E-governments' role activation in arab countries

This paper discusses the activating role of e-Governments in the Arab countries, by seeking new rules and innovative ways to provide services to the public sector. It starts from the analysis of different stages and dimensions of e-government through better understanding of the phenomenon and investment of opportunities in Information Technology in order to develop the role of governments and departments of public affairs particularly in Arab countries. In the developing countries most of the Arab governments may be doing their best to deliver the best services they can offer but with low level of efficiency and high cost. This raised many questions about productivity and performance of government agencies; the problem of low productivity and poor performance in the government sector that affected individuals and administrative units. This paper aims to analyze the different stages, concepts and dimensions of e-government and to understand the opportunities that information technology offers, especially in Arab countries in order to develop the government role as well as public affairs administration system.

A situation analysis of the food control systems in Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

Increased concerns over food safety have led to the adoption of international guidance on the key elements for national food control systems. This guidance had been used to conduct an initial assessment of the status of the food control systems in the countries belonging to the Gulf Cooperation Council. Our research has identified how the countries have been attempting to enhance their food control systems. Although the countries have different approaches to food control management, cooperation is leading to increased harmonization of legislation and food control practices. Progress is being made but there is evidence of some weakness where additional efforts may be needed. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The MaPS project: mapping teacher conceptions of musical development

The chapter starts from the premise that an historically- and institutionally-formed orientation to music education at primary level in European countries privileges a nineteenth century Western European music aesthetic, with its focus on formal characteristics such as melody and rhythm. While there is a move towards a multi-faceted understanding of musical ability, a discrete intelligence and willingness to accept musical styles or 'open-earedness', there remains a paucity of documented evidence of this in research at primary school level. To date there has been no study undertaken which has the potential to provide policy makers and practitioners with insights into the degree of homogeneity or universality in conceptions of musical ability within this educational sector. Against this background, a study was set up to explore the following research questions: 1. What conceptions of musical ability do primary teachers hold a) of themselves and; b) of their pupils? 2. To what extent are these conceptions informed by Western classical practices? A mixed methods approach was used which included survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Questionnaires have been sent to all classroom teachers in a random sample of primary schools in the South East of England. This was followed up with a series of semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of respondents. The main ideas are concerned with the attitudes, beliefs and working theories held by teachers in contemporary primary school settings. By mapping the extent to which a knowledge base for teaching can be resistant to change in schools, we can problematise primary schools as sites for diversity and migration of cultural ideas. Alongside this, we can use the findings from the study undertaken in an English context as a starting point for further investigation into conceptions of music, musical ability and assessment held by practitioners in a variety of primary school contexts elsewhere in Europe; our emphasis here will be on the development of shared understanding in terms of policies and practices in music education. Within this broader framework, our study can have a significant impact internationally, with potential to inform future policy making, curriculum planning and practice.

Common components of risk and uncertainty attitudes across contexts and domains: Evidence from 30 countries

Attitudes towards risk and uncertainty have been indicated to be highly context-dependent, and to be sensitive to the measurement technique employed. We present data collected in controlled experiments with 2,939 subjects in 30 countries measuring risk and uncertainty attitudes through incentivized measures as well as survey questions. Our data show clearly that measures correlate not only within decision contexts or measurement methods, but also across contexts and methods. This points to the existence of one underlying “risk preference”, which influences attitudes independently of the measurement method or choice domain. We furthermore find that answers to a general and a financial survey question correlate with incentivized lottery choices in most countries. Incentivized and survey measures also correlate significantly between countries. This opens the possibility to conduct cultural comparisons on risk attitudes using survey instruments.