Transitional society and participation of women in the public sphere: A survey of Qatar society

The purpose of this study was to assess the Qatar population current perceptions about women rights: like spouse selection, education, and their attitudes toward women’s new roles in Qatari society in transition period. Data was collected from responses of 1010 Qatari citizen participant in to a survey study. The survey results suggest that Qataris are responsive to traditional patriarchal gender roles of kinship family structures regarding roles that are suitable for women outside the household. The results found that the effects of modernization apparently do not pervade many traditional attitudes about gender differences, which influence women public participation.This publication was made possible by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP) NPRP 09-484-5-074. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Qatar National Research Fund

Why do we need to integrate the Indigenous culture to achieve Holistic Sustainability?

This paper proposes a vision of the re-discovery of Arabian Gulf communities’ culture and a revival of local knowledge in a bid to support, promote, and move towards a more sustainable future for the region. Information and skills about the local desert environment, formed over many years, traditional ways of doing things and methods for coping with the harsh environment, may provide invaluable insights into how the region in general, and Qatar in particular, can develop in harmony with its environment rather than against it. By championing local methods and cultural norms, natural resources can be conserved, biodiversity protected and natural environments restored. This paper explores local knowledge by referring to older local experts on some of the techniques they used to deal with environmental conditions. The study revealed that most of the old ways of dealing with natural resources take into account two basic elements: protection and support the environment to renew. These two concepts must be integrated within the goals of development projects in the region that are essentially suffering from scarcity of natural resources

Consanguineous marriage in the Arab societies

Endogamous and consanguineous marriage is estimated to comprise 20% of all marriages in the contemporary world. In Arabia, however, it is estimated to characterize approximately half of all marriages. Overall, this is thought to reflect the cultural legacy of the identity central to the Arab family, and the underlying value system associated with identity bound to one’s descent group. In much social theory, urbanization is envisioned as a game-changing variable: once in the urban environment, groups practicing consanguineous marriage, produced as it is by environmental and economic factors endemic to rural regions, would assimilate to new social practices and abandon consanguineous marriage. The evidence in the Gulf is clear, however, that these practices persevere in Qatar and the other Gulf States. They remain a socially legitimate practice, and urbanization is not a significant factor in shaping this practice. In other words, preferences for endogamous marriage, for the appropriate age of marriage, as well as for the number and gender of offspring, remain in line with the traditions of the region. This suggests that urbanization is not a universal indicator of changes to practices, like marriage partner selection, that run deep in the social fabric

The relation between spaces and cultural change: supermalls and cultural change in Qatari society

This study is the first attempt to ethnographically assess the influences of supermalls on cultural change. It takes a first step toward enhancing our understanding of the influences of globalization and consumer culture as drivers of the social and cultural changes to Qatar’s traditional society, to similar cultural configurations in the Middle East, and to global cultural diversity. This study found that there are changes in the patterns of behavior and the daily lives of the two studied groups, which were particularly evident for those living proximate to the supermall. For example, living near Villaggio changed family eating habits because many families preferred easily cooked or fast food at the supermall to cooking at home. Changes to relationships within and among households were observed. For example, with the advent of the Villaggio, visits between families in their homes became less frequent, and individuals now stroll through the supermall, watch movies at the cinema, and engage in Western activities, such as ice skating. In sum, Villaggio has helped to bring significant changes to the ways that families entertain themselves and spend their leisure time. The findings of this study reveal the depth of the social and cultural changes experienced by members of traditional Doha society because of the influence of globalization. supermalls have become a sensation in their effects on the lifestyles of Qataris, particularly with respect to shopping and socializing practices. We conclude that many aspects of cultural diversity and cultural identity are threatened by supermalls because they could gradually eclipse the symbols and values by which Qataris understand their culture and tradition. The analysis found specific themes regarding cultural and social change regarding national identity, social status, social practices, family life, and the social geography of the city.“This publication was made possible by a grant from the Qatar national research fund under its undergraduate research experience program award number UREP 06 - 087 - 5 – 024. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).

Factors that Increase the Likelihood of Divorce: A survey of Married People in Qatar

In this study we provided married participants (n= 379) 18-50 with 17 possible reasons (e.g., physical violence) for divorce and asked them to rate the likelihood of obtaining divorce using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1= extremely likely to 5 = extremely unlikely. The lower the scores the more likely that participants would choose to end their marriage. Half of the participants were men (51.1%), the mean age was 27.98 (SD = 7.29), the majority were employed (72.9%) and had an income of 40,000 or higher (57.5%). Slightly more than half of the participants had less than a college degree (52%). An exploratory factor analysis on the 17 items produced a scale of 11 items that explained 45% of the variance in the data (α = .77). A one-way ANOVA using the weighted data showed that women were more likely than men to consider unfaithfulness, alcohol/drug related problems, physical violence, and demeaning, and insulating as important grounds for seeking a divorce. Men, on the other hand, stated that they were more likely to pursue divorce when there were issues related to financial problems, intimate relationship, disagreements about spending money, spending time with friends outside the home, frequent arguments, and fighting and personality differences. Both men and women, however, did not differ on agreeing that lack of respect and appreciation is a potential cause for divorce. Finally, a one-way ANOVA using the weighted data showed that women (M= 2.53, SD= 64) scored lower on the Likelihood Scale, compared to men (M =2.56, SD =73), (F = 27.19, p = .00). Similarly, highly educated people scored lower (M= 2.47, SD= 70) compared to those with lower level of education (M= 2.61, SD= 68) (F = 667, p = .00). The results of this study are important for future research on divorce in Qatar and developing marriage educational programs that targets these issues with a focus on gender differences

