Jumat, 30 September 2016

Development Research Methods: Group Project

Development Research Methods
Group Project

Lecturer
-    Dr Joyce Wu

Group Members:
     Muhammad Kholis Hamdy (u3135540)
     Dendup Chophel (u3135901)
     Nur Arifina Vivinia (u3149668)
     Saherman Saherman (u3140569)
     Vo Ngoc Thanh Thai (u3132379)



Words count: 4,935 
Student declaration

I certify that this essay is entirely my own work, except where I have given fully documented references to the work of others, and that the work contained in this essay has not previously been submitted for assessment in any formal course of study.

1. Introduction  
What we think, we become! This is the inspiration that we took while designing this study to assess the University of Canberra’s (UC) Master of International Development (MID) students’ awareness of and disposition towards the concept of ‘community vitality’. A part of the ‘nine domains of Gross National Happiness, which is Bhutan’s famous middle-path development philosophy that seeks to balance material improvement of people’s living condition with the concern for their living culture and the earth’s ecology, community vitality - or variants thereof - is a mainstay of the wider global discourse on development (Ura & Penore, 2009). This approach to development puts the people at the centre of policy and programme agenda and articulates the socio-economic and environmental dynamics that make people and their communities stronger, investing in them the anthropological ‘agency’ in bringing about improvements in their living conditions as they deem necessary and desirable. The United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals dwells on this thematic and practical concern in development.[1] What this study seeks to achieve is to understand the level of awareness among student of MID on this concept. The concept began with a simple concern for the people’s life choices which became constraint under supposedly enhanced levels of development because quite contrary to the ideals espoused by this model - now seen as an alternative development paradigm - international development was fixated on the dominant development model of Gross Domestic Product that was promoted since development cooperation began with President Truman’s Point Four agenda (Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi, 2008; Halle, 1964). As disenchantment sets in with GDP as a viable model of development, which the growing volume of detractors argue ‘measures everything but which counts in life’, community vitality with its accompanying development ideals like education, health, conservation, etc. has gained increased methodological sophistication to complement, if not completely supplant, GDP as the right guide of people’s progress.
Therefore, it is important to see the level of engagement of the MID students with this concept and other alternative models of development as what they are aware of, will most likely shape their approach once they become development professionals, that is if they are already not one. Different research methods have been adopted for this study based on feedbacks from our rigorous testing schedule. It is rightly observed that development research is still a dynamic field where dogmatic methodological posturing has yet not been adopted in conducting both theoretical and applied development studies. So, on the one hand, researchers have more flexibility in choosing their preferred and appropriate approach, while on the other, because they do not have resort yet to set principles and standard, they have little option but to be heuristic and fluid in their use of methodologies. This study has consequently used Focus Group Discussion, which was the preferred approach in order to elicit in-depth views, and individual interview was used to validate the research questions and design. Questions were self-critically tested, and where complications were identified, changes were incorporated based on findings and feedbacks. This report is restricted to discussing the rationale, objective, goal and context of the study; and clearly elucidating the process of research design and question testing. Discussion of findings and results are beyond the scope of this report. Discourse analysis has been considered for this research because of the discursive approach we took in the design and structure of the questions though no effort was made at rigorously adhering to its methodological principles (Philips & Hardy, 2002).              

2. Goal

2.1  Solicit educated opinions and judgements of MID students as post-graduate scholars with background in development or future potential to be in the field on Community Vitality as a concept and as a viable model that can be replicated universally.

3. Objective

3.1  To explore students’ cognitive level on the concept of community vitality that consists of knowing, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and last, creating elements.
3.2  To seek students’ appreciation of the concept as a way of identifying possible application of the concept in later policy decisions and implementation because what they are aware of and believe in, they act on; Cogito ergo sum, as stated in the Latin philosophical propositions.

