http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/issue/feed The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities 2019-03-19T06:11:48+00:00 Dr. Busha Taa bushataa@gmail.com Open Journal Systems <p style="text-align: justify;">The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities is an interdisciplinary journal – providing an intellectual platform for national and international scholars. By promoting critical approaches to the social sciences studies with a view of sharing information and debate within the widest possible audience. The ERJSSH bridges social science and humanities scholars across disciplines and continents -- emphasizing community-based research...</p> http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1233 Multivariate Analysis of the Predictors of Women’s Delivery at a Health Facility: Evidence from 2016 Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey 2019-03-19T06:10:36+00:00 Kassahun Tegegne KT@gmail.com <p>The prevalence of women’s health institutional delivery in developing countries, particularly in Ethiopia<br>is very low. The empirical data show that migration and socio-demographic factors are responsible<br>for low institutional deliveries in developing countries. Therefore, the overall objective of the study<br>was to establish whether there were differences in women’s access to delivery facilities across the<br>different migration status and socio-demographic factors. To achieve this objective, a cross-sectional<br>analysis of data from 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) was conducted.<br>The 2016 EDHS interviewed a total of 15, 683 women, aged 15 to 49 years both in rural and urban<br>areas. Out of the 15,683 interviewed women, only 7590 women who had live birth(s) in the last<br>five years preceding the survey were taken as a study participant. The bivariate and multivariate<br>analysis results show that urban to urban migrants and urban to rural migrants were more likely<br>to deliver at a health facility than those from other migration status. In relation to socio-demographic<br>factors, women who live in rural areas, women with no education, non-working women, older women,<br>women with high birth order and women in the poorest wealth index were less likely to deliver<br>at a health institution. Therefore, maternal health remains a public health concern due to lack of<br>sufficient access to delivery facilities. Attention should be given on migration and socio-demographic<br>factors that are responsible to inhibit women’s institutional delivery. The government should target<br>the most vulnerable groups such as rural women, non-working women, women in the poorest<br>wealth category and women with high birth order to further reduce maternal mortality in the country.</p> 2018-03-19T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1231 The Perplexity of Scholars: Media Relationships in Ethiopia: Exploring the Implications of the Democratization of the Nation 2019-03-19T06:10:46+00:00 Asmamaw Addis asmamaw2000@gmail.com Mustofa Worku goldenzazid@gmail.com <p>The role of media in democracy has been understood in terms of providing the general public with<br>information on what the voters have for the public, how politicians behave, and how citizens increase<br>their political participation. Scholars’ media participation has been insignificant in the democratization<br>process of Ethiopia despite its divergent interpretations in previous studies. Scholars’ media participation<br>in Ethiopia highly waning and waxing from time to time. Therefore, the objective of this exploratory<br>research is to examine the intricate relationships between scholars and media in Ethiopia. The research<br>is mainly qualitative: Sixteen key informants were interviewed from both media people and publicscholars.<br>And three FGDs were held with journalists and public-scholars. The findings have shown<br>that the scholar-media relationship has been weakening because of the following major factors: media<br>credibility went down, there are abusive uses of scholars’ opinions and expressions by the media,<br>there is intolerance of criticisms by the government, and thus polarized political ideologies have been<br>practiced by many scholars and the media.