Sociology Commons^™

The Covid-19 Crisis And Intergenerational Relations : The Case Of Hong Kong Families With Older Parents Ageing In The Greater Bay Area In Mainland China, Bowen Zhou

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been developed by the Chinese central government since 2016. Driven by the development of the Greater Bay Area, the well-developed transportation has further provided chances for Hong Kong older people to reside in the mainland GBA cities. The relevant Hong Kong government departments have made a comparison showing that the number of Hong Kong older people (aged 65 and above) who are ageing in the Greater Bay Area of mainland China has increased to around 90,200 in 2019, a 33% increase from 2013. Given the most updated situation, these Hong Kong families with …

Cross-Watershed Horizontal Ecological Compensation System : Comparative Examples From China And Germany, Yanyao Yang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

In recent years, horizontal ecological compensation in the Yangtze River basin is a new policy for protecting the ecology. But it still has shortcomings in policy implementation. In contrast, Germany, which reached an ecological compensation agreement with the Czech Republic on the Elbe River as early as the 1990s, is a worthy reference object for China. Therefore, this study systematically reviews the literature on horizontal ecological compensation in China and abroad. It finds that the relevant literature on ecological compensation policies lacks composite research using research methods that combine qualitative and quantitative analysis. So, this study uses social network analysis …

Challenges And Responses : The Impact Of Classification Methods Of Policies On First-Generation College Students In China And The Us, Ken Cheng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

In China and the United States, with the expansion of higher education, more and more people have become the first-generation of college students in their families. However, while gaining opportunities for social upward mobility, they also face many challenges, and the formation of these challenges is related to their multiple identities. In China, these challenges are more related to regional development differences, while in the United States, they are more impacted by identities such as immigrants and ethnic minorities. At the same time, the governments, universities, and society of both countries have introduced various policies to support first-generation college students, …

Comparative Study Of Barrier-Free City Construction In Shenzhen And Hong Kong, Fengyi Li

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

The purpose of this research is to compare the barrier-free construction situation in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and to compare them in terms of hardware facilities, publicity concepts, financial investment, etc. Qualitative analysis was used, interviews were conducted with people with disabilities, and the data results were analyzed to draw the direction of the future development of barrier-free facilities in the two places.

Comparison Of Transportation Accessibility Policy Among Elderly In Hong Kong And Singapore, Hui Zheng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

With the coming of the aged society, the right of the elderly to participate in social life has been paid more and more attention, and the aging population urgently needs to promote the construction of traffic accessible environment with the travel needs of the elderly as the core. Through the document analysis method of qualitative research, this study chose to make a comparative analysis of the transport accessibility policies of the elderly in Singapore and Hong Kong, aiming to provide policy recommendations for government departments to accelerate the construction of a convenient transport environment for the elderly and support their …

A Socio-Ecological Barrier To Regular Migration, Regularization And Healthcare Access For Myanmar Irregular Migrant Workers In Thailand, Tual Sawn Khai

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The Myanmar people have been migrating to Thailand since the 1980s through regular or irregular channels for better livelihood opportunities. Over the past decade, they have significantly contributed to the economic development of both sending and receiving states. Thailand and Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate labour migration in 2003. The agreement aims to ensure that migrant workers have access to regular employment channels in Thailand and improve their employment rights. Under a bilateral agreement, migrant workers employed under the MOU can stay in Thailand for four years. However, they must apply for visa renewals every two …

Beyond Economics And Politics : A Sociological Review Of Local Long-Term Care Service Provision In China, Zhen Tian

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The socio-demographic transition presents a significant challenge that impacts the renewal of welfare arrangements and the reallocation of welfare responsibilities across sectors. Long-term care (LTC) services have emerged as a widely accepted strategy to promote the active daily living and human dignity of senior citizens. This study aims to assess the effective policy strategies employed in various Chinese contexts to address significant LTC policy concerns and synthesise lessons that can guide future policy decisions. The study addresses three questions to explore local variations in China's LTC service provision: (1) What differences exist in the long-term care services provision? (2) How …

A Comparison Of Public Housing Policies For The Elderly In Hong Kong And Singapore, Sijing Bai

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

With the society’s development and progress, people are seeking a long and healthy life with improved life quality and a better living environment. Like many other economies worldwide, Singapore and Hong Kong are experiencing rapid population aging. The social welfare policy in Singapore is based on the individual and family as the foundation, the community as the middle-level organization, and the government taking a residual complementary role. In contrast, the elderly care model in Hong Kong can be divided into three types: aging in place, residential care, and aging out of Hong Kong. According to current statistics, Hong Kong has …

