SHOULD RESEARCH QUESTION IS RELEVANT AND CLEAR?

The Research Question Should Be Relevant

Questions that clearly demonstrate their relevance to society, a social group, or scholarly literature and debates are likely to be given more weight by reviewers. Of course the relevance of a research question, not to mention the question of who finds it relevant, will vary widely according to the funding source. As a general rule, research is more likely to be funded if it is seen as part of a larger intellectual project or line of inquiry, not just a way for the researcher to get a degree. Below are two common ways to demonstrate this in your proposal.

Fill in the missing piece. If your proposal can lay out a given field or dilemma and then point to a specific portion that is missing in that field or dilemma -- a gap which will be filled by the answer to your research question -- your research is likely to garner a great deal of support. Reviewers will note its importance and recognize its relevance to a larger community of researchers.

Make connections. Even if you are working on a narrow topic or in a specific place, ask questions that help relate the research to broader trends, patterns, and contexts. Doing this will help show how funding a seemingly distinct research project helps fuel larger debates. For example, show how someone working in a small town in Outer Mongolia will help understand the broader process of post-Soviet economic transformations.

The Research Question Should Be Clear

Clear questions tend to be short, conceptually straightforward, and jargon-free. This does not mean they have to be overly simplistic; but save your theoretical gymnastics and abstract disciplinary language for the analysis. Work to keep your questions as lucid and simple as possible. This may be easier in some cases than in others, but some of the strongest and most theoretically sophisticated proposals we reviewed were framed by some of the simplest, most straightforward research questions. In contrast, the most complicated questions tended to appear in proposals where the researcher seemed more interested in demonstrating his/her theoretical knowledge than in engaging the research itself. Below are simple ways to keep your question clear.

Ground the questions. Keep your questions close to the topic or place you are researching. Questions that are too abstract or obtuse make it difficult for the reader to determine your question's relevance and intent. You must still link your question to a larger context, but ground that connection in temporal and spatial specifics.

Limit variables. If a question is burdened with too many variables or too many clauses it becomes both difficult to read and difficult to research. Here are two contrasting examples from the SSRC web site: a question like "Was the decline of population growth in Brazil the result of government policies?" is much easier to understand than "Was the decline in population growth in Brazil related more to sex education, the distribution of birth control, or resource depletion?" You may talk about all these factors in your proposal, but the first question allows the reader to focus on the central aspect of your research rather than the variables surrounding it.

The Research Question Should Be Researchable

Research questions need to be clearly "doable." One of the most common rationales for rejecting proposals is that the question is simply too expansive (or expensive) to be carried out by the applicant. There are many questions that you will need to ask yourself to avoid this pitfall. Above all else, consider your limitations. Many very practical questions need to be considered when choosing your research question. First among them is: How long will the research take to carry out? Next, do you have the appropriate background to carry out the research? Are there ethical constraints? Is the project likely to be approved by your advisor and your university's committee for the protection of human subjects? Can you obtain the cooperation from all the necessary individuals, communities and institutions you need to answer the question you have asked? Are the costs of conducting the research more than you will be likely to raise? If I can't complete this project well, can I break it down and address the most important component? Remember that writing a research question is an iterative process and such concerns need to be carefully considered in your research design and budget.

source : University of California, Institute of International Studies

WHY RESEARCH QUESTION IS IMPORTANT?

Research Question

Your research question is the most critical part of your research proposal -- it defines the proposal, it guides your arguments and inquiry, and it provokes the interests of the reviewer. If your question does not work well, no matter how strong the rest of the proposal, the proposal is unlikely to be successful. Because of this, it is common to spend more time on the researching, conceptualizing and forming of each individual word of the research question than on any other part of the proposal.

To write a strong research question you will need time. Step away from your computer; consider what drew you to your topic. What about it animates and matters to you? Listen to yourself and start formulating your question by following your own interests. Remember, you will spend a lot of time researching and writing about the proposed project: if it does not interest you in the beginning, it will certainly become very difficult to write about in the end.

Next, extensively research your topic. What have people said about it? How have they framed their research? What gaps, contradictions, or concerns arise for you as you read, talk to people, and visit places? After you have done this you can go back to your computer or note pad and start crafting the question itself. When you do, consider that a strong research question should be evocative, relevant, clear, and researchable.

The Research Question Should Be Evocative

Evocative questions are ones that catch the interest of the reviewer and draw her/him into the proposal. Equally important, they easily adhere in the reviewers' memory after reading the proposal. Questions tend to be evocative because of the ways they engage with challenging topics: they pose innovative approaches to the exploration of problems, and because of this the answers found are far from obvious. There is no single way to form a conceptually innovative question. However, some of the following qualities are common to successful proposals.

Make it timely. Evocative questions are often distilled from very contemporary social or theoretical concerns. For example, questions regarding the energy crisis, international tribunals, nationalism, or the rise of anti-globalization protests are likely to peak the interests of others because they are questions whose relevance will be clearly discernable for reviewer.

Frame it as a paradox. Frame your question around a provocative paradox. For example, why have indigenous organizations in Bolivia markedly declined while the number and quantity of funding sources has increased? Or why have violent conflicts over forest resources increased in the last ten years while the very people involved in these conflicts have become less and less dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods? There are many potential answers to these questions, and your research may ultimately challenge your own expected explanation -- but this in itself is a relevant discovery. These types of paradoxes pull the reader into the proposal and set up a situation whereby the research will fill in a provocative piece of the puzzle and make clear a much-needed broader understanding.

Take a distinctive approach. Finally, a question that approaches an old problem in a refreshingly new way, or proposes a surprising angle of analysis on a difficult dilemma, is likely to prove evocative for reviewers. This could involve a new methodology, a new conceptual approach, or the linking of two previously disparate fields of knowledge. These innovative approaches both develop confidence in the intellect of the researcher and hold promise for new understandings and insights to old and difficult questions.

source : University of California, Institute of International Studies

WHAT IS RESEARCH QUESTION?

