Qualitative Documentary Analysis Research Articles

Evaluating Ghana’s Youth-Centered Food-Security Policies: A Collaborative Governance Approach

Food-security issues remain essential for decision-makers at all levels in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and youth-oriented food-security policies in Ghana are no exception. While there are no “one-size-fits-all” policy pathways to eradicate poverty and hunger, various governments, civil society, youth groups, and citizens can afford to ignore the present food policies’ status quo. This paper examines the perspective of sustainability when collaborative and open governance approaches are adopted by central governments and their sub-national departments, institutions, and agencies in youth-oriented food-security policymaking, implementation, and evaluation. The extent to which active stakeholder participation and collaboration, or the lack thereof, has either negatively or positively impacted food-security policies is another tangent this paper explores, including the sustainability of the youth-centered food-security policies in Ghana. Using qualitative documentary analysis technique through collaborative and open governance frameworks and drawing on the literature on multisectoral governance and youth-focused food-security policies, this paper identifies several disjointed youth-focused food-security intervention policies in Ghana with hazy institutional arrangements that have failed to ensure adequate implementation and assessment to promote cooperation, accountability, and transparency. The paper suggests the need for collaborative governance, effective policy monitoring, and evaluation strategies that involve government institutions, departments, agencies, civic societies, youth organizations, and citizens’ commitments to food security. This research finds that collaborative strategies and active youth participation in all food-security-related policies are essential for Ghana to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2.

Identifying the Economic Rationale for Criminal Behavior within the Context of Kidnapping for Ransom in Nigeria

This study endeavoured to formulate an economic rationale for why human beings commit crime, particularly the heinous crime against persons known as kidnapping. This forms the major objective of this study. The issue of kidnapping has attained such significance in Nigeria that the country was recently listed as sixth on the global kidnap index, putting Nigeria amongst countries with serious kidnapping problems, behind Philippines, Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico. Utilising secondary data, the study applied functionalist theoretical assumptions and employed Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA), thereby utilising a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the causes, nature and quantum of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria. The theoretical framework that governed this study was Becker’s Rational Choice model, where an individual’s decision to commit a crime is based on the costs and benefits analysis. The study revealed that kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria is a multifaceted phenomenon with social, economic, political, cultural and demographic ramifications. Our study further showed that there are many economic causes of the spate of kidnapping in Nigeria. Prominent among them are unemployment, poverty, low literacy level and high rate of school dropouts, increasing urbanisation, multidimensional inequality, low real income, and spiraling inflationary trends, among others. We recommended that government should tackle this menace head-on by instituting measures to reduce poverty, creating enabling environment for more productivity; thus, leading to increased employment, increasing school enrolment and improving educational infrastructure, reducing rural-urban migration to make the rural areas worthwhile to live in, discouraging ransom payments to free captives and instituting stiffer laws against kidnapping.

Identifying the Economic Rationale for Criminal Behavior within the Context of Kidnapping for Ransom in Nigeria

This study endeavoured to formulate an economic rationale for why human beings commit crime, particularly the heinous crime against persons known as kidnapping. This forms the major objective of this study. The issue of kidnapping has attained such significance in Nigeria that the country was recently listed as sixth on the global kidnap index, putting Nigeria amongst countries with serious kidnapping problems, behind Philippines, Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico. Utilising secondary data, the study applied functionalist theoretical assumptions and employed Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA), thereby utilising a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the causes, nature and quantum of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria. The theoretical framework that governed this study was Becker’s Rational Choice model, where an individual’s decision to commit a crime is based on the costs and benefits analysis. The study revealed that kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria is a multifaceted phenomenon with social, economic, political, cultural and demographic ramifications. Our study further showed that there are many economic causes of the spate of kidnapping in Nigeria. Prominent among them are unemployment, poverty, low literacy level and high rate of school dropouts, increasing urbanisation, multidimensional inequality, low real income, and spiraling inflationary trends, among others. We recommended that government should tackle this menace head-on by instituting measures to reduce poverty, creating enabling environment for more productivity; thus, leading to increased employment, increasing school enrolment and improving educational infrastructure, reducing rural-urban migration to make the rural areas worthwhile to live in, discouraging ransom payments to free captives and instituting stiffer laws against kidnapping.

