The Role Of Qualitative Methods In The Measurement Of Youth Quality Of Life In Sub Saharan Africa

This book explores the conceptualisation and measurement of youth quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa. Further, it addresses methodological questions relevant to the development of measures and gaining an understanding of youth quality of life in this region. Drawing on the data collected, it subsequently explores students’ primary goals and their satisfaction with the extent of having achieved those goals. Accordingly, the book fills an important gap in the available literature on youth quality of life, and advances the role of qualitative methods in developing youth quality of life measures in sub-Saharan Africa.

This case study examines the role of qualitative methods, such as interviews and focus group discussions, in the development of a measure of youth quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa. The processes of developing quality of life measures for youth in sub-Saharan Africa often adopt existing instruments from developed country contexts, or when new measures are developed, they adapt items from existing ones. In taking either of these approaches, contextual nuances are often neglected and measures miss the opportunity to adequately capture what matters to the young people. In this study, interviews and focus groups were first used to develop a set of items which were analyzed using the grounded theory approach and were further validated using other qualitative methods, before the items derived from these were translated into a measure that was quantitatively and qualitatively validated. I discuss in this case study the process of developing the Students' Quality of Life Scale which emerged from the study.

This book explores the conceptualisation and measurement of youth quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa. Further, it addresses methodological questions relevant to the development of measures and gaining an understanding of youth quality of life in this region. Drawing on the data collected, it subsequently explores students’ primary goals and their satisfaction with the extent of having achieved those goals. Accordingly, the book fills an important gap in the available literature on youth quality of life, and advances the role of qualitative methods in developing youth quality of life measures in sub-Saharan Africa.

This open-access edited collection, focusing on Ghana and Nigeria, offers a transatlantic, transnational exploration of barriers that threaten the wellbeing of West African youth—ranging from Black immigrant youth in the American city of Newark, New Jersey, to students in Almajiri Islamic schools in Northern Nigeria. Incorporating themes of migration, vulnerability, and agency and aspirations, the book conveys the resilience of African youth transitioning toward adulthood in a world of structural inequality. It thus crosses the academic divide between Youth Studies and African Studies, while challenging conventional framings of Black youth as deficient and deviant—positing instead their individual and collective creativity and assets. The contributors employ different methodological approaches, including field research and autoethnography, from varying multidisciplinary and practitioner perspectives.

This book investigates and explores the complex dynamics of youth in contemporary society, especially in troubled and crisis-ridden contexts. On the one hand, teenagers and young adults experience social suffering, marginalisation, gender and ethnic bias, and an increased risk to be radicalised and involved in extremism and related violence. On the other hand, it is shown that young people are resilient, and they have a remarkable ability to adapt and cope with extremely difficult situations. This interesting ambivalence is vividly illustrated by a number of studies in countries as varied as Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Hong Kong, Kuwait, India, Israel, Britain, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus. Each of the 16 chapters throws a different light on the impact of destabilising circumstances and how youths cope with them in order to gain positive self-esteem and sense of a meaningful life. Overall, the experiences of young people are a distillation of the particular traumas and challenges that their society faces. Understanding those experiences and how they are coped with helps to make sense of all societies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

This is the first volume providing a research platform to showcase research in the field of positive psychology and well-being science in African contexts. Next to enhancing context-sensitive theory and practice on the African continent, it also contributes to the global discourse in positive psychology and facilitates the development of a science that reflects and is relevant to complexity and diversity in a globalising society. This volume brings together work from African scholars, featuring research on theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa, measurement of well-being in Africa, manifestations and dynamics of well-being in Africa, and well-being promotion in Africa. It stimulates further research in positive psychology and well-being science in the African context and globally, and emphasises the interconnectedness and situatedness of human functioning and well-being, contributing to a more balanced perspective on well-being in an international perspective. The volume benefits researchers, students and practitioners in Africa and other international contexts who study or apply the science of positive psychology and well-being in diverse contexts. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This volume presents an account of how people in sub-Saharan Africa have fared under changing life circumstances of the past centuries until the present. By introducing the geography of the region it traces a time line of different historical periods that have shaped livelihoods of ordinary people of the region, and addresses the major milestones in political and economic development. It focuses on social indicators pointing to significant changes that have affected the health, education and wealth of sub-Saharan Africans and their outlook on the future since the wind of change blew through the region. With case studies and vignettes the book highlights how individual citizens across the 44 different countries of sub-Saharan Africa experience well-being and express their aspirations for the future. This book provides relevant material for practitioners and policy makers, including community and development workers, in non-governmental and other organizations in sub-Saharan African countries.

The economic and social prospects are daunting for the 89 million out-of-school youth who comprise nearly half of all youth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next decade, when this cohort becomes the core of the labor market, an estimated 40 million more youth will drop out, and will face an uncertain future with limited work and life skills. Furthermore, out-of-school youth often are “policy orphans,†? positioned between sectors with little data, low implementation capacity, lack of interest in long-term sustainability of programs, insufficient funds, and little coordination across the different government agencies. This report provides a diagnostic analysis of the state of out-of-school youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the 12- to 24-year-old cohort. This report also examines the decision path youth take as they progress through the education system and the factors that explain youth’s school and work choices. It finds that individual and household characteristics, social norms, and characteristics of the school system all matter in understanding why youth drop out and remain out of school. In particular, six key factors characterize out-of-school youth: (i) most out-of-school youth drop out before secondary school; (ii) early marriage for female youth and (iii) rural residence increase the likelihood of being out of school; (iv) parental education level and (v) the number of working adults are important household factors; and (vi) lack of school access and low educational quality are binding supply-side constraints. Policy discussions on out-of-school youth are framed by these six key factors along with three entry points for intervention: retention, remediation, and integration. This report also reviews policies and programs in place for out-of-school youth across the continent. Ultimately, this report aims to inform public discussion, policy formulation, and development practitioners’ actions working with youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.