On 18 March 2008, I met my supervisor Assc Prof Dr Hamzah Jusoh and he ask me to find out what is Research Question?

DEFINITION

The word RESEARCH means "finding out" or "discovery", by use of systematic effort, information or answers to something you want to know. You RESEARCH by asking questions and by searching for answers to those questions which are satisfactory, methodological valid, and balanced. You cannot RESEARCH if you do not want to know anything, that is, you must have something you would like to know more about before you can do RESEARCH. You begin with a QUESTION or QUESTIONS. If you have none, you will find no answers or will not know when you have found one. Since you will be assigned to write a RESEARCH paper, a paper written without a question in mind will NOT be a RESEARCH paper.

The research question is one of the first methodological steps the investigator has to take when undertaking a research. The research question must be accurately and clearly defined. Choosing a research question is the central element of both quantitative and qualitative research and in some cases it may precede construction of the conceptual framework of study. In all cases, it makes the theoretical assumptions in the framework more explicit, most of all it indicates what the researcher wants to know most and first.

DEVELOPING RESEARCH QUESTION

It's absolutely essential to develop a research question that you're interested in or care about in order to focus your research and your paper (unless, of course, your instructor gives you a very specific assignment). For example, researching a broad topic such as "business management" is difficult since there may be hundreds of sources on all aspects of business management. On the other hand, a focused question such as "What are the pros and cons of Japanese management style?" is easier to research and can be covered more fully and in more depth.

How do you develop a usable research question? Choose an appropriate topic or issue for your research, one that actually can be researched.Then list all of the questions that you'd like answered yourself. Choose the best question, one that is neither too broad nor too narrow. Sometimes the number of sources you find will help you discover whether your research question is too broad, too narrow, or okay?If you know a lot about the topic, you can develop a research question based on your own knowledge. If you feel you don't know much about the topic, think again. For example, if you're assigned a research topic on an issue confronting the ancient Babylonian family, remember, by virtue of your own family life, you already know a great deal about family issues. Once you determine what you do know, then you're ready to do some general reading in a textbook or encyclopedia in order to develop a usable research question.

source : Empire State College, State University of New York http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc

VISIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

After 3 days reading books with title DEVELOPMENT IN THEORY AND PRACTICE : PARADIGMS AND PARADOXES by Jan Knippers Black and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT : THEORY AND PRACTICE FOR A DIVIDED WORLD by Stuart R.Lynn, I can make a conclusion in form of questions need to be addressed:

1. What lies behind the development and economic development discourse?


2. What interests and agendas have driven the development and economic development discourse?


3. Do development and economic development theory served served generally to strengthen human cooperation dan improve the quality of life?


4. What way can the relevance of development and economic development studies be revitalised and sustained?

The review attempted here hopefully can contribute towards re-vitalising development and economic development studies as scholarly fields and accord them their deserved status, as well as to provide a strong intellectual foundation to rededicate and reaffirm developent as an historic enterprise to advance human well-being and dignity.

QUESTIONS ON KUALA LUMPUR CITY REGION

In my literature review on city region, National Urbanization Policy and Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020, a few questions I try to answer in order to understand more the role of Kuala Lumpur as National Capital City:

1. In what ways are Kuala Lumpur City Region capabilities to generate wealth enhanced or threatened by international flows of capital, people, goods and information?
2. What policy strategies can be devised to create and sustain local competitive advantages and to ensure economic growth, while bringing wasteful inter-regional competition for mobile investments under control?
3. How can social well-being and environmental quality be secured in Kuala Lumpur City Region when these often seem to be endangered by increasing urbanization and globalization?
4. How do we plan for the public interest in Kuala Lumpur City Region with multiple publics?
5. What alternative institutional arrangements need to be developed to deal with strategic region-wide policy issues and to ensure effective governance of inter-regional relations in the emerging new world order?
6. Can Kuala Lumpur City Region be the architects of our own future?
7. Why is Kuala Lumpur City Region growing rapidly precisely at a moment in history when some analysts are claiming that the end of geography is in sight, and that the world is turning into a placeless space of flows?
8. How have forms of economic and social organization in Kuala Lumpur City Region responded to globalization, and what new problems have been created as a consequence?
9. What main governance tasks do Kuala Lumpur City Region face as they seek to preserve and enhance their wealth and well-being?
10. How can we define the public interest in culturally heterogeneous Kuala Lumpur City Region ?

KUALA LUMPUR IS A CITY REGION

GENERAL

A city region is an urban area comprising a number of cities, large towns and larger urban areas that, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. It is thus a polycentric form of agglomeration. A city region is easily confused with a metropolitan area. A metropolitan area actually consists of many neighborhoods, while a city region consists of many different metropolitan areas that are very close to or connected with one another. Most of the time these separate metropolitan areas that make up a city region are somehow dependent on each other and in conjunction economically and socially, hence the formation of one city region.

A city region is something which has always been around, but we have seen an increase in city regions in the era of globalization. City region have increased for many reasons, including:

· Globalization, which has brought the world closer physically and socially;

· Relocation of businesses and corporations outside city boundaries ;

· The loss of the centrality of the city ;

· Migration away from the city due to crime and greater affluence of suburbs;

· Exportation of labor moved industries away from cities

KUALA LUMPUR CITY REGION IN THE CONTEXT OF KLANG VALLEY

source : Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan, 2020

A more appropriate term of reference for Kuala Lumpur’s sub-national context is the Kuala Lumpur and its city region (KLCR). The KLCR refers to the entire Klang Valley Region as originally defined by the Klang Valley Study (1972) together with much of the Kuala Langat district and the remaining part of the Sepang district where the KLIA is located. It covers a total area of approximately 4,000 square kilometres, which is about 40 percent larger thanthe size of the Klang Valley Region of 2,843 square kilometres. The KLCR is one large urban entity which incorporates the complete range of urban functions. However, it is important to distinguish between Kuala Lumpur, which is an administrative unit and the much larger KLCR which represents the total urban entity within which Kuala Lumpur is located and functions in many ways as the nucleus of the KLCR. Kuala Lumpur’s role, status and specific functions within the overall KLCR must be defined within the context of the wider total urban entity. Similarly, in view of their symbiotic relationship, the planning of Kuala Lumpur must take full account of developments in the KLCR as a whole.

