American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ashutosh Mishra1

The Shankargarh block of Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh, India, is well known for its high quality silica sand, and large scale surface mining is being done here. Most of the mining workers belong to a forest-dwelling community- Kol. Although, their life was never easy, they were fulfilling their needs by selling forest produces. As forest was occupied by mines, Kols became unsheltered and resourceless. They started working as silica sand mining labours to earn their livelihood. These men are mostly underpaid, extremely poor and homeless. They are deprived by all basic amenities and services and are struggling for their survival by more than seventy years.  

Rasmi Ranjan Puhan1, Lakshmipriya Malla2 

The present paper intends to analyse the IWM Programmes implemented by government in Keonjhar District of odisha Named “Khidikhidi Nala Micro-Watershed” of Telkoi block and its various impact on the social-economic background and the educational status of the family residing in that areas. The present study used the survey method to collect data from different primary and secondary sources and taken Keonjhar District as sample and analyse the data accordingly. To analyse the above situation three objectives are made by the researchers like: To highlight different interventions implemented in Odisha, To assess the impact of the interventions on livelihood system and household food security of the poor and marginalized, To examine the impact of interventions on crop production/productivity, cropping systems/cropping intensity, farm / nonfarm employment and income etc., To determine the impact of interventions on health and education status of the people. At the same time same numbers of research questions are framed to make the analysis fruitful. After a marathon analysis researchers found that: The implemented watershed programme develops the socio-economic status of the people in that area in the same time the particular intervention develops the employment scenario significantly of the area. This watershed programme also helps to reduce the skilled labour migration as well as the migration of the general tribal people migration to the urban city area. Along with above findings also it was found that the intervention developed the bio-diversity scenario in fragile ecosystem of that particular area like: soil conservation, land conservation, vegetative index or greenery and reduced runoff etc. In last we can conclude that the particular intervention has an influence in different sectors (education, health, soil and land conservation, along with other positive environmental effects. 

Rasmi Ranjan Puhan1, Lakshmipriya Malla2

The present study focuses on the actual socio economic condition of tribal people prevailing in Odisha. The study has been undertaken in the two tribal blocks of Kalahandi district such as Koksara and Madanpur Rampur among the SHGs having bank linkage experience only. India’s preoccupation with rural credit dates back to the pre-colonial period. Successive attempts by governments in the post-independent period failed in providing credit to the vulnerable and poor people in rural areas thereby leaving an estimated 38 per cent of household dependant to the informal sector lending. NABARD developed the SHG-Bank Linkage approach as the core strategy that could be used by the banking system in India to increase financial inclusion of the poor. Odisha is the only state in India that accommodates the largest number of STs and PTGs in her soil who is of course the matrix of poverty and leads an unprivileged and deprived life. This isolated group of our society has been perishing in the secluded, most backward, remote and inaccessible tribal region of the state in an ever impoverished mental, economic and physical conditions. To analyse the above subject matter three research questions were established and Focus of the questions ware: (i) Whether Micro-Financing has generated any impact to deal with the problem of isolation and secluded living style of tribal people; (ii) Whether Micro Financing has created awareness in the minds of tribal people for development through any attitudinal transformation; (iii) Whether Micro-Financing has enhanced the tribal participation in development programmes to accrue increased benefits thereof. To study these questions same numbers of objectives are framed and which are the major thrust of this present study. Results of this study show that there is a clear empirical evidence of impact of SHGs in the lives of poor. The intervention has made significant change in the attitude of poor towards saving and on the other hand to mobilise a considerable quantum of credit with repeat support from formal financing institutions. The paper recommended several empirical steps to overcome these problems including provision of a better planning and implementation of the intervention with regular nurturing and support to the SHGs can result in better socio-economic outcome. 

Gregg D. Bromgard1, David Trafimow 

This paper demonstrates how social bargaining games can be used to study a broad range of study areas the prisoner’s dilemma,‖ basic methodological instructions, and a sample study to demonstrate the utility of the prisoner’s dilemma game in the social sciences and humanities. We examined participants’ emotional responses to situations that produce conflict. We manipulated outcomes within the prisoner’s dilemma by creating three sub-outcomes within the ―sucker’s payoff‖ outcome. Each sub-outcome had different payoff structures and participants were asked to imagine that they were the victims of the other player’s strategy to defect. We posit three possible hypotheses why participants should feel anger toward the other player: (1) the other player violated the participants’ autonomy by defecting; (2) the participants felt frustrated because the other player blocked the participants’ goal of attaining money, and (c) the participants perceived the payoffs as unfair relative to the other player. We obtained results that supported the hypothesis that participants perceived the payoffs as unfair.  

