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IJHSS.NET
Vol. 8, No. 3
June 2016
International Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences
e-ISSN: p-ISSN:
1694-2639 1694-2620
AAJHSS.ORG Vol 8, No 3 – June 2016 Table of Contents Assessing the relationship between climate and patterns of wildfires in Ghana Daniel L. Kpienbaareh
1
Influence of students’ self perception on biology achievement among secondary school students in Nakuru county, Kenya Nyambura Rose
21
The influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities. A study between students and lecturers. Simon Ntumi and Esther Quarcoo
31
Some unobtrusive indicators of psychology’s shift from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences Dr Günter Krampen and Lisa I. Trierweiler
44
Challenges of Bible/Liturgical Translations in the Efik Language Group Christopher Naseri (Ph.D)
67
International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 1-20, ©IJHSS
Assessing the relationship between climate and patterns of wildfires in Ghana Daniel L. Kpienbaareh Department of Geosciences, University of Akron, OH Abstract Wildfires are a common occurrence in many areas with a distinct dry season. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between wildfires (bushfires) and the climate in Ghana. I establish the correlation between fire data, mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation. I also assess the pattern of wildfire occurrence in Ghana with respect to the pattern of movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Using climate data for period November 2000 to March 2010 at a 0.5o by 0.5o resolution, from the University of East Anglia‟s Climate Research Unit (UEA CRU TS3.23), and MODIS Climate Modelling Grid (MOD14CMH) Active Fire Products at a 0.25o by 0.25o resolution, obtained from the Active Fire Products data maintained by the University of Maryland, also from November 2000 to March 2010, it was found there is no meaningful correlation between the fire data and individual mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation. However, there is a strong relationship between the pattern of fire occurrence and the pattern of movement of the ITCZ in Ghana. I conclude that there is a strong relationship between wildfire occurrence and climate in Ghana based on the closeness of the relationship between the movement of the ITCZ and the pattern of wildfire occurrence. Key words: ITCZ, harmattan, bushfires/wildfires Introduction Wildfires are a common occurrence in areas with a high amount of vegetation and a period of dryness in the course of the year (Balling, Meyer & Wells 1992). The more foliage there is in an area, the more fire there is likely to be, all other things being equal (Agee 1998, cited in McKenzie et al. 2004). The vegetation amount and type, and the weather conditions which creates a „fire weather‟ is determined by the type of climate (Heyerdahl, Brubaker & Agee 2002). This implies that the more moisture there is in the atmosphere, the less risky there is for a possible ignition and vice versa. Ghana lies within the tropical zone and hence has high temperatures for most of the year, with distinct periods of dry season and wet/rainy seasons in the year, which vary from the north to the south, in line with the variations in the climate (McSweeney et al. 2010). The northern part of the country has a guinea savanna type of vegetation where there are high temperatures all year round and a long dry season, and the southern part has a short dry season 1
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with the rainy season divided into a major and a minor rainy season (McSweeney et al. 2010). The climate of an area is fairly fixed, and so the risk of an area getting burnt depends on the weather. In addition to the weather, the risk of ignition depends on the fuel load (amount of dry vegetation) (Bowman et al. 2009). Therefore, climate and weather determine the trends of wildfires in an area, and so any changes in the climate will affect the pattern of wildfires. Some studies have linked wildfires with vegetation amount in the savannah climate zones in West Africa. For instance, Devineau, Fournier & Nignan (2010) studied the relationship between wildfires, land cover and plant species in Burkina Faso and concluded that areas that have high amount of foliage are more susceptible to fire outbreaks. However, areas with land use such as residential and commercial are less likely to be burn, because they are protected to prevent damage properties, highlighting human influences on wildfire occurrence or nonoccurrence. Kugbe et al. (2012) studied the annual seasonal burnt area in the savannah region of Ghana and realized there was a similar, distinct inter-annual burnt area which coincides with the dry seasons in the northern region of Ghana. Studying the relationship between wildfire and climate in Ghana is challenging. There is an insufficient amount of high resolution data for both climate variables and fire data. Studies that have been done use data that are relatively coarse so the relationship between the two is often unclear. Some studies have linked wildfires to climate and meteorological (weather) variables in current climatic conditions. For instance, in a study of the state of severe temperatures and wildland fire in Spain, Cardil, Eastaugh & Molina (2015) discovered that high temperatures played a significant role in number of fires in Spain. This was the case in areas which were high in the amount of winds. Winds serve as catalysts which can increase the extent that fire will burn and the direction in which it burns. By implication therefore, even in lower temperatures with dry fuel load, fire ignition can still be possible even though the speed of burning may be slower. Other studies concur with this assertion. Flannigan & Wotton (2001) concluded in their study weather and climate are important determinants of wildfires. The climate determines the extent of foliage in an area and the weather determines whether temperatures are high or if it is windy etc. Consequently, an interaction between these two – climate and weather - strongly influence the risk of fire outbreaks and the extent the fire burns. Severe temperatures also result in heatwaves which have the potential of triggering large scale wildfires (Trigo et al. 2006). On days when temperatures are high, there is low moisture content in foliage - fuel for wildfires - (Westerling et al 2006) implying on such days the likelihood of fire ignition is more imminent and fire response could be severe and unpredictable. Consequently, wildfires can spread faster and may be difficult to put off (Molina et al. 2010). Wildfires tend to be concentrated in the dry season in areas with mainly two seasons (in the tropical areas). There is also a relationship between wildfire risks and the amount of rainfall in an area. For fires to occur, there should be sufficient fuel for the fire to consume (Hargrove et al. 2000 cited in Fannigan et al. 2009). This means there has to be sufficient amount of rainfall during the rainy season to allow vegetation to grow in abundance (Meyn et al. 2007). Rainfall also determines the extent to which fire can spread in an area. Wet fuel loads do not spread too quickly as compared to drier fuel loads. The dryness depends on whether there was some precipitation just before or during an ignition (Flannigan et al. 2005). In savannah regions of West Africa where there is a long dry season and high temperatures, spread of wildfires will be relatively faster than areas with moister fuel loads because the foliage does not completely dry out, especially in areas with tropical rainforests and deciduous forests. Despite most models assuming close relationships between fire and climate, Archibald et al. (2010) present a contrasting view point. They contend that the assumptions supporting these 2
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models must be re-examined in areas such as the African savannah, where the “human impact on fire regimes is substantial, and acts to limit the responsiveness of fires to climatic events”. Therefore, even though wildfires are determined by climate and weather variables, there are non-climate influences to the ignition and spread of fire such as human interaction with the environment (Bleken, Mysterud and Mysterud 1997). Humans use fires for various economic activities, a basis for the conclusion by Pyne et al. (1996) that “fire problems are socially constructed problems” (cited in Westerling et al. 2006). Fire is commonly used for agricultural purposes, especially in the tropical areas. There is always a high potential that the fire may stray into the wild and destroy larger areas. Most wildfires are intentional, but due to poor control, they spread to areas that were not intended for burning. Wildfires are usually set for social and economic reasons, including forest management, animal grazing and crop cultivation and hunting among other (Bowman et al. 2011), especially in the sub-Saharan Africa. Even though human activities can cause ignitions, they are also capable of reducing the amount of wildfires occurring in an area. Fire suppression policies and firefighting can reduce the amount and spread of wildfires. In Burkina Faso for instance, strict laws and regulations have been put in place in some rural areas to guard against cutting of trees and wildfires (Kugbe et al. 2012). It remains a challenge though for the burning to be completely eliminated. The objective of this study is to assess the relationship between wildfires in Ghana and climate variables. Specifically, I will correlate average monthly precipitation and mean monthly temperature values for the driest months in the country, (November 2000 to March 2010), with MODIS Climate Modelling Grid (CMG) Active Fire Products. The study will also investigate the pattern of fire occurrence in terms of the north-south direction and its relationship with the seasonal movement of the ITCZ in the country. The ITCZ is the major natural determinant of climate and weather in Ghana. The hypothesis of this study is that there is no relationship between mean monthly temperature, average monthly precipitation and wildfires in Ghana. Methods Study area The study covered the entire Ghana. Ghana is located on the geographical coordinates 8oN and 2oW, covering a total area of 239,460 km2 (CIA World Factbook). The northern part of the country is mostly hot and dry for most parts of the year and the vegetation in the area is mostly savannah. The vegetation is influenced by precipitation/rainfall, lithology and the human activities (Lane 1962). The climate in the area gives it two distinct seasons: rainy season and dry season (harmattan). The dry season lasts for five to six months (usually November to April), and the rainy season lasts for six to seven (May to October), with the severity of the harmattan increasing from north to south, in line with the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) (figure 1a), which influences the pattern of rainfall in the country. Rainfall reliability is low and large digressions from monthly and annual averages are common (Owusu & Waylen 2009). The southern part of Ghana (the deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen forests) (figure 1b) experience two rainy seasons which match the northern and southern movements of the ITCZ across the region. The major rainy season occurs from March to July (with a peak in May- June), and a minor rainy season occurs in September to November, interspersed by a relatively short dry season in August and September, but rainfall occurs all year round (McSweeney et al. 2010). The southwest part of Ghana (wet evergreen,) is especially hot and moist but the southeast (coastal savannah zone) is relatively drier (Owusu & Waylen 2009).
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Figure 1a: North – south movement of the ITCZ in SSA, including Ghana. This results in dry and wet seasons in Ghana. (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online) Figure 1b is the vegetation map of Ghana. The type of vegetation is determined by the climate which is influenced by the movement of the ITCZ. More than half of the country consists mainly of savannah grasslands and forest transitions, the type of vegetation which are very prone to wildfires (Devineau, Fournier & Nignan 2010).
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Figure 1b: The type of vegetation in Ghana. The pattern is influenced by the North – South movement of the ITCZ. (Source: http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/curriculum/unitfive/module-twenty-four/module-twenty-four-activity-one/). Study design The study was designed to examine how two climate variables – mean monthly temperature and average monthly precipitation/rainfall – influence wildfire patterns in Ghana. A correlation analysis and the maps of mean monthly temperatures and average monthly rainfall were used to measure the relationships and how they climate variables influence the patterns of wildfires. The dependent variable is the mean monthly fire for the study period and the independent variables are the mean monthly temperatures and the average monthly precipitation/rainfall. Materials 5
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MODIS Climate Modelling Grid (CMG) (MOD14CMH) Active Fire Products data were downloaded at a 0.25o by 0.025o resolution from an ftp server maintained by the University of Maryland, hosting the CMG and MCD14ML products (ftp://fuoco.geog.umd.edu). The data acquired was for six months of the harmattan season, starting from November to March for the period 2000 to 2010. These months are roughly the months when the harmattan season is across the entire country. The fire data covered the entire world. To extract fire pixels which fall within the confines of Ghana, the raster map of each monthly data was opened in ArcMap (v10.3.1) and exported to .tif format using the „Export Raster‟ tool. The contents of the world files in the .tif files were replaced with a new coordinate system. The new file were then re-opened with a new blank ArcMap document. A shapefile containing world map of countries was added to the new raster layer and the exact location of Ghana was identified. A „selection by attribute‟ was done to select the boundaries of Ghana and mark out the pixels containing fire data from it. The clip tool was used to extract the map of the country together with the fire pixels. The symbology of the pixels were changed in a manner that will indicate low – high number of fires in a color ramp. These maps will be used for comparing with the climate variables to investigate the pattern of wildfires in the country. The climate data (namely mean monthly temperature and average monthly precipitation) for the study were obtained from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, (1901-2014: CRU TS3.23 (land) 0.5°) (UEA CRU Jones and Harris 2008), downloaded from the KNMI Climate Explorer (http://climexp.knmi.nl). The November, 2000 to March 2010 data for both temperature and precipitation were extracted from this. TS (time-series) datasets are month-by-month variation in climate over the last 100 years, produced by the CRU. These are calculated on high-resolution (0.5o x 0.5o) grids, which are based on a database of mean monthly temperatures provided by more than 4,000 weather stations spread across the world (UEA CRU Jones & Harris 2008). They allow variability in climate to be observed, and include variables such as cloud cover, daily minimum and maximum temperature ranges, frost day frequency, precipitation, daily mean temperature, monthly average daily maximum temperature, potential evapo-transpiration and number of wet days. They are thus useful for studies such as this. Procedure To establish the relationship between MODIS fire data and climate, a correlation analyses be conducted between the mean monthly temperature of the country between November 2000 and March 2010 and the average monthly fire occurrence, and correlation between the average monthly precipitation and the average monthly fire occurrence calculated from the fire pixels for the same time period. To investigate the pattern between the average monthly precipitation, mean monthly temperature and fire occurrence, maps will be plotted (using the November 2000 to March 2010 data) of the average monthly temperature and the mean monthly precipitation using the Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS v2.1.a3, which is used online with the KNMI Climate Explorer), and the fire pixels for the same period as the climate variables, clipped out of the global fire data using the Clip raster tool in ArcMap and the same color ramp (indicating low high) is applied to make them uniform. Results Figure 2a and figure 2b show observed mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation respectively, between November 2000 and March 2010. Note that the month with 6
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the highest average monthly rainfall of the five months is November but the month with the highest mean monthly temperature during the period is March. Both graphs trend with the passage of the ITCZ (southwest monsoon winds) and the northeast trade winds which result in the wet and dry seasons respectively. The dry season starts in November when the ITCZ begins it southwards retreat and is replaced by the northeast trade winds (harmattan). Also, in the five months period, November has the highest amount of rainfall for the time period under study whereas the month with the highest mean temperature varies between the months of February and March. 150.0 130.0
30
Precipitation (cm)
Temperature(oC)
31 29 28 27 26
110.0 90.0 70.0 50.0
25
30.0
24
10.0
2000
2005
2010
2000
2005
Year Nov
Dec
Jan
2010
Year Feb
Mar
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Figure 2. (a) Indicates the mean monthly temperature. (b) Shows the average monthly precipitation for the period November 2000 to March 2010 in Ghana (UEA CRU Jones and Harris 2008).
Mean No. of fires
Figure 2c shows the mean number of fire occurring in each of the months for the period November 2000 to March 2010. There is a slow start to the mean number of fires in November, a peak in December and steady decline to very limited number of fires in March. This is closely related to figures 2a and 2b because the number of fires coincide with the start of the dry season and increases as the rainfall amount diminishes and the temperatures begin to rise. On average, the month of November has more rainfall, indicating more moist grasses and foliage, which means lesser probability of ignition, hence the relatively lower number of wildfires for that month. December has more fires because the ITCZ would have retreated further south, resulting in more dryness.
100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Year
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Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Figure 2c. Mean fire occurrence. There is a pattern for almost the years (except 2008 and 2010) in which the number of fires start low in November rise in December and decrease again afterwards. (Source: MODIS Active Fire Products). Table 1a and b indicate the mean number of fires and the total number of fires in each pixel for each month in the study period. Both tables indicate the pattern of rising fires in November, peaking in December and a gradual reduction up to March. November is the beginning of the dry season and so wildfires start at about the same time and increases as the vegetation gets drier. By March most of the vegetation is burnt and so results in the low number of fires in the period. Table 1a: Mean fire values for the period November 2000 to March 2010 in Ghana (MODIS Active Product). Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Nov 33.4 15.0 18.6 21.9 25.7 31.8 9.5 15.9 18.0 9.6 14.9
Dec 86.6 99.8 86.6 49.3 71.8 89.5 76.5 71.6 65.0 54.3 104.8
Jan 62.6 47.3 49.6 43.0 70.9 35.9 58.1 74.4 60.8 56.5 68.3
Feb 29.5 17.0 13.5 23.1 15.7 11.3 13.9 19.1 7.3 21.4 24.5
Mar 5.6 3.5 6.0 3.3 2.4 2.4 6.4 2.9 2.9 2.1 1.3
Table 1b: Total number of fires in each pixel by month on the MODIS Active Fire Products (November 2000 to March 2010) Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
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Nov 2738 1234 1524 1796 2107 2610 782 1303 1476 791 1225
Dec 7101 7682 7101 4041 5889 7343 6275 5870 5328 4449 8592
Jan 5132 3875 4066 3523 5811 2940 4763 6103 4985 4632 5598
Feb 2418 1398 1106 1895 1287 929 1138 1569 602 1754 2010
Mar 462 285 492 274 199 197 522 241 234 176 106
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Table 2a indicates the coefficients (r) for the correlation between mean monthly temperatures, average monthly precipitation and MODIS Active Fire Products and table 2b represents the correlation between mean monthly temperature and average monthly precipitation. It can be seen that there is no meaningful correlation between the climate variables and the fire data. This is probably due the variations in both the vegetation types and the variations in climate variables between the northern and middle belts and the southern zone. The northern part of the country is mostly dry and largely savannah vegetation (which are more prone to wildfires) and the southern parts are deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen forest (which are less prone to wildfires).
Table 2a. Correlation coefficients (r) of MODIS Active Fire Products and climate variables. Mean temperature
monthly Average precipitation
November
0.69
0.15
December
-0.53
0.54
January
-0.24
-0.09
February
-0.32
-0.03
March
-0.35
0.10
month
Table 2b. Correlation coefficients (r) of mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation. Month November December January February March
Correlation coefficient 0.22 -0.30 -0.34 0.30 0.34
Figure 3 indicates the month-by-month correlation between mean monthly temperatures and mean number if fires. Figure 4a shows the month-by-month relationship between average monthly precipitation and mean number of fires for the corresponding months and figure 4b shows the relationship between mean monthly temperatures (oC) and average monthly precipitation from November 2000 to March 2010. The scatter plots and the trend lines in both cases highlight that there is no significant relationship between the individual monthly climate variables and the MODIS Active Fire Products used.
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40.0 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0
Mean No. of fire
Mean No. of fire
y = 11.962x - 310.16
26.5
27.0
27.5
28.0
26.5
28.5
Mean Temperature(oC)
November
50.0 40.0 30.0
Mean
28.0
Temperature(oC)
December Mean No. of fire
Mean No. of fire
60.0
27.0
27.5
y = -2.514x + 92.043
70.0
26.0
27.0
Mean
y = -3.6225x + 153.66
25.0
y = -19.972x + 615.59
110.0 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0
28.0
29.0
40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 28.0
Temperature(oC)
29.0
30.0
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Mean Temperature(oC)
February
January
Mean No. of fire
y = -1.4115x + 46.022 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 29.0
March
29.5
30.0
30.5
31.0
31.5
Mean Temperature(oC)
Figure 3. Scatter plots indicating the relationship between mean number of fires and mean monthly temperatures for November 2000 to March 2010. The nature of the dots and the trend lines clearly indicate that there was not significant relationship between the individual mean monthly temperatures and the mean number of fires for the period.
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y = 0.781x + 27.113
37.0 32.0 27.0 22.0 17.0 12.0 7.0 70.0
120.0
Mean No. of fire
Mean No. of fire
y = 0.0741x + 11.875
170.0
120.0 100.0 80.0 60.0 40.0 45.0
Avearge Precipitation(cm)
55.0
65.0
75.0
85.0
95.0
Average Precipitation (cm)
December
November
y = -0.0179x + 18.497
y = -0.0502x + 59.27
72.0
Mean No. of fire
Mean No. of fire
82.0
62.0 52.0 42.0 32.0 25.0
January
35.0
45.0
55.0
65.0
75.0
Average Precipitation (cm)
35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 20.0
February
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Average Precipitation(cm)
Mean No. of fire
y = 0.0217x + 2.2532 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 42.0
March
52.0
62.0
72.0
Average Precipitation(cm)
Figure 4a: the relationships between mean number of fires and average month precipitation for November 2000 to March 2010.
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y = -7.828x + 275.6
160.0 140.0 120.0 100.0 80.0 60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0 26.5
27.0
27.5
28.0
28.5
o
November Mean temperature ( C)
Average precipitation (cm)
Average precipitation (cm)
y = 8.088x - 120.0
40.0 20.0 0.0
March
30.5
31.0
31.5
Averag precipitation (cm)
Average precipitation (cm)
60.0
30.0
60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0 26.5
27.5
28.0
28.5
Meantemperature (oC)
50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 28.0
February
Mean temperature (oC)
27.0
y = 3.833x - 77.38
60.0
80.0
29.5
80.0
December
y = 6.779x - 145.1
29.0
100.0
29.0
30.0
31.0
Mean temperature (oC)
y = -4.852x + 174.3
Mean monthly precipitation (cm)
70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0 25.0
26.0
27.0
28.0
29.0
JanuaryAverage monthly temperature (oC)
Figure 4b: the relationships between mean monthly temperature (oC) and average monthly precipitation for November 2000 to March 2010.
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Figure 5 shows the pattern of fires from the beginning of the dry season in November to March when majority of dry fuel load would have been burnt. The number of pixels indicating fire in the month of November are limited mainly to the north-western corner of the map. This pattern is also visible in table 1b (where the total number of fires in November is lower in and increases in December). The burnt area increases as seen in the maps in December and begins to decrease until in March, when there is a very limited number of fire pixels. There is a concentration of fire pixels in the northern part of the country and very few number of fire pixels in the southern part. Figure 6 shows the observed mean monthly temperatures for the period November 2000 to March 2010, the same time period as the MODIS Active Fire Products. These maps also indicate, in general, decreasing mean monthly temperatures from the north to the south of the country. The northern and middle belts have higher mean monthly temperatures than the southern and coastal parts. Figure 7 shows the pattern of observed average monthly precipitation for the same time period as both MODIS Active Fire Products and the mean monthly temperature data. Even though the period coincides with the dry season, it is apparent that some parts of the country, mainly the southern portions receive some amount of rainfall (coinciding with the southern passage of the ITCZ). The northern parts are drier than the south and the dryness reduces southwards, and this could also explain the lack of correlation between the individual monthly climate data and mean fire occurrence (shown on table 2). Comparing the figures 5, 6 and 7 show that there is a close relationship between the pattern of wildfires and the movement of the ITCZ which gives rise to the pattern of the climate in the country. As one moves southwards of the country the number of fire pixels increase with the months. The northern and middle belts indicate there is more fire that there is in the southern and coastal belt. The southwestern corner of the country indicates that there is virtually no fire. The south-western corner has the highest amount of rainfall in the country and the ITCZ does not completely retreat from that portion of the country. Hence vegetation in that part of the country never completely dries out. In addition, the area has moist evergreen and wet evergreen vegetation types (figure 1b), resulting from the climatic. The vegetation in the area does not completely dry out in the short dry season and so reduces ignition possibility and escalation of wildfires.
