Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the research and development of online digital content combined with activities to promote perception based on the Sangha Vatthu 4, the 4 principles of Buddhism for undergraduate students of the Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. The analysis was conducted using a seven-step educational operational framework to consider the quality assessment of content and presentation media and evaluate the perception and satisfaction of the sample group toward digital content and promotion of activities disseminated in international journals or conferences and national academic journals or conferences in the 2019-2022 academic years in Thailand. The sample group consisted of Thai undergraduate students selected by purposive sampling; all participated in the activities from start to finish and were willing to respond to questionnaires. The quality of online digital content combined with activities to promote perception based on the Sangha Vatthu 4 was found to be superb. The quality of the media presentations was also found to be superb. The perception of the sample group toward online digital content combined with activities to promote perception based on the Sangha Vatthu 4 was measured at the highest level. The satisfaction of the sample group was found to be the highest. Therefore, the developed online digital content combined with activities to promote perception for Thai undergraduate students can be used and should be further developed. Therefore, communicating to promote Thai students’ perception through the four principles of Buddhism, which can be challenging for Gen Z individuals to understand, should incorporate digital content following the ADDIE model combined with communication activities. This approach can lead to better understanding and satisfaction.

Keywords: digital content, activities, perception, the four principles of Buddhism.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.62.68

This study developed, validated, and conducted reliability checks on a questionnaire designed to evaluate the effectiveness of service delivery in Papua New Guinea’s law and justice sector. The use of questionnaires to address social issues through focus group interviews (FGIs) in fields with limited published research has proven to be a valuable method in social research. This study, using a mixed methods research design, created and validated a quantitative questionnaire for assessing service delivery based on key themes identified in FGIs with participants from Papua New Guinea’s law and justice sector. The quantitative questionnaire consisted of ten items gathering biographical information, along with 57 items derived from themes discovered in the FGIs. These 57 items were tested with a sample of employees in the law and justice sector. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to streamline the questionnaire, resulting in a final version of 44 items. Additionally, Cronbach’s alpha was used to verify the internal consistency of the questionnaire. The Law and Justice Sector questionnaire serves as a reliable tool for evaluating service delivery in Papua New Guinea, with the goal of enhancing service provision within the PNG law and justice sector.

Keywords: law and justice sector, principal component analysis, sequential exploratory design, Government of Papua New Guinea.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.62.67

This study affirms the competence of individuals suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) who undergo dialysis treatment in their ongoing acceptance of the illness and adjustment to their everyday routines. This study aimed to investigate the tangible encounters of patients coping with CKD while undergoing dialysis treatment. Diagnosis of CKD frequently necessitates modifications in the lifestyle. The preliminary study explores the personal encounters of patients residing on the eastern coast of Malaysia with CKD. A qualitative descriptive study explores the lived experiences of patients with CKD using a narrative approach. Purposive sampling selected the eight patients receiving dialysis treatment, and semi–structured interviews were conducted in a counseling room for confidentiality reasons. Three primary themes emerged in this research: (i) life before and after dialysis treatment in a flashback, (ii) patients’ health impacted their social life, and (iii) treatment and illness caused them to adjust their ibadah (worship) or religious practice. The challenges faced by patients undergoing dialysis treatment have provided valuable experience. All these primary themes have revealed the quality of life of dialysis patients through their illness. Individuals suffering from CKD with dialysis treatment face many intricate obstacles, including heightened symptom burden and functional restrictions across various routine activities in life. The originality of this study lies in its overall findings, which highlight the concept of embracing the current situation and accepting that their lives have deviated from the norm.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, dialysis, lived experience, patients, Malaysia.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.62.66

This research aims to examine communicative processes in building resilience among displaced people through development projects in rural areas of Indonesia using the communication theory of resilience perspective. This study used a qualitative approach involving informants from Cipaku Village residents who experienced displacement due to the flooding of their homes for a dam project in Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia. The results show that communication is essential in building resilience through five processes: crafting new normalcy, where people construct normal situations after displacement; affirming identity anchor, communicative efforts to create or maintain a collaborative identity among displaced people; using and maintaining communication networks, the process by which they carry out communication activities both in interpersonal and group contexts; putting alternative logics to work, where they construct their loss with communicative efforts through alternative logics in seeking a new job; and finally legitimizing negative feelings while foregrounding positive actions. People form and frame the meaning of optimism by taking positive actions even though they cannot forget the traumatic events they have experienced. These communicative processes contribute to sustaining their livelihoods. Human resilience is not always related to the ability to recover but also to the inability of individuals to build their adaptive capacity with various underlying factors.

Keywords: communicative processes, communication theory of resilience, displaced people, development project, livelihood. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.62.65

The manufacturing sector is the engine of economic growth. However, Nepal is unable to make rapid development of the manufacturing sector due to lack of skilled human capital. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of human capital development to economic growth in the manufacturing sector of Nepal. Time series data from FY1995/96 to FY2021/22 were used. The instrumental variables method was used to avoid simultaneous equation bias. The adult regressor literacy rate affects manufacturing real gross domestic product. Similarly, at the same time, other variables such as real export and labor employment in the manufacturing sector affect the dependent variable. Therefore, there is joint dependency between real GDP and human capital. The results of the instrumental variables method shows that human capital development has a positive and significant impact on manufacturing real gross domestic product in Nepal. This study reveals that adult literacy rate and employment in the manufacturing sector are major variables affecting the rise in manufacturing real GDP in Nepal. This study is applicable for government to increase the investment in education to increase the literacy rate and train employed people to increase human capital’s productive capacity for the development of the Nepalese manufacturing sector. This study enhances the literature by assessing the role of human capital development in economic growth in the manufacturing sector of Nepal.

Keywords: human capital, adult literacy rate, economic growth, manufacturing sector.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.62.64