Kuala Lumpur’s principal functions will be redefined as a consequence of the MSC, the relocation of federal government administrative functions to Putrajaya and the wide range of city functions and activities that are now part of the KLCR. Furthermore, as the proportion of built-up land area and population of Kuala Lumpur declines in relation to that of the entire KLCR, the role of Kuala Lumpur is likely to be increasingly specialised. The City must focus on developing its strengths in the top-end services and manufacturing industries to enable them to operate within larger market catchments on an international, national and subnational scale.

The core urban functions will continue to be located within the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Thus the headquarters of transnational companies, the top end hotels and shopping outlets, recreational and entertainment centres will be located in the city centre, as will specialised training facilities, professional services and specialist medical services. In addition, Kuala Lumpur will also be a focus for the development of knowledge-based and high value added manufacturing industries. As the capital of the nation, Kuala Lumpur will continue to house the major knowledge-based institutions, religious and cultural facilities. Befitting their international and national status, theseinstitutions and facilities must be enhanced considerably.

LITERATURE REVIEW ON CITY REGION

GENERAL

Today there are more than three hundred cities or city regions around the world with populations greater than one million people. In 1950, only one city – New York – had a population of at least 10 million people. According to the UN (2001), at least 16 cities or city regions had populations in excess of ten million by 2000. The projections for the next 50 years indicate that urban growth rates will rise steadily, particularly in the developing world. This development poses many deep challenges to researchers and policymakers alike, not only in the context of urban governance and management.

The outstanding importance of cities as nodal points of a world-wide network was recognized by Peter Hall back in 1966. Since then, most of the research conducted on cities or city regions has focussed primarily on the world’s leading financial and economic centres (i.e. New York, London, Tokyo, Frankfurt) and on their role in a network of globally connected cities (Sassen, Friedman). While the outcome of these pioneering projects has provided researchers with valuable insights, research on the changing role of larger cities in the developing world is less advanced – despite the fact that urban growth rates in these cities are much higher than in the cities of the north. According to the UN, twenty-four of the thirty largest cities or city regions will be located in less developed countries by 2015.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The challenge of conducting research on large and important cities is that the significance of any given city is defined very differently by the authors of various studies. This divergence of views reflects both the diverse nature of cities and also differences of approach taken in the study of cities. In this section, we provide a short overview of the different understandings of the significance of large cities by introducing the terms world city, global city, informational city, mega city, and global city-region. Of course this is only a narrow selection made from a wide range of terms used to describe cities. However, in the context of our own study on Global City Regions as Changing Sites of Governance, we consider the following definitions to be extremely valuable for developing a framework of analysis.

The concept of global city-regions can be traced back to the "world cities" idea of Hall (1966) and Friedmann and Wolff (1982), and to the "global cities" idea of Sassen (1991). We build here on these pioneering efforts, but in a way that tries to extend the meaning of the concept in economic, political and territorial terms, and above all by an effort to show how city-regions increasingly function as essential spatial nodes of the global economy and as distinctive political actors on the world stage. In fact, rather than being dissolved away as social and geographic objects by processes of globalization, city-regions are becoming increasingly central to modern life, and all the more so because globalization (in combination with various technological shifts) has reactivated their significance as bases of all forms of productive activity, no matter whether in manufacturing or services, in high-technology or low-technology sectors.

Sassen (1991) defines global cities as, "cities that are strategic sites in the global economy because of their concentration of command functions and high-level producer service firms oriented to world markets; more generally cities with high levels of internationalisation in their economy and in their broader social structure". Thus, they are both centres of production and innovation as well as a home to markets. Manuel Castells describes the new urban phenomena as the informational city, adapted to his global information society concept. The key issues within his definition are the new communication technologies and infrastructure. This includes information technology, telecommunications, air transportation, and the accordingly necessitated infrastructure. Furthermore, he takes financial and economic performance into consideration. The informational city is to be seen as embedded in a global system of networked information flows.

CONCLUSION

These city-regions are expanding vigorously, and they present many new and deep challenges to researchers and policy-makers in both the more developed and less developed parts of the world. The processes of global economic integration and accelerated urban growth make traditional planning and policy strategies in these regions increasingly inadequate, while more effective approaches remain largely in various stages of hypothesis and experimentation. Global City-Regions represents a multifaceted effort to deal with the many different issues raised by these developments. It seeks at once to define the question of global city-regions and to describe the internal and external dynamics that shape them; it proposes a theorization of global city-regions based on their economic and political responses to intensifying levels of globalization; and it offers a number of policy insights into the severe social problems that confront global city-regions as they come face to face with an economically and politically neoliberal world.

At a moment when globalization is increasingly subject to critical scrutiny in many different quarters, this book provides a timely overview of its effects on urban and regional development, one of its most important (but perhaps least understood) corollaries. Conventionally, if one lives in an apparently rural area, suburb or county town where a majority of wage-earners travel into a particular city for a full or part-time job then one is (in effect) residing in the city region. In studying human geography, urban and regional planning or the regional dynamics of business it is often worthwhile having closer regard to dominant travel patterns during the working day (to the extent that these can be estimated and recorded), than to the rather arbitrary boundaries assigned to administrative bodies such as councils, prefectures, or to localities defined merely to optimise postal services.