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Discussion This study aimed at establishing the relationship between MODIS CMG Active Fire Products and the climate variables mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation over a five month period of the dry season, using data from November 2000 to March 2010, for both climate variables and fire. The climate variables were at a 0.5o by 0.5o resolution, whereas the fire data were at a 0.25o by 0.25o resolution. The study also aimed at investigating the patterns of wildfire occurrence and the pattern of climate in the country, using the north-south movement of the intertropical zone of convergence (ITCZ), which brings the southwest monsoon winds to the country. It was discovered that there is no significant correlation between the individual mean monthly temperatures and the average monthly precipitation and the MODIS Active Fire Products. However, taken together (figures 5, 6 and 7) there is a strong relationship between the pattern of wildfire occurrence and the pattern of climate. As the mean monthly temperatures increase southwards, the average monthly precipitation decreases and the burnt area increases. This pattern coincides with the annual movement of the ITCZ which controls the wet and dry seasons in Ghana. In general, SSA fire patterns are closely related to the southward movement of the ITCZ across the region (Swap et al. 2002 & Nâ€&#x;Datchoh et al. 2015). This pattern is also observed in Ghana in this study. As the ITCZ starts to retreat southwards in November (figure 5), the extent of wildfires are very limited to just portions of the area in north western corner of the November map. The extent of burnt areas and total number of fires per pixel in a month (table 1b) are also very small in November compared to that of the month of December. As the ITCZ retreats in the subsequent months, the burnt areas extend southwards because the area becomes drier due to lack of rains and the influence of the dry northeast trades (harmattan winds). In February, the burnt area extends to almost the middle of the country (the transition zone), because the ITCZ has retreated to the southwestern corner of the country. By March, fire pixels are limited to only few areas (figure 5: comparing the month of March to December). Kugbe et al. (2012) also observed this reduction in the number of fires in March in Ghana and attributed it to a reduction in the amount of fuel load available for burning (as observed in figure 5). By March almost all dry foliage would have been exhausted and that accounts for the limited number of fire pixels in that month. The study reveals the seasonality of wildfire occurrence in Ghana. This seasonality is influenced by the climate of the various areas in the country. Areas with prolonged dry seasons have high number of fires than areas with relatively shorter dry seasons. The savannah and transitional zones have relatively longer and more intense dry seasons than the deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen areas (figure 1b). These are influenced by the climatic patterns. Le Page et al. (2010) observed such seasonality of wildfires on a global scale. They observed that Sub-Saharan African fires start in November, and move along the ITCZ. They reported that the pattern of fire goes with agricultural activities such as harvesting and preparation of lands for cultivation (which are triggers of wildfires in Ghana). Westerling et al. (2003) in a study of climate and wildfires in Western United States also concluded that wildfires were strongly seasonal. Heyerdahl, Brubaker & Agee (2002) further confirm the seasonality of wildfires based on climate influences. Studying the decadal occurrence of fires, they observed that large fires mostly occurred in the dry season and during El Nino years in interior Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. Wildfires are more common in areas that have dry seasons because the vegetation dries up and provides fuel for combustion (Mbow, Nielsen & Rasmussen 2000). Thus, wildfire occurrence in Ghana vary from north to south, as is the case with the climate pattern in Ghana. 17
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Devineua, Fournier & Nignan (2010) and Kugbe et al. (2012) have observed that the northern portion Ghana has a large savannah and grassland area comprising mainly of herbaceous and scrubland which are more amenable to wildfires. The tropical savannah ecosystems are produce very rapidly and are very flammable (Bowman et al. 2009) because they are composed of grasses, trees and scrubs, which provide sufficient fuel load for combustion. Areas in Ghana which are dominated by vegetation with high amount of dry foliage in the dry season are more prone to wildfires than areas with relatively wet foliage. The type of vegetation in Ghana, as it is everywhere, is closely related to the climate. Comparing figure 1b and figure 5, it is obvious that the areas that contain the most fire pixels coincide with the savannah belt and transition zones in the country, whereas areas in the deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen forests show fewer fire pixels. The climate in the savannah and transition zone have a prolonged dry season than areas with deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen forests because of the combined influence of the retreat of the ITCZ and the advance of the harmattan winds from the Sahara Desert. On average, the area occupied by the deciduous, moist evergreen and wet evergreen forests is smaller than the area occupied by the savannah and transition belts. This mismatch is a probable cause of the lack of correlation between the individual monthly climate variables and the fire data. Archibald et al. (2010) in a study of Southern African fire regimes realized that areas with vegetation types that are dominated by a grass-layer (savannah, grassland and forest transitions) burnt more extensively than areas characterized by rainforest and semi-deciduous forest. The savannah zones of SSA are very prone to wildfires (Giglio et al. 2010) due to agricultural activities such as slash-and-burn, nomadism and hunting (Archibald et al 2010). Conclusion From the results above using our methodology, it is clear that wildfires in Ghana are influenced largely by climate because the number of fires follow the pattern of the movement of the ITCZ, the major phenomenon influencing weather and climate in Ghana, even though there were no correlation between individual monthly climate variables and mean monthly fire occurrence. It also confirms the results by other studies which conclude that the pattern of wildfire occurrence and the extent of burnt areas in savannahs are influenced by the movement of the ITCZ. Further, the study observed the link between the vegetation of an area and its climate which determines its susceptibility to wildfires. By implication the vegetation type, which is determined by the climate, plays a significant role in determining the amount and type of fuel load needed for ignition. I suggest that further studies should be on establishing the relationship between fire and climate variables in various ecological zones in Ghana rather than looking at the entire country as a whole, because the differences in vegetation masks the full effect of correlation between monthly climate variables and bushfires.
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References Archibald, S., Scholes, R. J., Roy, D. P., Roberts, G., & Boschetti, L. (2010). Southern African fire regimes as revealed by remote sensing.International Journal of Wildland Fire, 19(7), 861-878. Balling Jr, R. C., Meyer, G. A., & Wells, S. G. (1992). Climate change in Yellowstone National Park: is the drought-related risk of wildfires increasing?.Climatic Change, 22(1), 35-45. Bleken, E., Mysterud, I., & Mysterud, I. (1997). Forest fire and environmental management: a technical report on forest fire as an ecological factor. Directorate fire electrical safety, Tönsberg and Univ Oslo, Oslo. Bowman, D. M., Balch, J., Artaxo, P., Bond, W. J., Cochrane, M. A., D‟antonio, C. M. ... & Kull, C. A. (2011). The human dimension of fire regimes on Earth. Journal of biogeography, 38(12), 22232236. Bowman, D. M., Balch, J. K., Artaxo, P., Bond, W. J., Carlson, J. M., Cochrane, M. A. ... & Johnston, F. H. (2009). Fire in the Earth system.science, 324(5926), 481-484. Cardil, A., Eastaugh, C. S., & Molina, D. M. (2015). Extreme temperature conditions and wildland fires in Spain. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 122(1-2), 219-228. CIA World Factbook Online. Accessed 02/11/2015. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html. Devineau, J. L., Fournier, A., & Nignan, S. (2010). Savanna fire regimes assessment with MODIS fire data: their relationship to land cover and plant species distribution in western Burkina Faso (West Africa). Journal of Arid Environments, 74(9), 1092-1101. Exploring Africa website: Vegetation map of Ghana. Accessed 12/15/2015. http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/curriculum/unit-five/module-twenty-four/moduletwenty-four-activity-one/. Flannigan, M. D., Krawchuk, M. A., de Groot, W. J., Wotton, B. M., & Gowman, L. M. (2009). Implications of changing climate for global wildland fire. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 18(5), 483-507. Flannigan, M. D., Logan, K. A., Amiro, B. D., Skinner, W. R., & Stocks, B. J. (2005). Future area burned in Canada. Climatic change, 72(1-2), 1-16. Flannigan, M. D., & Wotton, B. M. (2001). Climate, weather, and area burned. Forest fires. New York: Academic Press. p, 351, 73. Giglio, L., Randerson, J. T., Van der Werf, G. R., Kasibhatla, P. S., Collatz, G. J., Morton, D. C., & DeFries, R. S. (2010). Assessing variability and long-term trends in burned area by merging multiple satellite fire products.Biogeosciences, 7(3). Heyerdahl, E. K., Brubaker, L. B., & Agee, J. K. (2002). Annual and decadal climate forcing of historical fire regimes in the interior Pacific Northwest, USA. The Holocene, 12(5), 597-604. Kugbe, J. X., Mathias, F., Desta, T. L., Denich, M., & Vlek, P. L. (2012). Annual vegetation burns across the northern savanna region of Ghana: period of occurrence, area burns, nutrient losses and emissions. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 93(3), 265-284. KNMI Climate Explorer. “Mean monthly temperatures and average monthly precipitation.” Accessed 29/11/2015. http://climexp.knmi.nl. 19
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Lane, D. A. (1962). The forest vegetation. Agriculture and Land Use in Ghana. Oxford University Press, London, 160-169. Le Page, Y., Oom, D., Silva, J., Jönsson, P., & Pereira, J. (2010). Seasonality of vegetation fires as modified by human action: observing the deviation from eco‐climatic fire regimes. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 19(4), 575-588. Mbow, C., Nielsen, T. T., & Rasmussen, K. (2000). Savanna fires in east-central Senegal: Distribution patterns, resource management and perceptions. Human Ecology, 28(4), 561-583. McSweeney, C., Lizcano, G., New, M., & Lu, X. (2010). The UNDP Climate Change Country Profiles: Improving the accessibility of observed and projected climate information for studies of climate change in developing countries. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 91(2), 157-166. Meyn, A., White, P. S., Buhk, C., & Jentsch, A. (2007). Environmental drivers of large, infrequent wildfires: the emerging conceptual model.Progress in Physical Geography, 31(3), 287-312. MODIS Active Fire Products. Accessed 20/11/2015. ftp://fuoco.geog.umd.edu. Molina, D., Castellnou, M., García-Marco, D., & Salgueiro, A. (2010). 3.5 improving fire management success through fire behaviour specialists.Towards Integrated Fire Management Outcomes of the European Project Fire Paradox, 105. N'Datchoh, E. T., Konaré, A., Diedhiou, A., Diawara, A., Quansah, E., & Assamoi, P. (2015). Effects of climate variability on savannah fire regimes in West Africa. Earth System Dynamics, 6(1), 161. Owusu, K., & Waylen, P. (2009). Trends in spatio‐temporal variability in annual rainfall in Ghana (1951‐2000). Weather, 64(5), 115-120. Swap, R. J., Annegarn, H. J., Suttles, J. T., Haywood, J., Helmlinger, M. C., Hely, C., ... & Landmann, T. (2002). The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000): overview of the dry season field campaign. South African Journal of Science, 98, 125. Trigo, R. M., Pereira, J., Pereira, M. G., Mota, B., Calado, T. J., Dacamara, C. C., & Santo, F. E. (2006). Atmospheric conditions associated with the exceptional fire season of 2003 in Portugal. International Journal of Climatology, 26(13), 1741-1757. University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit; Jones, P. D., and I. Harris. 2008. “Climatic Research Unit (CRU) time-series datasets of variations in climate with variations in other phenomena.” NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre. Accessed 11/29/2015. http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/3f8944800cc48e1cbc29a5ee12d8542d Westerling, A. L., Gershunov, A., Brown, T. J., Cayan, D. R., & Dettinger, M. D. (2003). Climate and wildfire in the western United States. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(5), 595. Westerling, Anthony L., Hugo G. Hidalgo, Daniel R. Cayan, and Thomas W. Swetnam. "Warming and earlier spring increase western US forest wildfire activity." Science 313, no. 5789 (2006): 940-943.
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International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 21-30, ©IJHSS
Influence of students’ self perception on biology achievement among secondary school students in Nakuru county, Kenya Nyambura Rose Department of Curriculum and Educational Management Laikipia University, Kenya. Abstract Acquisition of biology knowledge and skills at Kenya’s secondary school is measured by administration of tests especially at national level. Achievement in biology has not been satisfactory in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination (KCSE) and scholars have fronted various reasons that contribute to this unsatisfactory achievement. The factors include students’ negative attitude towards the subject, lack of teaching/learning resources and inadequate staffing. Researchers have also investigated students’ entry behavior which varies from individual to individual and so do learning outcomes. Irrespective of entry behavior, when meaningful learning takes place, the expectation is improved academic achievement. However this is not always the case and this study aimed at assessing the impact of students’ self perception on achievement in biology. This study was guided by self perception theory (SPT) and adopted ex-post facto research design. Random sampling was used to select a sample size of 390 Form three students from three randomly selected secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The data was collected by use of a questionnaire (Students’ questionnaire). The data collected was coded, categorized and then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Null hypothesis were tested at .05 significance level. The Study findings showed that students had positive self perception which had no statistical significant influence on biology achievement among students in Nakuru County, Kenya. Key words; Self Perception, Biology Achievement, Science Education and Millennium Development Goals (MDG’S). Introduction Science Education is emphasized in Kenya’s secondary school curriculum in order to produce a scientifically literate populace and professionals in science and technology. Keraro and Shihusa (2005) argue that biology makes a contribution towards this objective. Biology is a unique science in that experiments with living organisms can take place in the laboratory and in the field making the subject fun to learn. Prokop, Prokop & Tunicliffe, (2000) however pointed out that there is increased use of virtual environments instead of practical investigation in biology teaching. This perhaps has 21
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impacted on overall achievement in biology in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (K.C.S.E) and at Nakuru county level as shown in Table 1. Table 1 KCSE Biology Achievement Scores between 2011 and 2013 at National and County level.
Year 2011 2012 2013
National Mean Score (%) 32.42 31.6 32.3
Nakuru County Mean score (%) 35.5 38.2 38.3
Source: KNEC Examination Report (2012-2014); Nakuru County Education day booklet (20122014). Table 1 shows that Nakuru county KCSE biology achievement scores are higher than national scores. However both scores are far below 50% meaning low achievement in biology which triggers concern among educationists. If all counties in Kenya explore various options of boosting achievement in biology like adopting measures that enhance students’ self perception, then the national biology average score might go up. This study explored the influence of self perception on form three students’ achievement in continuous assessment tests in biology from randomly selected secondary schools in Nakuru county. The scores used were form three end of term one, term two and term three biology continuous assessment test scores. Biology knowledge is a pre-requisite for national development as highlighted in Kenya’s blue print for development -Vision 2030. Samikwo (2013) highlighted that Kenya is lagging behind in its development agenda and such developments require workforce that achieves highly in science subjects like biology. Biology knowledge contributes in new discoveries for example in the field of medicine, population control, food security, pollution control and sustainable utilization of natural resources. Biological knowledge is also necessary to ensure natural resources are in sufficient replenishment and supply (Ongowo & Hungi, 2014). Kenya made primary and secondary education free in 2003 and 2008 respectively. The country aimed at meeting the objectives of education for all (EFA) by the year 2015 and millennium development goals (MDG’S). However, recent studies indicate that most developing countries including Kenya are far from achieving MDG’S (Murunga, Kilaha and Wanyonyi, 2013). This necessitates acquiring of adequate biological knowledge by the students and subsequent utilization of the acquired skills so as to be in a position to participate fully in scientific development. In science education, students should take personal responsibility and control during the learning process. A number of studies have been directed towards the affective components of cognition like motivation and self regulation. These two components are crucial in the process of cognitive engagement and conceptual change (Tang & Neber, 2008). Self perception of students has also been investigated with emphasis on self concept so as to develop and maintain positive attitude. Self perception is an important source of self concept among other sources like reflected appraisals and social comparisons. 22
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Self perception theory (SPT) developed by Daryl Bem in 1965 postulates that people induce attitudes without accessing internal cognition and mood. However, Weiner (1999) observed that teenagers consciously or subconsciously look inward at themselves and weigh whether other peoples’ thoughts, attitudes, actions and reactions will work for them until they begin to see themselves in their own way. Self perception therefore may vary from time to time impacting on academic achievement. SPT sufficiently guided this study which aimed at finding out the influence of students’ self perception on achievement in biology among secondary school students in Nakuru County, Kenya. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Relationship between self-perception and academic achievement is well established in literature but little research has been done on the topic in Kenya especially in secondary schools within Nakuru county. This study therefore aimed at making a contribution towards filling this gap. To this end the study examined the relationship between students’ self perception and achievement in biology among students in secondary school in Nakuru county. Objectives of the study 1. To determine if there is a relationship between students’ self perception and achievement in biology among secondary school students in Nakuru county 2. To find out if there is a difference in self perception among male and female students in secondary schools in Nakuru county. 3. To investigate if there is a difference in biology achievement among male and female secondary school students in Nakuru county Null Hypotheses 1. There is no statistically significant relationship between students’ self perception and achievement in biology among secondary school students in Nakuru county 2. There is no statistically significant difference in self perception among male and female students in secondary schools in Nakuru county. 3. There is no statistically significant difference in biology achievement among male and female secondary school students in Nakuru county METHODOLOGY Design This study was guided by self perception theory (SPT) and adopted ex-post facto research design which is applied in those studies where the independent variables have interacted with dependent variables. Consequently, the effect of interaction between the variables is determined retrospectively (Kerlinger, 2002). Participants The target population was secondary school students and the accessible population was approximately twenty eight thousand form three secondary school students in Nakuru county. Sample size was determined by formula developed by Krejcie and Morgan in 1970 (Kathuri & Pals, 1993). 390 randomly selected form three students participated in the study. Simple random sampling was used to select 3 secondary schools and 130 form three students were randomly selected from each of the participating school. 23
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Data collection and analysis Data was collected by use of students’ questionnaire (SQ). The instrument was pilot tested in one secondary school in neighbouring Nyandarua county to test reliability. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess whether items in the instrument measured students’ perception. An alpha level of at least .70 was accepted and considered suitable to make possible group inferences that are accurate enough (Orodho, 2008). The researcher administered the questionnaire to the study sample and collected it immediately the participants completed filling in the required information. The items were scored, coded and analysed using SPSS version 22.0. Results and discussion Self perception among students It was found out that most students have a positive self perception since they agree and strongly agree with positive statement on self perception and disagree and strongly disagree on negative constructed statements. Majority of the students like the person they are (96%), make decisions on their own (88%), are comfortable with their physical appearance (97%), pretty sure of themselves (78%) and always do the right things (93%). Moreover the students are not scared to talk in front of the class (53%), are not clumsy (59%) and are very agreeable (59%). In addition, 47% of the students are not sure whether their classmates like them a lot while 25% are not sure whether most times they do the right things. These findings are shown in the table 2 below Table 2 Self perception percentages among students perception Strongly disagree I like the person that i am .5% I make decisions on my own with ease 1.6% I rely on my friends for most decisions 32.6% in my life I like to be called upon in class 11.3% Most of my friends like me 2.3% I am fun to be with 3.0% I am comfortable with my physical 1.5% appearance I am pretty sure of myself 4.6% I often doubt myself 37.4% I wish i was someone else 65.6% I am scared to talk in front of the class 29.6% Most times, i do the right things 3.4% I rarely get worried 15.9% 24
Not Disagree sure
Strongly Agree agree
1.6% 4.8% 40.7%
2.3% 5.3% 10.4%
14.8% 45.3% 13.2%
80.8% 42.9% 3.1%
16.8% 1.6% 5.5% 1.0%
26.3% 37.3% 24.3% .5%
33.2% 30.8% 29.6% 16.5%
12.4% 27.9% 37.6% 80.4%
5.2% 30.2% 18.5% 23.7% 11.7% 23.3%
12.9% 12.7% 4.1% 20.9% 25.5% 19.5%
20.6% 10.9% 5.4% 15.5% 35.7% 32.3%
56.7% 8.8% 6.4% 10.3% 23.7% 9.0%
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My classmates like me a lot 1.8% I can solve most problems in my life 3.1% I rarely disagree with people around me 8.7% I am a clumsy person 35.1% I would never change a thing about 13.9% myself I always try to do the right things 1.0% I take long to adapt to something new 13.3% i am often sorry for the things i do 9.5% I am unattractive 52.3% I have no problem expressing my 3.1% opinion I am very agreeable person 3.9%
2.6% 10.8% 25.9% 24.1% 21.6%
47.4% 17.5% 20.0% 25.7% 11.3%
30.7% 34.5% 31.5% 4.2% 11.3%
17.5% 34.0% 13.8% 11.0% 41.8%
1.5% 26.3% 18.8% 26.2% 9.6%
4.4% 9.6% 18.3% 13.0% 19.5%
39.7% 32.3% 34.0% 2.8% 21.4%
53.3% 18.5% 19.3% 5.7% 46.4%
14.8%
22.3%
35.6%
23.4%
Self perception and biology achievement The Average continuous assessment marks in biology year 2015 per student were calculated by getting the mean marks of individual scores in biology in the three school terms of the year. For the 390 students, the mean average marks in biology year 2015 is 28.08% with a standard deviation of 11.372% and a range between 8% and 69%. This is illustrated in the table 3. Table 3 Average marks in biology year 2015 Number of Minimum Maximum students mark mark Mean Std. Deviation 390 8 69 28.08 11.372 Self perception was computed as a variable using median as measure of central tendency in the likert scale where values were assigned as follows; 1=Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3= Not Sure 4=Agree 5=Strongly Disagree. The study reveals that majority (51%) of students agreed upon the statements about their self perception whereas 39% of the respondents were not sure of their self perception. The Percentages of computed self perception 4-5 does indicate a clear trend of either decrease or increase of positive self perception with average marks in biology. This is as shown in the table 4. However A chi square test gives a p-value = 1.635 at ∞ = 0.05 level of confidence i.e. p-value = 1.635 > 0.05 the null hypotheses is not rejected therefore, no statistically significant relationship between students’ self perception and achievement in biology among secondary school students in Nakuru county
Table 4 Average marks in biology year 2015* Computed self perception Cross tabulation Computed self perception Total
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Average biology marks
Percentages of computed self perception 45
2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 Less than 20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61 and above Total
0 0 26 13 66 0 2 107 0 0 65 2 76 4 12 159 2 0 33 2 29 0 2 68 0 2 12 4 14 2 2 36 0 0 4 0 6 0 0 10 0 0 8 0 2 0 0 10 2 2 148 21 193 6 18 390 A two tailed test on Pearson correlation between self shows that there exist a very weak positive correlation of
63.5 57.8 45.6 50 60 20 perception and average marks in biology +0.023.