Problem Posing and Quantitative Reasoning Opportunities Provided by Mathematics Textbooks for Pre-service Elementary Teachers: A Qualitative Document Analysis

ABSTRACT This qualitative document analysis study reports on opportunities to learn provided by textbooks for mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary teachers. Specifically, the study examined opportunities to engage in problem posing and quantitative reasoning, in the context of fractions, provided by six textbooks commonly used in the teaching of content knowledge courses for pre-service elementary mathematics teachers in the United States. Among other things, this examination revealed two key findings. First, all the textbooks provide numerous opportunities that could potentially trigger students’ quantitative reasoning. This is commendable, and a positive response to growing calls to increase such opportunities in mathematics education. Second, there is a paucity of opportunities to engage in problem posing in all the textbooks. Given the numerous benefits of using problem posing in the teaching and learning of mathematics, we recommend that authors of textbooks for mathematics content courses for pre-service elementary teachers provide more opportunities to engage in problem posing in their textbooks. We argue that the act of problem posing requires significant quantitative reasoning, and thus problem posing provides the opportunity for students to develop such reasoning. Implications for instruction and directions for future research are discussed.

Learning Outcomes and Social Emotional Competences: A Cross-Feeding Relationship to Promote Meaningful Learning Experiences

Since the beginning of the employment of Learning Outcomes (LO), the educational field has been marked by significant changes. This approach, by being deliberately learner-oriented, influenced several knowledge fields to promote relevant shifts in different levels of educational programs offered by prominent institutions. Parallelly, the last decades have been characterized by an increasing concern with the development of Social Emotional Competences (SEC) in educational contexts. In this complex scenario, the main aim of this article is to reflect on the relevance of teachers’ social emotional competences in the construction of a healthy learning environment that equally embraces students with different social and cultural backgrounds. Thereby, the current work presents two specific aims: 1) to review the literature that discusses the connections between education and social emotional learning; and 2) to discuss the relevance of cultural identities and SEC for LO in an increasingly intercultural world. To achieve these objectives, the Qualitative Document Analysis’ methodology was employed to identify, examine and select the scientific sources to support the knowledge development which background the proposed discussions. Considering the intrinsic link between cultural identity and learning outcomes, this article defends the development of educators’ social emotional competences as a pathway to provide not only the best educational experiences for students with different cultural backgrounds but also to contribute to the construction of equitable societies by fostering the development of students’ intercultural competences.

What does the performance appraisal approach tell us about the organizational culture's basic assumptions?

PurposePerformance appraisal (PA) is an organizational practice whose ultimate goal is to improve employee performance. This goal can be achieved using two approaches: the administrative approach, which emphasizes materialistic incentives and rewards excellent performers, and the developmental approach, which focuses on employee personal and professional development. The literature points out that organizations cannot utilize both approaches at the same time, but the reason for this is vague. Therefore, the research purpose is to bridge this gap by exploring the basic assumptions behind the administrative and developmental PA approaches as part of the hidden layers of organizational culture.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative document analysis (QDA) was used to analyze 124 Israeli organizations' PA forms and employee reports.FindingsThe organization's PA approaches were diagnosed as a first step in revealing the reason for the inability to use both approaches simultaneously. In the next step, it was revealed that organizational culture assumptions are the reason for the contradiction of the PA approaches. Eventually, McGregor's theory X is the basic assumption behind the administrative approach, and theory Y is the assumption behind the developmental approach. Since these two approaches contradict each other, it explains the difficulty of using both approaches simultaneously.Originality/valueThis study dives into the hidden levels of organizational culture and attempts to bridge a long-standing but still current research gap, as well as extend and refine organizational culture and performance appraisal theories.

Social Responsibility of Advertising and Female Beauty: A Document Analysis of Laws and Regulations in Brazil and Portugal

This work sought to verify - from an exploratory, intuitive, and empirical view -, how advertising has been regulated in Brazil and Portugal in a non-exhaustive way, observing laws and regulatory guidelines that already exist in these countries and those that are in process, checking its social responsibility in the face of the representativeness and diversity of female beauty. Through qualitative Document Analysis, highlighting the main public documents online found in recent reports, newspapers, official government websites, blogs, and social media, an attempt was made to observe and compare these countries that are historically and culturally linked, differing in cultural, social, political and economic matters. Therefore, in Brazil, there are already some norms to indicate the use of image editing and guidelines to avoid stereotyping of female beauty in advertising. In Portugal, there are already amendments to the advertising code to make beauty standards real and ensure the principle of veracity with the consumer. Both countries already have similar protective laws regarding the “non-objectification” of the woman's body in advertising. However, it was observed that despite the existence of these progresses, there is still a long way to change the deconstruction of the collective imagination about the aesthetic pressure on the female body. Brands/companies need to be aware of these laws/norms and apply them in practice, as well as the need to apply an educational form of awareness for society in general, aiming to be more aligned in the search for more responsible advertising directed to women and for all.