Dr. Amalendu Bhunia1, Soumya Ganguly2 

The present study investigates the relationship between selected Asian eight countries stock market index and Indian stock market BSE-Sensex. In other words, the main objective of the study is whether Indian stock market index is influenced by selected Asian countries stock market or not. The progressive deletion of constraints, reduction of controls over capital movements, quick development of worldwide trade in commodities, services and financial assets, emergence of new capital markets and the upshots of financial and economic crises enhanced the significant dependability among the emerging stock markets as well. This study is based on secondary time series data obtained from index mundi database and yahoo.com database for the period from 1991 to 2013. In the course of analysis, ADF unit root test, co-integration test and causality test have been designed. Johansen multivariate co-integration test shows that Indian stock market index is related with selected eight countries stock market index in the long-run. Granger causality test illustrates that bi-directional causality exists between the selected variables between the selected stock market indices. 

David Trafimow1 

People commit the “only game in town fallacy” when they insist that the lack of accessible alternative explanations forces acceptance of whatever hypothesis is on the table. This fallacy is familiar to philosophers because it often comes up in the context of arguments about the existence of God. However researchers in psychology often commit the fallacy too. Is it acceptable to commit the fallacy in the context of psychology hypotheses even if it is not in the context of God? I provide several possible answers to this question, and also discuss an augmented version of the fallacy.  

Prof. Tom Olali1

My first and most enduring lessons on per formative events came from the maulidi festival of the Lamu archipelago, Kenya. Bands of Swahili passed year after year before my eyes during this festival to mark the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. In 2014, I came to Korea and in November of the same year, I managed to attend the Pyeongtaek nongak(also known as pungmul), a widely-transmitted traditional performance format blending music, dance and theatre. This paper was initiated to compare the performance of the hamziyyah during the maulidi festival in the Lamu archipelago, Kenya and the nongak, a traditional Korean music performed by farmers in the Republic of Korea. I give particular attention to the role they play during the festivals and as a medium which is employed to reinforce values of the Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago and that of Korean people respectively. This paper illustrates how the hamziyyah and the nongak are performed during the Lamu maulidi festival and at Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul and their subsequent transmission. The performance includes the musical ensemble, the dances, the performers and the latent functions that the hamziyyah and the nongak provide.

1Lanre-Babalola Folake O 

Self-perceived health status is the interpretation that individuals make of their health status and daily life experiences, and this could be linked to as the social, cultural, and historical context in which individuals live. Therefore, identifying the determining factors involved in self perceived health status is essential to understand behaviour and how to assess individual needs. However; most of these studies were confined to Western populations; moreover the possible effect of age on health cannot be over-emphasized; hence the need for a study of this nature. Questionnaire was utilized to elicit information among 200 respondents on the areas of interest and the study was conducted in Somolu Local Government Area, Lagos State. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and the hypotheses were tested using the chi-square (X2) and pearson correlation statistical analysis test Only 26% of the respondents perceive there health as excellent; indicating a need to pay attention to he health of the elderly in the country. Findings reveal relationships between some demographic variables like income, gender, literacy level and self perception of health among the elderly. There is also a relationship between health promoting activities and hospitalization among the elderly. Health care providers need to be more compassionate and caring to the needs of the elderly; it is also recommended that elderly persons should be provided with free health services that would make health delivery and health care services at little or no cost. 

Marianne Ojo1 

Do jurisdictions with concentrated ownership structures require less reliance on audits as corporate governance mechanisms and devices? Why do concentrated ownership structures still prevail in certain jurisdictions which are considered to be “market based corporate governance systems”? More importantly, if failures and causes of recent financial crises are principally attributable to the fact that market based corporate governance mechanisms, such as financial regulators, are not optimally performing their functions, why is the role of audits still paramount in such jurisdictions? These are amongst some of the questions which this paper attempts to address. The ever increasing growth of institutional investors in jurisdictions – particularly those jurisdictions with predominantly concentrated ownership structures, with their increased stakes in corporate equity, also raises the issue of accountability and the question as regards whether increased accountability is fostered where institutional investors assume a greater role – as opposed to position which exists where increased stake of family holdings (family controlled structures) arises. 

David Trafimow1 

The present article provides a very basic introduction to Bayes’ theorem and its potential implications for medical research. This introduction was written to be accessible to medical researchers without much mathematical background in general or without much background in Bayesian mathematics specifically. I prove Bayesian equations from very basic probability theorems and also show how these basic theorems can aid medical researchers to make important discoveries without having to do much empirical work. In many cases, the necessary empirical work, including relevant epidemiological work, is already in the medical literature and important discoveries can be made merely by looking up that work and applying one of the Bayesian equations to be presented. I also demonstrate that the traditional null hypothesis significance testing procedure that currently dominates medical research is blatantly invalid; a Bayesian point of view suggests that researchers should not use this procedure. Finally, I discuss some special issues, including philosophical issues that pertain to using a Bayesian perspective in medicine.