KUALA LUMPUR....GLOBALIZATION CITY?

Being the premier city and the capital of a nation with a highly trade oriented economy that aspires to be fully developed by the year 2020, Kuala Lumpur’s vision, goals, functions and growth must be seen both from the national and the broader global perspective, especially within the context of development of the Asia Pacific Region. With globalisation gathering pace, Kuala Lumpur will encounter more challenges within a new international development era. The nation’s capital should be made ready for a competitive international role in the world of the 21st Century. In the light of hanges in the last twenty years and anticipated changes in the near future for a holistic development and good governance

The decline in trade barriers, the vast improvements in transportation and communication systems and networks over the last few decades have enhanced the volume of international trade in goods and services. Accompanying these are the enhanced international mobility of human resources, short and long-term capital and the growth in the number, strength and influence of transnational companies. The world economy has consequently become more integrated and global in nature. Major economic activities especially manufacturing have become more dispersed globally as processes within the production chain of increasingly more complex consumer and capital goods move to places that offer the best competitive advantage.

The global dispersion of production and marketing activities of transnational companies requires the global dispersal of management, control and support. This is achieved by the establishment of regional headquarters offices in strategically located cities which can offer suitable infrastructure, supporting services, living environment and other ancillary activities. Many cities that have assumed an important role by providing a base for the efficient conduct of international business have attained the status of ‘global’ or ‘world’ cities. Examples of top ranked global city are London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Others that play more of a regional or sub global role within the Asia Pacific Region are cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

In addition to the globalisation trend, another factor that is and will influence the growth of the nation and that of Kuala Lumpur is the increase in the importance of the knowledge-based economic activities especially those relating to the development of information and communication technology (ICT). Industries that generate knowledge such as research and development in biotechnology, computer software multimedia applications, new technology for the computer and other hardware and industries that process, distribute and manage information such as educational institutions, telecommunication and Internet systems, advertising and professional services are the key drivers of the Knowledge-Based Economy (K-Economy).

LESTARI ROUND TABLE DIALOGUE

Today I have a chance to attend one day a Round Table Dialogue "MODELLING THE COMPLEXITY OF LIVABLE URBANIZATION" organised by Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), National University of Malaysia (UKM) and Centre for Advance Spatial Analysis (CASA), University College London, United Kingdom in Equatorial Hotel Bangi. The Livable City is a normative idea that has been developed to help guide thinking about the way our cities function and develop.

The purposes of the dialogue are :

a. To present the state of international and local effort in modelling the complexity of urbanization;

b. To discuss issues pertaining to information needs and modelling perspectives given the changing urbanization process for sutainable development; and

c.To develop a collaboration for future research in urbanization and sustainability modelling.

I met my friends from Federal Department of Town and Country Planning (FDTCP), Encik Kamalruddin Shamsudin, Deputy Director General 1, Puan Noraziah and Puan Shamsaini. Dr Jalaludin and Dr Siva from FSSK are also attended. A few interesting papers have been presented such as :

a. Modelling and Visualising Sustainable Urban Change: Current and Future Research Agendas by Prof Michael Batty from CASA, United Kingdom;

b. Local Variation of Racial Integration /Segregation in Seremban by Prof Dr Ruslan Rainis from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

c. Modelling the Reality in Planning and Decision Support System : Experience in Malaysia by Prof Dr Alias Abdullah from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)

d. Heuristic Approaches to Urban Liveability by Assoc Prof Dr Ray Wyatt from University of Melbourne, Australia

e. Decision Support System for Urban Sustainability Planning by Prof Dr Ahris Yaakup from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

f. Modelling the Complexity of Urbanization by Assoc Prof Abdul Hadi Harman Shah from LESTARI, UKM.

The conclusion from the dialogue:

a. The multiple and overlapping structures and actors that makeup the urbanization process have made attempts at managing it difficult;

b.Over time better tools and conceptualizations are developed to allow for a better understanding of the city;

c. Current efforts at achieving the good life in the city are oriented towards developing sustainable cities;

d. Human-oriented and environmentally friendly, with features that make it attractive and make living in it conveient, safe, and pleasant; a high degree of sustainability is a component of this characteristic;

e. The concept of livability is represent the characteristic that "depends on the attractiveness of an area as a place in which to live, work, invest, and do business;

f. A city may be physically beautiful, but if it suffers from high unemployment, it probably will also suffer from crime and other social problems; and

g. Economically viable and efficient

NVivo 7- QUALITATIVE RESEARCH SOFTWARE

Today, 28 February 2008, I attended half day Nvivo 7 Workshop organised by Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Malaysia (UKM). The workshop has been conducted by Assoc Prof. Dr. Noriah Mohd Ishak from Education Faculty, UKM. I really enjoyed the workshop and I find that NVivo is a powerful tool in allowing us to manage our data and record ideas. NVivo's search and modelling functions are proving to be invaluable in helping me understand the data and the interactions that are occurring. Here are the summaries of the workshop.

Qualitative research is all about exploring issues, understanding phenomena and answering questions. Unlike quantitative research, which uses numbers to arrive at conclusions, qualitative research uses unstructured information – like field notes, interview transcripts and survey responses. If we need to handle very rich text based information, where deep levels of analysis on both small and large volumes of data are required, is our solution. It removes many of the manual tasks associated with analysis, like classifying, sorting and arranging information, so we have more time to explore trends, build and test theories and ultimately arrive at answers to questions.

The software lets us manage, shape and make sense of this information quickly and easily. Qualitative research software helps people to manage, shape and make sense of unstructured information. It doesn't do the thinking for us; it provides a sophisticated workspace that enables us to work through our information. With purpose built tools for classifying, sorting and arranging information, qualitative research software gives us more time to analyze our materials and discover patterns, identify themes, glean insight and develop meaningful conclusions.

