1,720,958 research outputs found
Assessing community participation in rural development projects: A case study of CARE Zimbabwe's Small Dams Rehabilitation Project (SDRP) in Mushagashe
Full text linkMagister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)The study sought to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for effective community participation in rural development projects in Zimbabwe through one case-study, and in turn to test the credibility of the popularized supposition that almost all contemporary development efforts characteristically embrace local participation. This matters as public participation is widely assumed to be an essential ingredient for the fruition of rural development efforts. The case examined was to achieve this aim. The research made use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in which various data gathering instruments were used. Among them were unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The discussion and analysis of data was enabled by the use of People-Centered Development (PCD) as a conceptual framework. Among other findings, a key insight of the research was that the level of community participation in this case is not only minimal, but it is also top down. This has much to do with the negative perceptions by facilitating agents of local people as passive recipients of externally crafted models of development and other factors such as the power dynamics within and between the community and other stakeholders. The research also found out other obstacles that militate against effective participation such as preferential treatment of other tribal groups by the facilitating agent, intra group conflicts and bureaucratic and political influence. Based on these findings, and consistent with the wider literature, a key recommendation of the research is that the nature of community engagement should be based on the principle of equal partnership among all stakeholders as this would encourage full cooperation and thus effective participation
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
Assessing community participation in rural development projects: A case study of CARE Zimbabwe's Small Dams Rehabilitation Project (SDRP) in Mushagashe
No full textMagister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)The study sought to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for effective community participation in rural development projects in Zimbabwe through one case-study, and in turn to test the credibility of the popularized supposition that almost all contemporary development efforts characteristically embrace local participation. This matters as public participation is widely assumed to be an essential ingredient for the fruition of rural development efforts. The case examined was to achieve this aim. The research made use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in which various data gathering instruments were used. Among them were unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The discussion and analysis of data was enabled by the use of People-Centered Development (PCD) as a conceptual framework. Among other findings, a key insight of the research was that the level of community participation in this case is not only minimal, but it is also top down. This has much to do with the negative perceptions by facilitating agents of local people as passive recipients of externally crafted models of development and other factors such as the power dynamics within and between the community and other stakeholders. The research also found out other obstacles that militate against effective participation such as preferential treatment of other tribal groups by the facilitating agent, intra group conflicts and bureaucratic and political influence. Based on these findings, and consistent with the wider literature, a key recommendation of the research is that the nature of community engagement should be based on the principle of equal partnership among all stakeholders as this would encourage full cooperation and thus effective participation
Posthuman security and landmines: Gendered meaning-making and materialities in the North-Eastern border area of Zimbabwe
No full textThesis (Ph.D. (Africa Studies))--University of the Free State, 2022English: This empirical study of landmines, gendered meaning-making and matter in the border area of
Mukumbura, Northern Zimbabwe, was inspired by the everyday experiences of men and women
as a consequence of their living together with landmines; the prevalence of a conspicuous gap in
the human security literature on gendered discourses and human-object relationalities in relation
to human security; and the inadequacy of grand security theories on how to overcome this
deficiency by means of a feminist posthuman security perspective as analytical tool to study the