Gender difference in self perception A two tailed test on Pearson correlation between self perception and gender shows that there exist a very weak positive correlation of +0.042 almost zero to show that there is no relationship. More males than females have a positive self perception as shown by 70% and 40% respectively in the table 5. Table 5 Gender* Computed self perception cross tabulation Computed self perception Percentages of computed self 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 Total perception 4-5 Sex Female 0
0
50 4
113 6
8
181 70.16
Male 2 2 98 17 80 0 10 209 43.06 Total 2 2 148 21 193 6 18 390 However A chi square test gives a p-value = 1.635 at ∞ = 0.05 level of confidence , p-value = 1.635 > 0.05 thus the null hypotheses retained. There is no statistically significant difference in self perception among male and female students in secondary schools in Nakuru county Gender difference in biology achievement Males outdo females in biology achievement in the grouped marks of 21-60 while females outdo males in biology achievement in the grouped marks of 61 and above (Figure 1).
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No. of students
Female 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Male
79 80 53 54 43 25 14 Less than 20
21-30
31-40
22
41-50
4 6
6 4
51-60
61 and above
Average biology marks
Figure 1: Gender difference in biology achievement A two tailed test on Pearson correlation between self perception and gender shows that there exist a very positive correlation of +0.412. A chi square test gives a p-value = 0.831 at ∞ = 0.05 level of confidence i.e. p-value = 0.831 > 0.05 null hypothesis is retained, thus there is no statistically significant gender difference in biology achievement among students in secondary schools in Nakuru county. Conclusions Self perception among students is positive. Students can make decisions on their own and always do the right things. Moreover students are neither clumsy nor scared to talk in front of the class a show of self confidence. The self perception perspective that people derive their inner feelings or abilities from external behaviors was noted. However students self perception does not affect their performance in biology as per the findings of the study. Performance may be attributed to other factors for example entry behavior and negative attitude towards biology. The sex of the students had a significance influence on self perception as self perception is portrayed to vary with gender. A greater percentage of female students as compared to males score more computed self perception. Performance in biology subject does not significantly differ with the gender of the student since both mean marks of males and females students in biology coincides with the class mean mark.. Further research is recommended to find out the cause/s of low achievement in biology both at county level and national level among secondary school students in Nakuru county, Kenya. References Kathuri, N. J & Pals, D. A (1993). Introduction to research. Educational material center, Egerton University. Kenya National Examination Council. (2012). The Year 2009 Kenya certificate of secondary examination report. Nairobi; Government Printers Kenya National Examination Council. (2013). The Year 2010 Kenya certificate of secondary examination report. Nairobi; Government Printers Kenya National Examination Council. (2014). The Year 2011 Kenya certificate of secondary examination report. Nairobi; Government Printers 27
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Keraro, F. N & Shihusa, H (2005). Effects Of Advance Organizers On Students\' Achievement In Biology: A Case Study Of Bureti District, Kenya Journal of Technology and Education in Nigeria Vol. 10 (2) 2005: pp. 1-9 Retrieved from web on September 6, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/joten.v10i2.35709 Kerlinger, F. N. (2002). Foundations of Behavioural Research. New York: Holt Reinhart and Winston. Inc Murunga F, Kilaha K, Wanyonyi D (2013). Emerging Issues in Secondary School Education in Kenya. Int. J. Adv. Res. 1(3):231-240. Orodho, A. J. (2008). Techniques of writing research proposals and reports in education and social sciences. Nairobi; Kenyatta University. Ongowo, R. O., & Hungi, S. K. (2014). Motivational Beliefs and Self-Regulation in Biology Learning: Influence of Ethnicity, Gender and Grade Level in Kenya. Creative Education, 2014, 5, 218-227. Retrieved from web on September 9, 2015 Prokop, P., Prokop, M & Tunicliffe, S. D (2007). Is biology boring? Student attitude towards biology. Journal of biological education vol 42 issue. Samikwo, Dinah C (2013). Factors which influence academic performance in biology in kenya: a perspective for global competitiveness. International Journal of Current Research Vol. 5, Issue, 12, pp.4296-4300, ISSN: 0975-833X . Retrieved from web on September 6, 2015. http:/www.journalcra.com Tang, M., & Neber, H. (2008). Motivation and Self-Regulated Science Learning in High Achieving Students: Differences Related to Nation, Gender and Grade Level. High Ability Studies, 19, 103-116. Retrieved from web on September 16, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598130802503959 Weiner, V (1999). Winning the war against youth gangs. Greenwood publishing group press. STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE (SQ) This study aims at finding out the influence of self perception and academic self concept on achievement in Biology among secondary school students. Please fill in the questionnaire and the information collected will be used for academic purposes only. SECTION A; SUDENTS’ BIODATA 1. Sex : Female 2. Age in years: 3. KCPE Marks: 4. Class
Male
SECTION B: STUDENTS’ SELF PERCEPTION Please tick the statement which describes how you feel about yourself according to the scale given. There is no right or wrong answers to these statements. Statement Strongly Agree Not Disagree Strongly Agree sure disagree 1.I like the person that I am 2.I make decisions on my own with ease 28
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3.I rely on my friends for most decisions in my life 4.I like to be called upon in class 5.Most of my friends like me 6.I am fun to be with 7.I am comfortable with my physical appearance 8.I am pretty sure of myself 9.I often doubt myself 10.I wish I was someone else 11.I am scared to talk in front of class 12.Most times, I do the right things 13.I rarely get worried 14.My classmates like me a lot 15. I can solve most problems in my life 16.I rarely disagree with people around me 17. I am a clumsy person 18.I would never change a thing about myself 19.I always try to do the right things 20.I take long to adapt to something new 21.I am often sorry for the things I do 22.I am unattractive 23.I have no problem expressing my opinion 24.I am a very agreeable person SECTION C: SELF ACADEMIC CONCEPT ASSESMENT Please tick the statement which describes how you feel about academics according to the scale given. There is no right or wrong answers to these statements, so feel free to answer. STATEMENT Definitely True Not Not Definitely true Sure true not true 1.I am a hard working student at school 2.I do my school work with a lot of ease 3.I enjoy studying biology more than any other subject 29
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4.I spend most of my time doing my school work 5.I enjoy participating in class activities 6.I often lead my classmates in tasks assigned by our teacher 7.My peers often consult me in class assignments 8.I am happy with my academic achievements 9. I can never achieve highly in biology 10.I learn most concepts in biology very fast 11.I have trouble with most school subjects 12.I often need help in most school subjects 13.I enjoy studying biology 14.I get good marks in biology 15.I don’t like most school subjects 16.I often look forward to biology lessons 17.I often need help in most school subjects 18. I really feel good about my achievement in most school subjects 19.I hope to excel in my study 20. My grades in biology and all other subjective will secure for me a position in university 21.I am well aware of my future profession 22.I have trouble understanding anything in biology 23.Biology is the easiest subject in biology 24.Biology is my favourite subject 25.I never want to continue studying biology after secondary school
Thank you for answering this questionnaire
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International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 31-43, ŠIJHSS
The influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities. A study between students and lecturers. Simon Ntumi University of Cape Coast, Ghana Department of Educational Foundations Email: simon.ntumi@stu.ucc.edu.gh Esther Quarcoo University of Cape Coast, Ghana Department of Vocational and Technical Education Email: esther.quarcoo@ucc.edu.gh Abstract Identity negotiation is the process by which perceivers target comes to agreement regarding the identities that the targets are to assume in the interaction. In this contemporary era, the notion of uniqueness shows that humans differ from one another, whilst what we do in the same way as well as what we share and have in common with others is understood as the social aspects of ourselves. The objective of the study was to find out the influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities in terms of the relationship between students and lecturers from the students perspective. For the study to be materialized, the researchers employed descriptive survey as the design for the study. Questionnaire was the sole instrument used to elicit response from respondents. A reliability of 0.71 using the Cronbach’s Alpha was obtained. The sample size for the study was 248 respondents. The key findings of the study revealed that most people consider their values, attitudes, status and mood in choosing clothing and are also able to identify the moods and values of others through their clothing. The findings further gave evidence that clothing plays a major role in helping student’s identify their lectures. It was recommended that workshops and seminars about clothing should be organized for both lecturers and students. And also on how the impact of clothing influence negotiation of identity. Again, lecturers should be encouraged by the school authorities to put on clothes that will differentiate them from their students. This will help them gain the necessary recognition. Key words: Identity, Negotiation, Lecturers, Students, Attitudes, Values, Status, Moods. Introduction The first scholar to use the term identity negotiation in the context of this study can be attributed to William B. Swann, a professor of social and personality psychology. Notwithstanding, the term has been around and has been used by several other authors in the social sciences. Swann (2007) a learned scholar in field of social and personality psychology pioneered the study identity negotiation 31
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theory. Swann described self-verification model as the theory which is based on the influence individuals have over the manner in which they are perceived. This model is based on the notion that individuals want people to understand them just as they understand themselves and therefore, they deliberately act in a way such as to achieve this goal. On the other hand, the reverse process of self categorization focuses attention on how individuals identify themselves with existing groups in accordance with how their self-perception is influenced by others. Both models occur concurrently and are connected although researchers most often analyze them separately. Identity can be defined in this context as the outcome of a negotiation. Based on this background, identity can be seen as the result of a negotiation process involving the culture of individuals, self-conception and interaction among the individuals. Further, identity also involves the processes by which individuals in a given society reach agreements regarding their personalities. The process of identity negotiation thus establishes what people can expect of one another. In the work of Turner- Bowker (2001), he views identity negotiation as a key concept which provides the interpersonal cohesion among individuals. The fundamental principle of Swann’s identity negotiation theory is based on conscious individual ambition to feel good in his society in regards to the individual’s aspiration of psychological and interactional rationality. This emerges from the assumption that individual’s desire is influenced by the world around them therefore, they engage in social interaction with the anticipation of approving the expectations they have in life. It is worthwhile for one to note that people engaged in notation identities so as to establish their relationship with others in the society to foster coherence. Taking into consideration the fact that negotiating identities plays a key role in social interaction, it is indeed evident that human interpersonal relationships, emotions, values, attitudes and perceptions are influence by negotiation of identity. “Just as identities define people and make them viable as humans, identity negotiation processes also define relationships and make them viable as a foundation for organized social activity” (Swann & Bosson, 2009. pp 69-71). Swann and Bosson (2006) further maintain that the idea of identity negotiation is mostly applicable to a specific situation. To them, it is true that humans persistently adopt some aspects of identities, but identity negotiation is indeed a concept addressing an implicit, unconscious phenomenon, informal, automatic, open-ended issues. Humans are social animals therefore human life is interwoven with one another. Their actions, behaviour, perception, values, and above all appearance, is greatly influenced by people around them. Individual’s styles of outfit and adornment are largely determined by the way in which people around view and treat them. In effect, individual’s self- concepts offer some guidelines for appropriate styles of dress. However, our perceived selves may not always coincide exactly with our idealized selves. Since we realize the impact of appearance on others in interaction, we try to improve the visible images that we present to them. We generally strive to present ourselves to others in a manner consistent with our most positive self-interpretations. Each time we interact with different individuals, we may modify our self-perceptions and re-evaluate our self-presentations. A study by Baigh and Williams (2006), tested the idea that well-dressed individuals would present themselves more positively than poorly dressed ones. The symbolic communication with others serves asessential processes of individuals’ reflexive self-conceptions (Baigh & Williams, 2006). Where school teachers mostly find themselves determines the type of clothes they should wear. However, in many instances the principal usually decides on the dress code for the staff within a particular school. As a result, the types of clothing teachers wear to work can vary. Some schools require that teachers adhere to a business casual dress code. A business casual style of dressing 32
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usually includes khaki pants, blouses, polo shirts and comfortable skirts and dresses of a modest length. Teachers may work at schools that allow them to wear blue jeans in good condition. They might also wear t-shirts, tennis shoes, and sandals. Despite this informal dress style, teachers must exercise good judgment when choosing clothing for work. In rare cases, teachers may be required to wear professional clothing. This may include suits and ties for men and skirts, dresses and pant suits for women. Teachers who work in public or private schools may sometimes be asked to dress in this manner (Polzer & Caruso, 2007). Problem statement The problems of modern contemporary era flow from the attempt of the individual to maintain independence and individuality in his existence against the sovereign powers of society, and how to live to the expectation of the society demands (Howard, 2000). The quest by individuals to resist the forces and pressures levelled by culture and society, while still depending entirely on the society is the most interesting of issues that needs consideration. Largely, the most discussed issue in social life today is the duality of the individual in regards to his identity. It is imperative that today, the idea of identity negotiation demonstrates the autonomy we have as independent entities that help in expressing of our differences from others. Despite the impact and influential aspect of negotiating identities in many societies, the issue of identity negotiation appears to be a tendency and characteristic of only more developed societies than the less privileged societies. It is evident that a lot of studies have been conducted on the negotiation of identities including works by ToucheSpelcht (2004) but it appears that not much study have been done on the influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities in terms of the relationship between lecturers and students. The conflict resulting from this internal dialog within individuals, sometimes labelled as an identity crisis, is the motivational background for this work. This therefore gives the researchers the impetus to conduct an empirical study to investigate the influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities in relation to students and lecturers in University of Cape Coast Campus. Rationale for the study The general purpose of this study was to find out the influence of clothing in the negotiation of identities. However, specifically, the study aimed to come out with some factors that people consider in selection of clothing, the role clothing plays in the negotiation of identities and finally, the role clothing plays in the negotiation of identities between lecturers and students. Research questions The following research questions were formulated for the study; 1. What factors do people consider in clothing selection? 2. What role does clothing play in the negotiation of identities? 3. What role does clothing play in the negotiation of identities between lecturers and students? Significance of the study The findings of the study aimed to help know how clothing influences the negotiation of identities. The findings again aimed to serve as guidance and counselling treatments and will also serve as basis for education on proper dressing. The study again hopes to generate enough data to serve as a reference point for other researchers interested in researching into this similar issue. 33
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Theoretical groundings Negotiated identities are constructed so that individuals can mutually develop a form of interpersonal realities that will allow them to interact with one another. In order for symbolic interaction to occur, these individuals must be capable of interpreting one another’s interests to the extent that they can empathize with one another, or take the role of the other (Kaiser, 1985). Clothing and personal appearance cues are used by individuals in interpreting roles, intents, and personal attitudes and values. Stone (2007) has indicated that the meanings of appearance can be symbolic of identities, values, moods and attitudes. Attitudes The appearance of individuals are anticipated by the reviewers in relation to their attitudes. One’s present and past actions can be influence by appearance. There are a variety of stimuli toward which we can propose attitudes through clothing. These involves objects (including clothes themselves), social groups or institutions, people, places, events or situations, and issues. Attitudes toward specific clothing styles are, of course, reflected through the clothes that we wear, by wearing certain styles, we represent the groups to which we belong and express our degree of commitment to these groups. Using Stone’s interpretation of communicated attitudes, it may be asserted that behaviours are likely to be anticipated as a result of group memberships (Stone, 2007). Moods In the view of Stone (2007), mood may be compared to feelings of pride one has about his or her appearance, with regard to a set of values that serve as a reference for self-evaluations. Mood is largely related then to social feedback received from others. Others may use visible cues (for example, bright colours, grooming) in interpreting and defining mood in a given situation. Mood is a very intangible, transient quality that is difficult to study or measure. It may be susceptible to regular change and is not necessarily accurately reflected through an individual’s clothes at any given time. Our moods may change from the wary we feel when selecting what to wear in the morning. Thus, clothes are not a very reliable cue for assessing another’s mood Values Values are abstract principles of behaviour to which we feel committed. They provide organization for our behaviour and allow us to compare our own goals with those of others (Beaudoin & Lachance, 2006). In this way, they provide us with a means of self-evaluation. Values may be compared to beliefs, or the many inferences we make about the world, in that values are entirely located in a particular belief system. Thus, values are much more generalized and entail to the selfconcept than beliefs. Values guide our perception and purchase of clothes and styles and accessories as well as our planned selections of these items for our interactions. Some degree of commitment is associated with personal values, and we tend to be somewhat emotional with respect to our attachment to values. Our values tend to affect what we perceive to be important. This is often referred to as selective perception.
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METHODOLOGY Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The descriptive research design was deemed appropriate for the study because as described by Creswell (2003) it offers the researcher the opportunity to get the opinion of the population concerning some issues of interest relevant to the study. It is suitable for selecting a sample and describing the real situation or phenomena as it exists and hence more likely to give accurate information. The study sought to find out and describe the behaviour of the respondents in respect of how clothing influences the negotiation of identities. From the Krejcie and Morgan (2007) table for determining sample size from a given population, a population of 700 has a corresponding sample size of 248 respondents. This was done through the use of simple random sampling. The instrument for data collection was solely questionnaires. The questionnaires items were drawn in relation to the research questions set for the study. Questionnaires was considered most appropriate for the study because it provides anonymity of the respondent and also because respondents can read and write. Structured question items of closed ended nature were used in collecting data from respondents. The questionnaires were in four sections; each section gathering information on a specific variable. The first section elicited information on background of respondents with the other three sections eliciting information on factors considered in clothing selection, how clothing affects peoples’ identity and negotiation of identities respectively. Reliability validity of the instruments In order to enhance the validity of the study, the questionnaire was given to an expert for assessment. This ensured both face and content related evidence of the items and also examined whether the items relate to the research questions and also comprehensively cover the details of the study. For the reliability of the instrument, a pre-test results was be used to determine the reliability of the instruments which obtained Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.71 measure of internal consistency. The data collected was edited, coded and analysed using the descriptive statistics of the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS version. 22.0) and presented in tables showing frequency and percentage distribution, to help describe the status of the issue as it prevailed within the population used for the study.The results of the findings were interpreted. DATA ANALYSIS Table 1a Ages of Respondents (N=248) Age 17-20 years 21-24 years 25-28 years Total
Frequency 67 114 66 248
Percentage (%) 27.0 46.0 26.6 100.0
Source, Field Data (2016).
The table above indicates that, out of the total sample of 248, 67(27.0%) fell between the ages of 17 to 20, 114(46.0%) fell between the ages of 21 to 24 and 66(27.0%) out of the sample fell between
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the ages of 25 to 28. This means that a large percentage of the respondents were within the ages of 21-24.
Graphical representation of age of respondents Age of Respondentse 300 200 100 0 17-20 years
21-24 years Series1
Table 1b Gender of respondent (N=248) Gender
25-28 years
Total
Series2
Frequency
Percentage (%)
Male
82
33.1
Female
166
66.9
248
100.0
Total
Source, Field Data (2016). Gender is an important social, cultural and psychological construct, which describes the expected attitudes and behaviours a society associates with sex (Alami et al, 2013). This therefore suggests that sex of respondent’s forms an integral part in a study. It is evident from the table above that 82(33.1%) of the respondents were males whereas 166(66.9%) were females. This means that the number of females who took part in the study were more than the males.
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Graphical representation of gender of respondents gender of r es pondent Series1
Series2
Total, 100 Female, 66.9 Male, 33.1 Male, 82
MA LE
Table 1c Level of respondents (N=248) Levels
Total, 248
Female, 166
FE MA LE
TOTA L
Freq.
Percentage (%)
100
82
33.1
200
74
29.8
300
59
23.8
400 Total
33 248
13.3 100.0
Source, Field Data (2016).
