Bibliography: pages 88-94. / The writer of this Masters dissertation, presented in six chapters, has practised for many years as a social worker in the rural, developing country of the Republic of Bophuthatswana. The subject of the research study was however prompted by the time she spent as a protocol officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Bophuthatswana. Search for an academic background on protocol (for reference in her practice) having proved fruitless, she undertook the research now reported upon. The study has been carried out using the techniques of participant observation, process recording, and elementary content analysis. Documentary sources were also used. Otherwise the work is descriptive, and does not make use of statistical techniques. The study examines the relationship between the function of protocol on the one hand and social policy and social administration on the other. The diary technique as a method of data collection was used. Since this is a typological study of the tasks of a protocol officer, the daily activities of the officer were recorded in the diary (but not timed) over a period of six months. This was regarded as a sufficiently representative period. After six months of data collection, the writer examined all entries in the diary. Every activity was labelled with the specific message it carried. Classification in a systematic manner, according to the characteristic messages that these activities carried, followed. In this way ten categories emerged from the data. The writer has identified and described the categories. The ten categories were then examined and subjected to further analysis which resulted in quantitative findings which are reflected in tabular form. It was hypothesised that protocol is social administration and that it has implication for social policy. The writer's conclusion is that a protocol officer has however to possess skills which go beyond those of an administrator. Protocol officers therefore require professional training. The writer ventured away from conventional Social Work studies in choosing to research the field of protocol. Throughout, therefore, she consciously tried not to stray too far, but instead, time and again, attempted to relate the study directly to the discipline and the profession of Social Work. In conclusion the writer thought it fitting to point to other (cognate) perspectives on her subject. The sociologist Max Weber, for instance, provides good frameworks within which protocol should be studied.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/17160 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Ratefane, Tumelo A |
| Contributors | Helm, Brunhilde |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Social Development |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSocSc |
| Format | application/pdf |
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