Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1069257242.pdf (2.36 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Conceptualizations, definitions, practices, and activities of people’s participation in social development projects from the viewpoint of funding Northern NGOs and their local Palestinian partners

Abu-Sa'da, Eman Y
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1069257242

Abstract Details

2003, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.
This study examined the participatory development practice of international Northern NGOs in the context of the area governed by the Palestinian Authority. It was conducted in two phases. The first contained a two-round Delphi study to solicit the definitions and conceptualizations of people’s participation in social development projects maintained by policy makers and administrators of NGOs in Northern donor countries assisting the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Thirteen major donor organizations answered a first round open-ended questionnaire, providing data on their conceptualizations and definitions; a question summary from round one was sent to those organizations to establish preliminary priorities of items. Five organizations responded to this second round. Data were collected over a six-month period during 2002 and 2003. A series of structured items based on these Delphi rounds, a Likert-type rating scale, were developed and used in the second phase examining the definitions, attitudes and practices of 109 social workers and supervisors of local Palestinian social development projects in the West Bank. The questionnaire aimed at describing and exploring how actual NGO activities and practices exhibit participatory qualities. Survey data were collected in the summer of 2003. Factor analysis explored the definitions of various underlying participation constructs, practices and attitudes, and tested whether items reflecting the different definitions (dimensions) unite as a concept. This study’s results showed that donor organizations use ambitious definitions, while social workers were neutral toward participation, reporting lack of training in the topic and that participatory activities are rarely used, or take place most likely only during identification of needs. While donor organizations focused on empowering beneficiaries and target groups through participation, social workers emphasized beneficiaries’ contribution to projects as the most important participation form. The results showed that despite donor organizations’ advocacy for participation, a gap exists between how they perceive participation and the social workers’ actual practice, since practical implications of the concept in projects they fund or support are not clarified; moreover, donors lack clear criteria to evaluate participatory activities in the projects they fund or run in Palestine.
Maria Julia (Advisor)
443 p.
People's Participation; Participatory Development; Northern Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs); Palestinian NGOs; Social Development Organizations;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Abu-Sa'da, E. Y. (2003). Conceptualizations, definitions, practices, and activities of people’s participation in social development projects from the viewpoint of funding Northern NGOs and their local Palestinian partners [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1069257242

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Abu-Sa'da, Eman. Conceptualizations, definitions, practices, and activities of people’s participation in social development projects from the viewpoint of funding Northern NGOs and their local Palestinian partners. 2003. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1069257242.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Abu-Sa'da, Eman. "Conceptualizations, definitions, practices, and activities of people’s participation in social development projects from the viewpoint of funding Northern NGOs and their local Palestinian partners." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1069257242

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1069257242
1,809
© 2003, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.