It can be seen from the table above that 82 (33.1%) were level 100 students whilst 74(29.8%) were level 200 students. It was also confirmed that 59(23.8%) were level 300 students whereas 33(27.0) % were level 400 students. This means that there were more level 100 students in the study than all the other levels. Graphical representation of levels of respondents level of respondents 100 200 Total
300 400
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Table 2 Research Question One Factors people considered in clothing selection (N=248) S Statements SA (%) / N 1 I wear clothes to improve 92(37.1) my social status
A (%)
D (%)
SD (%)
97(39.1)
43(17.3)
16(6.5)
2
I consider my values in 83(33.5) choosing clothes
124(50.0)
3
I dress to impress others
52(21.0)
136(54.8)
51(20.6)
9(3.6)
4
I dress to express my mood I always want to look good My attitudes determines what I wear Total
70(28.2)
155(62.5)
23(9.3)
0(0.0)
83(33.5)
124(50.0)
30(12.1)
11(4.4)
93(37.5)
105(42.3)
38(15.3)
12(4.8)
248(100)
248(100)
248(100)
248(100)
5 6
30(12.1)
Mean (M)
Std. Deviat ion
1.9
.894
2.1
.998
2.0
.747
1.8
.583
1.8
.787
1.8
.842
11.4
4.811
11(4.4)
Key: SA- Strongly agree, A- Agree, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly disagree, %- Percentage Source: Field data, 2016
From the table, out of a total sample size of 248, it reveals that 189 (76.2%) agreed that they wear clothes to improve their social status whereas 59(23.8 %) disagreed that they wear clothes to improve their social status. Also, 207(83.5%) agreed that they consider their values in choosing clothes and 41(16.5%) disagreed to that fact. It is again evident from the table that 188(75.8%) agreed that they dress to impress others whereas 60(24.2%) disagreed that they dress to impress others. Again, 225(90.7%) agreed that they dress to express their mood whilst 23(9.3%) disagreed that they dress to express their mood. Two hundred and seven (83.5%) agreed that they dress to always look good whilst 41(16.5 %) disagreed to that fact. Lastly, the table indicates that 198(79.8%) agreed that their attitudes determined what they wear whilst 50(20.1%) disagreed that their attitudes determine what they wear. Further, the overall mean and standard deviation of (M=11.4, SD=4.811) of the respondents shows that the responses on factors people consider in cloth selection is significantly higher. (M=11.4 out of 15.81, SD= 4.811 out of 4.17).
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Table 3 Research Question Two How clothing affects peoples’ identity (N=248) S/ N
Statements
SA (%)
A (%)
D (%)
SD (%)
1
My identity is sometimes misinterpreted because of what I wear I focus on brands in choosing my clothing Social expectations influence the way I dress The style of clothing affects my identity I identify people mood by the way they dress I identify peoples values by the way they dress Total
40(16.1)
122(49.2)
50(20.2)
36(14.5)
2 3 4 5 6
Mean Std. (M) Devi ation 2.33
.915
1.99
.610
1.99
.590
2.19
.634
1.97
.550
45(18.1)
162(65.3)
39(15.7)
2(8.00)
19(7.7)
172(69.4)
46(18.6)
11(4.40)
40(16.1)
173(69.8)
35(14.1)
0(0.00)
22(8.9)
181(73.0)
45(18.0)
0(0.00)
20(8.1)
178(71.8)
46(18.5)
4(1.60)
2.09
.512
248(100)
248(100) 12.56
3.811
248(100) 248(100)
Key: SA- Strongly agree, A- Agree, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly disagree, %- Percentage Source: Field data, 2016 The table above confirmed that 162 (65.3%) of the respondents agreed that their identities are sometimes misinterpreted because of what they wear whereas 86(34.7%) disagreed that their identities are sometimes misinterpreted because of what they wear. Also, 207(83.4%) agreed that they focused on brands in choosing their clothes and 41(23.7%) disagreed to that fact. It is again evident from the table above that 191(77.1%) agreed that social expectations influence the way they dress whereas 57(23%) disagreed that social expectations influence the way they dress. Again, 213(85.9%) agreed that the style of clothing affects people’s identity whilst 35(14.1%) disagreed that the style of clothing affects people’s identity. Two hundred and three (81.9%) agreed that they identified people’s mood by the way they dress whilst 45(18.0%) disagreed to that fact. Lastly, 198(79.9%) agreed that they identified people’s values by the way they dress whilst 50(20.1%) disagreed that they identified people’s values by the way they dress. Also the overall mean and standard deviation obtained from the responses (M=12.56, SD= 3.811) shows that responses with respect to the attitudes of respondents on how clothing affects peoples’ identity is significantly higher. Thus (M=12.56 out of 15.81, SD= 3.811 out of 4.17)
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Table 4 Research Question Three Negotiation of identities between lecturers and students (N=248) S Statements SA (%) / N 1 Lecturers are easily 0(0.0) identified by their physique
A (%)
D (%)
66(26.6)
158(63.7) 24(9.7)
2
3(1.3)
41(16.5)
169(68.1) 35(14.1)
2(8.8)
41(16.5)
157(63.3) 48(19.8)
3 4 5
6
Lecturers put on classy clothes Lecturers are easily identified by the way they dress. Do you easily approach lecturers by the way they dress? Are you able to identify the mood of lecturers by the way they dress?
26(10.5) 43(17.3)
166(66.9) 173(69.8)
Are you able to identify the 16(6.5) attitudes of lecturers by the way they dress?
170(68.5)
Total
248(100)
248(100)
54(21.8) 30(21.1)
61(24.6)
248(100)
SD (%)
Mean Std. Deviat ion 2.13
.5595
2.83
.5792
2.95
.5949
3.01
.6265
2.12
.5827
1.96
.5715
15.99
3.5048
2(8.80) 2(2.80)
1(0.40)
248(100)
Key: SA- Strongly agree, A- Agree, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly disagree, %- Percentage Source: Field data, 2016. From the above table, it reveals that out of 248 respondents sampled for the study, 66 (26.6%) agreed that lecturers are easily identified by their physique and 182 (73.4%) disagreed that lecturers are easily identified by their physique. 44 (17.8%) agreed that lecturers put on classy clothes whereas 204 (82.2%) disagreed that lecturers put on classy clothes. Forty three (25.3%) agreed that lecturers are easily identified by the way they dress whereas 205 (83.1%) disagreed that lecturers are easily identified by the way they dress. A total of 192 (77.3%) agreed that they easily approach lectures by the way they dress and 56 (30.6%) disagreed that they easily approach lectures by the way they dress.Two hundred and sixteen (87.1%) agreed that they are able to identify the mood of lectures by the way they dress whilst 32(23.9%) disagreed that they are able to identify the mood of lectures by the way they dress. The table finally shows that 186 (75.0%) agreed they are able to identify the attitudes of lectures by the way they dress whereas 62 (25.0%) disagreed they are able to identify the attitudes of lectures by the way they dress. further, the overall mean and standard deviation of (M=15.99, SD=3.5048) shows that the responses shows that negotiation of identities between lecturers and students is significantly higher. (M=15.99 out of 15.81, SD= 3.5048 out of 4.17)
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Factors people considered in clothing selection The rationale behind this research question was to explore the factors that influence the choice of peoples’ clothing. It was revealed from the study that, there are a number of factors that influence the choice of peoples’ clothing. Noticeable among them include; attitudes, moods, social status and values. A high percentage (90.7%) confirmed that their mood influences their choice of clothes. 83.5% of the respondents also indicated that their values determine what they wear. 79.8% believed that their attitudes influence their selection of clothes. A large number of respondents (76.2%) also indicated that their choice of clothing is based on their social status. It can therefore be concluded from the study that, factors such as attitudes, moods, social status and values play a major role in clothing selection. The results is in conformity with the work of Stone (2007) who indicated that peoples mood, values, identities and attitudes are some factors they consider in their clothes selection. How clothing affects peoples’ identity The research question two was also to investigate how clothing affects people’s identity. The results of the study gave ample evidence that people’s identity influence what they wear. A large number of the respondents affirmed that their choice of clothing is greatly influenced by their values, moods and attitudes. These results are parallel with the study of Beaudoin and Lachance (2006), who affirmed that, values guide our perception and purchase of clothes and styles and accessories as well as our planned selections of these items for our interactions. The findings of the study agrees with the idea of Kaiser, 1985 that the elements of attitudes influence clothing preferences and taste. Negotiation of identities between lecturers and students The last research question to the study was to investigate and come out with the negotiation of identities between lecturers and students. The results of the study confirmed that even though clothing plays a major role in negotiating identities, the respondents revealed that do not easily identify their lectures by their appearance. The results again revealed that students’ expectations, such as having a particular type of physique or appearing in classy clothes are not met. CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Based on the findings of the study it can be concluded that some influential factors that peoples based in selection of clothes are attitudes, moods, values and status. The same factors influence the choice of peoples’ clothing. Finally, it can be drawn from the study that on the University of Cape Coast campus, lectures are not easily identified by their students by the way they dress. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended the following; Workshops and seminars on clothing should be organized for both lecturers and students on how the impact of clothing influences negotiation of identities. Lecturers should be encouraged by the school authorities to put on clothes that will differentiate them from their students. This will help them gain the necessary recognition and full expectation from their students. Implications for practice The findings of the study serves as a very useful documents for the department of fashion in the University of Cape Coast, as it has provided enough evidence to help the department come out with 41
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clothing to meet peoples’ desires and expectations of individual societies. The study has also generated enough data that brings a call for further studies in improving issues in negotiation identities and also serve as a reference point for other researchers interested in researching into this similar issue. REFERENCES Alami, Athiqah Nur, et al. (2013). Strategi Pembangunan Wilayah Perbatasan melalui Pengelolaan Sumberdaya Alam Berbasis Gender. Jakarta: LIPI. Baigh, J. A., & Williams, E. L. (2006). The atomicity of social life. Current Direction in Psychological Science, 15 (2), 1-4 Beaudoin, P., & Lachance, M. J. (2006). Determinants of adolescents’ brand sensitivity to clothing. Family and consumer sciences research journal, 34(4), 312-331. Creswell, J. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Hoffman, B. J., & Woehr, D. J. (2006). A quantitative review of the relationship between person– organization fit and behavioral outcomes. Journal of 1161 Vocational Behavior, 68(4), 389–399. Howard, J. A. (2000). Social psychology of identities. Annual review of sociology. University of Columbia. Retrieved on 22nd February, 2016 from arjournals.annualreviews.org. Kaiser, S. B. (1985). The social psychology of clothing and personal adornment. MacmillanPublishing Company. New York. Krejcie, R.V. & Morgan, D. W. (2007). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 30 (5), 607-610. Marshalls, G., Jackson H. O., Stanley M. S. & Touche- Spelcht (2004). Individuality in clothing selection and personal appearance (6thed.) Pearson Prentice Hall. Polzer, J. T., & Caruso, H. M. (2007). Identity negotiation amidst diversity: Understanding the influences of social identity and status. In A. Brief 1287 (Ed.), Diversity at work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Stone, G. P. (2007). Appearance and the self. In a Rose, ed. Human behaviour and social process, pp86118. Bosten: Houghton-Mifflin Company. Snyder, M., & Klein, O. (2005). Construing and constructing others: On the reality and the generality of the behavioral confirmation scenario. Journal of Interaction Studies, 6 (3) 53–67. Swann, W. B., Jr. (2007). Self- verification: Bringing social reality into harmony with the self. In J. Suls 42
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& A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. II, pp. 33-66). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum. Swann, W. B., Jr. (2007). Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53,(4), 1038-1051. Swann, W. & Bosson, J. (2006). Identity negotiation: A Theory of Self and Social Interaction. Chapter prepared for O. John, R. Robins, & L. Pervin (Eds.) Handbook of Personality Psychology: Theory and Research. New York: Guilford. Swann, W. & Bosson, J. (2009). Identity negotiation: A Theory of Self and Social Interaction. Chapter prepared for O. John, R. Robins, & L. Pervin (Eds.) Handbook of Personality Psychology: Theory and Research. New York: Guilford. Turner- Bowker, D. M. (2001). Howcan you pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you don’t have boots? Work appropriate clothing for poor women. Journal of social issues,57(2), 311-322.
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International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 44-66, ©IJHSS
Some unobtrusive indicators of psychology’s shift from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences Dr Günter Krampen University of Trier Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID) Trier, Germany Lisa I. Trierweiler Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID) Trier, Germany Abstract Unobtrusive indicators of the status of psychology within the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences were outlined and examined from a historical perspective. Specifically, the unobtrusive indicators considered to differentiate between the three branches included the (1) dominant scientific publication type (e.g., books vs. journal articles), (2) number of coauthors of journal publications, (3) number of references in journal publications, (4) length of journal contributions, and (5) linguistic features of scientific papers (e.g., Genera Verbi, length of sentences). These indicators were measured in two psychological databases (PsycINFO: 19002014; PSYNDEX: 1980-2014), random samples of psychological publications from the Web of Science, and in content analyses of publication guidelines of psychology journals. Scientometric results clearly show that psychology started at the beginning of the 20th century as a book science and shifted rapidly in the 1920s in a rather unidirectional way to a journal science in the domain of the natural sciences. Keywords: psychology, branches of science, state of sciences, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, methodology, scientometrics, unobtrusive measures, history of psychology. Introduction In the late 19th century, the distinct discipline of psychology appeared within the branches of sciences. Scientists on both sides of the Atlantic served as catalysts for the birth of this new discipline. From the German-speaking and European countries, Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was the first person worldwide to receive a psychology professorship in 1875 at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and from the Anglo-American arena, William James (1842-1910) received the first professorship of psychology and philosophy in the U.S. in 1876 at Harvard University and James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944), who was initially a graduate student in Germany before becoming Wundt‘s first assistant at Leipzig University, received the first professorship of psychology in the U.S. in 1888 at Penn State University (Krampen, 2016). Today, these ―great men‖ embody the historical roots of psychology in the times before it was established as a concrete discipline. These roots lie in several branches of the sciences including philosophy and the humanities (William James‘ scientific origins are found in philosophy and Wilhelm Wundt added this in later years) and the natural sciences (as a psychologist, William James propagated 44
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empirical methods whereas Wilhelm Wundt, with his background in physiology and medicine and later psychology, propagated experimental methods in research, expounded on theories of structuralism and hermeneutics, and laid the foundation for ethnic or cultural psychology, i.e., Völkerpsychologie) (Krampen, 2016). J. M. Cattell started with the study of philosophy, added psychology at Leipzig University and—significant for the development and history of psychometrics and statistics—visited Sir Francis Galton‘s (1822-1911) psychometric and experimental laboratory in London from 1886-1887. Thus, in the brief span of time since its beginnings (about 150 years), psychology has been firmly established in the contemporary sciences, embedded not only in the humanities and the natural sciences but in the social sciences as well (Krampen, 2016). Likewise, the first ―students of psychology‖ of these three great men actually came from very different (i.e., multidisciplinary) scientific backgrounds including, for example, educators and teaching students and students of philosophy and philology (representing the humanities) and physicians and medical students and mathematicians and mathematics students (representing the natural sciences). Consequently, the applied science of psychology began in a multidisciplinary way that was based upon and included a variety of scientific backgrounds and methodologies right from the very start. A controversial methodological divide has existed in psychology practically from its inception and is based on the quantitative experimental versus qualitative hermeneutic methodology proposed by these early psychologists which has led to extensive tension and debate (Krampen, 2016). However, (and often ignored is the fact that) these two methodologies refer to empirical data, which can, in differing ways, be more nomothetic or idiographic, respectively (see, e.g., Danziger, 1995). Nonetheless, the differences between these two methodologies (which are differentially preferred in the diverse subdisciplines of psychology) led to increasing tensions and even to crises within the field of psychology with dangers of splitting the field and vice versa to stereotyping of the opponents. Such tensions and their inherent danger for the rather young, discrete discipline of psychology were identified early on and reported in monographs by eminent psychologists such as Hermann Ebbinghaus (1908, p. 7) on the brief history of psychology and Karl Bühler (1927) on the crisis of psychology (Krampen, 2016). According to Bühler (1927), the methodological crisis that psychology was experiencing was a transitional period of a young science, and to solve it, he suggested that psychology demand several (i.e., experimental, hermeneutic, and behavioral) methodologies and methods (Krampen, 2016). His innovative line of argumentation thus rendered the ―crisis obsolete by the insight and knowledge that all ‗three psychological aspects‘ are a priori necessarily and adequate for the characterization of the subject matter of psychology‖ (Krampen, 2016, p. 1218). More recently in the field psychology, the ―complex pattern of continuity and discontinuity in psychology‖ (Herrmann, 2009, p. 95) has been described and reflected upon, the ―trends in the prominence of four widely recognized schools in scientific psychology: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and neurosciences‖ (Robins, Gosling, & Craik, 1999, p. 117) have been described and scientometrically analyzed, the ―100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century‖ (Haggbloom et al., 2002, p. 139) have been identified by means of citation analyses and surveys, to name a few. All these analyses not only reveal the ups and downs of trends in psychological concepts, theories, and ―great names,‖ but also a strong continuity and discontinuity of methodological preferences based on the tension between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, which are characteristic of the humanities versus the natural sciences (with the social sciences falling somewhere in the middle). Van Rappard (1993, 45
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p. 187) aggregated this in his central argument: ―In psychology the past is part and parcel of the present. In other words, there is a good deal of history in psychology.‖ At the same time, there are frequent descriptions of and complaints about a decreasing interest in the history of psychology within psychology and by psychologists (e.g., Allesch et al., 2015; Danziger, 1994; Herrmann, 2009). Reflecting on his research area of the history, current presence, and future of psychology, Herrmann (2009, p. 96), for example, speculated ―that about 95% of all currently active psychologists in Germany do not find my present topic too interesting.‖ In the German-speaking countries, most of the researchers focusing on the history of psychology are located in the section ―History of Psychology‖ of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs). With 59 members at present, this is the smallest group of the 15 DGPs sections while other sections have up to 640 members, with an average membership of 344 (SD = 193.6) (Margraf, 2015). In Danziger‘s (1994) essay ―Does the history of psychology have a future,‖ he links this disinterest in history to the above-discussed multidisciplinary foundation of psychology in the humanities and natural sciences. Criticizing, he establishes that ―the history of psychology tends to be accorded a purely pedagogical role within the discipline rather than being seen as a possible source of substantive contributions‖ which he feels is indicative of ―a type of mobilization that is characteristic of the natural rather than the human sciences‖ (Danziger, 1994, p. 467). Up to this point, these statements are in agreement with Bühler (1927). Next, Danziger (1994, p. 467) distinguishes between ―a shallow history of the scientific review‖ and the dominant educational objective to ―help to organize consensus‖ (thus, ―conformity in educational and research settings,‖ Krampen, 2016, p. 1219; see also, e.g., attempts to set ―standards for research in psychology,‖ Appelbaum, Cooper, Maxwell, Stone, & Sher, 2008; and publication guidelines, APA, 2010) as opposed to the ―critical history‖ representing ―a threat to the moral community of researchers‖ (Danziger, 1994, p. 467; see also Krampen, 2016). Krampen (2016, p. 1219) summarizes this as follows: While ‗‗shallow history‘‘ refers to regular, normal epochs of science of science that revolve around main stream research programs and paradigms including immunization strategies against falsifications, ‗‗critical history‘‘ has—at the very least—the potential for essential changes of research paradigms, i.e., that is, the potential for ‗‗scientific revolutions‘‘ (Kuhn, 1970). Undoubtedly, scientific revolutions and significant changes in research paradigms are rather infrequent, but they are predicated on a critical, selfregulated learning and research that includes a critical history of the science under study. However, we are missing more systematic evidence for the development as well as recent and current status of psychology in the branches of science, that is, in the context of the humanities and natural sciences. Are there—at best unobtrusive—indicators of a shift of psychology from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences? In the history of the sciences such shifts have taken place, are seldom reflected upon, and rather tend to be forgotten. Mathematics is a good example: Dating back to Ancient Greece in the humanities because of its theoretical subject matter, abstractness, and universality, it shifted to the natural sciences because of mathematics‘ broad and fruitful applications in many ―true‖ natural sciences. The distinction between ―applied mathematics‖ (both in and as natural sciences) and ―pure mathematics‖ (theoretical math in the humanities) may be of significance for psychology as well. Differences between the natural sciences and the humanities in the preferred and instructed ways of research and scientific communication patterns are frequently described (e.g., Puuska, 2014) and called discipline-specific cultures in different research communities. Such rules, norms, and standards of scientific communication can be—frequently international— 46
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formalized (e.g., in publication manuals, submission guidelines of journals, etc.) or informal within a research community, the latter with differences between nations and ethnicities, too (see, e.g., Liu & Fang, 2014). Such differences in professional communications and publications between the humanities (and—at least in part—the social sciences) and the natural sciences refer, for example, to (1) the preferred publication types (e.g., so-called book sciences vs. journal sciences), (2) the frequency of single versus multiple authorships and the number of coauthors, (3) the number of references, (4) the length of publications, and (5) linguistic style (e.g., passive vs. active voice, longer vs. shorter sentences, etc.). These indicators of professional communication culture in the sciences are unobtrusive measures, which were introduced 50 years ago as ―novel methods‖ by Webb, Campbell, Schwartz, and Sechrest (1966, p. V; for an overview see, e.g., Lee, 2000) to the social sciences. Unobtrusive measures avoid perfectly reactive measurement effects (measurement errors from the respondent, i.e., the subject under study), because they refer to, for example, physical traces, archives, simple and contrived (hidden) observations, etc. In short, the data (or artifacts in historical research) are already there and must (only?) be analyzed. Scientific publications and databases—―Werke von Menschen‖ (human works) in terms of Bühler (1927)—belong to such data, and unobtrusive measurements of the above-mentioned indicators are possible. Based on the considerations summarized above, the main research question focuses on the five unobtrusive indicators of differences in scientific communication in the humanities (and social sciences) versus the natural sciences and their applicability for the analysis of psychological publications since 1900. Are there discernible hints for a shift of psychology from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences in one, some, or all of these indicators? Specifically, developmental trends are briefly analyzed for psychology publications over a period of 11 decades (1900-2009) and in more detail for the 35 publication years between 1980 and 2014, which is the last year for which complete database documentation in PsycINFO und PSYNDEX can be expected (at the time of analyses in November 2015). In addition, supplemental research questions are formulated (1) to explore the trends in the frequencies of different publication types (i.e., books, chapters, dissertations, and journal articles) and (2) to make comparisons between the two psychology databases. Ex ante, a remark on the possible objection that publication output of the natural sciences is much higher than that of the humanities and social sciences combined: Who publishes more or less is the wrong question; rather, the correct question for scientific publications refers to scientific quality and innovative strength. It may be that many (as the case may be, short) publications are necessary for high research quality (e.g., because of the necessity of independent replications) and innovations as well as it may be that only a few publications or even one can result in the same quality and innovativeness. Unobtrusive Indicator I: Publication Type Seldom official, but rather informal is the differentiation between ―book sciences‖ and ―journal sciences,‖ a distinction that can—however—lead to major differences in the university library budgets for acquiring publications. Typical book sciences are the arts and humanities, typical journal sciences are the natural sciences, and the social sciences are located in the middle with a tendency toward the book sciences. This is quite independent of digitalization, because—at least—in the last two decades, scientific journals and an increasing number of books as well are available digitally or in both digital and print versions in all branches of the sciences. Thus, providing a wealth of information on the status of psychology in its branch of science is the first unobtrusive indicator, publication type. Important is the historical examination of this indicator to reveals its development over time. Psychological databases are the sources that contain information on various publication types. Due to their high publication frequency in the sciences, the focus here is on journal articles, books (including both authored 47
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and edited books), dissertations/dissertation abstracts, and book chapters (which—however— can only be differentiated from edited books in one of the two usable psychological databases). Publication types such as psychological tests, audiovisual media, digital resources, Internet resources, etc. are grouped together to form a category that is not the topic of the present investigation. Method Databases. Unobtrusive data analyzed in the following derive from PsycINFO and PSYNDEX. The publication samples were selected via identical search strategies from the basic populations of both databases (date of searches: November, 2015). The total samples from PsycINFO and PSYNDEX include all publications documented in the following classification code1 (CC; Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms; Gallagher Tuleya, 2007) categories: CC = 2* (assigned to publications on general psychology, psychometrics & statistics & methodology, human experimental psychology, animal experimental & comparative psychology, physiological psychology & neuroscience, psychology & the humanities, communication systems, developmental psychology, social processes & social issues), CC = 3* (assigned to publications on social psychology, personality psychology, psychological & physical disorders, health & mental health & treatment & prevention, professional psychological & health personnel issues, educational psychology, industrial & organizational psychology, sport psychology & leisure, military psychology, consumer psychology), and CC = 4* (assigned to publications on engineering & environmental psychology, intelligent systems, forensic psychology & legal issues).
