Social Sciences

The objective of this article is to discuss the reliability analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS) instrument in the Malaysian context. This instrument was developed by Collins (1996) and has been used in western countries to measure the adult attachment style dimension. Items for RAAS were translated to the Malay language to suit the Malaysian adults’ sample. The sample of this study comprised of Malay married couples. A preliminary test and real test were conducted to determine whether its coefficient reliability value achieved the standard. The results of preliminary test and real test showed that the value of coefficient reliability for each dimension in RAAS have fulfilled the standard (p>.70). Based on these findings, the RAAS is a reliable instrument to be used among Malaysian adults. Furthermore, this instrument can be used by marriage counselors to understand how does attachment between husbands and wives may be related to thecouples’ problem or it may serve as a resource for couples to build a greatrelationship.

Isfahan is one of the oldest cities of Iran with a highly important place in economic transactions of Iran and its foreign and domestic trading. Throughout the history, Bazaar has been as the artery of economic life, the center of formation and association of businesses, occupations and industries. On the other side, the influence of Bazaar in social and political movements in the past centuries has been revealed to everybody. Nonetheless, the structure and content of traditional network of Bazaar changed by nature since the last chapter of Qajar and early of Pahlavi period. Various reasons can be detected; the change in social life in the cities, the entrance of western lifestyle and culture, increase of population, and the need to reform and renovate urban pathways are among the most important reasons of the change. The present study aims to present a comprehensive account of the situation of traditional Bazaar in Isfahan city in the first decades of fourteenth century (Hijri), and investigates the process of its change and its underlying factors. Documents, journals, reports of internal and foreign spectators and economic and social researches constitute the main sources used in this study. The descriptive historical method is used as the method of research.

The concept of quality of life is very broad and dynamic. We can find several definitions for this term in literature, but all of them take physical, cultural, social and environmental conditions into consideration (C.S. Peranambuco et al. 2012). World Health Organization (WHO) defines quality of life as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad concept incorporating an individual’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and relationship with the environmental conditions (WHO 1998).

This study examines the relationship between job stress and mental health in governmental agencies of Sarpol-e-Zahab city. This research method is descriptive-correlation. Statically population is all staffs of governmental agencies. Statically sample is 160 people from governmental staffs. Samples were tested by Job stress questionnaire (IVJSI) and public health (28- GHQ). Results indicate that the positive relationship between job stress and mental health is significant. There was a significant and positive correlation between job stress and physical symptoms of anxiety and depression, but between job stress and social function symptoms is significant negative correlation; thus attention to work environment and agencies work condition cause to enhance the quality of work, employee mental health and efficiency.

Today, Concepts such as a sense of place and place attachment is highly demonstrated in the literature of architecture and urbanism in the field of environmental studies, however, the relationship between the two has not been explained. This study, after definition of sense of place and place attachment and the factors influencing them, derived a five-dimensional model from the factors affecting these two concepts as a theoretical framework. After it, this five- dimensional model has been tested in two case studies, Eram dormitory and Ghods dormitory in Shiraz university. In the process of testing, semi-structured interview and questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS software has been used to analyze the results of survey. Results show that there is a strong relationship between sense of place and place attachment. Results show too that formal factors of environment have a high importance in both sense of place and place attachment. However, the time factor has a lowest importance in creating sense of place but in creating place attachment, it has a high importance after formal factors.

The advent of multipartism in 1992 was celebrated by academics, politicians, and civil societies. However, while the ruling party progressively performs handsomely, opposition parties have remained weak. In the 1995 general elections, the ruling party won about 60 percent of popular votes. This figure increased to 71 percent and 80 percent in 2000 and 2005 general elections respectively. It dropped to about 61 percent in the 2010 elections. I argue in this article that, such performance by the ruling party is largely attributed to its unfair mechanisms of mobilising support through state-party ideologies, human rights abuse, religion and corruption.

Malaysia has always been proud of her unique natural environment and cultural heritages, but still is searching for an exclusive identity of its own gardens. There is a great potential for development of a garden identity for the country, based on her rich legacy in traditions, cultures and beliefs, through which she could identify herself. The nation has a complex population composed of Malay, Chinese and Indian races. Hence, the icon, form, quality and appearance that are going to be introduced for Malaysian gardens should be appreciated, valued and respected by the Malaysian publics with diverse culture and preferences. This paper aims to propose a preferred iconography as a basic approach to create and develop a garden identity for Malaysia. Conducting photo surveys and testing public opinion of garden iconographies, including different garden scenes, reveals the preferred qualities for the image of Malaysian gardens. The result is expected to contribute towards the basic knowledge of Malaysian garden iconography as well as essential findings for landscape architects and garden enthusiasts to design and build garden with Malaysia identity acceptable by the Malaysian public. Moreover, this approach can propose a working model to identify preferred garden iconographies for new developing gardens and can be generalized to international scale.

This paper presents the results of a survey questionnaire that was administered to sample, to investigate those factors that are enormously influencing patriotism among Pakistani youth. In this regard related literature was reviewed and required data was collected from the sample of 84 with the help of questionnaire. Sample consists of young students of various educational levels as well as teachers. The study shows that these factors are not only essential for the stability and serenity of Pakistan but are also facilitative in order to impart loyalty, devotion, dedication and love for the nation in the hearts of Pakistani youth.

Kenya is administratively divided into forty-seven (47) counties each of which shall be under the stewardship of a County Governor once the new constitution is finally implemented. These officers shall be tasked with the coordination of governance and development in the respective administrative areas. Like specific country Heads of State in the case of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), County Governors shall be regarded as peers and hence accountable to both the government and the local community for any development activities. In the NEPAD development thinking, specific countries are required to undertake in-house reviews of their development policies and performance in governance, human rights and social service provision among others. The resultant data are presented to other African Heads of State and Government for peer review and the particular Head of State/Government made to answer for any development shortcomings. Similarly, to improve governance and accountability of leaders in areas under their purview, County Governors in Kenya could be subjected to the same peer review, hence NEPAD from below. This paper examines the APRM philosophy as a development archetype and argues for its intra-country domestication in Kenya focusing on the County.

This study looked at the perceived effect of teenage pregnancy on agricultural productivity in Odeda local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria. About 120 respondents including pregnant teenagers, mothers who once had pregnancy in their teen ages, and other community members were purposively sampled through the snowball sampling method. Four objectives were pursued while a hypothesis was tested. The result indicated that poverty and parental styles are the two major causes of teenage pregnancy. Absence of male household heads is, however, not seen as a serious cause of teenage pregnancy. The study further showed that teenage pregnancy has a negative effect on agricultural production. The result of the tested hypothesis deduced that age, sex and religion has a positive relationship with their assessment of teenage pregnancy. Accessible, free and compulsory qualitative basic education and awareness campaigns on sex education are essentially needed in reducing the incidence of teenage pregnancy in rural areas.