Language and Nature in Southern and Eastern Arabia

This paper examines the relationship between language and nature in southern and eastern Arabia. The work is the result of a two-year interdisciplinary network between the University of Leeds and Qatar University, with partners in the UK, Oman, Canada, the United States, and Russia. Our hypothesis is that local languages and ecosystems enjoy a symbiotic relationship, and that the demise of local ecosystems will adversely affect local languages. In this paper, we examine some of the language–nature effects in Qatar and Dhofar, southern Oman. Our regions differ in that Qatar has two seasons, summer and winter, and is predominantly arid, with occasional rain, while Dhofar together with al-Mahrah in eastern Yemen has four distinct seasons, receiving the monsoon rains between June and September, and, as a result, is home to hundreds of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Since the 1970s, in particular, both regions have experienced some of the most rapid socio-economic changes in the world. We ask what affect this socio-economic change has had on the language–nature relationship, and suggest that decoupling of the human–nature relationship as a result of socio-economic change is contributing in these regions to language attrition. We consider spatial terminology, traditional terminology for weather, the traditional measurement of time by narratives around key climatic events, and the role of stars in determining the weather and their role in folklore

Impact of Innovative Learning Environment Based on Research Activities on Secondary School Student's Attitude Towards Research and Their Self-Efficacy.

Advanced and free learning environment coupled with the creative learning activities is assumed to be a motivational variable. In the present study, we applied an innovative learning strategy involving students in order to achieve positive impact on their attitude towards science, desire to learn science and future career choices. The study experiment was focused on enhancing the research skills of the students; apply knowledge for solving real world problems, positively changing the students’ attitude towards science, raising students’ self-efficacy and enhance positivism toward science related subjects. This research assumes that if the attitude and perception of post-secondary students is changed and made positive about science, then they might choose to study related science subjects forexample, mathematics, engineering and science at university level studies. Therefore, it will also impact students’ career choices after university studies and they might enter scientific careers. Our study focused on evaluating various changes in the attitude, desire and self-efficacy of participating students when traditional instruction is replaced through the innovative learning environment. A total of 120 students participated in our experiment where researchers assisted students to experience hands on different research activities. Pre and posttest were used to evaluate the change in students’ attitude and desire towards science, knowledge and self-efficacy. The study results have shown that significant changes in the performance of students’ for-example, student noticed positive attitude towards their own research abilities, desire to learn science, self-efficacy, learning and career choices. However, results did not show any differences based on gender as such.Qatar Universit

Contemporary Women in Qatar: An Ethnographic Study of Their Challenges in Terms of Traditional Applications and Modern Requirements

This study analyzes the interaction and friction between tradition and modernity as experienced by Qatari women. We explore the experiences and perspectives of contemporary Qatari women across generations and their continuity and friction with the historical sociocultural past. The general aim was to discern and analyze the sociological reasons that encourage and/or inhibit women's participation in public life. The working hypothesis was that the purported friction between tradition and modernity was false and that the dichotomy could be demonstrably challenged through a systematic exploration of women's experiences, both past and present. Part of this task comprised qualitatively mapping the continuities between past and present generations of women. Another element comprised qualitatively mapping the perseverance and ongoing strength of gender discrimination in the "modern era" in the Gulf Cooperation Council.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This publication was made possible by a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP) 09-484-5-074. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Qatar National Research Fund."Scopu

Alcoholic extracts of Teucrium polium exhibit remarkable anti-inflammatory activity: In vivo study

Teucrium polium (germander, Lamiaceae) is a local plant in Qatar that has been used in folk medicine to treat numerous illnesses. It is known for its antioxidant, analgesic, anticancer, and antibacterial activities. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of Teucrium polium (TP) extract by α-carrageen-induced paw edema in adult Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were randomly grouped into control, acute inflammation, and plant extract groups. Acute inflammation was induced by a sub-plantar injection of 100 µL of 1% α-carrageenan into the rat’s right hind paw. Three different doses of the ethanolic extract of TP were tested at different time periods (1, 3, and 5 hours). All doses of the TP ethanolic extract showed significant inhibition of α-carrageenan-induced rat paw edema in a dose-dependent manner in both early and late phases of edema formation. The size of the α-carrageen induced paw edema was significantly reduced one, three, and five hours after TP extract injection compared to the acute inflammation group. This inhibition was accompanied by high expression of interleukin 10 (IL-10) and low expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). The results indicated that the ethanolic extracts of TP possess significant anti-inflammatory and potential pharmaceutical properties