SETTING UP OUR PROJECT

With NVivo 7, we can hit the ground running. It's easy to navigate, imports a wide range of data and facilitates teamwork.

The days of double handling are over. Map out our project steps - setting up frameworks to organize our ideas before we have even started. We can create our own documents, and import and export a range of data including Microsoft Word documents.

The new face of research software. NVivo 7 is designed using Microsoft Windows XP guidelines. Its familiar look makes it easy to learn and to teach.

A new standard in security. Our project database and documents are stored together in a single file, reducing the risk of file corruption and allowing your project to be completely portable.

NVivo 7 speaks our language. We can work in a combination of languages in the same project, including character based languages such as Japanese.

Bringing teams together. An inbuilt merge function allows us and our colleagues to work separately on copies of the same project and then merge them together.

WORKING WITH OUR DATA

Working with our data has never been easier or more powerful. NVivo 7 provides tools that allow us to work to far greater depth than we thought possible.

Organizing our data. Highlight key points and assign visual 'codes' to them - allowing us to quickly track them down and collate them later. They're just like markings made with highlighter pens. If we are performing repetitive tasks, NVivo 7 also offers auto-coding options.

Recording our insights. Just like notes scribbled in a margin, NVivo 7 allows us to edit and annotate our documents after they've been imported. We can also create memos to capture more detailed thoughts, and link them to our research documents.

Change the way we view relationships. Our 'relationships' tool allows us to explore and query evidence about relations between items, processes and people

MAKING SENSE OF OUR DATA

NVivo 7's superior querying and graphical tools let us go back and revisit our information, test theories and explore our concepts.

Let our curiosity get the better of us. Use NVivo 7's multiple level 'undo' function to try new ways of working and then retrace our steps back to safe ground. NVivo 7 is the only qualitative research software in the world that offers an undo function.

Question everything. 'Queries' bring us even closer to our data - we can find patterns, pursue hunches and view information in a range of contexts. Designed to mirror commonly used Internet search engines, queries can also be saved and re-run through new data.

A picture paints a thousand words. 'Models' allow us to graphically display new ideas, connections and findings in real time.

"Thank you to Encik Rahim of FSSK and Assoc Prof. Dr. Noriah for the great job. You really assist us to make the workshop is successful. I hope to attend the Nvivo 7 workshop again"

THE CLUB OF ROME

On 15 February 2008, Dr Jalaludin Abdul Malek taught us about Power of Globalisation : Nation State vs Open Society. I am so eager when he informed us about the The Club of Rome. He did not give us any detail about this club. This is first time I heard about this club. So try to find in UKM's Library and check with Encyclopedia of Economics and Governance. The Club Of Rome is A Global Think Tank and Centre of Innovation and Initiative. The Club is to act as a global catalyst of change that is free of any political, ideological or business interest.As a non-profit, non govermental organisation (NGO), it brings together scientists, economists, businessmen, international high civil servants, heads of state and former heads of state from all five continents who are convinced that the future of humankind is not determined once and for all and that each human being can contribute to the improvement of our societies.

The Club of Rome was founded in April 1968 by Aurelio Peccei, an Italian industrialist, and Alexander King, a Scottish scientist. Hasan Özbekhan, Erich Jantsch and Alexander Christakis were responsible for conceptualizing the original prospectus of the Club of Rome titled "The Predicament of Mankind." This prospectus was founded on a humanistic architecture and the participation of stakeholders in democratic dialogue. When the Club of Rome Executive Committee in the Summer of 1970 opted for a mechanistic and elitist methodology for an extrapolated future, they resigned from their positions.

The Club identified three major needs that justified its creation:
1. To adopt a global perspective in examining issues and situations with the awareness that the increasing interdependence of nations, the emergence of world-wide problems and the future needs of all people posed predicaments beyond the capacity of individual countries to solve;

2. To think holistically and to seek a deeper understanding of interactions within the tangle of contemporary problems -- political, social, economic, technological, environmental, psychological and cultural in every sense -- for which we coined the phrase "the world problematique"; and

3. To take a longer term perspective in studies than is possible for governments preoccupied with day-to-day problems.

Limits to Growth is a 1972 book modeling the consequences of a rapidly growing world population and finite resource supplies, commissioned by the Club of Rome. Its authors were Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. The book conclude that:

1. If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity.

2. It is possible to alter these growth trends and to establish a condition of ecological and economic stability that is sustainable far into the future. The state of global equilibrium could be designed so that the basic material needs of each person on earth are satisfied and each person has an equal opportunity to realize his individual human potential.

OUR CITIES OF THE FUTURE

Last week I sent a copy of my thesis framework in a format of flowchart to Assoc Prof Dr Hamzah Jusoh. When I relate my flowchart with literature review on Global Cities, Urban Economic and Urban Governance, I can see how the above topics can relate each other. I can conclude that:

In the Malaysia development, we need to consider the likely future cities development which have significant role in locally and globally. In this respect, there are some possibilities that may develop into opportunities for the betterment of mankind and some that may cause difficulties, if not resolved properly. One area which poses both opportunities and threats is globalisation. Globalisation, almost a flogged horse, brings not only new economic opportunities but also new political, social, technological, and institutional complexities. Therefore, it would be safe to say that in order to benefit from more open and widespread economic interaction we need an efficient city that supports an economic system that promotes and facilitates the ability of business enterprises to compete effectively in international markets and ensure the betterment of standard of living locally.

We need cities that possess a world view which marries dynamism with entrepreneurial characteristics. This will have the Service leap frog from being mere urban services provider and administration, as we are reputed for being the world over, to one of an enabler of partnerships between the private and public sectors in developing a dynamic Malaysia that is very attractive to foreign and domestic investors, alike. The creation of PEMUDAH is but a first step towards realisation of the vision of this journey.Government Policies has been pursuing reform efforts since 1980s such as the Privatisation Policy supported by Malaysian Incorporated Policy and other efforts reflected in initiatives such as MSC, KPIs, One Stop Centre (OSC), Customer Service Office (CSO), and “One Service, One Delivery, No Wrong Door” policy of late.

