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Yes / The aim of this chapter is to explore how social choice theory and the capability approach can help in clarifying important ethical dilemmas and issues of injustice that need to be addressed for cities to become sustainable cities. Six types of important injustices are identified covering both intra and inter-generational fairness. Some important criticisms of smart cities are considered and important safeguards and policy priorities for smart cities from the social choice and capability approach framings are identified. The main message of this chapter is that sustainability of cities is an ethical issue and not one of technology or measurement and it is all about the six types of injustices and that cities need to tackle all six of these injustices in their quest to become sustainable. Nudging and smart cities can help but these must be contextualised to priorities participation and equality. Social choice theory as formulated by Amartya Sen provides important insights to understand and deal with conflicts between different demands on freedoms of different individuals. / British Academy / The full-text of this book chapter will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 14 Sep 2024.

No / Using an Osteobiographical approach, this contribution considers the identity of the woman found alongside the St Bees Man, one of the best-preserved archaeological bodies ever discovered. Osteological, isotopic and radiocarbon analyses, combined with the archaeological context of the burial and documented social history, provide the basis for the identification of a late 14th-century heiress whose activities were at the heart of medieval northern English geopolitics.

This study discusses the evolutionist approach to African history as an action plan for challenging the hegemony of English in university education and in the teaching and writing of literature in post-independence Africa. The researcher selected Zimbabwe’s university education and literary practice as the microcosm case studies whilst Africa’s university education and literary practice in general, were used as macrocosmic case studies for the study. Some two universities: the Midlands State University and the Great Zimbabwe State University and some six academic departments from the two universities were on target. The researcher used questionnaires to access data from university students and lecturers and he used interviews to gather data from university departmental Chairpersons, scholars, fiction writers and stakeholders in organizations that deal with language growth and development in Zimbabwe. Data from questionnaires was analysed on the basis of numerical scores and percentage of responses. By virtue of its not being easily quantified, data from interviews was presented through capturing what each of the thirteen key informants said and was then analysed on the basis of the hegemonic theory that is proposed in this study. The research findings were discussed using: the evolutionist approach to the history of Africa; data from document analysis; information gathered through the use of the participant and observer technique and using examples from what happened and/or is still happening in the different African countries. The study established that the approaches which have so far been used to challenge the hegemony of English in post-independence Africa are not effective. The approaches are six in total. They are the essentialist, the assimilationist, the developmentalist, the code-switch, the multilingualist and the syncretic. They are ineffective since they are used in a wrong era: That era, is the era of Neocolonialism (Americanization of the world). Therefore, the researcher has recommended the use of the evolutionist approach to African history as a strategy for challenging the hegemony in question. The approach lobbies that, for Africa to successfully challenge that hegemony, she should first of all move her history from the era of Neocolonialism as she enters the era of Nationalism. / African Languages / (D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages))

This study compared three methods of selecting the best discriminating test items and the resultant test reliability of mastery/nonmastery classifications. These three methods were (a) the agreement approach, (b) the phi coefficient approach, and (c) the random selection approach. Test responses from 1,836 students on a 50-item physical science test were used, from which 90 distinct data sets were generated for analysis. These 90 data sets contained 10 replications of the combination of three different sample sizes (75, 150, and 300) and three different numbers of test items (15, 25, and 35). The results of this study indicated that the agreement approach was an appropriate method to be used for selecting criterion-referenced test items at the classroom level, while the phi coefficient approach was an appropriate method to be used at the district and/or state levels. The random selection method did not have similar characteristics in selecting test items and produced the lowest reliabilities, when compared with the agreement and the phi coefficient approaches.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

<p>This paper offers to measure efficiency of banks in Sub Saharan Africa and its determining input andout put factors on two fonts. At this purpose, we applied the first font; Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) for assessing efficiency level. The actual and target level of inputs/outputs to foster efficiencyare shown in the results. Secondly, the banks ratio analysis measuring banks performance throughreturns volatility for each bank, asset utilization and provision for bad and doubtful debts over thestudy period are all used as tools for this analysis. Our results suggest that Sub Saharan AfricanBanks are about 98.35% efficient. We are aware that the level of efficiency could be subject to up anddown swing if environmental factors influencing banks efficiency where taken into consideration.Finally, our result (DEA) is more sensitive to loans, other liabilities, other non interest expense,securities and deposit.</p>

This paper offers to measure efficiency of banks in Sub Saharan Africa and its determining input andout put factors on two fonts. At this purpose, we applied the first font; Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) for assessing efficiency level. The actual and target level of inputs/outputs to foster efficiencyare shown in the results. Secondly, the banks ratio analysis measuring banks performance throughreturns volatility for each bank, asset utilization and provision for bad and doubtful debts over thestudy period are all used as tools for this analysis. Our results suggest that Sub Saharan AfricanBanks are about 98.35% efficient. We are aware that the level of efficiency could be subject to up anddown swing if environmental factors influencing banks efficiency where taken into consideration.Finally, our result (DEA) is more sensitive to loans, other liabilities, other non interest expense,securities and deposit.

Personality inventories in South Africa are challenged with many factors restricting unbiased and fair measurement. The Employment Equity Act clearly stipulates that all psychometric measuring instruments should be proven bias free, equivalent, and fair. Most of the current inventories utilised in South Africa are imported from Europe and/or the United States of America, and these instruments are translated into either English or Afrikaans, which restricts the language proficiency factor of respondents from other language groups. There are 11 official language groups in South Africa; people also differ regarding race, culture, socioeconomic status, and educational backgrounds. All of these factors are not always properly accounted for in the standardisation of imported inventories - which limits their appropriate employment in the South African context. The objective of this study was to uncover the personality structure of each of the 11 language groups in South Africa, and to identify the shared and unique personality dimensions of the different language groups. From this structure, an instrument will be developed to measure personality in such a way that it will meet the Employment Equity Act. A qualitative research design was used in this study. Quasi-sampling («=1308j was implemented in order to identify participants from each of the 11 language groups, which differed from each other with regard to age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Following the lexical approach, structured interviews were conducted in the native language of the participants to gather information about personality-descriptive terms. The results of the interviews were transcribed and captured in Excel, and sent to language experts for language editing and translation into English. Ambiguous, superfluous and non-personality terms were removed from the data. Following this process, more than 50 000 personality-descriptive terms were identified. Content analysis was utilised in order to interpret the personality- descriptive terms to personality dimensions. Language and cultural experts were employed in order to validate the initial interpretations. The 50 000 descriptive terms were reduced to 190 personality dimensions through the use of cluster analysis. The analysis included the grouping of synonyms and antonyms, together with the use of dictionaries, literature and knowledge about content. The 190 dimensions were also divided into those that are common (shared by all 11 language groups), semi-common (shared by seven to ten of the language groups), semi-specific (shared by two to six of the language groups), and language-specific (unique to a particular language group). It was discovered that 78 dimensions were common, 69 semi-common, 32 semi-specific, and only 11 were language-specific. Most of the personality dimensions seem to be shared by the language groups, rather than to be unique. These 190 dimensions were clustered further in order to build the indigenous personality structure. Similar methods from the initial clustering phase were implemented. Clustering concluded 37 sub-clusters, which consisted of two to ten dimensions, and nine overall clusters consisting of two to six sub-clusters. These nine clusters are Extroversion, Soft-heartedness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, Intellect, Openness, Integrity, Relationship harmony, and Facilitating. Many indigenous aspects are evident, as well as universal aspects within the structure. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.