Kim-Leng Goh

Evidence and control of biases in student evaluations of teaching

This paper shows that class size has inappropriately influenced students’ judgements on evaluations of lecturers in the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya. A bias exists whereby courses with small enrolment receive good overall teaching ratings, whereas larger classes have produced poor evaluations. On the other hand, teaching ratings are not affected by instructor characteristics (instructional experience, rank and gender) or other course characteristics (type and level of subject, and time and day course is taught). To improve the construct validity of student ratings as a measure of teaching performance, this paper suggests using results from a regression model to estimate the bias factor associated with class size, and adjusting the overall teaching ratings based on this estimate in order to control for the bias.

Modeling the behaviour of science and technology: self-propagating growth in the diffusion process

Through theoretical analysis and empirical demonstration, this paper attempts to model the behavior of science and technology by investigating the self-propagating behavior of their diffusion for South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. The dynamics of the self-propagating behavior were examined using the logistic growth function within a dynamic carrying capacity, while allowing for different effectiveness of potential influence of science and technology producers on potential adopters. Evidence suggests that the self-propagating growth function is particularly relevant for countries with advanced science and technology, like Japan. While self-propagating growth was also found for South Korea, the diffusion process remained fairly static for Malaysia.

Growth behavior of publications and patents: A comparative study on selected Asian economies

This study attempts to model the growth behavior of the number of publications and patents of South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Malaysia. Three competing growth functions, namely, simple logistic growth function, bi-logistic growth function and logistic function within a dynamic carrying capacity were considered. The findings provide insight to the diffusion process of science and technology, often measured by the number of publications and patents, respectively. The function that provides the best fit to the observed data was opted for explaining the diffusion process. The function with the best fit is the bi-logistic growth function for the number of publications as well as the number of patents of South Korea and Taiwan, the logistic growth function within a dynamic carrying capacity (LGDCC) for the number of publications and the bi-logistic growth function for the number of patents of Japan, and the LGDCC for the number of publications and simple growth function for the number of patents of Malaysia. The results suggest a dynamic self-propagating growth for the science and technology, and thereby a transition from science and technology-push to market-pull growth for South Korea and Taiwan. While a similar transition was observed for the technology of Japan, the growth in science had entered a maturity stage. On the other hand, the growth potential in science is dynamic for Malaysia, but its technological advancement is relatively lower and static compared to the other economies.

The pathway of development: science and technology of NIEs and selected Asian emerging economies

Many emerging countries in Asia demonstrate a strong pattern of growth and potential of diffusion in science and technology that is dynamic and self-propagating. To elucidate the evolution in science and technology and the institutional dynamics that drive the self-propagating behavior, this paper examines the divergent models pursued by selected Asian economies in regard to science and technological catch-up. An analysis of papers and patents production for each nation was conducted to examine the indigenous science and technology capabilities. This study focuses on six major economies, namely China, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In addition, Japan, a country with advanced development of science and technology, is included for comparison. The findings provided insight and understanding of evolving science and technological waves and the dynamic potentials in science and technology. We demonstrate the pursued catching-up models that drive the self-propagating behavior and industrialization, thus providing a more complete understanding of the innovation systems than those examined in previous studies.

The sustainability of functionality development of science and technology: Papers and patents of emerging economies

Recent development saw concerted efforts by emerging countries to transform their industrial-based economy to post-industrial knowledge-based economy. The growth of science and technology is necessary to support this economic transformation strategy. Based on the concept of functionality development of a growth model, this study attempts to analyze the dynamism and sustainability of growth in science and technology of selected Asian emerging economies. Using the number of published papers and patents as proxies, bi-logistic growth functions were fitted to examine the prolongation ability of science and technology, and the time at which each functionality development emerges. The perspective of a paradigm shift from industrial to knowledge-based economic development is taken into consideration in the analysis. The estimated prolongation ability of the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) including South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore suggests significant transformation of their innovation system that led to a higher degree of functionality, while developing economies such as China, Malaysia and Thailand show no significant change over the years. The results suggest that the NIEs have succeeded in developing new growth trajectories that are beneficial for the transformation towards a knowledge-based economy.

Modeling the dynamics of science and technology diffusion of selected Asian countries using a logistic growth function

Summary Science and technological production can be the result of a self‐propagating growth in the process of diffusion. In the transition to a knowledge‐based economy, many emerging Asian countries have attempted to raise their national investments to develop their science and technological capability. This study attempts to compare the growth behavior of science and technology of selected emerging countries (China, Malaysia, and Thailand) with that of the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) (Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) using logistic growth function with a dynamic carrying capacity. Japan is also included in the study to provide a benchmark for advanced science and technological development. While a dynamic self‐propagating growth is found for the science and technology of the NIEs, the corresponding growth potential is relatively lower and static for the emerging economies. Unlike in Japan where the growth potential of science and technology has seemingly reached a plateau, the NIEs are still reaping the dynamics of the interaction between science and technology, and the emerging economies are at the initial stage of this development process.