ADAPTING TO CHANGES & CHALLENGES

However, these initiatives are no longer sufficient to face the challenges and opportunities posed by globalisation, rapidly evolving technologies, changing demographics and rising citizen expectations. We need the skills to pre-empt future challenges and move beyond our laurel’s comforts. Two main possible threats of our cities tomorrow are:-

• Expansion of E-Commerce and Taxation. We will without doubt see the increasing proliferation of e-commerce cause difficulties for nations to identify which business transactions occurred within their legal jurisdiction for taxation purposes.

Are we prepared for this expansion?

• Ensuring Access to Clean Water. Much of the world lives without access to clean water. Privatisation of water resources, promoted as a means to bring business efficiency into water service management, has instead led to reduced access for the poor around the world as prices for these essential services have risen. How the Service deals with this is essential in addressing poverty issues?

With these threats, we also see three areas of opportunities:

• Growth from Digital Media - The media landscape is changing at a breakneck pace. Media can now be consumed over a plethora of devices anywhere, anytime, and on-demand. The advent of digital convergence and broadband wireless technology creates enormous opportunities to fulfill pressing public needs in areas such as education and workforce development, civic discourse, and public health. This allows for local authority to give better service without borders – be it borders of time or geography.

• Dependency on Public Goods - Everyone depends on “public goods”; neither markets nor the wealthiest person can do without them. Clean environment, health, knowledge, property rights, peace and security are all examples of public goods that could be made global. An efficient city has and must continue to enhance its role in this area for the betterment of societies.

• Public/Private Sector Cooperation - Following on from these ideas on “Public Goods”, the private sector assumes increasingly important roles in producing goods and providing services that were once considered “public” and therefore exclusively the responsibility of governments. Public-private-partnerships (PPP) and other forms of cooperation between the private sector and local and national governments are used frequently around the world to develop better standards of living for all.

These are but some of our threats we need to fend and opportunities we can ride on. To balance and optimise the two, we need urban management to be the change that we wish to see in more effective local authority. We therefore need an efficient city that will rise to these changing yet unchartered expectations.

OUR CITIES OF THE FUTURE
We face today with the scenarios of the past, present and future before us. However
· What makes the Our Cities of the Future?
· Is it driven by digital expansion will reduced urban dweller problems?
· Is it in the intellectual rise with eradication of poverty?
· Is it perhaps in the death of bureaucracy that thrives on customer driven space?
· Could it be on an efficient city that drives Climate and Environmental Agenda?

Our Cities of the Future is not only that empowers local authority as development controller and service provider but to balance development to respond to the threats and opportunities of the times locally and globally. We need to collectively reflect if today, we have an underlying model of continuous improvement to see all these scenarios. But the questions are:
· Have we the mechanism for best practices, and effective accountability to enable us to deal with the future of all faces and facets?
· Have we built the Cities of the Future for our children and grand children?

JOURNAL WORKSHOP

Today I attended Journal Workshop by Thomson Scientific organised by UKM's Library (Tun Sri Lanang Library) at Siber@ptsl 4th Floor, Research Service Division, Tun Sri Lanang Library. The one day workshop conducted by Dr Lim Khee Hiang from Thomson Scientific.

Under ISI Web of Knowledge platform, I find the hands on teach us and provides with a premier, integrated research environment that saves our time and effort. It delivers carefully evaluated content, powerful tools, and sophisticated technologies...all working together to ensure that users can easily access the information they need for their research. Easily access high quality, multidisciplinary content:

• Thomson Scientific resources such as Web of Science® (Science Citation Index Expanded™, Social Sciences Citation Index®, Arts & Humanities Citation Index®, Index Chemicus®, and Current Chemical Reactions®), Current Contents Connect®, Essential Science IndicatorsSM, and Journal Citation Reports®
• Partner resources including BIOSIS Previews®, CAB ABSTRACTS®, INSPEC®, PsycINFO®*, and Food Science and Technology Abstracts™*

Use unique cited reference searching, an exclusive feature that helps researchers find out who is citing their papers; identity experts in their fields and related fields; and analyze data to locate potential funding resources and recipients . Be assured that our search results are drawn from only the most essential, peer-reviewed journals in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, because of our stringent journal evaluation process. Search multiple resources simultaneously through one unified interface.

Thomson Scientific also provided conference proceedings are a way to uncover research ideas as they are presented for the first time-often before publication in the journal literature. Thomson conference resources enable us to quickly find significant details from conferences held all over the globe. Each year, their products cover thousands of the most important conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. As a result, we can easily stay up to date with ideas as they emerge.

I would like to thank Encik Shamsudin Ibrahim and Puan Rohalia Md. Rohani from Siber@ptsl for organising the workshop.

BOOK REVIEW - DEVELOPMENT THEORY : AN INTRODUCTION BY PETER W PRESTON

Last 2 weeks, I am looking for a book related to Development Theory. Marcella Carole (A student of Master Development Science, UKM) lend me a book with title DEVELOPMENT THEORY : AN INTRODUCTION BY PETER W PRESTON. I find this book comprehensive discussion of the post-Second World War theories of Third World development and review of the work of the major social scientific figures of the nineteenth century and their impacts in the twentieth.

In this invaluable introduction to the major post-Second World War theories of Third World development, Peter Preston takes as his focus the strategies used to analyse change in the Third World and examines the ways in which different conceptions of the nature of change have led to different lines of policy advice. In doing so, the author demonstrates how the various contemporary approaches to development draw upon strategies of enquiry which are lodged deep within the intellectual traditions of the modern world. The author's approach is based on the premise that the reader can only fully grasp the live issues and debates surrounding development through an understanding of the linkages with the broader frameworks of social theory.

