Jordan has a higher fertility rate (3.8) than the averages of countries similar in income to Jordan (2.2) and compared to the Middle East and North Africa region as a whole (2.8) (WHO, WB, UNICEF, & DHS, 2011). The findings of the 2009 Jordanian Population and Family Health Survey demonstrated that the total fertility rate (TFR) has stopped declining in the country since 2002 (DOS, 2010b; USAID, 2010). The prevalence of contraceptive use has also shown little change in Jordan over the last decade (DOS, 2010b; USAID, 2010). Given that contraception is one of the proximate determinants of fertility (Rahayu et al., 2009), the main purpose of this study was to investigate which factors are contributing to women's current contraceptive behavior and intention for future contraceptive use. Research questions were developed in a comprehensive framework that considers women's intention and actual behavior as outcomes of various interactive factors within a socio-cultural context. In particular, the study's framework was directed by a theoretical basis adapted from Ajzen and Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and an extensive review of the available literature in the research area. Obviously, the social set-up and cultural norms in the study setting, together with attitudes toward children and family, represent a traditional scenario that could help explain the consistency of fertility and contraceptive use in the country. Further, the influences of background characteristics on women's contraceptive behaviors and intentions provide another scenario that could help assess the current situation of family planning (FP) in Jordan. In this study, demographic factors, spousal communication variables and healthcare system-related factors are all defined as background characteristics. Attitudes and social norms reflect the women's behavioral determinants and represent the main constructs of the TRA. In fact, involving a set of factors related to women's beliefs and social norms in the study's framework provided an opportunity to explore how these factors might promote or inhibit a woman's intentions and behaviors in respect to contraceptive use. In a three-manuscript format, this research was designed to achieve a number of objectives. The first manuscript aimed at identifying the major factors associated with the current use of contraception among women of childbearing age in northern Jordan. The second manuscript focused on investigating the main factors that are associated with women's contraceptive method preference (e.g. the choice of modern contraceptives as effective methods in preventing pregnancy versus the choice of traditional contraceptives as methods with high failure rates). The third manuscript attempted to explore the key factors associated with women's intention for future contraceptive use since the existence of such an intention would consequently translate into an actual behavior later. In 2010, original cross-section data were collected by means of a face-to-face interview using a structured pre-tested survey. The study sample included women who were currently married and were between 18 and 49 years old. Applying a systematic random sampling procedure, all respondents were recruited from the waiting rooms of five randomly selected Maternal and Child Health (MCH) centers in the Governorate of Irbid, northern Jordan. Using a list provided by the Ministry of Health, all centers in the Governorate were stratified according to the region (urban vs. rural) and randomly selected in proportion to their number in each region. The final sample size for this research consisted of 536 women surveyed, giving a response rate of 92.4 percent. Utilizing logistic regression analyses, the results of the dissertation manuscripts indicate that women's behaviors and intentions toward the use of contraception are affected by a number of factors at the individual, familial and institutional levels. The findings that emerged from the three manuscripts provide health professionals and policy makers with important information to assist in the design of FP programs and campaigns aimed at increasing current contraceptive use, enhancing the adoption of modern contraception and motivating the intention for future contraceptive use. This research strongly suggests that health professionals develop health policies that both expand the availability of MCH centers and strengthen the role of healthcare providers to dispel the numerous rumors and misconceptions surrounding the use of contraceptives, particularly modern ones. Health workers at the MCH centers need to ensure that women have sufficient information about the benefits and side effects of different types of contraception by offering proper FP counseling. The messages that religious leaders can use in advocating for FP would also help make contraceptive use socially acceptable since their opinions are often followed by the majority. This would be a key step toward removing the barriers to contraceptive use. Moreover, to design effective FP interventions, planners should take into account women's attitudes toward the use of contraceptive methods and the components of those attitudes (e.g. women's approval of contraceptive use for birth spacing and perceptions regarding the value of large family sizes and the importance of having male children in Jordanian families). / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from May 9, 2012 - May 9, 2013