PsycINFO®. The American Psychological Association (APA, Washington, DC) produces PsycINFO and features it as an international database of publications in psychology and the behavioral and social sciences which dates back to 1806. The majority of publications recorded in PsycINFO are English-language publications deriving from Anglo-American countries (>90 percent whereas <2% are English- and German-language publications from the Germanspeaking countries; Krampen, 2009, 2016), and its coverage of psychology publications greatly improves but only after the appearance of digitalization in the late 1970s (Krampen, 2016). As of late 2015, there are about 4 million documents recorded in PsycINFO (which can be retrieved, e.g., from http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx). The search routine described above resulted in 3,941,090 PsycINFO documentations of psychological publications. PSYNDEX®. This database, developed and hosted by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID; Trier, Germany), is the complementary, comprehensive database containing German- and English-language publications in psychology and related disciplines in the Germanspeaking countries (described by the acronym DACHLL: D = Germany, A = Austria, CH = Switzerland, first L = Liechtenstein, second L = Luxembourg; note: for two countries, Switzerland and Luxembourg, German is one of three widely used official languages). Documentation in PSYNDEX began in 1977 (for German psychological tests: 1945). As of late 2015, approximately 300,000 documents are recorded in PSYNDEX and can be retrieved, for example, from www.zpid.de, www.MEDPILOT.de, or www.pubpsych.eu. The search routine outlined above resulted in 305,051 PSYNDEX documentations of psychological publications. Thus, in absolute numbers, PsycINFO contains almost 13 times more documents than its European counterpart, PSYNDEX. Search strategy. Besides the documentation field ―Publication Year‖ (Gallagher Tuleya, 2007), the field ―Publication Type‖ was used to determine the number of documented journal 48
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articles, books (i.e., authored book or edited book), book chapters, and dissertation abstracts or dissertations, respectively, per publication year. Results To present a clear description of results, publication years are aggregated to decades (10 years). For the more detailed analyses of the last 35 publication years, these are aggregated to quintades (five years). Publication types in PsycINFO between 1900 and 2009. Publication type results for journal articles, books, and dissertations documented in PsycINFO during the 110 publication years from 1900 to 2009 are presented in Table 1. Solid confirmation is provided for the welldocumented vast increase in the overall number of psychological publications in the 20th century (which can be modeled by way of exponential smoothing; Krampen, von Eye, & Schui, 2011). This is similar to findings in the other sciences: Behrens and Luksch (2011), for example, showed a similar increase in literature published in the field of mathematics between 1868 and 2010, which can be modeled by exponential or linear functions. These increased rates reflect the growth of the research communities and resources and have beenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in additionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;strongly intensified in the last decades by digitalization technologies that enable more efficient submission, communication, and publication systems via the Internet, shorter production times, and perhaps shorter peer review times, too. Table 1. Absolute Numbers (f) of Publications Documented in PsycINFO a as well as Absolute Numbers (f) and Relative Frequencies (%) of Different Publication Types in the Publication Years 1900-2009
Publication year 1900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009
all documents in PsycINFO a 5,744 8,853 27,032 63,996 56,732 92,721 141,948 280,769 454,178 629,390 1,112,116
Publication type ______________________________________________ journal articles books dissertations _______________ _______________ _____________ f % f % f % 1,006 2,732 17,336 49,132 42,946 69,859 110,754 200,610 324,108 426,183 800,188
17.5 30.9 64.1 76.8 75.7 75.3 78.0 71.5 71.4 67.7 72.0
3,745 4,759 5,659 5,178 4,560 5,658 4,022 4,156 30,692 91,703 116,662
65.2 53.8 20.9 8.1 8.0 6.1 2.8 1.5 6.8 14.6 10.5
0 0 0 1 225 4,616 14,291 53,411 74,039 75,200 87,793
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 5.0 10.0 19.0 16.3 11.9 7.9
Note. a Documentations of publications with the PsycINFO classification codes (CC) = 2* or 3* or 4* in the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (Gallagher Tuleya, 2007; Retrieval, e.g., from http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx). With the exception of dissertations (or dissertation abstracts), which are documented in PsycINFO since the 1950s with a very high growth rate, journal articles and books show very strong absolute increases throughout the entire time frame between 1900 and 2009. However, the proportions of journal articles and books are statistically significant with a numerically high negative correlation (r = -.99; p < .01). This demonstrates the compensatory relation between published books and journal articles (see Figure 1): At the start of the 20th century the majority of psychology publications documented in PsycINFO were books. This changed rather abruptly in the 1920s in favor of journal articles, which then provided approximately 75% of the 49
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psychology literature published between the 1930s and 1960s. From the 1970s to the decade after the millennium, the proportion of journal articles is around 70%, while the proportion of books recovered from its deep and long-lasting fall to peak at about 20% at the turn of the century to about 10% after the first decade, and since their inclusion in the mid-1940s, dissertations abstracts have been situated between 10% and 20%.
Figure 1. Percentage (%) of journal articles, books, and dissertation abstracts documented in PsycINFO, 1900-2009. Special case of dissertation abstracts in PsycINFO. The hypothesis that the number of dissertation abstracts could have biased these results due to double documentation as (later) published authored books or journal articles in the database, was checked for a random sample of N = 200 U.S. dissertations from the publication years 1966-2000. Only 30 of these dissertations led to a somewhat later published journal article (15%; mostly in coauthorship), and none led to an authored book. Only 28 dissertation authors (14%) published more psychology literature (1-6 publications; M = 1.7) after their dissertation. Therefore, the bias hypothesis can be rejected. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the results of only a small number of dissertations are even published for a broader scientific readership and that only very few of these authors are involved in further publication activities after the completion of their dissertation. Publication types in PsycINFO between 1980 and 2014 in more detail. Results on frequencies of publication types in PsycINFO in the publication years 1980-2014 are presented in Table 2 and Figure 2 in more detail. Besides the huge increase in psychology publications during these 35 years for the total (primarily Anglo-American) psychology literature, there are clear absolute increases in all four publication types considered here. Highest growth rate is found for the journal articles (which quadruple from the 1980s to the early 2010s), and the other three publication types triple or double their numbers. Note, however, that PsycINFO subclassified 92% of the articles as ―peer-reviewed journals‖ and 0.00003% as ―non-peerreviewed journals‖ (mainly U.S. edited public law journals), with 8% subclassified as ―peerreview status unknown.‖ Beyond the large differences between peer-review procedures (e.g., 50
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open vs. blind vs. double blind reviewing, number of reviewers, etc.), these percentages certainly lead to some doubt about this subclassification of journals as an evaluation criteria because it is an extremely one-sided distribution.
Figure 2. Percentage (%) of journal articles, books, chapters, and dissertation abstracts documented in PsycINFO, 1980-2014.
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Table 2. Absolute Numbers (f) of Publications Documented in PsycINFOa as well as Absolute Numbers (f) and Relative Frequencies (%) of Different Publication Types in the Publication Years 1980-2014 Publication type Publication year
all documents in PsycINFO a
journal articles
books
chapters
dissertations
___________
__________
____________
____________
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
1980-1984
188,944
138,957
73.5
835
0.4
646
0.3
38,298
20.3
1985-1989
265,620
185,509
69.8
29,857
11.2
24,524
9.2
35,741
13.4
1990-1994
306,393
200,605
65.5
46,525
15.2
38,415
12.5
41,934
13.7
1995-1999
323,110
225,680
69.8
45,178
14.0
37,093
11.5
33,266
10.3
2000-2004
422,951
307,809
72.8
47,132
11.1
39,952
9.4
31,596
7.5
2005-2009
689,289
492,489
71.4
69,530
10.1
59,364
8.6
56,197
8.2
2010-2014
894,910
655,755
73.3
71,575
8.0
62,708
7.0
81,271
9.1
Note. a Documentations of publications with the classification codes (CC) = 2* or 3* or 4* of the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (Gallagher Tuleya, 2007; retrieval from http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx).
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Publication types in PSYNDEX between 1980 and 2014 in more detail. The frequencies of publication types in the German- and English-language literature output from psychology in the German-speaking countries (DACHLL) in the last 35 years are presented in Table 3 and Figure 3. For all publications the numbers double between the early 1980s and 2010s, the numbers of journal articles and books chapters triple, the number of dissertations explodes after the millennium, andâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;very different from the PsycINFO resultsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the number of books is (with few exceptions) relatively stable over time. It is worth noting that PSYNDEX differentiates clearly between book chapters and edited books, that is, their frequencies can be counted independently. The proportions of publication types depicted in Figure 3 illustrate the clear dominance of journal articles with a slight decrease in the 1980s and early 1990s (minimum: 53%) and a rather continuous increase after the millennium (maximum: 65%) with an upward trend. Proportional development of books and chapters shows strong oscillation, a finding which is typical for smaller databases. The percentage of dissertations documented in PSYNDEX increases continuously after the millennium to a maximum of 5% in the early 2010s.
Figure 3. Percentage (%) of journal articles, books, and dissertations (not published as books) in PSYNDEX 1980-2014.
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Table 3.Absolute Numbers (f) of Publications Documented in PSYNDEX a as well as Absolute Numbers (f) and Relative Frequencies (%) of Different Publication Types in the Publication Years 1980-2014 Publication type Publication year
all documents in PSYNDEXa
journal articles
books
chapters
dissertations
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
1980-1984
22,952
12,619
55.0
3,254
14.2
3,536
15.4
611
2.3
1985-1989
37,707
19,213
51.0
4,261
11.3
9,282
24.6
37
0.0
1990-1994
44,152
23,879
54.8
4,865
11.0
11,178
25.3
73
0.0
1995-1999
44,262
23,528
53.2
5,213
11.8
10,863
24.5
223
0.0
2000-2004
43,154
23,034
53.4
4,688
10.9
10,977
25.4
1,111
2.6
2005-2009
47,432
27,028
57.0
4,212
9.0
11,858
25.0
1,951
4.1
2010-2014
52,020
33,834
65.0
3,673
7.1
10,723
20.6
2,404
5.0
a
Note. Documentations of publications with the classification codes (CC) = 2* or 3* or 4* of the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (Gallagher Tuleya, 2007; retrieval from http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx).
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Special case of dissertations documented in PSYNDEX. Noteworthy is the fact that the absolute number of dissertations in the German-speaking countries increased sharply after the millennium. Nevertheless, dissertations constitute only 5% of all psychology publications in the DACHLL countries. Remarkably, of this number, 44% of all dissertations are published either as an authored book by a publishing company or as a journal article, both increasing the possibility to be recognized by the broader scientific public. The other 56% are ―pure‖ dissertations, which are only available online at university dissertation repositories or printed in limited numbers by small or independent presses and—therefore—although formally published, remain less ―public‖ and less visible to the research community. Summary of Results on the Unobtrusive Indicator I: Publication Type Results from PsycINFO data show clearly that at the start of the 20th century psychology was a ―book science‖, which—however—rapidly and with great intensity developed into a ―journal science.‖ Since the 1930s, around 70% (and up to nearly 80% in the 1930s to 1960s) of the literature output documented in PsycINFO is published in scientific journals. PSYNDEX data confirm this result for the last 35 publication years with a somewhat lower percentage of around 55%, but with an increasing trend (up to 65% in the early 2010s). Thus, the overall proportion of authored books, edited books, and book chapters is about 30% in PSYNDEX (without any clearly distinct trends) and only 10% in PsycINFO with a decreasing trend over the last 35 years. A striking finding is the high percentage of book chapters (about 18%) documented in PSYNDEX in comparison to PsycINFO (about 7%), because the peer-review status and scientific quality control of many editions remain unclear. Conspicuous is also the result that the majority of the (mainly Anglo-American) dissertations documented in PsycINFO tend to remain ―pure‖ dissertations without later publication as a journal article or authored book. Thereby, potentially valuable psychological knowledge and results are lost because of their diminished visibility. Furthermore, only few authors of dissertations are involved in further publication activities after completion of their dissertation. This leads to the hypothesis that they vanish from the psychological research arena in spite of their academic qualifications and research experience. However, the situation is somewhat better in the German-speaking countries where results from almost half of the completed dissertations are later published in the form of a journal article or an authored book. Besides these differences between data and results derived from PsycINFO and PSYNDEX, the results on the status of psychology as a book versus journal science are in accordance. PsycINFO data show that psychology was a book science at the beginning of the 20th century, but rapidly changed in the early 1920s to a journal science and has remained as such up to the publication year 2014. In the last 35 years this trend is more pronounced in PsycINFO, but is clearly existent in PSYNDEX as well. Taken together, the scientometric results on the first unobtrusive indicator ―publication type‖ confirm an early shift of psychology from the humanities and social sciences (as classic book sciences) to the natural sciences (journal sciences) in the first quarter of the 20th century, which has lasted almost 100 years to the present date. Unobtrusive Indicator II: Single versus Multiple Authorship Journal articles with multiple coauthorships are more typical in the natural sciences, because research is frequently implemented in larger teams—for example, in multicenter studies, large lab studies, large equipment research—and all participants are named as authors. This avoids extensive acknowledgments in footnotes with thanks to some who contributed to the research at some point, but were not intensely involved in the research conception, analyses, interpretation, and dissemination. However, persons mentioned in such acknowledgments are frequently 55
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dissatisfied, and at least in some branches of science, to dispel any cases of doubt, ethical standards instruct authors to indicate all participating scientists with their individual contribution, a demand that is being made by more and more journals for paper submissions (e.g., Nature: ―Authors are required to include a statement to specify the contributions of each co-author―) or before paper acceptance (e.g., Science: ―Before acceptance, each author will be required to indicate their role in the research…‖ ), respectively. Thus, number of authors is rising and continues to climb, partly due to extreme coauthorships of more than 100 or even 150 authors per paper. Such publications present, for example, results of intercultural comparisons, large equipment research, or international studies sampling very specific human genome material from all over the world under the leadership of one scientist (whose fellow coauthors contribute typically one dataset each). Journal articles with single authorship or only few coauthors are more typical for the humanities and the social sciences. There is some empirical evidence that coauthorship is increasing because research collaboration is necessary to integrate different experts‘ knowledge, to improve the access to research funds as well as to advance both professionally and scientifically (Beaver, 2001; Behrens & Luksch, 2011; Huang, 2015). More concretely, regarding (co)authorship in the field of mathematics, Behrens and Luksch (2011) concluded: The average number of authors per publication in mathematics has been increasing steadily; while it was close to 1 up to the first quarter of the last century it has now reached a value of 2 in the last few years. This means that the percentage of singleauthored papers has fallen from over 95% in the years before 1930 to about 30% today. (p. 179) Up to now there are some hints that multiple authorships of psychology journal articles have increased in a likewise manner—at least as a result of the anglicization of former Germanlanguage psychology journals (Krampen, Huckert, & Schui, 2012) and for journal publications with very high citation rates (Krampen, Schui, Ferring, & Bauer, 2014). The latter result is in line with others which have shown that coauthored journal articles have higher citation rates in and impact on different scientific disciplines. For Finnish scientists of various disciplines, for instance, Puuska, Muhonen, and Leino (2014) reported that ―international co-publications by ten authors or more gather significant more citations than other publications. In humanities, the difference in citation impacts between co-authored publications in relation to single-authored publications is significant‖ (p. 823). Levitt‘s (2014) scientometric results ―suggest that whilst having at least two authors gives a substantial citation impact advantage in all social science disciplines, additional authors are beneficial in some disciplines but not in others.‖ Moreover, Blagus, Leskosek, and Stare‘s (2015) results confirm that researchers with a ―large number of coauthors are systematically ranked higher‖ in impact measures like the ―h-index or total citations‖ (p. 1743). The results on citation advantages of publications with multiple authorships in comparison to these with single authorship has led to the suspicion that multiple authorships may be less or even not motivated—at least sometimes—scientifically and with reference to the actual contributions to research of all coauthors, but rather is a strategy to achieve more citation impact for all (Beaver, 2001; Persson & Glänzel, 2014). Persson, Glänzel, and Danell (2004) measured inflationary bibliometric tendencies for multiple coauthorships, which refer to strategic coauthorships like ―honorific authorship‖ (Persson & Glänzel, 2014) and/or ―hyperauthorship‖ as ―a postmodern perversion or evidence of a structural shift in scholarly communication practice‖ (Cronin, 2001, p. 558). Therefore, multiple authorships are sometimes rather nontransparent, perhaps obscure, and journals try to control this by the demand for personal statements of each coauthor about his/her individual contribution to the research. 56
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In any case, these considerations and results cast some light on the problems that can arise when the sciences slide down in the direction of ―mercantilization‖ (Herrmann, 1996). Science is not a like the marketplace where the vendor with the most beautiful yet relatively inexpensive fruits and vegetables has the highest income. Surely, science is also a competition, albeit one that is less motivated by economics, but rather by scientific enhancement and insight. Nonetheless, results of a functional neuroimaging study of 18 neuroscientists working in research labs (neurologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists) for M = 5.2 years show that ―the incentive structure of a scientist‘s life is increasingly mimicking economic principles‖ (Paulus, Rademacher, Schäfer, Müller-Pinzler, & Krach, 2015, p. 1). These results provide experimental evidence on the identification with the journal impact factor, which shapes scientists‘ reward signals in the nucleus accumbens during the anticipation of a publication. Because empirical evidence is missing, a bibliometric analysis on the unobtrusive indicator ―number of single versus multiple authorships‖ of psychological journal articles in comparison to these in other disciplines and its development was implemented using the Web of Sciences (WoS). This analysis was conducted despite the doubts about the motivation for and justification of—at least some—multiple coauthorships. Method Unobtrusive data analyzed in the following derive from the Web of Science (WoS), which is produced and hosted by Thomson Reuters (http://apps.webofknowledge.com/) and contains over one billion searchable, cited references from journal articles. Implemented was ―basic search‖ in the research area ―psychology‖ and—excluding the research area psychology—in the research domains ―arts humanities,‖ ―social sciences,‖ and ―science technology‖ (including natural sciences as biology, biochemistry, oncology, etc.) fixed for searches of ―article‖ and selected publication years. Number of authors was counted for random samples of each 100 journal articles published in the years 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014, respectively. Results Results in Table 4 show that the percentage of single authorship of psychology journal articles decreases rather continuously from 66% in 1984 to 31% in 2014, while a statistically significant rise in the number of authors per articles from M = 1.3 (1984) to M = 2.2 (2014) is verified. In the arts and humanities as well as in the social sciences, single authorships compose the majority of publications at any given time (between 60% and 81%); number of coauthors shows only a small—with one exception—change between publication years. Comparable with authorship trends in psychology publications are those from the natural sciences: Single authorships, starting at a low level in 1984, clearly decrease and the number of coauthors increases significantly. Summary of Results on Unobtrusive Indicator II: Single versus Multiple Authorship In agreement with other results (see above) are the findings that single authorships decreased in the last four decades in the natural sciences and in psychology, while they have remained dominant in the arts and humanities and the social sciences. Concurrently, the number of coauthors increases significantly in psychology and the natural sciences, but not in the two other domains of the sciences. Thus, the results on the second unobtrusive indicator ―number of authors‖ confirm the closeness of psychology to the natural sciences and its distance to the humanities and social sciences, at least during the last four decades. To what extent strategic coauthorships play a role in psychology and in the domains of the sciences remains an open question.