Determinants of tobacco use among students aged 13–15 years in Nepal and Sri Lanka: Results from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2007

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate tobacco use behaviours and their correlates among secondary school students in Nepal and Sri Lanka together with cross-country comparisons. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods and Settings: The data were obtained from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 2007. Current tobacco use was considered as a response variable. Predictors were selected based on existing literature and theories on adolescent tobacco use. The data of 1,444 Nepalese and 1,377 Sri Lankan students aged 13–15 years was used for analysis. Results: Prevalence of tobacco use varies with 9.4% and 9.1% among Nepalese and Sri Lankan students respectively. Boys (13.2 vs. 5.3 for Nepal, 12.4 vs. 5.8 for Sri Lanka), older and senior students was more likely to be tobacco users in both countries. The average age of tobacco initiation was 10.2 years in Nepal and 8.6 years in Sri Lanka. Factors, namely, individual characteristics, tobacco use among friends, smoking at home and public places, free tobacco products, and lessons about negative effects of tobacco in class were significantly associated with tobacco use in Nepal and Sri Lanka. For instance, friends’ tobacco use was a good predictor for adolescents’ usage (odds ratio [OR] = 4.0, confidence interval [CI] = 2.61–6.23 in Nepal; OR = 2.5, CI = 1.50–4.23 in Sri-Lanka). Similarly, course curriculum significantly reduced smoking among students. Conclusion: Prevention of tobacco use among school students should be top priority of a country as they are long-term customers and replacement smokers who quit or die. Therefore comprehensive strategies as we proposed along with existing prevention programmes should be tightened to stop them from hazardous behaviours.

Adolescent Tobacco Use and Its Determinants Evidence From Global Youth Tobacco Survey, Bangladesh 2007

Adolescent tobacco use (ATU) is on the rise worldwide and the problem is particularly severe in developing countries. Based on nationally representative data, this study aims to investigate the association between ATU and its possible correlates for Bangladesh, where the prevalence rate of ATU is high. The data set is extracted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey for Bangladesh conducted in 2007. The survey collected information from a total of 3113 students from 52 schools, with a response rate of 100% at the school level, while a response rate of 88.9% was achieved from the students. Students covered in the survey were in grades 7, 8, 9, and 10, with age ranging from 11 to 17 years. The prevalence rate of ATU at the time of the survey was 8.4%, while 35.6% of the students had used at least a type of tobacco products before. Logistic regressions were used to obtain the odds ratios (ORs) in favor of ATU for each of the possible determinants and the confidence intervals (CIs) of these ratios. Use of tobacco among friends (OR = 3.46; CI = 2.37-5.05), the experience of seeing others smoking at home (OR = 2.10; CI = 1.36-3.22) or other places (OR = 1.6; CI = 1.02-2.57), receiving pocket money (OR = 7.6; CI = 4.59-13.28), receiving free tobacco from vendors (OR = 2.3; CI = 1.44-3.78), and exposure to advertisements and promotions of tobacco products (OR = 1.83; CI = 1.23-2.79) were associated with a higher likelihood of ATU. Increased awareness of health hazards of tobacco use through education in schools helped mitigate the problem of ATU. The findings of this study have ramifications for tobacco control prevention strategies in Bangladesh.

Tobacco consumption and illegal drug use among Bangladeshi males: association and determinants.

This article aimed to identify the determinants of tobacco consumption and illegal drug use (IDU) as well as to examine the association between these two variables using a representative sample of 3,771 Bangladeshi males aged 15 to 54 years. Data were collected through Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. To identify the determinants, the patterns of tobacco consumption and IDU were analyzed by age, education and occupation, residence, mass media, premarital sex, wealth, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Prevalence of smoking cigarette and bidi was roughly 60%. However, the prevalence of IDU was 3.4%, and this proportion is statistically significant (Z = 11.32, p = .000). After bivariate analysis, almost all variables except STIs were significantly associated with tobacco consumption. Similarly, all variables except residence and mass media were associated with IDU. Based on multivariable adjusted logistic regression analysis, the likelihood of using IDU was approximately twofold (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23-2.53) among bidi smokers and fourfold (OR = 3.8, 95% CI = 2.62-5.56) among cigarette smokers as compared with nonsmokers.

Safe delivery practices: experience from cross-sectional data of Bangladeshi women.

This study examines the safe delivery practices of Bangladeshi women using data on 4905 ever-married women aged 15 to 49 years from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Variables that included age, region of origin, education level of respondent and spouse, residence, working status, religion, involvement in NGOs, mass media exposure, and wealth index were analyzed to find correlates of safe delivery practices. More than 80% of the deliveries took place at home, and only 18% were under safe and hygienic conditions. The likelihood of safe deliveries was significantly lower among younger and older mothers than middle-aged mothers and higher among educated mothers and those living in urban areas. Economically better-off mothers and those with greater exposure to mass media had a significantly higher incidence of safe delivery practices. A significant association with religion and safe delivery practices was revealed. Demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and programmatic factors that are strongly associated with safe delivery practices should be considered in the formulation of reproductive health policy.