gendered implications of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) in a post-war setting. These
informed the objectives of the study which include, among others, to account for the theoretical
shift from Human Security to a feminist posthuman security approach and to develop a
theoretical framework supporting the latter; to critically analyse how landmines influence the
construction of masculinities, femininities and victimhood in the discourse of peace and security;
to critically analyse the role of landmines in gendering socio-economic (in)security in postconflict
communities; and to assess how coping mechanisms become gendered through humanlandmine
co-existence. The study used a qualitative feminist posthumanist methodology which was ethnographic and
reflexive in orientation. Data gathering tools included key-participant interviews, life history
narratives and overt participant observation. These data collection tools were strategically chosen
as they befit the feminist qualitative methodology that recognises reflexivity in the context of
fluid identities. As such, the participants were men and women whose lives were shaped and reshaped by their co-existence with landmines during and after the war of liberation in the border
area. Drawing on three key theoretical pillars – the agency of all genders, the agency of objects, as
well as taking the African context of intangible objects/spiritualities seriously – the study has
shown that human (in)security ought to be understood as a complex, fluid and contextualised
phenomenon. The focus of the study on everyday micro-level (in)security has challenged the
theoretical prejudices of grand security theories such as Realism, Human Security, Critical
Security Studies and Feminist Security Studies, as well as their negation of alternative analytical
constructs that (re)frame (in)security at the community level. These included gender, context
(Afrocentrism), and the agency of non-human things (tangible/landmines and
intangible/spiritualities). Despite the fact that livelihoods, identities and victimhood have all been
shown to be gendered in many contexts, the subsequent agency exercised by men and women in
their constrained ecologies shows that physical and socio-economic insecurity (vulnerability)
transcends gender binaries as both men and women are equally embroiled in the becoming of
(in)security in these contexts. Thus, theoretically and empirically, the thesis has demonstrated
that it is only through a feminist posthuman approach that we can comprehensively understand
that (in)security is a function of the human-object intra-action, since both humans and nonhuman
things are co-constituted in co-producing gendered (in)security spaces and practices in
post-conflict communities where ERW are still present.Other: Tsvagurudzo ino yezvimbambaira yekuzvionera wega, kugadzirwa kwendevo dziri maringe
nepfungwa yemawadzanirano evanhurume nevanhukadzi mutsika nemagariro avo pamwe
nezvinobatika munzvimbo yeMukumbura iri kumuganhu wenyika, Kumaodzanyemba
kweZimbabwe, yakakurudzirwa nezvinosanganikwa nazvo zuva nezuva nevarume nevakadzi
kuburikidza nekutambudzwa nezvimbambaira; kuwoneka kuri pachena kwemukaha
muzvinyorwa zvedziviriro yevanhu zviri maringe nehurukuro ine chokuita nepfungwa
yemawadzanirano evanhurume nevanhukadzi pamwe nepfungwa dzine ungwaru dzeukama
pakati pemunhu nechinhu zvichienderana nedziviriro yevanhu; uye nekushomeka kwepfungwa
huru dzedziviro maererano nekukunda kushomeka uku kuburikidza nepfungwa yedziviriro
isinganyanyokoshesa munhu kudarika zvimwe zvisikwa, iri muhwaro hwemaonero anokoshesa
zvinosangana nevanhukadzi saicho chombo cheongororo mutsvagurudzo ino chekuongorora
pfungwa dzemhedziso dzisiri pachena dzewadzano pakati pevanhurume nevanhukadzi
dzeZvinoputika Zvakasarira muHondo (Explosive Remnants of War – ERW) munguva iyo hondo
yapera. Zvingangwa izvi zvetsvagurudzo, izvo zvinosanganisira pakati pezvimwe, kutsanangura
kwemasanduro epfungwa yemaonero kubva kuDziviriro yeVanhu kuenda kune pfungwa
yemaonero isingatori munhu sechisikwa chakakosha kudairika zvimwe mudziviriro pamwe nekuumba hwaro hwemaonero anotsigira pfungwa yepiri; kuongorora zvakadzama kukurudzira
kunoita zvimbambaira kuvaka pfungwa dzeundume, hunhukadzi nedzekuva munhu
wekushungurudzwa muhurukuro dzerunyararo nedziviriro; kuongorora zvakadzama basa
rezvimbambaira mukukonzera kuti dziviriro/kusadzivirirwa kwezveupfumi nemagariro
kuonekwe maringe nepfungwa yewadzano pakati pevanhurume nevanhukadzi munzvimbo
dzapera hondo; uye nekuongorora kuti nzira dzekugadzirisa matambudziko aya dzinozopinza
pfungwa yewadzano pakati pevanhurume nevanhukadzi kuburikidza nedambudziko revanhu
nezvimbambaira. Nzira yetsvagurudzo yakashandiswa ndeyepfungwa isingakoshesi zvakakanyanya chisikwa
chinonzi munhu kudarika zvimwe zvisikwa, yakatsamira papfungwa yehwaro yehunhukadzi iyo