In Jordan, residential care institutions (RCIs) for children in conflict with the law are identified as various specialised state institutions which constitute a state formal response to youth crime, and specialise in taking care of children. This thesis examines the objectives of RCIs’ programmes for children in conflict with the law in Jordan, as they attempt to reduce offending by convicted children, and whether these objectives meet children’s needs, according to the view and experiences of children themselves (12-17 years). This study is based on qualitative methods, using data from individual and focus group interviews with institutional staff, and participant observation and individual interviews with children. Exploring the divergent claims made within childhood and youth crime theoretical perspectives, this thesis develops a nuanced understanding of institutions’ crime-reduction programmes by drawing upon key theoretical concepts from these frameworks: children as ‘socially becoming’ and ‘social beings’. RCIs provide four rehabilitative programmes to help reduce children’s problematic and offending behaviour; namely, a family guidance programme (FGP), a poverty reduction programme (PRP), an educational programme (EP) and a child behaviour modification programme (CBMP). To a large extent, these programmes tended to provide polices of crime prevention which focus on re-socialising children according to the normative and cultural system of behaviour in which children were generally perceived as incompetent social actors, and where their best interest was not always acknowledged. To a large extent, children’s own perspectives and experiences of institutional rehabilitative programmes revealed the institutional failure to treat their familial, economical, educational and behavioural problems. Overall, children thought such failure happened either because the institutional aims were not actually implemented, or because the methods of delivering the institutional programmes per se were ineffective. This finding reflects a contradictory picture between the RCIs’ objectives and their actual practices, reflecting the institutional departure from a set of theoretical ideas regarding the prevention of youth crime. Focus group discussion with key informant staff referred to a variety of obstacles that contribute to their inability to address children’s wider needs within the existing institutional aims. Parental refusal to participate in child abuse and supervisory neglect interventional sessions, short-term intervention for chronically abused children and institutional reliance on talking methods in promoting parental supervision over children’s behaviour were all issues hindering effective institutional intervention within the familial environment. The institutional failure to meet children’s educational and career training needs occurred because these programmes are scheduled at the same time. The seriousness of some children’s crimes and the inability of some families to accompany their children to school were other issues preventing children from attending school. The lack of staff motivation, along with staff’s interrelated roles, prevented child monitoring staff from fully carrying out the intended intervention of modifying children’s negative behaviours. Ultimately, the findings from this study indicate the inconsistency between RCIs’ principles of rehabilitating children in conflict with the law and their actual practices, including the lack of policies in place to meet the institutional objectives. This in turn meant that RCIs do not actually operate to rehabilitate children in order to reduce reoffending, but are largely punitive and operate to criminalise children and separate them from society.