This book offers an excellent overview and critical assessment of the meaning and theories of development. The theories--including mainstream economic and sociological theories, Marxist and neomarxist, poststructuralist, and theories of development--are well explained, referenced, and carefully examined. In the process, the author make clear that 'development' is far more than a technical challenge; it requires a clear understanding of social dynamics (including those shaped by spatially linked accumulation processes) as well as socially defined and motivated criteria for change. In fact, one of the strengths of this book is the authors' willingness to present and use their own criteria for development as a reference point for examining other theories and visions. It will be a very useful addition to any class on economic development.

True to its title, it takes the reader through economic, sociological, marxist, post-ist, and critical realist theories. It is thorough and well referenced. Although it gives intellectual space for theories from a wide range of persuasions, it is a partisan book--and all the better for that. A good read for everyone, and an eminently recommendable text for undergraduate and graduate-level courses on development and social change. Development, one of the founding beliefs of the modern world, is in desperate need of reinvention. What better way to do this than through a sweeping and constructive review of conventional and critical theories alike. Shifting their analytical gaze from modernization theory to Marxism, from critiques of post-Enlightment thought to poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and postdevelopmentalism, lay the basis for 'another development.'

Their convincing and eloquent approach reweaves the longstanding traditions of critical modernity and socialism and renews the call for the betterment of the human condition. This book's challenge must be taken seriously by all those interested in the fate of what until now has been known as the third world. This book does exactly that, questioning all sociological, economic, neo-Marxist, poststructuralist, and radical democratic approaches, as well as an array of development models including modernization, dependency, and neoliberalism. An excellent resource for undergraduate and graduate programs in development economics; highly recommended for academic, research, and professional collections.

Peter Preston is presently Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and has taught at the National University of Singapore, and the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has held numerous research fellowships, most recently a Canon Research Fellowship at the Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, Japan.

GLOBALISATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES IN MALAYSIA

Malaysia has successfully applied economic planning to guide the development of the country from an economy of agriculture and mining to a largely industrialised one. Now, with its sights set on attaining the economic level of a fully developed nation by 2020, the planning system must be made even more efficient and focused. It must ensure that every investment made in the country, whether public or private, yields not only a maximum returns but must directly contribute towards creating the desirable objective of a strong, modern, internationally competitive, technologically advanced, post-industrial economy. The country must focus on securing a credible share of the lead sectors of the globalised economy. It must make itself fit and conducive to these sectors. The country must also be fully aware of the enormous competition it faces in a region with rapidly expanding and modernising economies, all contending for the same pool of potential international investments.

In the last several decades since independence Malaysia has been experiencing accelerating urbanisation as a result of the structural economic change from dependence on mining and plantation agriculture to manufacturing and services. There has, however, not only been rapid urbanisation but also, in the census decade 1991-2000, a less obvious but highly significant trend in urban development. This is the centripetal concentration of the urban population in a small number of city regions, namely the conurbations around Kuala Lumpur, George Town and Johor Bahru. Indeed, the main concentration is in the Kuala Lumpur conurbation, with George Town and Johor Bahru struggling to keep pace. Johor Bahru has the advantage of proximity to Singapore and can benefit from overspill development from Singapore. George Town has a long tradition of cosmopolitan urban services to its regional sphere of influence and maintains its position as the second city of the Peninsula (having lost its first position to Kuala Lumpur soon after the selection of Kuala Lumpur as the national capital).

The changing world economy superimposes its effects on individual industrialising countries, and these effects are felt particularly in the pattern of urban centres. While the accelerated pace of urbanisation may be driven by internal forces, the concentration of productive investments and population into a small number of city regions is as much a response to external forces, with the necessity to direct international trade, communications and exchange of information, movement of people, and so on, into concentrated channels and points of contact and commerce with the wider world.

It may appear logical to expect that only one large centre would have emerged in a small country like Peninsular Malaysia while other centres would have declined. However, Malaysia is fortunate in that a strong urban hierarchy had already been developed over many years in the colonial and post-colonial eras and this hierarchy, with strong local groups of entrepreneurs, continues to provide a sustainable geographical base for further industrialisation and economic modernisation. A pattern of polycentric interdependent urban centres has emerged with the Kuala Lumpur conurbation being the ‘advanced’ city supported by the George Town and Johor Bahru conurbations.

The vision for ‘Kuala Lumpur - A World Class City’, encapsulates the ambition of Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 (KLSP2020) to make Kuala Lumpur a city that will assume a major global and sub-global role for the benefits of all its communities, workers, visitors and investors. The KLSP emphasizes that the vision and goals of Kuala Lumpur has been formulated with the aims of creating a sustainable city with City Hall ensuring that the planning for Kuala Lumpur will strike a balance between physical, economic, social and environmental development.

IKMAS SEMINAR REVIEW - GOOD GOVERNANCE AND INDONESIA CIVIL SERVICE

Today I and my friends (Danni, Zainal and Pak Euku) have a great opportunity to attend seminar organised by The Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) National University of Malaysia on a topic of PROMOTING TRUST IN GOVERNMENT : A CASE STUDY FROM INDONESIA by Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, Professor Of Economics at the University of Indonesia, Depok. Prof Prijono highlighted that the civil service is analogous to a moving wheel that is able to empower all the resources possessed by a government in order to achieve certain goals, targets or missions so that its people may prosper. Given this context civil sercice reform is badly need in Indonesia at the resent time-especially in institutional and moral character?

The success of government is heavily dependent on the character of its civil service. The Indonesia civil service is considered slow, lacking transparency, unaccountable, short on initiative and sometimes corrupt. At the same time, good governance has become the main pillar of efforts to overcome competition in an increasingly globalised world.The success or failure of democratic reform in Indonesia is a key question for Indonesia itself and for the surrounding region. Although Indonesia's transition to democracy holds out the promise of good governance, this cannot be taken for granted .