4. The thick description of Community Vitality and research background

Without benefit of the ontological and epistemological premise on which this group of Happiness researchers[2] based our research and question design, the subject matter under consideration, namely community wellbeing, may well seem discordant with the choice of participant sample, or even the research method adopted. That is why we propose to introduce here an epistemological approach to outline the context within which we can understand why Community Vitality (CV) assumes significance in the wider development discourse on alternative development paradigms and how gaining an understanding of this development framework will enable development students to take cognizance of sustainable development issues, which has gained prominence since the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals as the UN’s post 2015 agenda. Having this awareness will help the students to imbibe alternative sensibility in their work as development scholars and practitioners.    
British philosopher Gilbert Ryle has propounded thick description as a way of meaningfully conceptualizing research subject so that it becomes not only accessible and intelligible, but also relevant and interesting to outsiders (refer Geertz, 1973). Without a statement of its background, CV will meet indifference or mere cursory interests within the broader development discourse, and hence, be relegated to lowly policy priority for development thinkers and policy makers. The world is becoming ever more aware of the limitation, indeed the danger, of following the conventional development model of gross domestic production, with its misguided valorization of consumerism and exploitative tendencies. GDP as a development measure and indicator misleads policy makers across the world into thinking economic progress as development of the people.[3] Recognizing this, world leaders have been exploring alternative development indicators and models. The high profile Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress was one such valiant attempt at remodeling the development of this world along values and aspirations of sustainability (2008). As momentous as the recommendations of this commission was on measuring and valuing the ‘well-being of the people’ was, the world was introduced into this line of thinking, albeit less successfully, by the reports What Now: The 1975 Dag Hammarskjöld Report on Development and International Cooperation and 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development on Towards Sustainable Development. Both these reports pushed sustainable development agendas into mainstream development planning and programming, and culminated in the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the UN. The concept of Community Vitality is both a harbinger and product of these alternative development movements, and will be discussed briefly here in this context.[4]      

4.1 Gross National Happiness Index

Although the first quantitative Gross National Happiness (GNH) index was released in 2008, the concept of GNH was first proposed in 1970s by the fourth King of Bhutan. Indeed, because of the missing of social and environmental aspects in the popular Gross Domestic Product (GDP) index, the GNH was developed in term of focusing on non-economic aspects of well-being rather than increasing in economy statistics in development paradigm (Ura & Penjore, 2009). Moreover, the raising awareness in changing living environment might lead to the need of searching for an alternative measurement in order to capture the whole picture of the development process in order to achieve sustainable development. As a result, GNH has been put to wider application since the Millennium Development Goals was set by the United Nations. According to Munro (2016), there are four pillars in GNH, which are (1) good governance, (2) sustainable socio-economic development, (3) cultural preservation and (4) environmental conservation, that are more specifically classified into nine domains, which are (1) psychological well-being, (2) health, (3) education, (4) time use, (5) cultural diversity and resilience, (6) good governance, (7) community vitality (CV), (8) ecological diversity and resilience, and (9) living standards. In addition, within each domain, there are several indicators which are used to measure the degree of change in the people’s perceived and actual wellbeing.

4.2 Definition of Community Vitality and its indicators

Among these domains, CV appears as more debatable as there are few discrepancies in its definition and conceptualisation depending on the discipline of the proponents (Dixon, 2006; Givel, 2015). However, it is as the popularly accepted as the community’s collective capacity to respond to change with an enhanced level of participation with aspirations for a healthy and productive community. In other words, it is the relationship between each individual with their family and their community in the context of living within such community in the period of time. Moreover, it shows the strength of community when facing with the changing livelihood. CV has been assessed based on seven indicators, which are the (1) length of stay, (2) volunteering, (3) donation, (4) the sense of belonging, (5) the sense of trust, (6) family relationship, and (7) crime and safety.
A brief discussion on the indicators, which are used as the primary basis for the construction of our questions, shows that the length of stay indicates how long an individual live in that community. This is an important consideration since empirical findings present a strong correlation between longer stay and more intense sense of belonging to the community, and thus the willingness to contribute towards its wellbeing. The volunteering (in terms of services) and donation (money) indicators gauge the network of social support existent in the community. In good times as in desperation, strong social support gives people hope and confidence which are crucial components of their wellbeing. Measuring sense of belonging is perhaps the most important indicators as it may be argued that the outcome of all other indicators rest on this in as much as sense of belonging conditions a person’s outlook and disposition towards meaningful engagement within and outside the community. Sense of trust is an important building block of belonginess and as such, it indicates the ease with which a person can reasonably feel supported by the community in times of need while reciprocating such support in return. Crime and safety illustrates the effectiveness of local authorities in term of protecting their citizens and this is a critical indicators as widespread perception of lawlessness and chaos can be detrimental to community vitality. Family relationship as an indicator and means of mutual support and affection is vital as it present an unconditional source of wellbeing. Taken together, we can see a strong interdependence among all these indicators suggesting that, a person’s sense of wellbeing, and feeling of and aspiration for accomplishment (or development) are conditional and incumbent upon a holistic measure of Community Vitality.