The general homogeneity of artifacts of the Intermediate Early Bronze - Middle Bronze Age in Palestine has been acknowledged for some years, but the evidence for a relative chronology and typology of objects within the period is based largely on the contents of tombs. Since the surveys of Nelson Glueck in Transjordan it has been apparent that in this region there exist a very large number of EB.MB settlement sites with artifacts directly comparable to those of Contemporary Palestine. It was hoped therefore that some evidence for development within the period might be more readily discernible in Transjordan than in Palestine, where regional differences between cemeteries were sufficiently marked to make any chronological succession very difficult to establish. If the order of succession could be achieved in Transjordan, it would therefore elucidate some of the most difficult problems of chronology in Palestine, as well as shedding light on an area that was in itself insufficiently well known. Subsequently the scope of this research was widened to include all areas within which this homogeneous culture was discernible. This study is based therefore on the field work of several seasons in Syria, Lebanon and particularly Transjordan. It is primarily a collation of most aspects of archaeological evidence in the areas where objects typical of the EB.MB period have been found, and a discussion of the inferences which may be drawn from this evidence. The period is defined chronoigically c. 2350 - 1900 B.C., and at the outset the general basis of terminology and chronology accepted in this study are defined, as there are a multiplicity of terms currently in use. The first section attempts a very short summary of the literary and historical evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestine which bears on the questions of the ethnic identity of the occupants of Palestine - Syria in the late third - early second millennia and what evidence there is for population movements. Although there is no direct historical solution to these problems, such historical evidence as there is must provide a framework within which the archaeological evidence can be more accurately assessed. The second section is concerned with the geographical evidence. The first topic is the limits of settlement of EB.MB peoples based on the evidence of archaeological survey, only in terms of people using artifacts directly comparable to those in Palestine. Sources and methods are described. The discussion which follows suggests topographical and climatic factors which appear to have influenced settlement at this time, and finally some tentative suggestions are made concerning political and social organization, and direction of settlement. Distribution of sites and the surface evidence suggest that new influences are most likely to have come from the north-east, penetrating Palestine and TransJordan by way of the major river valleys. Section three, dealing with the pottery, contains the weight of the evidence for the conclusions. It deals first with a description of the excavations and pottery from Tell Iktanu, which provided the basis for the pottery typology and relative chronology of the EB.MB in Transjordan. There follows a discussion of the comparative material from surface survey and excavation in Transjordan which suggests where this material should be placed in relation to regional and chronological variations. The main inferences which can be drawn from this pottery evidence are that much of the pottery is directly derived from that of the local EBA, and secondly that there are definable "innovating features" as opposed to mere typological developments from EBA to EB.MB; and that therefore if the origins of these innovations can be traced, a clear case for the origins of the new population element which intermingled with that of the EBA should also be indicated. A brief survey of the contemporary archaeology of areas to the north indicates that apart from the south Lebanon cemeteries no direct contacts for either EB.MB pottery or the "innovating features" are found in Lebanon. The central Syrian pottery shows greater complexity, but the conclusion is that a sequence Kama K - Kama J - Qatna Tomb IV -r Hama H excludes the "innovating features" observed in TransJordan, and that contemporary Hama J develops from three major urban traditions a) late Early Dynastic III of north Syria indicated mainly in Hama J8-7, b) Sargonid of north Syria from Hama J7 onwards, and c) Levantine EBA throughout. The direct links for the "innovating features", dated c.2350 B.C. in Transjordan, are found in the ED III traditions of the central Euphrates region, from Mari, Til Barsip, Harran, Amarna and Hammam, and it is concluded that people who were associated, but not perhaps directly part of that urban tradition, migrated south from their homelands following the campaigns of Lugalzagesi, the Akkadian expansion in north Mesopotamia and campaigns of Sargon. A secondary influence is traced c.2100-2000 B.C. affecting Palestine more considerably than TransJordan, of which the origins are not clearly discernible, but which are probably due to new influences rather than influxes of new people. The degree of continuity in population and pottery typology is however stressed for the whole period. Sections four and five deal with the stone and metal work. The flints in particular indicate continuity of "Canaanean" traditions from EBA through EB.MB to MBA. There are not many metal objects on which to base a relative typology, but it is also suggested that throughout the period the pin types in particular indicate greater continuity of early inland Syrian traditions than has previously been recognised. Section six shows that there is considerable diversity of grave types, but again tentatively suggests there is a clear, and probably early, north Syrian influence on a basically EBA tradition, and concludes by suggesting that traditions of burial are one of the very few factors by which the assimilation of the EB.MB population in MBA society post-1900 B.C. can be detected archaeologically. Section seven is concerned with the evidence of habitation. It is generally agreed that the EB.MB period is one of nomadic or semi-nomadic occupation, but in some respects the evidence for sedentary occupation has been denigrated. The evidence for both ways of life is reviewed and it is concluded that there are two major processes involved, i) the decline of EBA urban civilization which nonetheless has a lingering influence in the EB.MB period and ii) the introduction of a semi-nomadic element in the population which gradually shows a tendency to settle permanently in fertile areas. In the concluding chapter a few other aspects of the EB.MB period are discussed, including the suggestion that cattle played an important part in pastoralism, and that there was sufficient agriculture to indicate not more than partial nomadism. A brief summary of other views of typology and the origins of the people of the EB.MB period is then followed by conclusions based on the evidence of the previous chapters. These conclusions are that c. 2350 B.C. semi-nomadic people arrived in Transjordan from north Syria and intermingled with the probably West Semitic EB III population. These newcomers may also have been West Semites, but there is no definite evidence that they were Amorites though the evidence does not exclude the possibility. This population remained largely unchanged, and in considerable isolation, until c. 1900 B.C. There are new influences apparent c. 2100 B.C. but the basic continuity of artifacts and social order is clear, and the changes probably do not indicate a large influx of new people.