</p> 2018-07-17T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1232 Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics and Driving Forces in Simien Mountains National Park, Amhara Region, Ethiopia 2019-03-19T06:10:54+00:00 Ebrahim Esa ebrahimesas036@gmail.com <p>The Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP) was inscribed by UNESCO as world heritage site in 1978<br>due to its unique landscapes and rich biodiversity resources. However, many parts of the park have<br>been farmed for more than 2,000 years and is seriously degraded due to unsustainable land utilization.<br>The main purpose of this study is to quantify the magnitude and rate of change of major land<br>use/land cover (LULC) types by identifying the major drivers of change in SMNP using GIS and remote<br>sensing techniques. Three Landsat images of the periods between 1985 and 2015 were classified and<br>analyzed using Erdas Emagine 13 and ArcGIS 10.1. The results of LULC analysis indicated that a<br>remarkable expansion was observed in shrubs cover by 110.8% (79 ha/y) followed by farmland and<br>settlements by 53.7% (81 ha/y) between 1985 and 2015 although some portions of their original extent<br>were converted into other LULC classes. The results also indicated that the reduction of areas under<br>forests and grassland covers by about 56.4% (98 ha/y) and 49% (142 ha/y) were evident. The major<br>institutional and policy factors identified in the study area were civil war between 1976 and 1991,<br>changes in political structure and land reform of 1997. However, population pressure in the park was<br>the most important human factor of land use and land cover change. Therefore, sustainable management<br>in the park is vital to curb the biodiversity depletion and loss of tourist attractions in the area.</p> 2018-07-17T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1234 Attitude of Junior and Secondary School Students towards Basic Science Subjects in North Gondar, Ethiopia 2019-03-19T06:11:03+00:00 Missaye Mulatie mulate2002@yahoo.com <p>Education has become one of the most powerful weapons to reduce inequality and poverty (UNESCO,<br>2000). The main purpose of this study was to investigate attitude of junior, secondary and preparatory<br>school students towards basic science subjects in North Gondar. The study used a quantitative<br>research approach with cross-sectional survey design. To this end, 150 junior/secondary and preparatory<br>school students who were selected from North Gondar zone to attend kiremt (rainy season)<br>STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) training at University of Gondar participated<br>in the study. Data were collected through self-report questionnaire and analyzed using inferential<br>and descriptive statistics. The results indicated that those students scored high on attitude towards<br>basic science subjects (chemistry, biology and physics) and had excellent Grade Point Average. Besides,<br>there was no significant difference in attitude towards basic sciences between male and female<br>students. Most importantly, attitude towards science significantly influenced Grade Point Average on<br>chemistry and biology subjects. Here, career interest was found to be the most important predictor of<br>achievement in biology. But, the adoption of positive attitude toward science was the most important<br>factor to explain achievement in chemistry. Career interest and adoption of scientific attitudes are vital<br>dimensions influencing students’ achievement in chemistry and biology respectively. Overall, this<br>study concludes that attitude towards science has a collosal influence on students’ achievement in<br>chemistry, biology and physics. Therefore, institutions such as the Ministry of Education, teachers, and<br>parents should plan and work in tandem to maximize students’ positive attitude towards chemistry,<br>biology and physics education.