Main barriers to change of good governance in civil service are :

a. Poor Leadership

b. Wider Corruption Practice

c. Poverty and Unemployment

d. Colonial Mentality

Forces behind the need for good governance:

a. The role of government has changed overtime;

b. Government policies must be adhered to enable transparency and accountability; and

c. Bureaucracy, especially the civil service must interact with civil society and the private sector

Crucial Characteristic as the key:

a. Leadership to ensure the implementation of any change programme;

b. Effective communication to ensure common understanding;and

c. Formal structure is needed for a better implementation

An independent judiciary, a free press, and a vibrant civil society and important components of good governance. They balance the power of governments, and they hold them accountable for delivering better services, creating jobs, and improving living standards. Some countries can achieve growth for many years without all of those factors. Indeed, Indonesia's history in the 1970s and 1980s is an illustration of that. But the devastating economic crisis that followed here shows how fragile growth can be when institutions that keep governments accountable, transparent, and responsible, are systematically weakened.

To conclude, enforcement alone will not cure corruption. How much we do and how much progress we make depends on the desire of both governments and civil society to create the right setting for sound, strong, sustainable development. The greatest changes come when people's ideas change, and in many countries, people are no longer as tolerant of corruption as they were in the past. A growing middle-class that is independent of government increasingly demands better performance from government. Expanding social safety nets can make even poor citizens less dependent on traditional powerful patrons. And the good news here in Indonesia is that the social and economic achievements of the last 40 years have created demand for government that works. The people of Indonesia recognize that with transparent and accountable governance they stand a better chance of reducing corruption, of improving their quality of life, and of securing a better future for their children.

SOME ADVICES FROM PEOPLE HAD AWARDED DOCTORATE DEGREE

1. PhD student should be able to ask a lot. You must be able to critically attack your own work (and others' works).

2. You must be able to think 'OUT OF THE BOX'!

3. PhD student should be able to voice out and defend his/her thesis by showing convincing experimental results, using appropriate definitions, wordings, or classifications, etc...

4. PhD student should has a good research mentality. You must be motivated to explore new things and do not give up easily when they encounter failures... "Courage to fail is pathway to innovation =)".

5. PhD student should have the ability to relate things (that is seemingly unrelated) with their own research topics, some connections may help to answer the previously unanswered questions...

6. PhD student should be able to find information when needed (e.g. by exploring your University digital library, browsing wikipedia, googling, etc)!

7. PhD student should read literature review surrounding his/her thesis to be very familiar with the current state-of-the-art knowledge and in the other hand, making sure that he/she does not reinvent the wheel!

8. PhD student must constantly monitor what is happening around his/her area, especially the newly published works.

9. PhD student should be able to do multiple tasks at any time. If you become supervisor someday, you'll need to juggle between supervising 5-10 projects, teaching duties, administrative stuffs, plus your family (if you decide to marry someone), etc...

10. For every things that he/she do, PhD student should think of the main idea, how this work will be related to his/her main thesis!

11. PhD student should create a carefully designed research plan with timings, milestone, research goals/objectives, strategic research vision, etc. All of these should be properly formulated to avoid wasting time or wandering in the wrong direction. Frequent contact with your supervisor will help to reduce the problems around this issue.

12. PhD student should keep producing a lot of ideas. Few are useful, most of the others will be just failures. It is worth to note that good ideas exist not because of sudden leap of understanding. They exist only after conceiving many ideas that do not work before arriving at the one that works.

13. PhD student must be good in written/spoken English. Try to read good English magazines/newspapers, e.g. Time, Reader Digest, etc to improve your English language skill, especially grammar/thesaurus/writing skill! It is useful when you need to write long scientific documents in English. Also try to speak more English in various settings to improve your language skill. It is useful for your presentations.

Sources: National University of Singapore

AFTER A MONTH IN UKM

Now is February 2008 . Its mean I already a month in UKM. Since March 2007 after my 3 months Methodology and Quantitative Course for Phd Candidates in INTAN Bukit Kiara. I am thinking and imagine how is my life in university again. Is my life will be up side down? Or this is good time for me to take a rest? I still remember good friend of mine give me an advice before I am decided to enter a world of PhD . He adviced was "Mizam, in the world of PhD you only have 2 choices , if you think doing PhD is a serious job, your life will be chaotic and lot of things to do but you will enjoy it... but if you think doing PhD is your honey moon season, your life will be light and easy but you will be bored. The choice is yours, Mizam". I keep thinking about his advice.

On 22nd December 2007, I met Assoc Prof Dr Hamzah Jusoh and we discussed about my PhD preparation in UKM. He adviced me to read a lot of books, attend public lectures organised by Faculty or UKM, to create my research blog and sit in a few master programme classes. I follow his advices and it is true my time is full and keep me busy. I take my friend 1st advise, doing PhD is a serious job, make my life not chaotic but full a lot of activities. I really enjoy it. I hope its going to be doing well until I complete my PhD... insyallah. In a month I completed My Phd Journal Volume 1. Now I am trying to complete My Phd Journal Volume 2, in the whole of February. I try to discover a theory of development and urban planning in the context of Islam and Western school of thought from 7th Century until 21st century.

I also try to find out how Marxist and Capitalist theories influence the development of urban and regional planning from renaissance era until globalization era. 1st February 2008, I attended Professorial Speech by Prof Dr Kamaruddin M Said, topic on War, Peace and Development Relation to Industrialization. He gave me a new idea and inspiration how sosialist and capitalist theories have related with urban and regional planning the context of physical , economic, social and environment development not in global perspective (macro) but also in Malaysia (micro).

IF ANYBODY WHO READ AND REVIEW MY BLOG PLEASE ASSIST ME WHERE CAN I FIND VERY GOOD REFERENCES.