5. Methodology

This research is inductive in its theory orientation, and attempts to use interpretative and constructivist considerations in order to assess the educated opinions and perspectives of the our interviewees and participants who are selected from among graduate students of Master of International Development (193JA).[5] The choice of this sample population is linked to our Research Goal which has been stated above.  
Homogeneity of background of researchers, participants and interviewees is thoughtfully considered to leverage the quality of the intended result in this research. However, researchers fully realise the potential biases not only during the implementation of data collection but also in the process of analysis, interpretation and report writing. In choosing of sampling for interviewees, researchers use a purposive sampling; a non-probability with gender perspective as a thoughtful consideration (Neuman, 2011). We employed qualitative approach, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) as a technique to test our research design and questions while semi-structured interviews were preferred as a means of validation in tandem with further FGD sessions. In depth and diverse data were sought on the key concept of community vitality in particular, and alternative development frameworks in general. For meaningful discussion and informed policy recommendations on this important subject, FGD is chosen in light of the researchers’ recognition of our selected participants as having the requisite educational background and related experience in development studies; with appropriate exposure to development theories and practice during their academic encounters at campus. In addition, we intended to use FGD as a means of dynamic discussion that may bring to fore the issues participants deemed important and significant, without having too much power to instigate topic or questions. In this way, researchers serve as facilitators, guiding discussion flexibly but within the grid of our stated research purpose. One important limitation is the laborious nature of the transcribing process. There are several steps in the actual performing of FGD. First, the discussion starts with introduction, expressing appreciation for coming and introducing the stakeholders. Second, the goal of the discussion is articulated, and statutory disclamation is made on the use of recording and other ethical considerations. Guarantee of privacy of respondents and their right to limit the use of any data deemed sensitive by the researchers were issued. Actual discussions then ensued, followed lastly by felicitation and expression of gratitude.  
The use of semi-structured interview offers interviewer a set of guiding questions, while at the same time providing significant leeway for interviewees to reply. Necessary flexibility in data collection is a quintessence of qualitative research approach with use of varying preliminary and supplementary probing questions. The limitation of this is quite similar with FGD; namely transcribing issues (Bryman, 2012). Semi-structured interviews emphasize how interviewees frame and understand issues, topic, and concepts. Therefore, as a primary source of data collection, semi-structured interview will be specifically designed to answer research questions. Community vitality, both as concept and research subject, will be examined through selective indicators derived from the Gross National Happiness Survey 2015. This survey questionnaire is used as a companion text for our principle questions[6].  The adaptation is based on the different method researchers employ, which is qualitative; leaning towards conceptual comprehension. The selected indicators were expected as an instigating approach towards general conception of community vitality. For example, the length of stay is not specifically designed to obtain quantitative data on how long individual actually live in the community as that will make our research only a replication of GNH survey, which is primarily a concern of quantitative approach and hence, will not lead to any value addition. At best, it will lead to a heuristic exploration of the universality or applicability of the GNH survey in diverse socio-cultural background. While this is also an attempt of the research, the real information we seek goes beyond that, which is to explore ‘cognitive’ of respondents and participants (knowing, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating elements) on the indicator and its relational meaning with the research subject. The same approach goes to the rest of the indicators; volunteering, donation, sense of belonging, family relationship, sense of trust and crime and safety.
Upon finishing the data collection phase, the research process moves onto data analysis, interpretation of findings and then wrap up with the final report writing. Researchers propose not to utilise any program for analyzing the data thus as the discursive nature of data collected will lend itself more favourably to and narrative reporting on the recurrent trends and patterns. The analytical approach and interpretation will use postmodernism as a theoretical lens since this research topic intends to contest and discuss with the established metanarrative regime in development thought, policy and practices (Rist, 2014).