</p> 2018-03-19T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1226 Temporal Trajectory Analysis of Lake Surface Area: Case study on Lake Tana, Ethiopia 2019-03-19T06:11:14+00:00 Abrham Zelalem AZ@gmail.com Eyaya Belay EB@gmail.com Abel Markos abelmarkos2@gmail.com <p>Lakes are facing challenges due to climatic and anthropogenic activities with slow changes causing<br>unnoticed damages over a long time. The long term historic data provides concrete evidence of change.<br>The earth observation satellites which include both geostationary and polar orbiting satellite provide<br>different types of environmental data. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the temporal trajectory<br>change of the lake surface area of LakeTana from 1985 – 2015 using geospatial technologies. The<br>study uses seven Landsat TM and ETM+ images to detect the lake surface area change. The change<br>was examined using modified normalized difference of Water index (MNDWI) method. This was attained<br>by making use of ERDAS Imagine 2014 and ArcGIS10.1 software. The results of this study<br>indicate that within the past three decades, the lake area has shown a significant decrease–about<br>362.74 sq.km. The area calculated from bathymetric surveys and the ccorresponding results from other<br>alternative methods were gathered and computed with the findings of this study. The results portray<br>that there is strong relationship between the estimates of lake surface area results of MNDWI with NDVI<br>alongside the bathymetry results. Hence, lake surface area quantification and characterization using<br>remote sensing and GIS techniques enables resource managers to project realistic change scenarios<br>helpful for lake surface area management.</p> 2018-06-13T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1230 Challenges in Assessment Methods and Practices across Departments by Secondary School Teachers in the South West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia 2019-03-19T06:11:24+00:00 Aschalew Terefe asche.tere2007@gmail.com Aemero Asmamaw amasmamaw@yahoo.com <p>This study was conducted to assess the most widely used assessment methods and practices across<br>departments and the challenges that hinder high school teachers’ classroom assessment. To this end,<br>it employed descriptive survey design. Data were collected from 197 teachers’ by using questionnaire<br>adapted from Zhang and Burry-Stock (2003) assessment practice inventory, and some open-ended<br>items developed to measure challenges. The data was analyzed using quantitative data analysis methods.<br>Moreover, the findings regarding challenges in classroom assessment practices from the qualitative<br>open-ended questions were analyzed and presented by content analysis using words and sentences.<br>The result indicated that teachers mostly use traditional assessment methods than alternative<br>assessment. It also revealed that there were statistically significant differences across departments<br>in constructing test items, F (2,172) = 190.849, p &lt; .05, communicating assessment results, F (2, 172)<br>= 208.963, p &lt; .05, and grading, F (2, 172) = 63.935, p &lt; .05. In contrast, no statistically significant<br>differences were found across departments in analyzing test results and test revisions and using performance<br>assessment practices. Furthermore, teachers’ attitude and belief, shortage of time, lack of<br>resources, assessment training gap and large class size were major identified challenges. Eventually,<br>the researchers would like to suggest that teachers should focus on using the alternative forms of assessment<br>than traditional assessment methods.</p> 2018-07-18T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1229 በሶስተኛና አራተኛ ክፍል የአማርኛ ቋንቋ መማሪያ መጻህፍት የስርዓተጾታ ፍትሃዊነት ፍተሻ 2019-03-19T06:11:33+00:00 አራጋው ሺባባው AS@gmail.com <p>ይህ ጥናት በሶስተኛና በአራተኛ ክፍል የአማርኛ ቋንቋ መማሪያ መጻህፍት የስርዓተጾታ ፍትሃዊነት ምን እንደሚመስሉ<br>መመርመር ላይ ያተኮረ ነው። ለዚህም ሁለቱ መማሪያ መጻህፍት በዓላማ ተኮር ስልት ተመርጠዋል። መረጃዎችም በሰነድ ፍተሻ<br>ስልት ተሰብስበዋል። የተሰበሰቡ መረጃዎም በካይ ካሬ፣ በድግግሞሽ ቆጠራ፣በሬሾና በመቶኛ ተተንትነዋል። ከተገኘው ትንተና<br>እንደተስተዋለውም፣ ሴቶች በስም የቀረቡበት የድግግሞሽ መጠን 66(54.09%) ሲሆን ወንዶች የቀረቡበት የድግግሞሽ መጠን<br>ደግሞ 56(45.9%) ነው። የካይ ካሬ ፍተሻ እንዳሳየውም p&gt;0.05 ሆኗል። የጉልህነት ውጤቱም .157 ሆኗል። ይህም በሁለቱ<br>ጾታዎች መካከል የጎላ ልዩነት እንደሌለ የሚያሳይ ነው። የሴት ወንድ የስም ድግግሞሽ ሬሾ/ጥምርታ/ ሲታይ ደግሞ 1.12 ሴት<br>ለ1 ወንድ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ አንጻርም በጾታ ድግግሞሽ የጎላ ልዩነት አልተስተዋለበትም። የሁለቱ ጾታዎች ማህበራዊ ሚና ሲታይ<br>መጻህፍቱ ሴቶች ዋናዋና በሚባል ደረጃ በብዛት የቀረቡበት ሚና የለም። ከተሳተፉባቸው ሚናዎች መካከል ግን ሴቶችን መግረዝ፣<br>ዳቦ መግዛት፣ ዳቦ መሸጥ፣ ልጅ መንከባከብ፣ የህክምና ምክር መስጠት፣ መብት መጠየቅ፣ በሽተኛ መንከባከብ ይገኙበታል።