This thesis is a multi-disciplinary survey of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 BC) illustrated with an abundant use of maps and tables. The purpose is to determine how the Jordan Valley functioned as an economic unit during the Late Bronze Age. This thesis surveys the geographical, historical and archaeological records related to the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. A chapter is devoted to each field, geography (physical and human), history (Egyptian and Hebrew Bible) and archaeology. The data from each discipline is used to individually answer two questions: 1) was the Jordan Valley a single geographic/economic unit in the Late Bronze Age? 2) to what extent was the Jordan Valley integrated/interacting with the east-west highlands and the larger region in the Late Bronze Age? The primary objectives are to 1) explore and model a historical geographic hermeneutic for understanding the human experience of the Ancient Near East; and 2) lay a foundation for understanding the role of the Jordan Valley in affecting the Biblical periods of the Israelite monarchy to the Roman period.The answers from each chapter are then synthesized into a single geographic historical archaeological picture of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. The Central Jordan Valley was divided into two sections: a fertile, populated, well connected north-central section and an isolated, sparsely populated southern section with limited agricultural zones. Trade with and between the eastern and western highlands is well represented by artifactual parallels in and through the Jordan Valley, the north-central section on a regional and international scale and the southern section on a more local scale. The thesis concludes that there are more artifactual points of connection between the Jordan Valley and the eastern highlands than with the western highlands. An ‘early conquest’ model of the Hebrew Bible is plausible within the historical records of the Egyptian 18th and 19th Dynasties and the geographical and archaeological records of the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies

The general aim of this research is to examine both the human elements and the facilities associated with Jordanian Pre-Vocational Education(PVE) provision, namely, the design concept, the students, teachers, administrators, PVE workshops, and PVE curriculum. These five components were used to guide the study. The investigation focus on the contribution of these components to the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. For the purpose of the research a variety of data collection methods were employed; a self-completion questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and analysis of documentary material. The items/statements/questions, that have been included cover the key areas which were a subject of investigation and examination. The data collection methods were pre-tested and piloted before use in the field study. The data was collected in-country during the period between September 1996 and January 1997. As with the pilot study, in each school visited, the questionnaires were presented to students, teachers, school heads, and PVE supervisors. The data collected has been treated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Statistical techniques, mainly Mean, Standard Deviation, and One-way ANOV A, were employed to. interpret the study findings, to mount the several comparisons required, and to determine the different relationships. The major findings of the study i~'dicated that policy-makers support the introduction of PVE, seeing it as an important vocational aspect within basic education. However, in general, the degree of effectiveness and efficiency of PVE delivery within Jordanian provision varied from region to region and from one school to another. The study findings highlight that the effectiveness and the efficiency of PVE, within the Jordanian provision, do not just depend upon the adequacy 'and the sufficiency of facilities and equipment, but, more importantly, on the relation between practice and policy intentions~ Furthermore, it can be seen that the findings underlying the study VIn provide some important lessons and strategies for the future of PVE in Jordan, and . also more widely for the countries of the developing world. Thus, this study provides an insight, and it is hoped a contribution to the development of PVE.

The fundamental aim of this thesis is to propose and examine a conceptual model that best explains the key factors influencing Jordanian customers' intentions and usage of SST banking channels: Internet banking, Mobile banking, and Telebanking.