6. Focus Group Discussion

Since the primary research method employed is Focus Group Discussion, it will be discussed in a little detail here. FGD is a particular research technique in qualitative research to interview some informants in an informal way (Neuman, 2006). It has been suggested that focus group discussion engages participants from homogeneous background who do not necessarily have close relations and the discussion itself can be conducted for about 90 minutes. A moderator should not be directive and instead facilitate the discussion to ensure that all group members can participate in free and open discussion (Bryman, 2012).
Within this broad framework, we will now discuss the theoretical and practical considerations we made while we conducted our FGD. In our FGD sessions, although participants are moderately homogeneous, it was important to understand that they can be reluctant to share their beliefs and opinions. Therefore, care was taken to provide moderate privacy and space within which to express their views. We also realised that it was important to record and transcribe the focus group process. Therefore, the following four measures were taken. First, we noted who said what and how because it was not easy to write down during the discussion process with some participants. Second, we analysed the ranges of opinion which came from one or some participants who dominated the forum, and often, from all stakeholders. Third, our record and transcription enabled us to keep the dynamism of the process which cannot be done by note taking when the FGD was in session. Lastly, this documentation enabled us in recording the nuance of the language used by participants.
In determining the right size of our group discussions and the research schedule, we took into account suggested how many discussions were needed and feasible within the temporal and spatial limits besides resources. As Calder (1997; as cited in Bryman, 2012) suggested, our conceptual and practical awareness enabled us to fairly predict the range of data that has been collected and determine if that was enough for the purpose of the research especially at the stage of research design and question testing. In view of research ethics, consent forms were administered, and demographic information were collected selectively.

7. The Research Process

The group Happiness research scheduling included dividing the work into several components such as topic selection and preparation, the development of term of reference (TOR) and questionnaire, research methodology designing, testing and consultation, validation, data collection and findings. This schedule began with a brainstorming session on the several prospective topics.[7] The primary consideration while choosing the research topic or subject, which was community vitality from a variety of others, was the fact that this course unit Development Research Methods (9429) was on conducting research on development issues.[8] Thus, community vitality was a natural choice since it is an emergent development issue. The topic was duly deliberated and final approval sought from the Unit Convenor, Dr Joyce Wu. Other secondary considerations included availability of literature on the topic besides the feasibility of primary data collection. Therefore, exploration of materials and texts, and preliminary conceptualisation and selection of indicators were also conducted during this research cycle.

7.1 Research and questionnaire design

The second session of the group deliberation focused on the development of term of reference (TOR) and drafting of the preliminary questionnaire.[9] A Consent Form was also prepared at this stage to fulfil statutory ethical prerequisites in conducting such research on human subject. It may be noted here that several rounds of deliberations were needed to refine the question, with each session providing new insights and exposing new flaws and loopholes in our research model and key questions. The questions themselves were, as discussed in the preceding sections, were based on the companion Gross National Happiness survey questionnaire. An important point to be noted here was that our first set of questions (presented in Annexure 1) was primarily focussed on the seven indicators (emphasis added). This was later found to be inadequate, if not counterproductive for the purpose of in-depth discussion and conversation-style interviews.  

7.2 Testing: Indicator bias

The third project cycle of the collaborative group research was the questionnaire testing and consultation.[10] It is considered as one of the most significant phase of this process since the questionnaire was the primary tool of data collection. The TOR and draft of the questionnaire are sent to the target participant, along with the companion GNH survey questionnaire, before the consultation and testing day. This was to allow the participants to get a better understanding of the topic and its objectives. The testing and consultation were divided into several phrases, which were generally focused on the Master of International Development (MID) students as the target participants. The first stage of the testing and consultation process was limited to a group of six Bhutanese students whose demographic details, including names, were coded into anonymity for ethical considerations. The group was composed of mixed gender, namely male and female students. The main reason to target the Bhutanese students was because Community Vitality is a concept predominantly inspired by their development philosophy of GNH and hence, it was hoped that they will be the entry point to further deliberations which were meaningful and informative. This students group, by default also, represented the Asian perspective with its distinctive socio—cultural sensibilities and aspiration. The first consultation and testing session with Bhutanese group went very well and positive feedbacks were received which were incorporated partially, or in full where appropriate, to refine the research method design and questions. However, the process dominated by the male participants with female participants being rather meek. It was felt that the lone female facilitator should encourage female participants to speak more during this session.
In order to have conveniently differentiated and meaningfully opposing views, the second step of consultation and testing was targeted to the western students composing of females only.[11] As expected, this participant group (composed of one female Australian student and one Spanish student) were vocal and expressive  in stating their opinions clearly and firmly, and provided positive feedbacks on our process. They also exposed flaws and other areas for improvement, including the lopsided attention on indicators which prevented meaningful discussions and deliberation on the concept of Community Vitality and its desirability as a alternative development model, which of course was our primary research objective. Therefore, the testing sessions were generally very meaningful and constructive experience having two different perspectives and views from the different cultural background, nationality and gender to discuss the community vitality indicators.

