title: The place and meaning of physical culture in the lives of underserved young women in a Canadian inner-city

authors: Lemoine, Meghan

subjects: interpretive phenomenolgy

abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore underserved young women's experiences and understandings of physical culture (Kirk, 1999).  There is evidence that once young people reach the age of adolescence, patterns of participation in physical activity decline (Humbert, Chad, Burner, Spink, Muhajarine, Anderson, Girolami, Odnokon, & Gryba, 2008)  and in Canada this drop is more significant for young women then young men (Wharf Higgins, Gaul, Gibbons, & Van Gyn, 2003).  While there is a growing body of research indicating that young people’s experiences with physical activity are different across social, cultural and physical locations (Burrows & McCormack, 2011), the perspectives of young women who are situated in marginalized communities are rarely sought (Hill & Azzarito, 2012; Dagkas & Hunter, 2015). What is undoubtedly known about young women in marginalized communities is that they have less access and opportunities to engage in physical culture than their counterparts in affluent communities (Sabo, 2009). This research sought to make sense of this outcome by diving into the lived experiences of the young women who live in these communities, specifically an underserved community in a Canadian city. Data were collected from 6 young women between ages 12 and 18 using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological analysis. Five key themes emerged: (1) Attitudes Towards Physical Activity (2) Supports (3) Constraints (4) Gender Discourse (5) Centrality of the Body in Physical Culture.  While some findings mirrored those present in existing research literature, others suggest there are particular supports and constraints to participation that distinguish these young women's experiences in an underserved community. The neighbourhood community center emerged as a crucial support for these young women's engagement in physical activity. It is important that the programs in these kinds of spaces continue to be supported financially to provide young women with access and opportunities to physical activity. Further, policy makers and teachers must consider the wider circumstance of their lives as underserved young people and actively seek to create equitable opportunities.

text: The place and meaning of physical culture in the lives of underserved young women in a Canadian inner-city The purpose of this study was to explore underserved young women's experiences and understandings of physical culture (Kirk, 1999).  There is evidence that once young people reach the age of adolescence, patterns of participation in physical activity decline (Humbert, Chad, Burner, Spink, Muhajarine, Anderson, Girolami, Odnokon, & Gryba, 2008)  and in Canada this drop is more significant for young women then young men (Wharf Higgins, Gaul, Gibbons, & Van Gyn, 2003).  While there is a growing body of research indicating that young people’s experiences with physical activity are different across social, cultural and physical locations (Burrows & McCormack, 2011), the perspectives of young women who are situated in marginalized communities are rarely sought (Hill & Azzarito, 2012; Dagkas & Hunter, 2015). What is undoubtedly known about young women in marginalized communities is that they have less access and opportunities to engage in physical culture than their counterparts in affluent communities (Sabo, 2009). This research sought to make sense of this outcome by diving into the lived experiences of the young women who live in these communities, specifically an underserved community in a Canadian city. Data were collected from 6 young women between ages 12 and 18 using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological analysis. Five key themes emerged: (1) Attitudes Towards Physical Activity (2) Supports (3) Constraints (4) Gender Discourse (5) Centrality of the Body in Physical Culture.  While some findings mirrored those present in existing research literature, others suggest there are particular supports and constraints to participation that distinguish these young women's experiences in an underserved community. The neighbourhood community center emerged as a crucial support for these young women's engagement in physical activity. It is important that the programs in these kinds of spaces continue to be supported financially to provide young women with access and opportunities to physical activity. Further, policy makers and teachers must consider the wider circumstance of their lives as underserved young people and actively seek to create equitable opportunities.

