‘WE ARE SCATTERED LIKE SEEDS AND THE WORLD IS FULL OF US’ (N. A. FROM AFGHANISTAN)1

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Youth underemployment: A review of research on young people and the problems of less(er) employment in an era of mass education

In this article, we examine the problem of youth underemployment and how it is conceptualised, operationalised and understood within wider sociology, with particular focus on the sociology of youth and youth studies literature. We outline the contours of this body of work, showing how in most cases underemployment is undefined and used as a general term to describe the challenges and inadequacies of the contemporary labour market for young people. Further, we show how despite a lack of clarity, most researchers in this field contend that underemployment is increasing for young people, becoming a normative experience, cutting across class, ethnicity and gender. For some, however, underemployment is a ‘choice’, but as the literature shows, how different groups of young people respond to underemployment varies. In addition, we show how overeducation, another form of underemployment, is being understood by both researchers and young people as a ‘new normal’ rather than being challenged as another flank in the on-going neo-liberalisation and massification of education. We conclude with a call to think through the ideas presented and to develop new understandings of youth underemployment that can facilitate change. The sensitising concept of less(er) employment is proposed as best placed to facilitate this reanimation.     

Risk and Benefit Perceptions of Mobile Phone and Base Station Technology in Bangladesh

Research in developed countries showed that many citizens perceive that radio signals transmitted by mobile phones and base stations represent potential health risks. Less research has been conducted in developing countries focused on citizen perceptions of risks and benefits, despite the recent and rapid introduction of mobile communication technologies. This study aims to identify factors that are influential in determining the tradeoffs that Bangladeshi citizens make between risks and benefits in terms of mobile phone technology acceptance and health concerns associated with the technology. Bangladesh was selected as representative of many developing countries inasmuch as terrestrial telephone infrastructure is insubstantial, and mobile phone use has expanded rapidly over the last decade, even among the poor. Issues of importance were identified in a small‐scale qualitative study among Bangladeshi citizens (n = 13), followed by a survey within a sample of Bangladeshi citizens (n = 500). The results demonstrate that, in general, the perceived benefits of mobile phone technology outweigh the risks. The perceived benefits are primarily related to the social and personal advantages of mobile phone use, including the ability to receive emergency news about floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters. Base stations were seen as a symbol of societal advance. The results furthermore suggest that overall risk perceptions are relatively low, in particular health risks, and are primarily driven by perceptions that related to crime and social inconvenience. Perceived health risks are relatively small. These findings show that risk communication and management may be particularly effective when contextual factors of the society where the system is implemented are taken into consideration.     

论哈萨克族创世神话中的哲学思想

哈萨克族创世神话内容丰富,艺术特色鲜明。本文对哈萨克族的传世神话《迦萨甘创世》和《神与灵魂》进行深层次的阐释,探讨了创世神话所蕴含的哲学思想及其对哈萨克哲学思想观念形成的影响。     

Design of acceptance sampling plan using a modified EWMA statistic

In this paper, a modified exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) statistic is proposed. The approximate distribution of the proposed modified EWMA statistic is derived. A variable acceptance sampling plan is designed using the proposed EWMA statistic. The plan parameters of the proposed sampling plan are determined such that the given producer's risk and consumer's risk are satisfied. The efficiency of the proposed plan based on the new EWMA statistic is compared with the existing EWMA plan in terms of the sample size required. The application of the proposed plan is given with the help of an example.     

The Impact of in-Service Training and Motivation on Job Performance of Technical & Vocational Education Teachers: Role of Person-Job Fit

In-service education and training (INSET), motivation and person-job fit of workers are considered vital for the performance of employees. The focused purpose of the study is to examine the associations between in-service training and motivation impact on job performance of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers, while examining the moderating role of person-job fit. Using convenience sampling technique, data is collected from TVET teachers in South Asia. The finding of this study revealed a significant impact for in-service training and motivation on job performance. This research study is useful for the HR managers and practitioners to utilize their employee’s true potential to get the desired results.

     

The Impact of Organizational Change on Employee Turnover Intention: Does Stress Play a Mediating Role?

This study examined the relationship between change interventions and employee turnover intention to see if change interventions lead to increased employee turnover intention. Moreover, the mediating role of employee stress was tested. Data were collected from 162 respondents working at various administrative positions in a large public organization. The results indicate that employee turnover intention is positively correlated to human process, techno structural, human resources, and strategic interventions. Limitations and direction for future research are provided.     

On Using Negative Binomial Distribution as a Randomization Device in Sensitive Surveys

In this article, an interesting improvement of some recent randomized response techniques has been proposed. The proposed randomized response technique applies Negative Binomial distribution to obtain data from respondents. An unbiased estimator of proportion of a sensitive attribute has been suggested and it is shown, numerically, that the new estimator performs better than the recent estimators while doing a sensitive survey. It is also established that the proposed estimator is unconditionally better than that of the estimator based on using the geometric distribution.