The measurement of values: A psychometric evaluation of the Schwartz Value Survey in the South African context

Over the years a great deal of research has been devoted to the study of values in relation to work, since values are strongly associated with behaviour. Values are deeply held views that act as guiding principles for individual and organisational decision-making. Cultural values are the broad goals that members of a social institution pursue, since they justify individual actions in pursuit of valued goals. Cultural values thus play an important role in the way that social institutions function by sanctioning which attitudes and behaviour are normative. In the organisational context, the broad goals that members are expected and encouraged to pursue make up the cultural values of that organisation. Values may prove to be an important unifying force for organisational leaders, especially in the multicultural work context in South Africa. In the literature, however, the linkages between individual values and attitudes, behaviour, and social experiences are fragmented. In part, the inconsistency in results can be explained by measurement and methodological problems associated with the measurement of personal values. The purpose of this study is to re-visit the issue of personal values by investigating the psychometric properties of the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS). Although the SVS is one of the most widely used values measures, only limited research has been conducted on the instrument in the South African context. The SVS may be of value in this context in part because it has proven to be particularly adept at measuring value priorities in cross-cultural environments. Aconvenience sample of 537 students from four prominent universities in South Africa participated in the research study. A confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) approach was used to investigate the internal structure of the SVS. The findings of the study suggest that the SVS holds promise as a measure to study value priorities, but that it may suffer from a lack of discriminant validity.DHE

Juxtaposing a cultural reading of landscape with institutional boundaries: the case of the Masebe Nature Reserve, South Africa

The article explores theoretically the juxtaposition of local stories about landscape with institutional arrangements and exclusionary practices around a conservation area in South Africa. The Masebe Nature Reserve is used as a case study. The article argues that the institutional arrangements in which the nature reserve is currently positioned are too static, and consequently exclusionary, in their demarcation of boundaries. This stifles local communities’ sense of belonging to these landscapes. Hence, they strongly resent and feel alienated by the nature reserve. Their opposition and alienation often manifests in poaching. The empirical material is based on how local people living adjacent to the Masebe Nature Reserve have historically named and interpreted the area’s impressive sandstone mountains, in the process creating a sense of belonging. Juxtaposing this mostly tranquil cultural reading of the landscape to the institutional practices of boundary demarcation gives the analysis an immediate critical edge regarding issues of social justic

Risk and Ethical Concerns of Hunting Male Elephant: Behavioural and Physiological Assays of the Remaining Elephants

BACKGROUND: Hunting of male African elephants may pose ethical and risk concerns, particularly given their status as a charismatic species of high touristic value, yet which are capable of both killing people and damaging infrastructure. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We quantified the effect of hunts of male elephants on (1) risk of attack or damage (11 hunts), and (2) behavioural (movement dynamics) and physiological (stress hormone metabolite concentrations) responses (4 hunts) in Pilanesberg National Park. For eleven hunts, there were no subsequent attacks on people or infrastructure, and elephants did not break out of the fenced reserve. For three focal hunts, there was an initial flight response by bulls present at the hunting site, but their movements stabilised the day after the hunt event. Animals not present at the hunt (both bulls and herds) did not show movement responses. Physiologically, hunting elephant bulls increased faecal stress hormone levels (corticosterone metabolites) in both those bulls that were present at the hunts (for up to four days post-hunt) and in the broader bull and breeding herd population (for up to one month post-hunt). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: As all responses were relatively minor, hunting male elephants is ethically acceptable when considering effects on the remaining elephant population; however bulls should be hunted when alone. Hunting is feasible in relatively small enclosed reserves without major risk of attack, damage, or breakout. Physiological stress assays were more effective than behavioural responses in detecting effects of human intervention. Similar studies should evaluate intervention consequences, inform and improve best practice, and should be widely applied by management agencies

Improving the provision of public transport information for persons with disabilities in the developing world

Paper presented at the 24th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 11 - 13 July 2005 "Transport challenges for 2010", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material on the CD ROM was published using Adobe Acrobat technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.doctech.co.z