title: The informal sector’s contribution to the economic wellbeing of people in Timor-Leste

authors: Mau-Quei, Helio Augusto da Costa Xavier

subjects: The informal sector

abstract: It is widely believed that the informal sector is growing in the modern global economy. When studying who occupies this informal sector and the nature of their business, the universal tendency is to describe the informal sector as made up of low-income producers and having opportunities for disadvantaged and low-quality sectors to run their businesses. The informal sector business has long been seen as marginalized groups working as subordinates because of economic needs and as a last resort. This thesis empirically analyses the features and characteristics of the informal sector in Timor-Leste and is made up of three connected studies. 
In the first study, in Chapter 2, the factors associated with being an informal sector work were identified. The results show that women rather than men dominate the informal sector. Moreover, there is a gender dimension in informal sector economic activities. Women are more interested in small trading activities, such as retail kiosks and weaving, that are attached to homes. Men mostly perform economic activities, such as mining and construction, outside the home. The informal sector is also dominated by uneducated people. The high level of involvement of illiterate people in the informal sector creates the potential for negative consequences. 
The second study, in Chapter 3, investigated the relationship between informal sector work and the income security, food security, and self-reported health. The only statistically significant relationship was with income security, where informal sector work was associated with lower income security. The relationships between informal sector work and food security and health were not statistically significant. The importance of improving income security among informal sector workers was clear. 
The third study, in Chapter 4, qualitatively investigated factors preventing informal sector development from the informal sector workers’ perspective. The thematic analysis demonstrated that most of the less educated informal sector actors do not have the expertise and knowledge to manage the minimal resources they have. This limited knowledge prevents them from gaining access to initial capital, markets, and other resources. Another factor is the lack of knowledge in managing capital. Most informal sector workers were unable to adequately manage their capital cash flow. The lack of skill in handling capital is a severe issue for developing their business. In addition, the unavailability of basic infrastructure further hindered the development of the informal sector. 
This thesis assesses contributions to the informal sector in which most people play a role in job creation, income generation, livelihood improvement, and living standards despite it still being far from their expectations. Overall, the findings of empirical research in this thesis clarifies issues related to the informal sector. The policy implications of this work include providing a supportive environment by simplifying business-related regulations and procedures, and ensuring that there is easier access to credit. A supportive business environment will stimulate new entrepreneurs to start businesses, and thus provide job opportunities, not only for themselves but for other people as well. Also, the finding of this thesis indicated that women and the uneducated are more likely to engage in informal sector work. Hence, policies could usefully be targeted at supporting women and uneducated people. In turn, their businesses will develop as a form of supporting the household and national economy.

text: The informal sector’s contribution to the economic wellbeing of people in Timor-Leste It is widely believed that the informal sector is growing in the modern global economy. When studying who occupies this informal sector and the nature of their business, the universal tendency is to describe the informal sector as made up of low-income producers and having opportunities for disadvantaged and low-quality sectors to run their businesses. The informal sector business has long been seen as marginalized groups working as subordinates because of economic needs and as a last resort. This thesis empirically analyses the features and characteristics of the informal sector in Timor-Leste and is made up of three connected studies. 
In the first study, in Chapter 2, the factors associated with being an informal sector work were identified. The results show that women rather than men dominate the informal sector. Moreover, there is a gender dimension in informal sector economic activities. Women are more interested in small trading activities, such as retail kiosks and weaving, that are attached to homes. Men mostly perform economic activities, such as mining and construction, outside the home. The informal sector is also dominated by uneducated people. The high level of involvement of illiterate people in the informal sector creates the potential for negative consequences. 
The second study, in Chapter 3, investigated the relationship between informal sector work and the income security, food security, and self-reported health. The only statistically significant relationship was with income security, where informal sector work was associated with lower income security. The relationships between informal sector work and food security and health were not statistically significant. The importance of improving income security among informal sector workers was clear. 
The third study, in Chapter 4, qualitatively investigated factors preventing informal sector development from the informal sector workers’ perspective. The thematic analysis demonstrated that most of the less educated informal sector actors do not have the expertise and knowledge to manage the minimal resources they have. This limited knowledge prevents them from gaining access to initial capital, markets, and other resources. Another factor is the lack of knowledge in managing capital. Most informal sector workers were unable to adequately manage their capital cash flow. The lack of skill in handling capital is a severe issue for developing their business. In addition, the unavailability of basic infrastructure further hindered the development of the informal sector. 
This thesis assesses contributions to the informal sector in which most people play a role in job creation, income generation, livelihood improvement, and living standards despite it still being far from their expectations. Overall, the findings of empirical research in this thesis clarifies issues related to the informal sector. The policy implications of this work include providing a supportive environment by simplifying business-related regulations and procedures, and ensuring that there is easier access to credit. A supportive business environment will stimulate new entrepreneurs to start businesses, and thus provide job opportunities, not only for themselves but for other people as well. Also, the finding of this thesis indicated that women and the uneducated are more likely to engage in informal sector work. Hence, policies could usefully be targeted at supporting women and uneducated people. In turn, their businesses will develop as a form of supporting the household and national economy.

year: 2019

title: Using the framework for design alternatives and variants

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: computer science

abstract: This paper presents a framework for considering multi-team, multi‐disciplinary design of interactive systems in a structured manner. IT practitioners can read the paper to gain a deeper understanding and new perspectives of interaction design processes.

text: Using the framework for design alternatives and variants This paper presents a framework for considering multi-team, multi‐disciplinary design of interactive systems in a structured manner. IT practitioners can read the paper to gain a deeper understanding and new perspectives of interaction design processes.

year: 2019-02

title: Kaupapa Māori Science

authors: Stewart, Georgina Marjorie

subjects: Kaupapa Maori

abstract: This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

text: Kaupapa Māori Science This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

year: 2007