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Table 4. Percentage (%) of Single Authorships of 400 Articles (published 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014) in the Research Area â&#x20AC;&#x153;Psychologyâ&#x20AC;? and the Three Research Domains a Documented in the Web of Science (WoS) and Mean Numbers of Authors Research domain a Publication year
Research area psychology _______________ Single Number of author authors
arts humanities _______________ Single Number of author authors
social sciences _______________ Single Number of author authors
science technology _______________ Single Number of author authors
%
M
%
M
%
M
%
M
1984
66
1.3
78
1.2
70
1.1
41
2.3
1994
52
1.5
77
1.1
69
1.2
50
2.7
2004
34
1.7
81
1.1
71
1.1
43
3.0
2014
31
2.2
76
1.1
60
1.5
22
3.8
Note. a Excluding the research area of psychology.
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Unobtrusive Indicator III: Number of References Paper submission standards for the number of references are very different: Most science journals demand only that reference lists are complete (e.g., to avoid plagiarism) and therefore exclude reference lists from word counts defining paper length. Comparatively few journals have restricted reference lists to small numbers of references to regulate and restrict paper length, by demanding, for example, that only the last two or three significant publications on the topic to be cited (e.g., in some journals of theoretical physics). However, demands such as these were discarded in times of digitalization. Despite this, a more systematic historical research orientation may lead to the expectation that reference lists are longer in the arts and humanities than in the natural sciences, which may refer primarily to the most recent publications on a topic while omitting older ones. Method Number of references was counted for the same random samples of 100 journal articles published in the years 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014, respectively, which were studied with respect to the unobtrusive indicator II (see above). Results Results in Table 5 show that the mean number of references is lowest in natural sciences journal articles and is decreasing from 1984 to 2014. This is followed by psychology papers with no significant differences between the publication years examined here. Journal articles from the humanities and social sciences have significantly longer reference lists, however, this with a somewhat larger variability (see the standard deviations in Table 5). Table 5. Means (M) and Standard Deviations (SD) of the Number of References in 400 Articles (Published in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2014) in the Research Area “Psychology” and the Three Research Domains a Documented in the Web of Science (WoS) Number of references Research domain a Publication year
Research area psychology ____________
arts humanities ____________ SD
social sciences ____________ M
SD
science technology ______________
M
SD
M
M
SD
1984
32
6.4
40
8.4
51
6.9
27
4.1
1994
35
5.2
38
7.9
47
7.3
18
3.7
2004
29
4.8
35
8.1
42
7.0
21
3.5
2014
30
5.1
41
7.7
43
6.8
19
3.8
Note. a Excluding the research area of psychology. Summary of Results on Unobtrusive Indicator III: Number of References The results on the third unobtrusive indicator ―number of references in journal articles‖ confirm the closeness of psychology to the natural sciences and its distance to the humanities and social sciences, at least during the last four decades. In the context of digitalization, this indicator may soon become obsolete.
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Unobtrusive Indicator IV: Length of Journal Articles Paper submission standards for the length of submissions are very different among journals. Most science journals generally restricted the length of submissions in the past, but have been dropping this policy recently in part due to digitalization. Nonetheless, most journals adhere to limits, for example, to enhance readability and/or to minimize narrative, digressive writing. Typically, journals of the humanities and social sciences provided and continue to provide more generous restrictions of paper length than journals in the natural sciences. Today, some of the latter journal types set limits of ―no more than 5 pages‖ (e.g., Nature) with a maximum of 1,300 words per page. ―There is not any restriction on the number of pages‖ represents the other extreme and is most typically found in guidelines for authors in some of the journals of the humanities and social sciences. Because the unobtrusive indicator ―length of journal articles‖ has been recently and is currently undergoing various changes, historically oriented trend analyses are not meaningful. Instead, systematic comparisons of submission limits for papers in eminent journals in psychology with those in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences (all excluding psychology journals) were performed. Method Random samples of each 10 eminent journals (impact factor > 3.0) from psychology as well as the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences (excluding psychology journals) were selected from the journal lists of social science, natural sciences, the arts and humanities, and psychology in WIKIPEDIA. Submission guidelines were checked for limitations of paper length (e.g., pages and words per page, words count, text including vs. excluding references, tables, figures, etc.) and standardized to the number of maximal allowed pages x 1,300 words per page. Results No limits of text length are given in the submission guidelines of three journals from the arts and humanities and in one from the social sciences, while all 10 journals examined here from both psychology and the natural sciences set limits (see Table 6). The limits of the number of standard pages (1,300 words) are lowest for the journals of the natural sciences, followed by the psychology journals. The majority of the journals from the arts and humanities and social sciences set either no limits or more than 21 standard pages as a limit. On average, maximum number of words allowed is lowest for the natural science journals, highest for journals from the arts and humanities and social sciences with psychology journals in between. Summary of Results on the Unobtrusive Indicator IV: Length of Journal Articles Limitations of manuscript length in the submission guidelines of psychology journals are more similar to natural science journals than to those of journals from the arts and humanities and social sciences. However, it should be kept in mind that submission guidelines on paper length are currently changing. Editors and publishing companies are balancing reasons with reference to economic digitalization allowing longer papers versus an economic and efficient readability of shorter publications.
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Table 6. Text Length Limits for Manuscript Submissions to Journals of Randomly Selected Journals from Psychology, Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences (10 Journals Each) Maximal text length for journal submissions Science domain/area
No limits (f)
Maximal number of words ___________ M
Maximal number of standard pages (f) _________________________________
SD
≤5
6-10
11-15
16-20
≥ 21
Psychology
0
24,073
12.5
0
1
2
6
1
Arts and humanities
3
35,110
21.9
0
0
0
4
3
Social sciences
1
31,788
19.3
0
0
0
5
4
Natural sciences
0
17,375
10.8
1
3
4
2
0
a
Note. Standard page: 1,300 words. Unobtrusive Indicator V: Linguistic Style Besides others, the voice (Genus Verbi, in this case, i.e., active vs. passive voice) is a significant linguistic feature of scientific texts. Passive voice serves the emphasis of neutrality and objectivity, thus, personal distancing to avoid or—at least—to reduce idiosyncrasies in descriptions and explications of results in favor of more general presentations of scientific results and insights. This may be linked to an ―I taboo‖ and avoidance of personal pronouns in writing. Passive voice places the author in the back seat and promotes—critically considered— anonymization: Emphasis is not on the question ―Who did it?‖ but rather on ―What was done?‖ Furthermore, passive sentence structures support control of sentence structure in reading, because the change of subject and object place the correct information to refer back to at the beginning of sentences. However, passive voice is criticized frequently because (1) it can be copious and sluggish, making texts longer, (2) promotes nominalizations, (3) it can be more ―indirect‖ and therefore more ambiguous, (4) scientific accuracy may decline because of hanging attributes, (5) it can be misleading due to pompous, artificial formulations, and (6) it can be more difficult to formulate in and may not be mastered by anyone correctly (what—principally— cannot be an argument against it). Active voice—so the argument—eliminates or, at least, minimizes all these problems. Furthermore, writing in the active voice would (7) eliminate prepositions, (8) describe science more appropriately, because it is done actively by individuals or teams, and (9) recognize individual contributions more adequately. Despite the ongoing debate on the usage of passive versus active voice in the sciences at least since 1957 in high-ranking science journals (e.g., Science, Nature, Physics in Technology; for an overview, see Sheffield, 2013), it seems today that reality has made this debate obsolete, at least in journals of the natural sciences: ―Journals prefer active voice‖ (Sheffield, 2013, p. 4). This discussion has reached the social sciences and humanities although without a clear decision today. Proponents of the active voice use the above-mentioned arguments; proponents of the passive voice emphasize its contribution to neutrality, objectivity, and personal distancing in scientific texts in favor of more general presentations of scientific results and insights. More than that, proponents of passive voice interpret this linguistic shift in the sciences as an indicator of a changing understanding of science and the self-concept of scientists, which conforms to the active, self-regulated, internally attributing image of mankind. At the same time, there are movements leading away from the ideal of science as a time- and culture-related total of systematic experience and insights, which are related in a theoretical rationale as well as an ideal 61
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of scientists, who are unselfishly committed and intrinsically motivated to the gain of knowledge and humanity for the sake of the research object in particular. Since 2010 the submission guidelines of most psychology journals include recommendations or even instructions for authors to avoid the passive voice, to avoid the third person by using personal pronouns, to write short sentences, etc. This is a change in writing style with a long history, although these changes have been supported by the APA early on as evidenced in the second edition of the Publication Manual of the Psychological Association published in 1974: ―An experienced writer can use the first person and the active voice without dominating the communication and without sacrificing the objectivity of the research. If any discipline should appreciate the value of personal communication, it should be psychology‖ (p. 28). Each new edition has elaborated on the preferred voice use in scientific writing, and even though the active voice is clearly becoming the norm, the sixth edition reminds us that ―the passive voice is acceptable in expository writing and when you want to focus on the object or recipient of the action rather than on the actor‖ (APA, 2010, p. 77). Discussion and Conclusions In summary, the results on the five unobtrusive indicators of the status of psychology within the branches of sciences or research domains show that psychology has experienced a rather unidirectional shift toward the domain of the natural sciences. Scientometric findings from PsycINFO data reveal that at the start of the 20th century, psychology was a ―book science,‖ which—however—changed rapidly and effectively to a ―journal science.‖ Since the 1930s, around 70% (up to nearly 80% during the 1930s to 1960s) of the literature output documented in PsycINFO is published in scientific journals. PSYNDEX data confirm this result for the most recent 35 publication years with a somewhat lower percentage of around 55%, but with an increasing trend (65% in the early 2010s). Thus, without any clearly visible trend, authored books, edited books, and book chapters together comprise about 30% of the literature documented in PSYNDEX (cf. Krampen, Weiland, & Wiesenhütter, 2015), and this is only 10% in PsycINFO with a perceptible decreasing trend during the last 35 years. The results for the other four unobtrusive indicators are in agreement with this, thus empirically confirming the natural science orientation of the clear majority of modern psychology not only once but five times. Data argue for an early shift in the 1920s, which is still present today and has even slightly increased during the past 100 years. However, there are some serious limitations of the results presented on the publication types in psychology. It may be argued that publication documentation in PsycINFO has been selective, and the described shift from a book science to a journal science may actually be caused by the changing strategies in PsycINFO documentation and coverage. This argument cannot be rejected because there is no documentation of the changes that have been implemented in the history of PsycINFO and Psychological Abstracts (the printed precursor of PsycINFO). We can only be reasonably assured that, since the late 1970s, both PsycINFO and PSYNDEX are fulfilling the objective of exhaustive documentation of the psychological publications from the Anglo-American and the German-speaking countries, respectively. Anyone who might be systematically searching for psychology literature before this time is dependent on PsycINFO and—therefore—only the literature documented in PsycINFO can be taken into consideration. Another possible objection is that the publication output of the natural sciences is much higher than that of the humanities and social sciences together. However, as mentioned earlier, to publish more or less is the wrong question here; the correct question rather refers to the scientific quality and innovative strength of scientific publications. It may be that many (as the case may be, short) publications are necessary for advancement and high research quality (e.g.,
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because of the necessity of independent replications) or it may be that only a few or even one publication can result in the same quality and innovativeness. Results of the examination of developmental trends of the number of books and book chapters during the latest 35 publication years show that there are rather strong increases in their absolute numbers with some differences between psychology publications from the AngloAmerican and the German-speaking countries: While the number of books published between 1980 and 2014 remains quite stable in the German-speaking countries, this number more than doubles in the Anglo-American world. Book chapters—in contrast—triple in the Germanspeaking countries. However, after the millennium, the (relative) percentage of books and chapters are at levels of less than 10% in PsycINFO (books and chapters, respectively) and in PSYNDEX (books only), but at about 20% for chapters in PSYNDEX. Thus, we have an ambiguous picture: Even though the absolute numbers of authored and edited books are on the rise, they are increasingly eclipsed by the vast increase in journal articles in both databases. The majority of these journal articles present results of empirical studies, meta-analyses, and overviews of empirical studies, fewer focus on theoretical and methodological issues (approximately 25%; Schui, Müller, & Krampen, 2015). These issues tend to be the main topics of authored books and some of the edited books as well. Theory formulation and integration, conceptual analyses, and methodological (not or less methodical or technical) advances require the publication of books in the tradition of the humanities and the social sciences. In addition, the psychological tradition in the humanities and the social sciences refer, for example, to these traditions and subject matters of psychology, which recently can be exemplarily listed as theoretical psychology, including a priori elements in psychological theories and ―psycho-logic‖ (Smedslund, 1988), formalization of psychological theories, idiographic, ―idiothetic,‖ and metaidiographic research methodologies, logical learning theory of personality, and teleological psychology (Rychlak, 1981). In addition, hermeneutics from the humanities and the social sciences cannot be forgotten because this is necessary in psychological interventions and, for example, for the interpretation of the majority of statistical results as well (e.g., factor and cluster interpretations of factor and cluster analyses), which is—however—frequently hidden and handled as something like a secret. In the history of sciences, such shifts of research areas and disciplines between the domains of sciences have transpired. The example of mathematics was mentioned in the introduction: Started in Ancient Greece in the humanities because of its theoretical subject matter, abstractness, and universality, it shifted to the natural sciences because of mathematics‘ broad and fruitful applications in many ―true‖ natural sciences. The distinction between ―applied mathematics‖ (in and as natural sciences) and ―pure mathematics‖ (theoretical math in the humanities) may be of significance for psychology as well. It may be reasonable to classify (empirical) research in the basic disciplines of psychology and some sort of basic research in applied (e.g., clinical) psychology with little reference and significance to real (clinical) psychological practice to the natural sciences. Applied, theoretical, and methodological psychology are the areas that belong more to the humanities and social sciences, because of— both—the significance of hermeneutics and qualitative methodologies as well as the necessity to consider social and societal determinants of psychological routine practice. This is just the opposite of mathematics, but may be fruitful for the future of psychology as one science with strong foci in the natural sciences and in the humanities and social sciences, too.
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References Allesch, C., Allolio-Näcke, L., Billmann-Mahecha, E., Eid, M., Fitzek, H., Guski-Leinwand, S., …Wolfradt, U. (2015). Memorandum zur Lage und zur Zukunft des Faches Geschichte der Psychologie [Memorandum on the situation and the future of the discipline history of psychology]. Psychologische Rundschau, 62(3), 176-177. doi:10.1026/0033-3042/a000255 American Psychological Association. (1974). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Appelbaum, M., Cooper, H., Maxwell, S., Stone, A., & Sher, K. J. (2008). Reporting standards for research in psychology: Why do we need them? What might they be? American Psychologist, 63(9), 839-851. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.63.9.839 Beaver, D. D. (2001). Reflections on scientific collaboration (and its study). Scientometrics, 52(3), 365-377. doi:10.1023/A:1014254214337 Behrens, H., & Luksch, P. (2011). Mathematics 1868-2008: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 86(1), 179-194. doi:10.1007/s11192-010-0249-x Blagus, R., Leskosek, B. L., & Stare, J. (2015). Comparison of bibliometric measures for assessing relative importance of researchers. Scientometrics, 105(3), 1743-1762. doi:10.1007/s11192-015-1622-6 Bühler, K. (1927). Die Krise der Psychologie [The crisis of psychology]. Jena, Germany: Gustav Fischer. Retrieved from https://nasepblog.files.wordpress.com/ 2012/08/buehler-karldie-krise-der-psychologie-kant-studien-31-1926.pdf Cronin, B. (2001). Hyperauthorship: A postmodern perversion or evidence of a structural shift in scholarly communication practices. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(7), 558-569. doi:10.1002/asi.1097 Danziger, K. (1994). Does the history of psychology have a future? Theory & Psychology, 4(4), 467484. doi:10.1177/0959354394044001 Danziger, K. (1995). Neither science nor history? Psychological Inquiry, 6(2), 115-117. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0602_2 Ebbinghaus, H. (1908). Abriß der Psychologie [Outline of psychology]. Leipzig, Germany: von Veit & Comp. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/abrissderpsycho01ebbigoog Gallagher Tuleya, L. (Ed.). (2007). Thesaurus of psychological index terms (11th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx Haggbloom, S. J., Warnick, R., Warnick, J. E., Jones, V. K., Yarbrough, G. L., Russell, M., . . . Monte, E. (2002). The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Review of General Psychology, 6(2), 139-152. doi:10.1037//1089-2680.6.2.139 Herrmann, T. (1996). Psychologie und Gemüsehandel. Eine irrelevante Anmerkung zu Rolf Reber: "Die Verkaufsprobleme der deutschsprachigen Psychologie" [Psychology and produce markets. An irrelevant remark to R. Reber's article on the problem of marketing German-language psychology]. Psychologische Rundschau, 47, 216-217. Herrmann, T. (2009). What‘s next? Continuity and discontinuity in psychology. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 217(2), 95-102. doi:10.1027/0044-3409.217.2.95 Huang, D.-w. (2015). Temporal evolution of multi-author papers in basic sciences from 1960 to 2010. Scientometrics, 105, 2137-2147. doi:10.1007/s11192-015-1760-x Krampen, G. (2009). Introduction and some ideas as well as visions on an open access European Psychology Publication Platform. Psychology Science Quarterly, 51(Suppl. 1), 3-18. Retrieved from http://www.journals4free.com/link.jsp?l=15099544 Krampen, G. (2016). Scientometric trend analyses of publications on the history of psychology: Is psychology becoming an unhistorical science? Scientometrics, 106, 1217-1238. doi: 10.1007/s11192-016-1834-4 64
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Krampen, G., Huckert, T., & Schui, G. (2012). The impact of anglicizing former Germanlanguage psychology journals on authorship and citation frequencies. European Psychologist, 17(3), 190-198. doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000074 Krampen, G., von Eye, A., & Schui, G. (2011). Forecasting trends of development of psychology from a bibliometric perspective. Scientometrics, 87, 687-694. doi:10.1007/s11192-011-0357-2 Krampen, G., Schui, G., Ferring, D., & Bauer, H. P. W. (2014). Charakteristika der meist zitierten englischsprachigen Zeitschriftenbeiträge der Publikationsjahre 1981 bis 2010 aus der Psychologie der deutschsprachigen Länder [Characteristics of the most cited English-language journal articles of the publication years 1981-2010 from the Germanspeaking countries]. Psychologische Rundschau, 65(3), 159-168. doi:10.1026/00333042/a000196 Krampen, G., Weiland, P., & Wiesenhütter, J. (2015). Citation success of different publication types: A case study on all references in psychology publications from the Germanspeaking countries (D–A–CH–L–L) in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Scientometrics, 104, 827840. doi:10.1007/s11192-015-1573-y Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago, MA: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://projektintegracija.pravo.hr/_download/repository/Kuhn_Structure_of_Scientifi c_Revolutions.pdf Lee, R. M. (2000). Unobtrusive methods in social research. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Retrieved from http://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335200516.pdf Levitt, J. M. (2014). What is the optimal number of researchers for social science research? Scientometrics, 102(1), 213-225. doi:10.1007/s11192-014-1441-1 Liu, X. Z., & Fang, H. (2014). Scientific group leaders‘ authorship preferences: An empirical investigation. Scientometrics, 98, 909-925. doi:10.1007/s11192-013-1083-8 Margraf, J. (2015). Zur Lage der Psychologie [On the situation of psychology]. Psychologische Rundschau, 66(1), 1-30. doi:10.1026/0033-3042/a000247 Paulus, F., M., Rademacher, L., Schäfer, T. A. J., Müller-Pinzler, L., & Krach, S. (2015). Journal impact factor shapes scientists‘ reward signal in the prospect of publication. PLos ONE 10(11): e0142537. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142537 Persson, O., & Glänzel, W. (2014). Discouraging honorific authorship. Scientometrics, 98(2), 14171419. doi:10.1007/s11192-013-1042-4 Persson, O., Glänzel, W., & Danell, R. (2004). Inflationary bibliometric values: The role of scientific collaboration and the need for relative indicators in evaluative studies. Scientometrics, 60(3), 421-432. doi:10.1023/B:SCIE.0000034384.35498.7d Puuska, H.-M. (2014). Scholarly publishing patterns in Finland. A comparison of disciplinary groups (Doctoral thesis). University of Tampere, School of Information Sciences, Tampere, Finland. Retrieved from http://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/95381/978951-44-9480-2.pdf?sequence=1 Puuska, H.-M., Muhonen, R., & Leino, Y. (2014). International and domestic co-publishing and their citation impact in different disciplines. Scientometrics, 98(2), 823-839. doi:10.1007/s11192-013-1181-7 Robins, R. W., Gosling, S. D., & Craik, K. H. (1999). An empirical analysis of trends in psychology. American Psychologist, 54(2), 117-128. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/54/2/117/ Rychlak, J. F. (1981). A philosophy of science for personality theory (2nd ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger. Schui, G., Müller, J., & Krampen, G. (2015). ZPID-Monitor 2013 zur Internationalität der Psychologie aus dem deutschsprachigen Bereich [ZPID Monitor 2013: Internationality of psychology from the German-speaking area]. ZPID Science Information Online, 15(5). Retrieved from http://www.zpid.de/index.php?wahl=IuD&uwahl=publications 65
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Sheffield, N. (2013). Duke Graduate School scientific writing resource. Retrieved from https://cgi.duke.edu/web/sciwriting/ Smedslund, J. (1988). Psycho-Logic. Berlin, Germany: Springer. Van Rappard, J. F. H. (1993). History in psychology. Psychologie und Geschichte, 4(3-4), 187-196. Retrieved from http://journals.zpid.de/index.php/PuG/article/view/134 Webb, E. J., Campbell, D., T., Schwartz, R. D., & Sechrest, L. (1966). Unobtrusive measures: Nonreactive research in the social sciences. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally. Footnote 1 To serve the purpose of describing the content of the PsycINFO and PSYNDEX databases (Gallagher Tuleya, 2007), one or more four-digit classification codes, beginning with the numerals 2, 3, or 4, are assigned to all documents.