<br>ኳስ መጫዎት፣ በሽተኛ ተሸካሚ መሆን፣ ሩጫ ደጋፊ መሆን፣ ሳርቤት መክደን፣ፖሊስና ሹፌር ሆኖ መስራት ወንዶች በብዛት<br>የተሳተፉባቸው ዋናዋና ሚናዎች ናቸው። ከዚህ አንጻር ሚና ላይ የፍትሃዊነት ችግር አለ ማለት ይቻላል፡፡ ውክልናን በተመለከተ<br>ደግሞ በሁለቱም ጾታዎች ሴት ወይም ወንድ ሲባል ትዝ በሚል መንገድ የተስተዋሉ ውክልናዎች የሉም ማለት ይቻላል፡፡<br>ሳይደጋገሙ የቀረቡ ውክልናዎች ሲታዩ ግን ወንዶች በአንጻራዊነት በተሻሉ ነገሮች የተወከሉ ሲሆን ሴቶች ደግሞ ዝቅ ባሉ ነገሮች<br>ተወክለው ቀርበዋል። ይህም ከውክልና አንጻር ክፍተት መኖሩን የሚያሳይ ነው። በመሆኑም ወደፊት የስርዓተትምህርት አዘጋጆች<br>በሚያዘጋጇቸው መጻህፍት ጥንካሬዎቹን በማስቀጠል በድክመቶቹ በኩል ማሻሻያ ቢያደርጉ መልካም ነው።</p> 2018-07-17T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1236 Effects of Awareness Raising About Reading Sub-Skills on Students’ Reading Comprehension Enhancement: A Case of Woldiya College Of Teachers’ Education 2019-03-19T06:11:42+00:00 Oumer Ali OA@gmail.com Mesafint Muchie mesafintmuche@yahoo.com Yifter Meles YM@gmail.com <p>The major objective of this study was to investigate the effect of awareness-raising about reading subskills<br>on the reading comprehension enhancement of students. This research is quantitative in nature<br>employing a quasi-experimental design. Two group of students, experimental and contol with 32 and<br>and 31 respectively students involved. A reading comprehension pretest and posttest were used to<br>gather data. An independent t-test was used in order to determine the significance of the mean score<br>difference between the experimental and control groups. After awareness raising activities about these<br>micro-skills, a significant difference was found out between the learners in the experimental and control<br>groups as (-6.821, df=61, p=.000 which is p&lt;0.5) in favor of the experimental group. At the same<br>time, the finding in the paired t-test showed that (t=-7.74, df= 31, p= .000) which is(p&lt;0.05) implying a<br>comparison of the means of scores obtained by the experimental group subjects in the pre-and post-test<br>showing a significant difference.</p> 2018-03-19T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities http://ejol.ethernet.edu.et/index.php/ERJSSH/article/view/1235 Historicizing Urbanism: The socio- economic and cultural pattern of the city of Gondar, Ethiopia 2019-03-19T06:11:48+00:00 Muluken Fikadie MF@gmail.com Sisay Sahile SS@gmail.com Busha Taa BT@gmail.com <p>The establishment of Gondar in the 17th century marked a very promising chapter in the history of the<br>Ethiopian urbanization. This research aimed at exploring the meaning of urban space, the change of<br>meaning through time and effects of displacement on the social bonds. In doing so, qualitative method<br>(document analysis, interview, observation, photo voices) were used for thematic analysis. Various social<br>institutions such as religion, market, monarchy, and long-distance trade promoted the Gondarian<br>urban development. All the three Abrahamic religions, namely, Christian, Islam, and Judaism were<br>developed in urban Gondar. Although these religions meant to divide the communities, the Gondarian<br>Markets served to unite and glue the believers of these religions together. However, the residential<br>places were segregated on the basis of religions, leading to sprawling. The sprawling was ensued by<br>unplanned urban expansion, triggering developmental imbalances across the city. The corrective remedy<br>of redevelopment injected by the municipality also caused slums of despair. Despite these shortcomings,<br>urbanization marshalled with holistic goals of making Gondar one of the icons of the Ethiopian<br>centers of religion and culture tinorder to promote and maintain national unity.</p> 2018-03-19T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2019 The Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities