Impact of Facebook Likes and Shares on Campaign Posts in Predicting the 2016 Philippine Presidential Election Results

The active usage of the Filipinos in the social media application called Facebook may influence the society, the election campaign and result but hard evidence is scarce. Hence, this study intends to analyze how the engagement of users through ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on the Facebook campaign posts can impact the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. The study delved on interpreting how Facebook as a communication channel influenced the election result based on the engagement in likes and shares on the Facebook campaign posts. Only the number of likes and shares of the posts based on the total count on the original post on the candidates’ official Facebook page were analyzed. These were posted during the campaign period declared by the Commission on Elections. The social net importer was used in the data gathering process then the calculation using a statistical tool followed as basis for analysis. The official election result from the COMELEC confirmed that Rodrigo Duterte won in the 2016 Presidential election with a total of 16,601,997 votes. Grace Poe secured the highest number of likes and shares, 13,036,065 likes and 1,511,020 shares, respectively but she only ranked as third in the official election. Results show that the number of likes and shares on the Facebook election campaign posts are not significant in influencing the election result. Future studies in relation to Philippine Presidential election may be conducted and other variables can be considered like the Presidential debate likes and shares, comments, and other Facebook reactions like heart, wow, sad and thankful

An Analysis of the Relationship Between Nurturing Spousal Friendship and Marital Quality

Problem Limited research has addressed the value of friendship between husbands and wives to the health and well-being of their marital relationships. The present study evaluated the relationship between spousal friendship and marital quality. It made a gender analysis as well. Method The Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Caring Relationship Inventory, and a demographic questionnaire were mailed to 500 couples (1000 married individuals). One or both spouses were members of a Lutheran or a Seventh-day Adventist church in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The sample consisted of 176 married individuals who volunteered to participate anonymously in the research project. A total of 69 couples (matched husbands and wives) were identified in the sample. Data were analyzed by multiple linear regression and canonical correlation analyses. Results Spousal friendship combined with affection were found to relate positively with marital quality for the entire sample. This trend was stronger for wives than for husbands. Of the variables that composed maritaladjustment, (a) Friendship and Affection related positively to Dyadic Consensus (agreement) and Dyadic Satisfaction (commitment to the marriage), (b) Friendship and Eros related positively to Affectional Expression (affection and romance), and (c) Friendship alone related positively to Dyadic Cohesion (shared interests and activities). Conclusions The findings in this study suggest that spousal friendship combined with affection is quite important for wives. When they sense that they are respected by their husbands, share common interests with them, and feel loved by them in spite of faults, wives have a strong sense of fulfillment in their marital relationships. Husbands tend to relate affection with marital quality, with a possibility of friendship being equally as important. Research recommendations include development of an instrument that focuses specifically on friendship in intimate relationships, and replication of the study with a more diverse sample to observe influences of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education level

Promoting Biblical Engagement Among Ordinary Christians in English Churches: Reflections on the Pathfinder Project

This thesis contributes towards understanding of how ‘ordinary’ Christians, who have little or no experience of academic biblical study or theological training, might be enabled to engage more deeply with the Bible. I propose that attempts to cultivate the skills of biblical engagement among ordinary Christians might be shaped around lectio divina, this ancient practice being adapted for the situation of contemporary readers. The adaptations would involve use of a range of modern media with which to encounter the texts, working in small groups in order to make space for a more intentional engagement between the voices of multiple ordinary interpreters, and employment of strategies to enable readers to navigate a perceived tension when approaching the Bible: one between head and heart, academic learning and spiritual growth. More specifically, I propose that the promotion of biblical engagement among ordinary Christians should be undertaken as a planned programme with a suite of different resources, which complement one another in both style and aim, together with a sign-posted framework to show participants what each stage is designed to achieve. It should begin with a widely accessible introduction to the whole Bible that conveys the overall narrative and historical setting while communicating the sense that the reader is a participant in the ongoing biblical story. This and subsequent resources should be selected in order to attempt to integrate cognitive and emotive approaches to the texts and, where possible, straightforward terminology would be employed to maximise accessibility. These proposals emerged from my evaluation of an experiment in promoting biblical engagement among ordinary Christians (Bible Society’s ‘Pathfinder’). Analysis of, and reflection upon, the rich qualitative data generated there led to my examining the process of developing biblical engagement in the context of the lectio divina tradition and in the light of contemporary theological reflection across a wide range of theological hermeneutics.Bible SocietySt Luke’s College Foundatio