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International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences p-ISSN: 1694-2620 e-ISSN: 1694-2639 Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 67-82, ©IJHSS
Challenges of Bible/Liturgical Translations in the Efik Language Group Christopher Naseri (Ph.D) Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
Abstract One hundred years after the arrival of Christianity in Calabar, translating the bible and the liturgical rites into the Efik language still remains an unfinished and an unsolved task. The early translations that were made appear inadequate especially from the stand point of unavailability of sufficient vocabulary from the local language. Thus one finds within the local language texts, repetition of the English words from where the primary translations were made. Some of these include, „Spirit,‟ „Heaven,‟ „Eucharist‟ and „Angel.‟ This work assesses why these English words have not been replaced with local words. It studies some translation theories and the principles guiding Catholic translations of liturgical rites and in the light of these considers the possibilities of finding an Efik word for the term „spirit.‟ The conclusion is that it is possible to find Efik words for some of the retained English words. Where equivalent words exist in the Efik language, the connotation associated with the words tends to discourage attempts at using them in Christian settings. The dominance of the familiar and the fear of, or reluctance towards the new are however, acknowledged as challenges. As features of language, „signification‟ and „resignification‟ can help overcome the fear of giving words new significance. Keywords: Bible translation, Efik language, Liturgical translations, Introduction Efik language group is used in this work to include Efik, Ibibio and Annang languages spoken in the two States of Cross River and Akwa Ibom in Nigeria. Efik is spoken by the Efiks who occupy the Southern part of Cross River State namely Akpabuyo, Bakassi, Calabar, Odukpani, and some parts of Southwest province of Cameroon. It is fairly understood by the inhabitants of Akamkpa. Ibibio is spoken by the Ibibio people who are the largest occupants of Akwa Ibom State, Annang is spoken by the second largest group in Akwa Ibom. The three languages are of the Benue-Congo group of Niger-Congo language. They share the same similarities in vocabulary, morphology and reconstructed forms and are mutually intelligible and form a language cluster. They are spoken by more than five million people and belong to the group of Nigerian minority languages. The religion of their speakers is primarily Christianity and African Traditional or Indigenous Religion. 67
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The Efik language is spoken by about 360,000 people; 350,000 in Nigeria and 10,000 in Cameroon. It has a literary tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century through the effort of the Church of Scotland Mission who first translated the bible and other Christian literature into the Efik language in 1846 (Offiong and Ansa, 2013). The first attempt at recording the Efik vocabulary was however in 1812 (Aye, 1991). The Efik language has from the time of the missionaries served as the Christian religious language of the Annang, Efik and Ibibio people and beyond. Efik bible is used in the whole of Akwa Ibom State and in the entire Southern Senatorial district of Cross River State. The literary development of the language has not been as progressive as was probably intended in the primers (Essien, 1987). There appears to be little interest on the part of the leadership class in enhancing it and it has been dropped from the West African Certificate Examination for lack of registered students. The arrival of Christianity in Calabar and the desire to convert enhanced the timely translation of the English bible into the Efik language. This translation initiated by the Scottish missionaries is autographed by the presence of some un-translated English words. It marked the transition of the Efik language from oral to written language and has served as one of the pioneer models for written Efik. Indigenous bible translation institutions have since been established in Nigeria and the Efik bible has been republished by these groups with the English words retained. Subsequent Efik translations of the Catholic liturgical rites also retain this phenomenon. Liturgical rites refer to the procedures used for Catholic prayer and worship, and the term liturgical translation is used here to refer to the translations of these rites from English to Efik. Code switching between English and Efik by contemporary Efik speakers may reflect what is already anticipated in the bible translations. The retained English words in the Efik bible underscore principally the probable inadequacy of a developing language or of a language in transition from an oral to a written form. Historically the English words also serve as testimonies to the identity of the earliest evangelizers of the Efik people and to the then colonizers of Nigeria. They reflect the tension between a dominant and a less dominant language in an interaction between the familiar and the new. The phenomenon depicts a translation in which the desire to communicate outweighs the quest to understand. Put differently, it represents a translation enhanced primarily by the desire to communicate and secondarily by the quest to understand. This work will examine some translation theories and study the principles guiding Catholic translation of liturgical rites and in the light of these evaluate existing Efik bible and liturgical translations. In the course of this analysis some of the retained English words in the Efik bible and liturgical books will be highlighted. Possible reasons for their retention will be proposed from the standpoint of both the pioneer missionary-translators and the indigenous translators. Using the English word â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Spiritâ&#x20AC;&#x; as an example, the position of this work is that Efik replacements for some, if not all of the retained English words can be found. Translation and Translation Theory Translation is an attempt to make knowledge expressed in a foreign language accessible to a people of another language. It is the process of understanding and communication, it consequently implies an interpretation. It is a melting pot for different disciplines like philology, linguistics, communication and sociosemiotics. Given that language is the vehicle of the culture and values of a people, translation involves an encounter between the culture and values of the 68
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translated language and the receptor language. It is a path to inculturation which has awakened the sense of local identity. The first stage of inculturation consists in translating the inspired Scripture into another language… A translation, of course, is always more than a simple transcription of the original text. The passage from one language to another necessarily involves a change of cultural context: concepts are not identical and symbols have a different meaning, for they come up against other traditions of thought and other ways of life. Written in Greek, the New Testament is characterized in its entirety by a dynamic of inculturation. In its transposition of the Palestinian message of Jesus into Judeo-Hellenistic culture it displays its intention to transcend the limits of a single cultural world (Pontifical Biblical Commission, 1993). Translation is therefore an interdisciplinary and intercultural project which sometimes serves ideological purposes. In the religious circle this may be understood as missionary. The involvement of this assemblage of disciplines has revealed that an integral biblical translation must take into consideration not only the context of the author but the context or understanding of the recipients. The interest is on both the setting of the message and on the setting in which the translation is to be used; the manner in which it is to be employed, those to use it, the circumstances and purpose in which and for which it is to be used (Nida, 1992). The primary objective of every translation is in principle the interest of the recipients. It takes into consideration therefore the style, format and syntax of the receptor language as well as the inadequacy of the dictionaries and grammars of the receptor language. It also takes into consideration the human emotions, familiarity and even doctrinal issues (Wcela, 2009). Formal and Dynamic Equivalence The classical theory of translation is the formal and dynamic equivalence. The dynamic or functional equivalence influenced bible translation projects from the late 1950s onwards. At the dawn of a new century however, it has almost been relegated to its own time. The two theories revolve around the relationship between the receptor language and the syntax or form of the original language. Every translation seeks to faithfully reproduce the message contained in the original language but there is however, the point of divergence. Some theorists sustain that the effective reproduction of the original message hinges on faithfulness of the receptor language to the grammatical forms of the original language. Others on the other hand sustain that such adherence will do violence to the receptor language and end up distorting the message that was to be communicated and made accessible and intelligible. The first option is understood as „formal or literal equivalence;‟ it calls for a “rigid adherence to the form of the original language” (Gordon, 1985). It pays particular attention to the language being translated, seeks to reproduce the grammar, style, and feel of the original language as closely as possible while still sounding like good and comprehensible in the receptor language (Wcela, 2009). The second option is „dynamic or functional equivalence‟ and proposes an adherence to the form of the receptor language for an intelligible communication of the message so translated. It seeks to convey the meaning communicated in the original language in
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expressions proper to the receptor language. In translation the receptor language is not meant to be a vehicle of the linguistic structure or the formal syntax of the original language. Translators‟ knowledge of the language structure of the receptor language is implied but their familiarity with the formal syntax of the original language is of course a necessity for an effective translation to take place. Thus Pope John Paul II in his address to the United Bible Societies and the Bible Society of Italy sustains that: A good translation is based on three pillars that must simultaneously support the entire work. First, there must be a deep knowledge of the original language and cultural world. Next, there must be a similar good familiarity with the language and cultural context in and for which the text is translated. Lastly, to succeed in the whole work, there must be an adequate mastery of the contents and meaning of what is being translated (2001). In the context of the Efik translation of the bible the missionaries who were Scottish had knowledge of the English language and cultural world while their Efik collaborators had knowledge of the Efik language and cultural world. But it must be acknowledged that neither of the two groups had sufficient knowledge of the other‟s language. This collaboration therefore presupposed only in part the three pillars proposed by Pope John Paul II. Both theories have their shortcomings; formal equivalence may distort the message communicated in the receptor language. Dynamic equivalence on the other hand may in some cases be wrong in terms of precision. That which in dynamic equivalence is presented as the natural and precise translation may at the end mean something different from what the original language intended. An example proposed by Gordon helps explain these difficulties: The phrase dia tes sarkos of Romans 8:3 has a formal equivalence translation in Revised Standard Version as “by the flesh.” This is faithful to the original but ambiguous in English. The dynamic equivalence translation in NIV reads “by the sinful nature.” This is more precise and natural but in relation to the message of Romans, it is un-Pauline; Paul does not refer to a sinful nature which would mean a lower nature; he speaks redemptive-historically and not anthropologically (Gordon, 1985). The better option therefore would be a translation that is the result of the interaction between the two principles. There may be instances where dynamic equivalence may be the better option and other times when formal equivalence may be the better. The challenge consists in determining consequently, when one or the other is to be preferred. In relation to biblical and liturgical translations this however is to be conditioned especially by theological factors or considerations; because the bible is the soul of theology. Dynamic and formal equivalence is rather a very optimistic theory which tends to believe in the possibility of producing the original meaning and effect of source text (Crisp, 2000). New and Familiar in Translation Production and Reception Reader response is equally an important element to be taken seriously in designing translations and translation strategies. Translation always takes place in a specific cultural environment; Sijbolt Noorda‟s consciousness of these facts lead to his proposal of the model of the „new and the familiar in translation production and reception. He sustains that translation must not be all 70
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about something new, there is always something valuable about the old. Translation therefore requires a mixture of the old and the new; “enough of the old to guarantee continuation, enough of the new to enable change” (2000), because socio-cultural change would hardly happen without acceptance. The traditional model of author-text-reader reveals that authorship and authorial power are limited; this is equally a reality in translation which on its part doubles the author. Though texts exist in a formal manner without readers, but they come into real existence through the readers. And the readers decide actually how the texts are read; consequently, translation in this context doubles the texts phenomenon by bringing in additional information. Translation always carries with it the risk of interference between the original text and the translated text. In the context of the semiotic model (the syntax and semantics dimensions of texts) there is the pragmatic dimension which is activated by readers who structure texts, attribute meaning to textual signs and evoke pragmatic effects. Reader‟s interaction with a given text always produces meaning but in the context of the dynamics of convention and innovation in text and with readers (Noorda, 2000). Readers are the products and members of their cultural settings, these cultural conventions therefore provide checks and balances in the interaction between text and readers. If readers‟ role is therefore salient in deciding meaning within or outside certain cultural convention about that which is considered valid interpretation, it is necessary therefore in bible translations to pay attention to socio-cultural setting, the codes that govern the process of reader response, of reception by individual readers or by group of readers (Noorda, 2000). The reception given to a bible translation at the congregational level is to a greater extent influenced by the Church authority that sanctions the translation and authorizes that it be used by its members. In an environment where the speakers of the vernacular who cut across congregational boundaries are in the process of development, their vernacular sensitivity to their project cannot equally be ignored even within the boundaries of Church authorized translations. This sensitivity forms part of the influence of the socio-cultural setting within which a bible translation takes place. Ratio Translationis and Liturgiam Authenticam Ratio Translationis (subsequently RT) is a document from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. It is founded on the 2001 instructions Liturgiam Authenticam (subsequently LA) on the use of vernacular in the publication of the books of the Roman Liturgy. RT for the English language is an illustrative document published in 2007 to serve as guide on the translation of liturgical texts into English. The document sustains that every liturgical translation must take into consideration the biblical bases of the texts translated and be sure to preserve their specialized biblical vocabulary (RT, n. 6). Re-emphasizing the message of LA the document insists on intelligibility and accessibility of expression as the mark of every vernacular translation of liturgical texts. It imposes therefore on every translator the obligation of retaining the dignity, beauty and doctrinal precision and intent of the original Latin text (RT, nn. 73 and 74). Biblical texts are a primary source for liturgical prayer, consequently, translation of liturgical texts related to biblical events and accounts must be conscious of this relationship. There is need for correspondence between liturgical texts translated and the biblical version approved for use in the territory for which the liturgical translation is intended (RT, n. 39; LA, n. 49). This implies equally the preservation of venerable terms of ancient languages contained in the bible; terms like Alleluia, Amen, Maranatha (RT, n. 40; LA, n. 23). 71
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The text calls for the preservation of every word and concept of the Latin original liturgical text editiones typicae in every translation even at the cost of pushing the receptor language beyond its normal limit of expression (RT, n. 44). This position is an elaboration by RT on the content of LA, n. 20; RT appears stricter than LA on flexibility with the receptor language. The principle appears more formal than dynamic. LA supports a sober and discreet arrangement of wordings, syntax and style in a manner that permits a flowing vernacular text. It appears more dynamic than formal in the translation principles. Coining of New Words, One Word with more than One Signification, Adaption, Transcription or Transliteration Translation is understood as implying an interaction between languages. This contact especially between an influential language and a language with limited literary tradition is meant to enhance the development and sustainability of the less influential language. The encounter is expected thus to provide opportunities for the development of orthography, enrichment of vocabulary, lexicons and concepts. Especially in the translations intended for peoples recently brought to the Christian Faith, fidelity and exactness with respect to the original texts may themselves sometimes require that words already in current usage be employed in new ways, that new words or expressions be coined, that terms in the original text be transliterated or adapted to the pronunciation of the vernacular language, or that figures of speech be used which convey in an integral manner the content of the Latin expression even while being verbally or syntactically different from itâ&#x20AC;Ś. In particular, caution should be exercised in introducing words drawn from non-Christian religions (LA, n. 21). This section of the instruction appears quite tolerant and accommodating; it calls for association of new sense to existing words and coining of new words. It favours transliteration of terms in the original text or their adaptation to the pronunciation of the vernacular language in the absence of satisfactory vernacular equivalent terms. It also proposes the use of figures of speech in the receptor language which may capture integrally the contents of the Latin expression in spite of being verbally or syntactically different from the Latin. The encouragement to transliterate, adapt or transcribe original terms into the alphabet and pronunciation pattern of the receptor language is pertinent in the resolution of difficulties that arise from lack of vocabulary or limited senses of words. This implies at least, the use of Efik alphabet to write and pronounce the retained English words in the Efik bible and liturgical books. The same spirit is expressed in the following directive by the document: Whenever a particular Latin term has a rich meaning that is difficult to render into a modern language (such as the words munus, famulus, consubstantialis, propitius, etc.) various solutions may be employed in the translations, whether the term be translated by a single vernacular word or by several, or by the coining of a new word, or perhaps by the adaptation or transcription of the same term into a language or alphabet that is different from the original text (cf. above, n. 21), or the use of an already existing word which may bear various meanings (LA, n. 53).
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Therefore, instead of retaining directly or employing foreign words, the same words may be written in the alphabet of the receptor language to suit the pronunciation pattern of the language. The document almost prohibits the importation of words from non-Christian religions. This is seen in some aspect as necessary but in another respect as an obstacle to the use of equivalent vernacular terms in translation. It implies for example that in territories where a term for a special cup used in the context of worship in a non-Christian religion for drinking exists, such a term cannot be used as an equivalent word for chalice used for Eucharistic celebration. The prohibition tends to ignore a similar modification noted by RT n. 46 about the early Roman rite in which efforts were successfully made to modify existing pagan religious terms to express the mysteries of redemption through Christ. It is possible that when encouraged, the local languages can provide some adequately equivalent words from their own indigenous religion for the Christian biblical and liturgical terms. The document encourages this and rather calls for caution, but in practice it appears the local churches are overcautious. They prefer and feel more comfortable retaining the English terms rather than risk lack of caution in coining or employing vernacular terms. Development and Preservation of Local languages The introduction of local languages into liturgical use by the Church is considered to enhance the development and preservation of the language especially in the area of languages lacking in long literary tradition (LA, n. 14). The same exercise makes room for the emergence of sacred terms and style peculiar to the receptor language as its liturgical language (LA, n. 27). While the translation must transmit the perennial treasury of orations by means of language understandable in the cultural context for which it is intended, it should also be guided by the conviction that liturgical prayer not only is formed by the genius of a culture, but itself contributes to the development of that culture…. Liturgical translation that takes due account of the authority and integral content of the original texts will facilitate the development of a sacral vernacular, characterized by a vocabulary, syntax and grammar that are proper to divine worship, even though it is not to be excluded that it may exercise an influence even on everyday speech, as has occurred in the languages of peoples evangelized long ago (LA, n. 47). The promotion of a vivid translation rather than a translation or interpretation of only an image of metaphors, similes or anthropomorphisms is to be adopted as opportunity for provoking inquisitiveness and consequently, for enhancing renewed catechesis (RT, n. 62; LA, n. 43). Attention is drawn to the terms translated in the Vulgate as anima and spiritus and care is to be taken in translating them less it leads to confusion (LA, n. 43). The principles sustain that “great caution is to be taken to avoid a wording or style that … would confuse with the manner of speech of … other religions, so that such a factor will not cause … confusion or discomfort” (LA, n. 40). This fear of confusion and offending the sensitivity of the people encourages the lack of will to translate some of the English terms still evident in the Efik translations. A handy example will be the term “Spirit.” Translations should be made only from the Latin editio typica, lest the resulting text be at a remove as regards the meaning of the original (RT, n. 41). This implies the need for a competent translator to be familiar with the context of the Latin 73
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composition. The knowledge of Latin grammatical and theological syntaxes and history of vocabulary and composition will make the meaning of the original Latin text become evident to the qualified translator. Because of the recent trend of generational distance from the Latin language, translations into the Efik language tend to rely more on the English translations of the editio typica. Existing Efik Bible Translation The first complete Efik translation of the bible was undertaken in 1868 by the National bible society of Scotland, Edinburgh. It was based primarily on the Efik alphabet or orthography for use by the speakers of Annang, Efik and Ibibio languages. The commonly used Efik bible is the one published in 1985 by the Bible Society of Nigeria, Lagos titled “Edisana Nwed Abasi Ibom.” The Bible Society of Nigeria bases its translations on the King James Version of the bible. This bible translation though written in Efik contains many English words which will easily strike any critical reader. Below is an illustration of the phenomenon in the Gospel of Mark 1:1-8, words in bold letters are English words or transcriptions. It is identified as “Translation A” Mark 1:1-8 Eritɔŋɔ gospel Jesus Christ, Eyen Abasi. 2 Kpa nte ewetde ke ŋwed prophet Isaiah, ete: Sese, mmɔdɔŋ isuŋutom Mi ebem Fi iso, 3 Emi edinamde usuŋ Fo; Uyo andifiori ke desert, ete; mbufo ediɔŋ usuŋ Jehovah, eneŋere ɔkpɔusɔŋ Esie; 4 John oto edi edinim owo baptism ke desert, edinyuŋ ɔkwɔrɔ baptism eritkabare esit, man efen mme idiɔk-ŋkpɔ. 5 Ndien mbio ofuri edem Judæa, ye kpukpru mme andiduŋ Jerusalem ewɔŋɔ etiene enye, enyuŋ ena baptism ke ubɔk esie ke akpa Jordan, ke eyararede mme idiɔk-ŋkpɔ mmɔ. 6 John esine edisine-ŋkpɔ idet camel, onyunŋ ɔbɔbɔ mbɔbɔ ikpa-unam ke isin, onyuŋ adia ŋkukuŋkpɔyɔriyɔ ye aran ɔkwɔk-ikɔt. 7 Ndien enye ɔkwɔrɔ ete, Enye emi enyenede odudu akan mi etiene mi ke edem edi, emi mmendotke ndinuhɔ ntat uruk ikpa-ukot Esie. 8 Ami nda mmɔŋ nnim mbufo baptism; edi Enye eyenim mbufo baptism ke Edisana Spirit. 1
Existing Liturgical Translations The existing liturgical translations chosen for this work are the last two translations of the Roman Missal for the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist (The Order of Mass). The first Efik translation USUŊ NDIBUANA KE MASS was published in 1978 by the Bishops of Calabar and Ikot Ekpene Catholic Dioceses. It was approved for use by the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria in 1979. Below is the translation of the Preface of Holy Trinity identified as “Translation B.” Akam Itoro Edisana Trinity Eneneŋede odot onyuŋ enen, ɔfɔn oyuŋ anwam k‟ubɔhɔ nnyin ndikom Abasi kpukpru ini ye ke kpukpru ebiet, O Ɔbɔŋ, afo Edisana Ete, nsinsi Abasi andikeme-ndinam-kpukpru- ŋkpɔ, oto Jesus Christ Ɔbɔŋ nnyin. Afo, ye nkukre eyen fo ye Edisana Spirit edi Abasi kiet, edi ɔbɔŋ kiet, idihe kiet ke Person emi edide nsio nsio: edi, edi kiet k‟uduot Abasi emi edide kiet. Nnyin imenim k‟akpanikɔ kpukpru se afo ayarade ɔnɔ nnyin abaŋa itoro fo. Ukem oro ke nnyin inim ibaŋa Edisana Spirit, man otodo k‟ikwɔrɔde utibe 74
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ŋkpɔ uduot Abasi akpanikɔ nnyin ituak ibuot inɔ Person emi edide nsio nsio, uduot emi edide kiet, ye ubɔŋ edide ukem-ukem. Ke ntre, nnyin ibuana ye mme Angel ye mme Ikpɔ Angel, mme ebekpo, mme andikara kpa ye kpukpru udim ekɔŋ Heaven ifiori itoro fo. The new translation has the same title: USUŊ NDIBUANA KE MASS. It was produced in 2012 for internal use ad experimentum within the three Dioceses of Calabar, Uyo and Ikot Ekpene. It is based on the English translation of the Roman Missal by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy of 2010. The translation was the consequence of the directives from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Ratio Translationis for the English Language published in 2007. The directives call for the use of formal equivalence principle in translating from the Latin original editio typica of the ordo missae. This new Efik translation apparently retains almost all the English words that were retained in the translation of 1978. The notable novelties however, include especially the following: the former used the English word “Eucharist,” the new translation adopts an Efik phraseology by transcribing YUKARIST. Other changes based on this innovation include Krɔs for Cross, Katolic for Catholic (this should however be Katɔlik). The translation does not have the Preface of Holy Trinity used above as illustration from the translation of 1978. Its translation of the Apostolic Creed is therefore chosen and identified as “Translation C.” Mmenim Mmenim Abasi ke akpanikɔ, Ete andikpon nkan, Andibot enyɔŋ y‟isɔŋ, ye Jesus Christ, nkukure Eyen Esie, Ɔbɔŋ nnyin, emi ekeyomode ke odudu Edisana Spirit, akamanade oto Virgin Mary; okonyuŋ okutde ndutuhɔ ke idak ukara Pontius Pilate, ema ekɔŋ Enye ke krɔs, akpa, enyuŋ ebuk; Enye ama ɔsuhɔde aka ke Hell, ɔyɔhɔ usen ita Enye eset ke mkpa, ɔdɔk ke Heaven, eketie ke ubɔk nnasia Abasi Ete Andikpon nkan. Enye oyoto do edi ndibiere ikpe nnɔ mme odu-uwem ye mme akpa-mkpa. Mmenim Edisana Spirit ke akpanikɔ; Edisana Ufɔk-Abasi Katɔlik; ebuana ye mme ndisana owo; edidahado ke mme idiɔk-ŋkpɔ; ediset ikpɔkidem ke mkpa, ye uwem nsi-nsi. Amen Evaluation of the Illustrated Translations Translation A (the Gospel Mark 1:1-8) which is made up of hundred and thirty four (134) words contains fourteen English words/transcriptions: This is approximately eleven percent of the Efik words. The Preface of the Trinity (translation B) is made up of one hundred and thirty four (134) words; nine of these words are English. The figure is approximately 7 percent of the words in the text. The text of the apostolic creed mmenim (Translation C) contains one hundred and six words (106), twelve (12) of these words are English. This implies that approximately 11 percent of the words are English words or transcriptions. Since in liturgical celebrations the bible is being read and liturgical texts are predominantly adapted from the bible, words translated for use in liturgical texts have the same translation in the biblical version used in the territory (RT, n. 39; LA, nn. 36 and 49). Consequently the same English terms found in the Efik bible are found in the liturgical texts. This explains why this work assesses both the biblical and liturgical translations.
