This paper aims to highlight some of the issues arising in measuring youth lifestyles, digital engagement and political participation. These variables were part of a nationwide survey titled “Youth in the marginalised society: From the Transitional to the Generational Approach.†This issue needs attention due to the fact that the fast-changing technologies are affecting youth lifestyles as well as their digital engagement and political participation. It has never happened before. During the newspapers, radio and television technology, life is very slow. There was a clear demarcation between sources and recipients. However, with the web 2.0 technology which allows users to become producers, it certainly changed the entire media landscape. The changes are affecting youth lifestyles, digital engagement, as well as the nature of their political participation hence the question, are we measuring it right? Literature shows that lifestyles can be measured based on three dimensions, namely behaviour, interest and preferences as well as attitudes. However, in the study above, two dimensions namely behaviour and interest were used to measure youth lifestyles. Does measuring youth lifestyle based on two dimensions is right? Further analysis leads to the conclusion that it was possible to measure youth lifestyle based on two dimensions. Internet usage as a variable has been used by most researcher and it was defined mostly in relation to the time spent onÂline. However, the recent trend called for more rigorous measurement than time spent online. Hence, digital engagement variables were developed to measure youth engagement on the internet. The discussion shows that these variables seem to be measuring what it supposed to measure.The final variable is political participation. The issue about this variable is related to whether it measures the online or the offline political participation. This is because Collins (2008) argued that young people realised the internet as legitimate online political participation. The discussion found that the measurement used in this study to measure political participation was to measure offline political participation. This need to be reviewed as the findings could lead to the wrong conclusion. Asking this simple question of ‘are we measuring it right’ would probably highlight the weaknesses of the existing measurement and provide a better understanding of how we could ask the right questions particularly in the context of the fast-changing environment surrounding the youth.
The problem of political apathy has been discussed and studied across time, space and cultures with increasing importance. Evidence of youth disengagement has been well documented in all parts of the world. This led to the rise in civic activities as governments struggled with wavering democracies. In a landmark study, Putnam found a direct positive association between civic participation and democracy. However, his hypothesis could only be generalized for Italy. This study broadened Putnam’s work by testing his theory in the South East Asia, a region far different from Europe. Data were collected through a national survey (N = 5,237), sampling youths aged from 15 to 25 years old. Reaffirming Putnam’s hypothesis, the study found a strong positive relationship between civic and political participation. The discussion highlighted the role of third sector organizations to promote civic activities, which require support from both public and private sectors.
Objective: This paper examines the digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youth in marginalized communities. It also studies the relationship between digital engagement and two participation constructs. The framework of the study was based on mobilization theories, which suggested that previously unavailable technologies such as the Internet could mobilize members of underprivileged or underrepresented groups who lack socioeconomic resources. Methodology: The data were obtained through a self-administered survey completed by 4,107 youths, aged from 15 to 25 years old, living in marginalized communities in six regions, namely Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, Sabah, and Sarawak. Descriptive and factor analyses were used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation was also run to test the hypothesis that digital engagement is positively related to political and civic participation. Results: The study found that while youths were digitally engaged, their engagement was still characterized by basic use of the Internet, such as communicating with friends. The study also found that their civic and political participation is low. However, the research found that digital engagement had a significant and positive impact on the youths' political and civic participation. Implication: This research provides empirical data on the level of digital engagement, political and civic participation among Malaysian youths. The study expands on current literatures by examining the effects of Internet on youth participation. This paper offers insights to policy makers on implementing strategies and programs that promote participation among youth in marginalized communities. Its practical implication also includes contributing towards the development of specific policy and good practices on media to encourage youth participation in Malaysia.
This study was conducted to validate the 15 items that were newly developed to measure youth lifestyle within the context of Malaysian society. It is indeed essential to examine the relevancy of the items from the scope of the Malaysian culture since most of the tools in measuring lifestyle originated from outside the context of Malaysian society. An exploratory factor analysis was applied in order to generate simpler and more explicitly defined constructs to classify the lifestyles of youth based on Malaysian respondents. The result shows that there were only 9 items of the scale used to measure youth lifestyle in Malaysia. The 6 items that were initially used were dropped from the total items due to the lower than expected score for communalities. There were five proposed initial domains which were reduced to three domains. The justification of the new dimensions and implications of the findings are discussed.
ObjectivesTo determine the longitudinal impact of elder financial and psychological abuse on risk of death among older Malaysians.Design7-year prospective cohort study. Baseline data were collected in late 2013 and respondents were followed up in June 2020.SettingKuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.Participants1927 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 or older randomly sampled from the national census. Individuals with severe cognitive impairment were excluded.Outcome measureMortality data were provided by the Malaysian National Registration Department and linked to respondents’ national identification numbers. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression were used to examine victims’ survival periods and the impact of abuse on risk of death.ResultsOverall, 450 respondents (23.4%) died after 7 years. Among financial and psychological abuse victims, death percentage was 25.8% compared with 23.3% among those who did not experience these types of abuse. Kaplan-Meier curves showed shorter survival among abuse victims, but Cox regression found no significant impact of financial and psychological abuse on mortality risk (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.41). Among all the variables studied, only cognitive impairment led to higher mortality risk (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.69).ConclusionOur findings contradict prior empirical studies that supported the link between elder abuse and neglect (EAN) and mortality, even though we focused on two abuse subtypes. Results in this study are more in line with the recently emerging evidence that showed no association between EAN and mortality.
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