schools, Zimbabwe
No full textThe present study sought to establish A-level students’ perceptions of the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS. The rational for the study was to establish the extent to which A level students understand issues related to HIV/AIDS. The sample was made up of 100 A-level students - 68 males and 32 females. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The 7.5 SPSS package was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that students had a lot of accurate factual information about HIV/AIDS but at the same time they had some misconceptions. It was recommended that relevant stakeholders facilitate HIV/AIDS awareness and necessary attitude change among students both theoretically and practically. There is still more room for research on this aspect
Barriers to the Utilisation of Provisions of the Zimbabwean Domestic Violence Act among Abused Christian Women in Zimbabwe
Full text linkThe Domestic Violence Act of Zimbabwe was enacted in response to an escalation in cases of domestic violence. In spite of the enactment of the Act, domestic violence continues and there is limited utilisation of the provisions of the law. This paper seeks to identify factors that militate against the utilisation of provisions of the Act by victims of domestic violence. Twenty-two Christian women who were abused by their male intimate partners participated in the study on which this paper is based. A qualitative design, influenced by the feminist perspective, was adopted for this study. Purposeful sampling was applied in selecting participants who took part in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were given an opportunity to share their individual experiences. Data were analysed thematically. The study revealed that religious, cultural and economic reasons prevented most victims of domestic violence from seeking legal recourse. It was recommended that successful implementation of laws relating to domestic violence needs a coordinated response from all sectors. Recommendations for further research were also made
‘Men must cry like Jesus’ : Discoursing Ezra Chitando’s call for redeemed and redemptive masculinities
No full textThe paper seeks to analyse the views of Ezra Chitando on African masculinities in the context of ‘crying’, a theme in one of his writings. The aim
is to rally readers behind the notion that harmful ways of being a man, often justified on religious and cultural grounds, can be transformed. As a man, Chitando inspires other men to adopt masculinities that promote the health and wellbeing of all by calling upon them to ‘cry’ because crying is the essence of being human. A ‘crying’ man is an embodiment of all that repels violence in all its manifestations. Through a number of publications, as well as his support for the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Chitando demonstrates that seeking gender justice is the responsibility of both men and women. Being aware of the role of socialisation in the internalisation of social norms and values, as well as character formation, he suggests a change in the ‘social curriculum.’ Although men must and can change, this is slow to take effect because of entrenched religious and cultural beliefs and norms. However, the collective efforts of men and women will gradually lead to a paradigm shift, wherein dangerous, hegemonic masculinities give way to redeemed and redemptive masculinities. While the springboard of the discussion shall be his analysis of the book ‘When a man cries’ (by Siphiwo Mahala), his other writings and those of like-minded scholars and theologians are going to be taken on board
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Perceived Impact of Attitudes and Competencies of Lecturers on Academic Performance of Female Students at a University in Zimbabwe
Full text linkThis study sought to discover how lecturer attitudes and competencies influence academic performance of university female students, since they are generally lagging behind in academic performance at a university in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. The transactional theory is the main theory that anchored this study. The population comprised all Part two to Part four female university students and all the lecturers that taught the female students who were at the institution. A sample of 25 female students and 5 lecturers in four faculties was selected using the convenience sampling strategy. The study employed a case study research design which involved use of individual interviews and focus group discussions to collect data. Data was analysed in narrative form and thematically. The study revealed that the academic performance of female university students was determined by lecturer attitudes and competencies. The study recommends the training of lecturers who are holders of non-teaching degrees in order to improve their competencies and in-service training for the old horses so as to renew, sharpen their minds and refine their skills
Indigenous Beliefs and Practices for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health among the Tsonga of Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe
No full textSexual and reproductive health is a crucial aspect of human health. This qualitative study sought to find out indigenous beliefs and practices for sexual and reproductive health among Tsonga of Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe. Postcolonialism and Afrocentricity were the theoretical frameworks underpinning the study. The qualitative design adopted was phenomenological because data were collected from people within the Tsonga ethnic group, to get the insiders’ perspectives on their distinctive practices, experiences, and beliefs. The sample was purposively selected. It comprised 24 participants from different parts of Chiredzi District (12 males and 12 females). This sample comprised health practitioners, teachers, businesspeople, and ordinary community members. The conservative sample was due to the scarcity of resource persons as not many people were willing to share information on such a sensitive issue. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, which was then thematically analysed. The study revealed that indigenous practices and beliefs can be instrumental in promoting sexual and reproductive health among the Tsonga, owing to their availability and affordability in their surrounding environment. Tsonga people still use traditional medicines alongside Western medicines to safeguard sexual and reproductive health. It was concluded that indigenous knowledge systems related to sexual and reproductive health are not antagonistic to Western medicine and science, but complement the same. It is recommended that in the face of challenges associated with resourcing public health institutions, especially in Zimbabwe, integration of indigenous and modern modes of safeguarding sexual and reproductive health would enhance the realisation of sustainable development goals, particularly goal number 3, which focuses on good health and well-being
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