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The above illustrations reveal that the Efik translations of the bible and liturgical literature are a combination of Efik and English words. Some of the words from the original language were retained in place of possible equivalent words from the receptor language. This may imply, apart from the lack of vocabulary, the fear of losing the essential meaning of the original word. Possible equivalent words may have insufficient or superfluous significations that may impoverish or overshoot the meaning contained in the original word. The likely theory that guided this translation principle would be formal equivalence, though a review of the entire translation would equally reveal dynamic equivalence. Therefore where necessary there was formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence translations; but specifically, one of the theories that informed the preservation of the English words was formal equivalence due especially to the probable unsatisfactory signification of available equivalent Efik words. For fear of losing the signification captured by the English words, some of them were retained. Some of the corresponding Efik equivalent may have been avoided for fear of the unchristian connotation it had among the speakers. In this case sensitivity to the socio-cultural setting may have been at work. Efik Translations and the Pioneer Translators The term â&#x20AC;&#x17E;pioneer translatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x; is used to refer to the Scottish missionaries and their indigenous collaborators who translated the English bible into the Efik language. The English words were therefore retained by these earlier translators. Their possible reason may primarily have been the absence of sufficient vocabulary to accommodate the concepts expressed by those English words. It may also have been their lack of conviction regarding the ability of existing vocabulary to exhaust the concepts contained in each of the foreign words. Most importantly also, the initial missionary scepticism regarding the existence of certain biblical and theological concepts in the world view expressed by the Efik language may have contributed to the lack of conviction on their part. The possibility of the non-Christian connotation of existing corresponding Efik words may also have been a factor. The first proposed reason is due especially to the limited literary tradition of the Efik language and is prolonged by the absence of a language academy. The second is a decision based on theological considerations which in turn have slowed the conscious effort at identifying Efik terms as replacement for the English words. Such theological considerations may include the fear of choosing words with non-Christian religious roots and words whose usage may confuse and offend the sensitivity of the indigenous Christians. Language itself is a vehicle of values; political, sociological and cultural. An influential language tends to transmit to its speakers a certain sense of superiority in values and encourages its speakers to sustain this sense of superiority and influence in their interaction with other languages. The inner convictions of superiority which even unconsciously were felt by the missionaries who saw themselves as the exporters of civilization would equally have made it possible for the translators to underrate the capacity of existing Efik terms to accommodate the concepts expressed by the retained English words, or underestimate the possibility of finding suitable new words. The Efik language itself was during the translation period at its preliminary stage of becoming a written language. It was therefore, equally possible that finding corresponding terms in the absence of sufficiently learned speakers of the language was difficult and time consuming especially in the context of the urgency of the missionary zeal for the conversion of souls. Thus it was necessary to make an indigenous bible available as soon as possible, rather than spend 76
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endless time searching for corresponding words. As at the time of the first translation, translation studies and theory were not as standardized as they are presently. This phenomenon of interspersing Efik translations with English words is currently reflected even in spoken Efik; hardly does an Efik speaker make a complete sentence in Efik without its being interspaced with English words. This implies the phenomenon of code switching, code missing and code shifting (Offiong and Ugot, 2012). Comparatively this constitutes a slightly different reality; that of language shift which indicates a more complex problem of language extinction. As a problem however, it underscores the probability that foreign words in the Efik Christian literature may not likely be replaced. The Efik Christian literature was the first written and widely read Efik language texts interspersed with English words. These texts have in this form laid the foundation for adaptation to an Efik language pronounced along with English words. Efik Translations and Indigenous Translators The original owners and speakers of the Efik language who subsequently undertook to function as translators of the bible and liturgical books into the Efik language are referred to in this work as „indigenous translators.‟ Their presence in institutions like the Bible Society Nigeria and Nigerian Translation Trust would ordinarily improve upon the legacy of the foreign missionaries. This is however, not the case; the foreign words have remained a part of the Efik translations. As evident in the 1985 edition of the Efik bible by the Bible Society of Nigeria and the second liturgical translation illustrated above, subsequent revisions have made little attempts to find replacements for some of these words. The possible reasons for this can be identifiable. First these foreign words appear to have almost become parts of the vernacular and appear to have been tacitly adopted as part of the Efik vocabulary. There are no conscious attempts at further developing the language especially in the context of the challenges of its minority status in a competitively multilingual environment like Nigeria. There is among the speakers a gradual shift to the use of English, and the sense of pride associated with understanding and speaking Efik has shifted consequently to the use of English which is adopted as the first language in Nigeria. There is lack of conviction on the part of the speakers to invent new words, adopt and associate new meanings with existing words for fear especially of the bizarre connotation that some of the adopted words would transmit to the speakers in general. In other words, the sensitivity of the general speakers is a factor in the translation of these words. There are implicit disagreements among the three language areas adopting Efik as biblical and liturgical language. The Annang and Ibibio speakers may ordinarily want in the current dispensation to translate the bible and the liturgical books into their own proper vernacular. This is already a possible motive for lack of satisfactory cooperation between speakers of the three vernaculars in the task of standardizing and modernizing the lexicon of the Efik language. An Experiment with Efik Alternative to the English Word “Spirit” The term spirit translates principally the biblical Hebrew word ( רוחruach) and Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma) The two terms are used to refer to what is understood in English as breath (Ezekiel 37:10), wind and spirit. Theologically they refer to that which animates or gives life to the body, breath (life-) spirit (see Matt 27:50; Luke 8:55). They are used to refer to that part of the human personality which in contrast to the flesh does not pass away in death but survives as an 77
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individual entity after death (see 1 Peter 3:18 in relation to Christ; and v. 19 in relation to other humans). In relation to the flesh it is immaterial (Colossians 2:5). They are used to refer to God‟s being as controlling influence in relation especially to humans; “the Spirit of God or of the Lord” (Genesis 1:2; 1 Peter 4:14). They are also used to refer to an independent and transcendent personality; “the Spirit” (Matthew 28:19; see 1 Chronicles 12:19 Heb). The Spirit in these two senses is often qualified as „Holy‟ because of its heavenly origin and nature (Bauer, 2000). The Efik equivalent for breath is ibifik or ebifik, while wind is ofum. The reality understood theologically as the immaterial part of the human personality is ekpo (spirit). In Luke 24:37 the disciples were afraid and thought Jesus was a πνεῦμα (pneuma); this concept is precisely what is expressed in Efik as ekpo but in the Efik translation the English word „spirit‟ is used. The same English term is used in other cases in which πνεῦμα (pneuma) or ( רוחruach) is used to refer to the “controlling influence of God‟ (Spirit of God) and „an independent transcendent personality‟ (Holy Spirit). Luke 24:37 is translated in English as spirit (RSV, KJV, NAS, GNV among others) or ghost (NAB, NIB, NIV, NJB). Worthy of note is the fact that the concept expressed in the πνεῦμα (pneuma) of Luke 24:37 is common among Efik people; it is understood as ekpo. The translation of this passage with the term spirit betrays two factors; the first is a carryover from the source language of apparently using one English word to translate any one Greek word regardless of the context. The second follows from the first, the reproduction in a translation that is based on a source language bible format; little attention is given to the priority of the target language. Presently the reluctance among Efik Christians about using the term ekpo for πνεῦμα (pneuma) as the Spirit of God and as Holy Spirit arises from the fear of transferring the negativity associated with the immaterial part of the human person after death. If God is a spirit in terms of ghost then he is to be feared. The policy surrounding the translation of Spirit in the Efik bible may therefore be expressed as follows: the decision to retain Spirit may have been socio-cultural. The negative connotation associated with the possible equivalent term ekpo may have influenced the decision to use Spirit where references were to πνεῦμα (pneuma) as the Spirit of God and as Holy Spirit. The decision to also use spirit for the immaterial aspect of the human person after death was due to an influence from the source language bible This second reveals in a way some lack of attention to the target language on the part of the translating missionaries (and their indigenous collaborators) who were in this case influenced by the reality of their own English bible. This is a factor in the authoritativeness of bible translation identified as „commercial power‟ (Rogerson, 2000). Translations of Spirit in the three major languages in Nigeria may provide some assistance. In Hausa ruhu means spirit or ghost while RuhumaiTsarki means „Holy Spirit.‟ In Igbo mmuo means spirit or ghost while Mmuo Nso means Holy Spirit. In Yoruba emi means spirit or ghost while Emimimo means Holy Spirit. Lokaa is a language spoken by the people of Yakurr in the central part of Cross River State. It is spoken by a people who share the same political jurisdiction with the Efik people. In this language kuden means spirit or ghost while Kutumaden is used to refer to the Holy Spirit. The nuance in these four languages consists in the translation of the πνεῦμα (pneuma) or ( רוחruach) of God and Holy Spirit with the same term for spirit in terms of ghost.
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As noted earlier, in the Efik language group ghost is referred to as ekpo; it is possible therefore to employ the term Edisana Ekpo for the Holy Spirit. Through the adoption of this term the negative connotation associated with the concept as evil may be dispelled given that it is generally part of the human and divine realities. The Efik people believe in the existence of good and evil spirits which are identified as eti ekpo and idiɔk ekpo respectively. Holy Spirit can therefore be termed edisana ekpo. Ekpo is also used as a personal name; so if humans can answer ekpo it implies that it is not a negative concept. However, where the sensitivity of the receptors is at stake as in this case, the term „ukpɔŋ‟ which is used for „soul‟ may be given an added signification or sense to mean Spirit. The reason for this choice is because against arguments regarding the non existence of the concept of spirit among the Efik people, it is evident that soul expresses a spiritual concept. To have such a term in Efik for soul and as a personal name implies that the concept of spirit is present in the Efik world view. Ukpɔŋ may therefore be chosen to mean both soul and spirit. Conclusion The difficulties that plague Efik translations of biblical and liturgical texts are both linguistic and theological. Linguistically Efik is limited in vocabulary and concepts; theologically it is inadequate in terms of terminologies that capture the Christian ideas, concepts, institutions and practices. This was the case with some if not most languages attempting a translation of the bible. Latin speaking Christians attempting to translate the bible and Greek Christian documents from about AD 180 faced similar translation problems. Even their attempts to be faithful to the structure and form of the original language forced them in some cases to go for a „word-for word‟ translation and this did violence to the Latin idiom of the time. In some cases they made use of and Latinized established Christian Greek and Hebrew words like ecclesia, baptizare, pasche. This method of translation thus gave rise to a special and enduring Christian language technically referred by some as Sondersprache (Witty, 1967). The Greek translators of the Septuagint had to invent Greek words, transliterate certain Hebrew words and even incorporate some by retaining them. By this singular gesture it helped, along with the New Testament and works by theological writers, to create Greek Christian terminology. It remains however, a translation, in spite of its acceptability. The churches in Nigeria and in Calabar area of the Efik language cluster especially will, by making efforts at finding vernacular words for some biblical and liturgical terms help in enriching the local language in which the Gospel is incarnated. In relation to the translation of the Bible to other languages, the original languages are generally Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. In relation to the liturgy the original language is Latin, editiones typicae. The Efik bible and liturgical books appear generally to have been translated primarily from the English translations. This may in part have had an effect on genuine efforts at identifying equivalent Efik replacements. It is still possible to find equivalent Efik words for some of the English terms by approaching the translation from the original languages. A study of the semantic fields and context of the words in their original rather than in English and the semantic fields of possible Efik terms may open up the possibilities of discovering equivalent and sufficient Efik replacements. The non absolute status of concepts associated with words and the fact that most concepts can be represented by a variety of forms should encourage Efik biblical and liturgical translators to associate new meanings to existing words. They should coin new words and ascribe to them concepts represented by the English words retained in the bible and liturgical books. By doing 79
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this, the old translations are not replaced but enriched by the acceptance of the new so that the outcome will become a mixture of the old and the new; an interaction between continuity and change. The challenges of biblical and liturgical translations must not be looked at as setbacks. The Christian unprecedented initiative of translating the bible into vernacular has itself revealed and promoted the fact that all languages are equal in their responsibility to mediate the truth of God. The linguistic and theological limitations of these vernaculars on the other hand reveal that by the same token every language is equally inadequate in its attempt to communicate the very same truth of God (Sanneh, 2000). Language remains however, the tool with which humans can best think, imagine, create, aspire, desire, feel and express their soul, enlarge their mental horizon and achieve all that each person is capable of (Essien, 1987). Biblical/liturgical translations in this context continue to remain a vehicle of cultural and ethnic identity in their development and enrichment of the receptor language. Immediate and Long Term Recommendations The following recommendations are made for the improvement of existing translations of the bible and liturgical books in the Efik language. In the immediate context it is recommended that Efik words should be invented to cater for some, if not all of the foreign words in the Efik bible and liturgical books. Alternatively in cases where there is difficulty in identifying an adequate term, new meaning or signification may be associated with existing words. Polyvalence is a common characteristic of the Efik language; the word ɔbɔŋ has more than one signification; it is used with slight difference in pronunciation to refer to „lord, „whip‟ and „mosquito.‟ Where these alternatives are not possible with some of the words because of the theological or liturgical traditions associated with the terms, such words may be retained in their original form but transliterated with the alphabet of the receptor language (Efik) and adapted to the pronunciation pattern of same receptor language. Thus the foreign language is spelt and pronounced in the alphabetical format of the receptor language. These processes will make it possible for Efik words and pronunciation patterns so utilized to acquire biblical sense and theological concepts in the mind of the readers. All of these may not be possible without the existence of an academy for the Efik language and other major languages in Nigeria. There are language development centres like Nigeria Education and Research Development Council (NERDC) and the National Institute of Nigeria Language (NINLAN). The challenge however regarding an academy is the existence in Nigeria of many languages. It becomes difficult therefore to give adequate attention to a particular language. This can however, be overcome through the establishment in the long term of regional centres for the development of regional languages. The churches may at the regional level play an active role; thus the Catholic Church or Christian churches in the region covering the Efik language cluster may contribute towards the development of religious or theological languages and concepts in Efik. This may be done by getting its trained and indigenous theologians to work with linguists and form a Greek/Hebrew-Efik Lexicon of the Old and New Testaments. These efforts will thus become renewed occasions for the development and enhancement of standard orthography, production of primers, compilation and revision of dictionaries, and the writing of more grammar for the Efik language.
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References Aye, E. U. A., 1991. Learners Dictionary of Efik Language, Ibadan: Evans Brothers. Bauer, W., 2000. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Christian Literature, (revised and edited by F.W. Danker), Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bible Society of Nigeria http://www.biblesociety-nigeria.org. accessed 04/04/15 Crisp, S., 2000. “Icon of the Ineffable” An Orthodox View of Language and its Implication for Bible Translation” in Athalya Brenner and Jan Willem van Henten (eds.), Bible Translation on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century: Authority, Reception, Culture and Religion (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 353), London: Sheffield Academic Press, 36-47. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2001. Liturgiam Authenticam: Fifth Instruction on the Use of Vernacular Languages in the Publication of the Books of the Roman Liturgy http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations accessed 05/04/15. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2007. Ratio Translationis for the English Language, Vatican City: Vatican Press. Essien, O. E., 1987. “Cross River State Languages: Problem and Prospects,” in Monday B. Abasiattai (ed), Akwa Ibom and Cross River States: The Land, the People, and their Culture, Calabar: Wusen Press, 1987, 27-45. Gordon, T. D., 1985. “Translation Theory,” http://www.bible-researcher.com/gordon.html accessed 02/03/15. John Paul II, 2001. “An Address to the United Bible Societies and the Bible Society of Italy,” L’Osservatore Romano, December 12. Nida, E. A., 1992. “Theories of Translation,” Anchor Bible Dictionary vol. 6, New York: Doubleday, 512-515. Nigerian Bible Translation Trust http://www.wycliffe.net/partners/tabid/.../Default.aspex accessed 01/05/15. Noorda, S., 2000. “New and Familiar: the Dynamics of Bible Translation” in Athalya Brenner and Jan Willem van Henten (eds.), Bible Translation on the Threshold of the TwentyFirst Century: Authority, Reception, Culture and Religion (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 353), London: Sheffield Academic Press, 8-16. Offiong, O. A. and M. I. Ugot, 2012. “Minority Language Maintenance: The Case of the Efik Language in South Eastern Nigeria,” Theory and Practice in Language Studies 2, 24912499. Offiong, O. A. and Stella Ansa, 2013. “The Efik Language: A Historical Profile,” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 3 (21), 23-31. Pontifical Biblical Commission, 1993. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, Vatican: Vatican Press. Rogerson, J., 2000. “Can a Translation of the Bible be Authoritative?”in Athalya Brenner and Jan Willem van Henten (eds.), Bible Translation on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century: Authority, Reception, Culture and Religion (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 353), London: Sheffield Academic Press, 17-30. Sanneh, L., 2000. “Domesticating the Transcendent. The African Transformation of Christianity: Comparative Reflections on Ethnicity and Religious Mobilization in Africa,” in Athalya Brenner and Jan Willem van Henten (eds.), Bible Translation on the Threshold of the
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Twenty-First Century: Authority, Reception, Culture and Religion (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 353), London: Sheffield Academic Press, 70-85. Wcela, E. A., 2009. “What is Catholic about a Catholic Translation of the Bible?” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 71, 247-263. Witty, F. J., 1967. “Translation Literature, Early (Pagan and Christian),” ed. William J. MCdonald New Catholic Encyclopedia vol. 14, Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 246-248
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