Science, astronomy, and sacrifice zones: development trade-offs, and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project in South Africa

We explore the notion of “sacrifice zones” to reflect critically on the trade-offs between Science & Technology (S&T) policy and inclusive development in South Africa. We draw evidence from one of the country’s flagship projects, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, currently under construction in the semi-arid Northern Cape. The SKA embodies a key tension in the country’s S&T policy, that between the promotion of astronomy, based on national and global priorities (the development of science), and the advancement of local development concerns (science for development), in which the dominant assumption is that local interests are either subsumed or superseded by national and global public goods. Given the extent to which the priorities of local residents have been overlooked in the name of the greater good, we argue that a fruitful way of recasting this relationship is to regard the region around the telescope as astronomy’s terrestrial “sacrifice zone”; this opens up an important space for engaging with issues of mitigation. We conclude by raising questions about who should take responsibility for mitigating the trade-offs in policy and practice, if a more sustainable and inclusive development agenda in the areas affected by the SKA is a real concern

An environmental mantra? Ecological interest in Romans 8.19-23 and a modest proposal for its narrative interpretation

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Theological Studies following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version (Vol 59(2), 2008, pp.546-579) is available online at: http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/59/2/546. 24 month embargo by the publisher. Article will be released October 2010.Romans 8:19–23 has become a favourite text for ecotheologians seeking biblical grounds for promoting a positive approach towards non-human creation. However, there has been little work that both engages with the passage in detail and critically considers its possible contribution to an ecological theology and ethics. This essay begins by tracing the development of ecological interest in this text, and then proposes a narrative analysis as a strategy by which the meaning and contribution of the text may fruitfully be explored. The various elements of the story of ktisis are then discussed. Finally, the essay offers some preliminary indications as to the ways in which this story might inform a contemporary theological response to the ‘groaning’ of creation. This entails an acknowledgment of the difficulties the text poses for an eco-ethical appropriation — its theocentric, eschatological, and cosmological presuppositions — as well as a consideration of its positive potential. It is inescapably anthropocentric but by no means ‘anthropomonist’. As such, it can offer pointers towards the kind of ethical responsibility that humans might bear in the eschatological phase of creation's redemption.Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant No. AH D001188/1

The Financial Performance of Acquired Firms on Energy and Consumer Sectors in Indonesia

This research aims to examine the differences in the average financial performance one year before and one year after mergers and acquisitions in publicly traded companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, particularly in the energy and consumer sectors. The sample size used consists of 20 companies in the energy sector, 20 companies in the consumer sector, and 44 companies in other sectors that went through mergers and acquisitions within the period of 2016 to 2020. Data processing was carried out using a Paired Sample T-Test with the assistance of SPSS version 26. The research results indicate that there is an increase in the market prospect ratio, leverage ratio, and efficiency ratio one year after mergers and acquisitions for acquiring companies in the energy and consumer goods sectors. Meanwhile, there is a decrease in the profitability ratio and liquidity ratio one year after mergers and acquisitions for acquiring companies in the energy and consumer goods sectors. This confirms that mergers and acquisitions contribute to the differences in the financial performance of acquiring companies in the energy and consumer goods sectors in Indonesi

IMPLICATIONS OF ARISTOTLE’S THEORY OF EDUCATION TO TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN KENYA

Since ancient civilizations, education and training has been regarded as the tool for individual and societal development. All developing nation thus have embraced education and training as part of state agenda in realizing better citizenry and societal growth. In Kenya various efforts in reforming Technical education and training in order to reorient training to the countries developmental agenda and empowering the youth for employability have been undertaken from time to time in order to review the relevance of education and training in Kenya. This paper attempts to analyze Aristotle’s metaphysical, ethical and epistemological principles with the view to render salient ideas that contribute to the formulation of worthwhile theories of education in the context of Kenya’s 21st century realities. In addition, Aristotle’s views “experiential learning” and “lifelong learning” are analyzed. Consequently, it is evident that contemporary education in Kenya is inadequate in several ways. It is therefore recommended that education in Kenya should embrace a multidimensional orientation that ensures the physical development, mental development and moral development for realization of individual empowerment. Article visualizations