yakanga ine maonero anokoshesa pfungwa dzevanhu venzvimbo iri kuitirwa tsvagurudzo pamwe
nekuvapo kwemutsvagurudzi panyaya iri kutsvagurudzwa. Zvombo zvekuunganidza mashoko
zvaisanganisira kubvunzwa kwevanhu vakakosha vakasarudzwa kupinda mutsvagurudzo, ngano
dzenhoroondo dzezveupenyu hwevanhu pamwe nekuongoona kuri pachena kwemutori
wenzvimbo mutsvagurudzo. Zvombo zvekuunganidza mashoko izvi zvakasarudzwa paine
vavariro yekuzadzikisa zvinangwa zvetsvagurudzo sezvo zvichienderana nenzira yetsvangurudzo
yezvehunhukadzi inotsvaga chokwadi kuburikidza neongororo inotwa mumagariro evanhu
chaiwo iyo inokoshesa kuva nechokuita kwemutsvagurudzi kutsvagurudzo munzvimbo dzine
zvimiro zvinosanduka-sanduka. Nokudaro, vakatora nzvimbo mutsvagurudzo vaiva varume
nevakadzi vane upenyu hwakasandurwa nekusandurwa pekare kuburikidza nekugara kwavo
pamwe chete nezvimbambaira munguva yehondo yerusunguko, uye munguva iyo hondo yapera
munzvimbo yekumuganhu iyi. Ichitora kubva mumbiru nhatu dzakakosha dzehwaro hwemafungiro – kutora matanho
kwevarume nevakadzi, magonero ezvinhu, pamwe nekukoshesa zvakanyanya mamiriro
emuAfrica ezvinhu/zvemweya zvisingabatike – tsvagurudzo ino yakaratidza kuti dziviriro kana
kusadzivirirwa kwevanhu kunofanira kunzwisiswa sechinhu chakaomarara, chinosanduka, uye
chiri mumamiriro acho. Kudondana kwetsvagurudzo maringe nedziviriro/kushaya dziviriro
yezuva nezuva kuri padanho repasi-pasi, kwadenha pfungwa dzezvehwaro hwemaonero dzisina
kutsigirwa nechokwadi dzepfungwa huru dzehwaro hwemaonero maringe nedziviriro dzakaita
seyeHuchokwadi, Dziviriro yeVanhu, Pfungwa yeOngororo Yakadzama yeZvidzidzo
zveDziviriro, nePfungwa yezveHunhukadzi yeZvidzidzo zveDziviriro pamwe nemarambiro adzo
dzimwe pfungwa dzeongororo dzinoumba nekuumba patsva dziviriro/kusadzivirirwa padambo
renzvimbo inogara vanhu. Pfungwa idzi dzinosanganisira pfungwa yemawadzanirano pakati
pevanhurume nevanhukadzi mutsika nemagariro avo, hwaro hwemaitikiro ezvinhu (Pfungwa
yehwaro emaonero inokoshesa tsika nenhoroondo dzeAfrica), pamwe nemagonero ezvinhu
zvisiri vanhu (zvinobatika/zvimbambaira nezvisingabatiki/zvemweya). Kunyangwe zvazvo nzira
dzekutsvaga chouviri, zvimiro pamwe nehukanganisirwi zvakaratidzwa zvose kuti zvimwe
chokuita nepfungwa yezvekuwadzana pakati pevanhurume nevanhukadzi mutsika nemagariro
avo mumamiriro nemaitikiro ezvinhu akawanda, matanho anotevera anoitwa nevarume
nevakadzi munzvimbo dzavo dzakamanikana dzeukama pakati pezvipuka nenharaunda,
anoratidza kuti kusadzivirirwa kwemiviri yavo pamwe nekwemagariro nezveupfumi hwavo
kunodarika uviri hunopikisa hwezvewadzano yevanhukadzi nevanhurume mutsika nemagariro
avo, sezvo zvose varume nevakadzi vachibatwa zvakaenzana mukuuya kwenjodzi muhwaro uhu
hwemaitikiro ezvinhu. Nokudaro, mupfungwa yehwaro hwemaonero pamwe nekuzvionera pamhuno sefodya, chinyorwa chino charatidza kuti kuburikidza chete nekushandisa maonero
ehunhukadzi asinganyanyokoshesa munhu kudarika zvimwe zvisikwa, kunokwanisa kuti
tinzwisise zvizere kuti (kusava ne)dziviriro ibasa redanho remukati reukama kwevanhu
nezvinhu, sezvo vanhu nezvisiri vanhu vachipinzwa pauviri hwavo mukuburitsa pahumwechete
hwavo nzvimbo netsika dze(kusava ne)dziviriro munguva iyo kurwisana kunenge kwapera, asi
munzvimbo dzavo muchine zvisarirwa zvehondo zvinoputika
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
Globalisation and Development Inequalities: Challenges and Prospects for 'A just Development'
No full textThe paper explores the ramifications of globalisation as a process, ideology and a theory on the embryonic and apparent discrepancies in development status between and within nations. It illuminated on the socio-economic and political forces behind globalisation and the implications of that process on access to resources, exercise of political and economic power in international governance and the resultant asymmetrical relations between nations in the global village. This endeavour was enabled through a multi-perspective approach in which various macro and micro sociological theories defined the lens for analysis some which entails the New International Division of Labour theory and the World Systems’ theory as they were intrinsically a function and agent for the materialisation of the process of globalisation. Methodologically, the paper adopted the qualitative comparative case study approach which perfectly ushered the opportunity to juxtapose intricacies of different events and outcomes of the lopsided international relations on development between nations in the global village. The paper maintained the notion that, globalisation was an ideological apparatus meant to mystify and veil the realities of exploitation dictated by the new world system yet positively skewed to the Industrialised World at the peril of the Developing Countries
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