7.3 Validation: Conceptually Holistic 

The feedbacks received from these sessions, and our own reflections, resulted in a comprehensive, but constructive revision of our questions and the way of administering them. Displaying what we would like to believe is impressive self-reflexivity, a hallmark of great researchers, we were humble in admitting that our first question diverted our attention towards an ungainly replication of the GNH survey. It was felt that discussion structured around the seven indicators, enumerated earlier, restricted time and focus from what could otherwise become more meaningful deliberations on the development students’ informed and educated opinions and views (refined by advance preparation allowed by the research design and process) on the concept of Community Vitality. We observed a profusion of views on the indifference in dominant development research on these alternative development paradigms. We also noticed that the students were palpably frustrated with the fact that our own course, MID, did not have a course unit on alternative development paradigm, though it made tokenistic gestures by including units on agro-forestry and micro-finance, for example, though these subjects can at best be seen as palliative care of the symptoms of the disease that is afflicting the development landscape. Our participants informed us that what was required was structural and systematic change to what is now called ‘development industry’, and this could only be effected by changes at the level of ideology and policy, which the discourse on Community Vitality seeks to do. Unfortunately, our question design failed to make these observations possible because it was inadequate for the purpose we sought, and was rather too rigid.
The refining process thus involved comprehensive change on the focus of our questions. From a limited focus on indicators, our semi-structured questions now focussed on conceptual concerns and sought to truly draw out intelligent deliberations from current and prospective development scholars that MID students are. Since the group mainly met on a weekly regular basis, before the data collection was conducted, the group member also discussed the report outline and individual tasks and responsibilities that was not only limited to the conduct of interview and FGD, but also on writing up the final report.
The last two steps of the group research process focussed on validation of the questions and research design. It was agreed that semi-structured interviews will be held with our questions serving as guides, rather than fixed points of analysis. The name of respondents was selected and listed during the group meeting.[12] Ten individual interviews were scheduled to be conducted by the five researchers, with one researcher conducting two interviews. Considerations were made for gender and cultural representativeness, or decomposability in research lexicon. However, while the interviews were actually conducted, six individual interviews were conducted besides another session of FGD with six participants.[13] Thus, from the target participant sample, two extra respondents were included at this stage of the research schedule. Various convenience research ploys were used. Interviews were conducted by the researcher as both interviewer and note-taker, though this modality was swiftly replaced by adding an assistant who took the interview note. All interviews were systematically recorded and documented using voice-recorder, photographs, and in some case, videography. All respondents were given advance briefing on interview backgrounds with appropriate materials. The flow of interviewing went very well and easy as facilitator asked the questions by using the open-ended questions with the keywords as well as using the probing strategy that helped to get more data and information beyond the bare minimum.
The other researchers jointly conducted a FGD session with the mixed group of male and female participants.[14] It was felt that both male and female could be safely interviewed together because of an gender insensitive questions. The consent letter was distributed and signed by the participants before the FGD started. The female facilitator has facilitated the discussion with the support of the other two researchers who helped to co-facilitate and record the process. The number of male participants was less compared to females even though the male continued to assert more dominance. Therefore, the decision of mixing the male and female participants into a discussion may not have bee that sound after all. Cultural background might be assumed to be the main reason of the male predominance in the discussion that assured them of having more rights to talk in public forum compared to women. It is sad to notice that even with the benefit of a Masters degree in development and gender studies, this stereotype continue to persist. Moreover, the other challenges include one male participant hijacking the space and time with what seemed like monologue rather than discussion. However, facilitators duly interjected so that no major digression occurred. In addition, the facilitator also encouraged women participants to engage more. Overall, this was an enriching experience that helped the discussion and growing understanding on this subject among our participants and us.

7.4 Working modalities and tools

Finally, it was found that during the process of the research, intensive meeting and discussion was essential to achieve the overall goal of group work. Furthermore, the effective use of technology such as email, Google Doc., Facebook Group Chat and WhatsApp was very helpful to maintain regular and real time communication. It must be maintained that shared and collaborative drafting and editing of all our documents, including this final report, were done using Google Doc. application.

8. Conclusion  

Through a fluid use of qualitative development research methods, our study has created a research design that has inbuilt a set of questions that act as prompts and talking points in extracting exhaustive discussions on the critically important development issue of community vitality. From a preliminary questionnaire draft that narrowly limited the discussion to the indicators, our revised questions enabled meaningful concept and indicator level discussions on community vitality, which is subsequently situated within the broader discourse on alternative development paradigms like the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness. As conceded by the renowned anthropologists James Clifford and George E. Marcus (1986), our report inevitably reconciled inconsistencies and probable contradictions that not only challenged its logical structure, but also made reading the report difficult to access for its unacquainted readers (p. 10). It was for this reason that ethnographic writings were considered ‘new novels’, which were pleasant to read, but within its stylistic conventions, withheld inconvenient facts and analysis. Notwithstanding inherent ‘ex-post rationalisation’[15], as discussed by Gobo (2008), we have made every effort to present our experience of the research process as accurately and coherently as possible.   