A bridge between: Te Ao Māori and Te Ara Paerangi

Purpose Aotearoa New Zealand’s Research, Science and Innovation (RSI) system is undergoing a ‘once in a generation’ reform known as Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways (TAP). One of TAP’s four high-level goals is to embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi across the RSI system. Using the analogy of bridge-making, we draw on insights from Māori submissions to TAP to identify collective Māori expectations for what a Tiriti-embedded system entails. Method Submissions were accessed through the document library on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website. 34 submissions from individuals and collectives were identified as Māori. Qualitative Document Analysis was used to identify major themes. Results Results are described with reference to basic bridge-building principles of design, foundations, materials and maintenance. Key thematic findings include: Māori, as Tiriti partners, must be meaningfully involved in the reform design; the RSI system’s foundations are deeply colonial - decolonisation is needed to value, respect and protect Māori knowledges and knowledge-holders; workforce development, infrastructure and policies are required to empower partnered and autonomous RSI approaches; and, ongoing system maintenance in the form of monitoring is required to ensure transparency, accountability and equitable benefits. Reflection Having committed to embedding Te Tiriti across the RSI system, MBIE now has a duty of care to deliver on its commitment vis-à-vis the National Research Priorities. This paper is a timely opportunity to set a baseline of collective expectations against which to assess the future efficacy of TAP. Ka mahi mātou, me te takune hei puananī We will work with the intent to travel freely in any direction

Industry responses to the UK government’s public consultation on the proposed soft drinks industry levy: Qualitative documentary analysis using the framework method and a systems perspective

The United Kingdom (UK) Chancellor of the exchequer announced a tax on sugar sweetened beverages in his March 2016 budget. A public consultation on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) was conducted before the levy’s implementation in 2018. We aimed to identify arguments that industry stakeholders made during the public consultation to influence the discursive environment using thematic framework analysis with a novel complex systems lens.Forty-two censored consultation responses from industry stakeholders (manufacturers, retailers, or representative trade associations) were obtained by Freedom of Information requests to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Industry stakeholders were overall opposed to the SDIL. Key themes included unintended consequences of the levy, denying the impact of the levy, the responsibility of government to industry over health, and proposals of alternative policies. Industry stakeholders created a discursive environment that showcased the complexity of business relationships in response to the levy, in contrast to linear causal arguments and simplistic solutions (e.g., consumer education). Documented industry discursive strategies were engaged, including promoting voluntary agreements, use of industry commissioned research, and questioning the effectiveness of the policy.Industry stakeholders’ submissions presented opposition to an evidence-based policy and use of documented industry discursive strategies emphasised the need for a pro-active and transparent consultation process and stakeholder management. A complex systems approach, alongside robust evidence, can identify changing relationships and adaptations in response to a policy, and pre-empt industry positioning in future health policymaking by identifying areas of push-back in advance to allow better stakeholder management.

Journalism on Forced Migration in Latin America: Recommendations from Experts and International Journalism Guides from a Qualitative Study

Wars, insurgent groups, dictatorships, and economic crises are the main reasons for forced migration. Displaced persons, asylum seekers, and refugees often face public stigmatization, as they are treated by the media as a social problem and, in many cases, seen as economic and social threats. This article presents the results of in-depth interviews with expert journalists and researchers from different Latin American countries on the phenomenon of forced migration and its journalistic coverage. Their recommendations are complemented by Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) of international guides on migration journalism. The findings highlight the need for training and awareness-raising in critical skills and social analysis for journalists to understand the complexity of human mobility and approach it from a human rights perspective, as well as to project the positive contributions of migrants to the host society. Findings suggest the need to avoid disseminating and magnifying hate speech, which may be used to justify discrimination and violence against migrants. This highlights the fact that migration issues must be dealt with under slow journalism schemes, with an emphasis on research, thus avoiding falling into xenophobic discourse due to the very immediacy that the digital ecosystem demands.

Documentary Assessment of the Abilities of Kyrgyzstan's Research Ethics Committees During Public Health Emergency and Non-Emergency Situations.

Institutional Research Ethics Committees (RECs) play crucial roles in the impartial and competent review of scientific research, particularly during public health emergencies. In this report, we examined their ability and capacity to provide this basic service during public health emergencies and non-emergency situations. Our qualitative documentary analysis revealed that there are currently no legal regulations guiding the activities of Kyrgyz RECs during public health emergencies. In addition, major policy gaps exist in how RECs should operate in non-emergency circumstances. This lack of guidance highlights the urgent need to develop and implement ethical guidelines to meet the evolving needs of such emergencies. Our findings underscore the growing urgency of supporting capacity building of RECs to respond effectively to future pandemics and other public health crises.