year: 2020

title: An Evaluation of Public Participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process of the Maldives

authors: Zuhair, Mohamed Hamdhaan

subjects: Sustainable Development

abstract: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a proactive tool that assesses and addresses the environmental and social impacts of development projects. It has been identified as a process that can potentially deliver the goal of sustainable development. Public participation is an important aspect of both EIA and sustainable development. In many countries EIA provides the only opportunity for the public to participate in decision-making processes. Nevertheless, research reveals that meaningful public participation in EIA in most countries remains a false promise, with consultations undertaken only as an administrative necessity and with the public having no real power to influence the decisions. It is argued here that, in order for public participation in the EIA process to be effective and promote sustainable development, the process needs to follow participatory principles promoted by deliberative democracy. 
This research investigates the EIA process of the Maldives, a developing island nation in the Indian Ocean. The low-lying nature of the country makes it extremely vulnerable to environmental change and, therefore, sustainable development is high on the agenda for the Maldives. It is a worthwhile case to study as the political context of the country is changing with the Maldives’ recent embracing of democracy. Moreover, the EIA regulations of the country were recently amended in an attempt to make the process more robust. These changes provide an interesting context for the research. In addition, there is very little prior literature on EIA in the Maldives and hence this research is an opportunity to contribute to a still limited body of scholarship. 
An interpretive phenomenological research paradigm was adopted in designing the research. A multimethod qualitative research design was selected, with documents and semi-structured interview being the primary data sources. A conceptual framework based on the reviewed literature was developed and used to direct the research design. In this respect, four aspects that ensure a deliberative participatory process were investigated: fairness, competence, willingness, and capacity. 
The findings reveal that the participatory procedure in the Maldives is neither fair nor competent. Moreover, several socioeconomic barriers that affect the capacity and willingness of the actors to participate were identified: namely, political influence, a lack of human and financial capacity, gender gap, a loss of community spirit, and a lack of environmental and procedural awareness.
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on public participation in the EIA process. It specifically helps to identify key challenges for effective public participation in the Maldives EIA process. In this regard, both procedural and socioeconomic barriers were identified. The recommendations proposed are based on the findings of the research, and, if adopted, can lead to more meaningful public participation and thus potentially help to achieve the goal of sustainable development through the EIA process.

text: An Evaluation of Public Participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process of the Maldives Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a proactive tool that assesses and addresses the environmental and social impacts of development projects. It has been identified as a process that can potentially deliver the goal of sustainable development. Public participation is an important aspect of both EIA and sustainable development. In many countries EIA provides the only opportunity for the public to participate in decision-making processes. Nevertheless, research reveals that meaningful public participation in EIA in most countries remains a false promise, with consultations undertaken only as an administrative necessity and with the public having no real power to influence the decisions. It is argued here that, in order for public participation in the EIA process to be effective and promote sustainable development, the process needs to follow participatory principles promoted by deliberative democracy. 
This research investigates the EIA process of the Maldives, a developing island nation in the Indian Ocean. The low-lying nature of the country makes it extremely vulnerable to environmental change and, therefore, sustainable development is high on the agenda for the Maldives. It is a worthwhile case to study as the political context of the country is changing with the Maldives’ recent embracing of democracy. Moreover, the EIA regulations of the country were recently amended in an attempt to make the process more robust. These changes provide an interesting context for the research. In addition, there is very little prior literature on EIA in the Maldives and hence this research is an opportunity to contribute to a still limited body of scholarship. 
An interpretive phenomenological research paradigm was adopted in designing the research. A multimethod qualitative research design was selected, with documents and semi-structured interview being the primary data sources. A conceptual framework based on the reviewed literature was developed and used to direct the research design. In this respect, four aspects that ensure a deliberative participatory process were investigated: fairness, competence, willingness, and capacity. 
The findings reveal that the participatory procedure in the Maldives is neither fair nor competent. Moreover, several socioeconomic barriers that affect the capacity and willingness of the actors to participate were identified: namely, political influence, a lack of human and financial capacity, gender gap, a loss of community spirit, and a lack of environmental and procedural awareness.
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on public participation in the EIA process. It specifically helps to identify key challenges for effective public participation in the Maldives EIA process. In this regard, both procedural and socioeconomic barriers were identified. The recommendations proposed are based on the findings of the research, and, if adopted, can lead to more meaningful public participation and thus potentially help to achieve the goal of sustainable development through the EIA process.

year: 2015

title: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: translation

abstract: This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

text: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

year: 2014