9. Reference List
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Clifford, J. & Marcus, G. E. (1986 c.a.). Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. 
Clough, P. & Nutbrown, C. (2012). A student's guide to methodology: Justifying enquiry (3rd ed.). Thousands Oaks, Calif, London: SAGE.
Dixon, F. (2006). Gross National Happiness: Measuring What Matters. Reflections, 7(3), p. 15-24.
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Culture: Selected Essays by Clifford Geertz. New York: Basic Books.
Givel M. (2015). Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: Political Institutions and implementation. Asian Affairs, 46(1), p. 102-117.
Gobo, G. (2008). Doing Ethnography. Milan: Sage Publication.
Halle, L. J. (1964). On Teaching International Relations. The Virginia Quarterly Review, 40 (I). p.11-25.
Munro L. (2016). Where did Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness come from? The origins of an invented tradition. Asian Affairs, 47(1), p. 71-92.
Neuman, W. L. (2011). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (7th, international ed.). Boston, [Mass.]: Pearson.
Pellegrini, L. & Tasciotti, L. (2014). Bhutan: Between Happiness and Horror. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 25(3), p. 103-109.
Philips, N. & Cynthia, H. (2002). What is Discourse Analysis. In (eds. Philips, N. & Hardy, H) Discourse Analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Rist, G. (2014) The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith. (4th edn). London: Zed Books.
Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A. & Fitoussi, J. P. (2008). Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Accessed from www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr   
United Nations. (1975). Towards another development. In What Now: The 1975 Dag Hammarskjöld Report on Development and International Cooperation, published as a special edition of Development Dialogue.
Ura, K. & Penjore, D. (Eds). (2009). The Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Gross National Happiness. Thimphu, Bhutan: Centre for Bhutan Studies.
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Towards sustainable development. In Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.





[1] Refer the UNDP website for a fuller discussion of these goals even though a brief overview is presented in the subsequent sections. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html
[2] This is our group name for this project assigned by our own choice.
[3] Needless to say, there is a distinction between this two, which is the same as a mistaken equating of the acquirement of wealth for health. GDP in fact fails to distinguish productive economic activities from destructive human dispositions and tendencies. So, for example, by accounting the unmistakably profitable militarization of economy or the damaging exploitation of fossil reserve as growth and development, GDP is holding the world’s wellbeing at ransom of the profiteering elites.
[4] Refer Brooks J. (2013). Avoiding the Limits to Growth: Gross National Happiness in Bhutan as a Model for Sustainable Development. Sustainability, 5(9), p. 3640-3664.
[5] This course is offered by the Faculty of Arts and Design in the University of Canberra.
[6] The section on Community vitality runs from questions 89 to 104; pages 18 to 21 of GNH questionnaire booklet which is available on http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/Questionnaire/Questionnaire2014.pdf
[7] Session conducted on 25 February 2016 in University of Canberra (UC) building 5B55.
[8] Other topics considered included non-traditional development issues like crime, customer satisfaction, employee retention, etc.
[9] Session conducted on 3 March 2016 in UC Library Group Study Room 1 at Level A.
[10] Session conducted on 10 March 2016 in UC Library Group Study Room at Level A.
[11] Session conducted on 17 March in UC Library Tutorial Room.
[12] Two sessions were held on 24 March 2016. One was conducted in UC building 1C77 between 11-12 PM and the other, in UC Library Study Room 1 at Level A between 1-2 PM.
[13] Two interviews, one male and one female were conducted by Hamdy on 21 April 22 April 2016 respectively in the Foyer of Building 5, while Dendup conducted two interviews with two males on 20 April 2016 in the same venue.
[14] Session conducted by Vivinia, Thanh and Saherman on 22 April 2016 at the Foyer of Building 5.
[15] Writing about drafting jury judgment, Gobo (2008) says, “They therefore used the rules to perform an ex-post rationalization whereby their accounts would show the good sense of any outcome, rather than reproduce what people thought at the time of the deliberative process” (p. 6).

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