Sport organisations’ contribution to migrants’ social inclusion in Italy: a sociological insight

The extensive involvement of Italian sport organisations in delivering various social and humanitarian services and activities to migrants, along with the peculiarity of the country, offered the ground to the conceptualisation of this paper. This study aims to discuss the contributions of sport to migrants’ social inclusion through a review of the pertinent literature and the use of a Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) to examine a group of projects and interventions carried out in Italy. In Italy, the third sector, and in particular, sport for all organisations, develop several initiatives to respond to the heterogeneous needs of the migrants, including educational and communication campaigns, research activities and direct participation of migrants in sport events and tournaments. Our study highlights the importance of overcoming the lack of homogeneity in those projects and interventions with common and shared strategies, and the importance of educating and training coaches and other professionals for working in these contexts. The findings also led us to propose a conceptual framework with the critical areas of intervention for research and sport-based projects: social inclusion, settlement, positive development and social capital.

The two faces of Janus: educational pathways into and out of violent extremism in Norway

ABSTRACT The prevention of violent extremism in education has given rise to considerable policy debates in Norway. A key feature of this, illustrated in the growing stream of curricular and security policy reforms, is that these debates risk being disconnected from graspable elements in the social lives of young people. Using qualitative document analysis (QDA), this study analysis educational efforts to prevent violent extremism in Norway. The analysis suggests that interventions are structured according to reductionist thinking of cause and effect in which the individual is at the receiving end of security efforts. In particular, the dominant mode of preventing extremism is through therapeutic strategies aimed at helping vulnerable individuals becoming resilient to extreme ideologies and to help them respond to structural grievances. There is less attention on the role of social mechanisms including the reciprocal interplay between structural, social and individual factors in the analysed projects. Based on these findings, the study suggests the importance of exploring social processes in which extremism is engaged and resisted. Furthermore, it is argued that social movement theory (SMT) offers a promising way to understand the role of social processes in pathways into and out of extremism.

Visibility and representation of rural schools in the online Spanish press

ABSTRACT The online press is a platform that helps to communicate the advantages of rural schools and to highlight the needs and grievances of the educational community. The aim of this article is to analyse the treatment of information about rural schools in 100 articles (2020–2021) published in the online Spanish press. A mixed methodology was employed to combine qualitative documentary analysis (source, approach, topic and the emotions and/or feelings expressed) and quantitative statistical analysis. Predominantly, the articles give a voice to the educational community, revealing the image of rural schools presented is positive. The Spanish press highlights rural schools’ advantages, as well as demand more support for the institutional representatives in order to guarantee the existence of rural schools. Overall, findings contribute to global research investigating the role of the online press related to rural schools and education.

What is the motivation? The political economy of engineers regulation in Kenya

Regulation is usually justified by the public interest in theory but in practice may end up serving special interests. This paper evaluates the regulatory frameworks for engineers and engineering technologists in Kenya with the view to establishing whether they take the public interest into consideration or only other special interests. Taking public interest into account is necessary to foster development and avoid regulatory conflicts. The study used qualitative document analysis (QDA) to collect and analyze the documentary data available in relevant statutes, namely the Engineers Registration Act (1969–2012), the Engineers Act (from 2012), and the Engineering Technology Act, as well as the Auditor-General’s annual reports. The main aim of the study is to establish whether the regulators are motivated by public interest or not. The findings are that public interest is not the main goal because regulators focus on non-regulatory activities such as business investments, there is capture of regulatory instruments by the regulator, there is limited inclusion of other actors in the regulatory operations, there is engagement in extraprofessional activities with the risk of distraction from the core mandate of professional regulation, there is budgeting for excess funds, a lack of clear definition of the public interest in the relevant sections of the statute. The findings confirm pursuit of special interests by the regulators, rather than the public interest. The main contribution of the study is that in developing and African countries, regulatory mechanism of professions can be captured by the regulators to further narrow or special interests, just as it happens with the regulation of businesses.

What Are Restorative Justice Services Recording? Qualitative Analysis of Six Restorative Justice Reporting Templates for Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner in England

This paper is a qualitative documentary analysis of six restorative justice reporting templates used by the Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner in England for collecting restorative justice service data. Findings identify differences in the following areas: general presentation and format of templates; types of data recorded; areas of interest; definitions and use of descriptive language; methods and timing for counting data; and interpretation of restorative justice processes and outcomes. Conclusions highlight the need to standardise definitions and methods, outlining potential pitfalls when using data to draw further conclusions when equivalency is problematic, and further research avenues that could illuminate the use of data to evidence effectiveness, efficiency, impact and success.