The objective of this study is to investigate the concept of trustworthiness and then examine its effect within the venue of the hotel sector. Given trustworthiness accepted importance to relationship marketing, there appears to be a failure to develop a coherent framework to indicate trustworthiness. This is a gap that this thesis addresses and by doing so, it will extend the body of knowledge by contributing to our understanding of the construct and its determinants. The main hypothesis in this thesis is identifying the determinants of trustworthiness with an outcome as part of a causal model. Within the proposed model, the determinants; consistency, competence, integrity, benevolence, value alignment and communication are assumed to have a positive impact on trustworthiness. In turn, trustworthiness has a positive impact on both attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty, the two types of loyalty are proposed as the model outcome, whereas the previous six determinants are proposed as antecedents of trustworthiness. In order to test the proposed hypotheses, a new measurement scale was developed in order to evaluate trustworthiness with its determinants and outcome, the model was tested within the hotel sector in Jordan where over 526 respondents took part in the main survey collection, 60 respondents participated in the pilot study along with 11 interviewees. The results from the empirical study revealed that the hypothesised model is valid and significant, in which all the antecedents of trustworthiness had a significant loading as well as the model corollaries. These loadings vary in its significance and strength; this created a clearer picture on the expected impact of each of these determinants once the model being applied within service organisations.

No description available.

Iraqi women living in Amman, Jordan view the city as a temporary residence, and their lives there are characterized by uncertainty and isolation. Iraqi social history, Jordanian policies on immigration and citizenship, and economic hardship all contribute to the production and maintenance of this uncertainty. These factors also prevent the formation of a cohesive Iraqi community in Amman, and thus the development of a shared understanding of the violence and displacement that this group has experienced. Given these circumstances, the manner in which Iraqi women articulate their relationship to their country of origin is highly idiosyncratic and responsive to the demands of their daily lives in Jordan as they prepare mentally either to return to Iraq or to resettle in a third country.

Online grocery shopping is one of the Internet business applications that received much attention in the last few years. Online grocery shopping has grown at a fast scale in the developed countries, where customers and retailers have benefited from it. However, this service remains in its infancy stage in developing countries. Groceries are one of the most difficult objects to sell online mainly, because of sensory and delivery issues. Online customers still worry about product quality, and they demand optimum logistical services, convenience, reliability and timely delivery service. Therefore, retailers have to respond to these expectations by developing convenient logistical services while keeping this process cost-efficient as much as possible. The main aim of this research is to design an e-commerce logistical decision support system for grocery retailers in Jordan as a case study of applying online grocery shopping in a developing country. Grocery retailers will be exposed to this model, and will be able to determine the most suitable logistical delivery system in the future. In order to achieve this aim, the designed system incorporates a web ordering system to collect customer orders, embedded map source (Google Maps) and a database system. The collected data then exported to one of the available routing and scheduling online solutions in order to identify, analyze and statistically compare the cost efficiencies of the available delivery alternatives. Moreover, two specially designed questionnaires were distributed among a group of customers and grocery retailers in Jordan, asking about their attitudes towards online grocery shopping and its delivery service. The results from analyzing the questionnaires data statistically were also used as input parameters for the designed system evaluation process. The findings from the questionnaires data statistical analysis indicated that Jordanian customers and retailers have positive attitudes towards online grocery shopping. The results also showed that customers and retailers have serious concerns towards the delivery service in Jordan. Customers are mainly worried about the availability of a suitable delivery service, while retailers are worried about the market size for the delivery service. The findings from implementing and statistically testing the proposed model over three delivery alternatives showed that there are differences between the mean values of the delivery alternatives among their key performance indicators (cost, distance and time). The questionnaire respondents indicated that they both prefer the pickup point service after home delivery for customers and after shop pickup for retailers. Depending on the level of investments that grocery retailers would like to implement and according to the experiment results, it could be concluded that pickup point solution is the best logistical strategy for retailers to start with.