Knowledge based urban development: An approach to innovation districts based on education

Education is a concept that encompasses not only the teaching-learning process but also the conditions, environment, and facilities in which it takes place. Education is a precondition to development because it serves as a society’s primary engine of innovation. Therefore, the concept of a space designated as an Innovation District is essential for the creation of Sustainable Cities since it is in such spaces that jobs are created and new markets specializing in products and high-added value services emerge. However, in the past, successful innovation districts have generally been found in developed countries, which have sufficient resources to invest in projects of this magnitude. Our methodology consists of a case study, the city of Querétaro, in central Mexico, to analyze the role of higher education within developing countries that seek to create innovation districts. We employ quantitative methods such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and locations quotients, along with qualitative documentary analysis, to conduct a spatial-urban analysis, characterize the industrial configuration, and to analyze the design of educational models adapted to the needs of specific industries. The results of our case study suggest that cities from developing countries that are fast industrializing can best maximize their chances of success by encouraging an explicit collaboration between industry and education through a Triple Helix Model. Such a collaboration would be based on matching educational competencies with opportunities for industrial reconfiguration to carefully select the location for the new district and decide over its area of specialization.

Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Multi-level Governance and Policy Coherence Analysis

The unnecessary flaring of natural gas impacts public and environmental health, contributes to climate change and wastes fuel resources. Though reducing flaring is an emergent global environmental governance priority, progress has been slow. We assess gas flaring policy in the critical case of Nigeria through multi-level governance (MLG) structure. Our analysis assesses policy coherence (leading to progress in reaching shared goals) and divergence (creating tension and undermining progress) amongst sectors and institutional structures across the supranational, federal, state and local government scales. A combined dataset of documents, stakeholder interviews and expert surveys is analysed using Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) and content analysis. We identify the principal actors involved, examine the extent of gas flaring awareness and policy coherence across multiple sectors/policy domains, and assess progress towards Nigeria’s national intended contribution and national policy on climate change mitigation. We find that policy coherence around gas flaring, including efforts towards climate change mitigation, has been slowed by political partisanship, poor governance, lack of regulatory compliance, and policy conflict between environmental protection and economic development priorities. Nigeria urgently requires inclusive involvement of stakeholder voices across multiple sectors and scales of local/regional government, the strengthening of federal institutions, a revaluation of economic aspirations through revenue diversification, and leadership that can temper the power of International Oil Companies (IOCs) to exploit the complexity of the MLG structure. These actions would help the government in improving environmental justice outcomes for flaring-affected communities.

A qualitative framing analysis of how firearm manufacturers and related bodies communicate to the public on gun-related harms and solutions

There is a growing understanding that the producers and sellers of harmful products directly and indirectly affect population health and policy, including through seeking to influence public understanding about the nature of harms and their solutions. However, the firearm industry and related organisations have not to date been the subject of this type of enquiry. This study sought to address this evidential gap through examining the ways in which the firearm industry and industry-associated organisations frame firearms, firearm-related harms and possible solutions to gun violence. This was a thematic qualitative documentary analysis of materials from 7 of the largest firearm manufacturers and associated organisations. Two authors independently extracted textual material from web articles, press releases, annual reports and shareholder communications between 1st April 2019 to 1st April 2020 (302 documents). A hybrid approach combining both deductive and inductive coding was adopted, guided by the literature on the commercial determinants of health and using NVivo version 12. The firearm industry and firearm industry-funded organisations use framings about the safety and role of guns, evidence on associated harms and solutions that align with the industry's business interests, consistent with evidence on other harmful product manufacturers. This study identified framing strategies employed by the firearm industry and related organisations. These included attempts to undermine evidence, linking regulation to a dystopian future, minimising some of the most common harms, placing the responsibility for harms on individuals, and attempting to foster a heightened sense of risk to personal safety.

Ética, bioética y calidad educativa como dimensiones de la formación integral de los estudiantes de Odontología

Currently, a series of transformations are taking place for professional practice in the field of oral health and, along with these changes, concerns and debates arise about the relevance and updating of university training. This article aims to connect the deliberation on the meaning of “ethical training”, “bioethical training”, “bioethical health”, “educational quality” and “quality higher education”, as dimensions that are questioned on the comprehensive training of the dental career student, in a context of transformation produced by technological and social innovations in the field of professional practice; this through the review of studies conducted in the period 2014-2022. For which, a set of articles was compiled by searching Scopus and applied qualitative documentary analysis based on the results provided by each study. The search terms ethical training, bioethical training and educational quality were used, through critical sampling 32 articles were selected for the study. The analysis concludes that for the integration of ethics, bioethics and educational quality, they should be assumed as conscious practices of daily life, with social relevance and oriented through models that reflect the complex reality.