A Comparative Analysis Of Double Reduction Policy In China, Hai Yan Wang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

The "double reduction" policy in China is designed to reduce the workload of students and prohibit out-of-school training. However, the results are not as expected. This study aims to identify potential factors that could contribute to the success of China's "double reduction" policy. The data were analysed using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods (questionnaires for students and semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents). In total, 156 valid questionnaires were collected, and 3 teachers and 3 parents were interviewed. In addition, Finland and South Korea's experiences have been used for comparison for better improvement. The results indicate that inconsistent …

Multidimensional Case Study Of Age-Friendly Cities And Communities In Hong Kong, Tokyo And Singapore, Wai Yi Cheng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This multidimensional case study aims to capture the urban characteristics of age-friendly cities and communities in three international cities, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore. As the aging population has become global phenomena, various aging ideologies were proposed to address the issues caused by the significant demographic shift. The four common aging ideologies: healthy aging, productive aging, successful aging, and active aging that is widely adopted in age-friendly development; apart from the above aging ideologies, positive aging, a distinctive branch found in geropsychology study suggested that individual’s preparedness is as important as societal readiness emphasized in the four environment-related wellbeing regarding …

Social Capital And Educational Well-Being: A Systematic Review (2010-2022), Pui Yiu Ho

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Social capital is evidenced as beneficial to educational achievements and it’s believed as important for students. Recent research of social capital and education moves beyond illustrating the effects of social capital on education achievements to a more comprehensive interrelationship between social capital and different aspects in development of students. To delineate the association between social capital and education in different aspects, this paper aims to systematically review quantitative studies examining the association between social capital and educational well-being. Three questions are of concern here. Question 1: Is there association relationship between social capital and educational well-being? Question 2: …

Comparison Of The Mainland And Hong Kong’S Epidemic Prevention Policies From The Perspective Of Collaborative Governance, Junxing Zheng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

The evolution of the virus has further improved Omicron's ability to spread, and the "dynamic clearing" policy of Hong Kong and the mainland will be severely challenged in 2022. To explore the implementation of anti-epidemic policies in Hong Kong and mainland China and their respective problems, this study starts from the perspective of collaborative governance, understands the work and performance of the government and other social organizations in the epidemic, and draws conclusions after analysis. This study found that both Hong Kong and the mainland have formed relatively complete epidemic prevention systems through literature research and qualitative interviews.

In contrast, …

Comparative Study Of The Effectiveness Of Talent Housing Policy In Shenzhen And Guangzhou, Xiaobin Zhang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Housing provision in China has greatly improved, housing affordability gradually becomes another tough problem. Local government in China launches talent housing to attract and retain talents owing to that dreaded housing prices causing threaten to brain drain, with an aim to upgrade economic growth as well.

This research comparatively analyzes two typical cities with talent housing policy, showing similarities and differences of their talent housing policies, and evaluating the effectiveness from four dimensions: housing affordability, housing accessibility, housing availability and housing quality. And it inspects the overall result of policy goal of attracting talents. This research finds that the factors …

Comparing The Impact Of Housing Purchase Restrictions On House Prices In Guangzhou And Shenzhen, Chunxia Tan

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This paper will quantify the housing restriction policies in Guangzhou Shenzhen using the principal component analysis of previous researchers. The correlation coefficient between the quantified results of the policies from 2012-2021 and the house prices from 2012-2021 will be calculated and the conclusion shows that as the housing restriction policies increase (become stricter) it does not cause house prices to fall, it only eases the rate of house price increase. This is consistent with the results of the questionnaire research. A quantitative study was also conducted to assess the effect of individual policies, using the example of Shenzhen's "Reference Price …

Platform Work, Social Risks And Social Welfare : A Qualitative Study On Workers’ Experiences And Views In Hong Kong, Cham Kit Ming

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Drawing on the social risk thesis, this research studies the risk and welfare experiences of Hong Kong workers working on food delivery platforms and courier platforms. A total of 23 platform workers involved in food delivery work and courier work on the crowdsourcing gig work platform were invited to in-depth interviews, leading to the discovery of workers’ perceptions of the six platform work-related risks, welfare experiences, and work freedom. The researcher argues that platform workers’ experiences result from power asymmetry on the individual, organisational, and institutional levels. The algorithmic control by the platform firms and the dependence of workers on …

Married Working Women And Work-Family Interface In Urban Ghana : A Holistic Approach, Kwaku Abrefa Busia

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The intersection of work and family has gained traction across various disciplines in an attempt to study how work and family life affect individuals, families, organisations and societies. Nonetheless, most studies on work-family interface (WFI) remain dominated by theories, concepts and experiences rooted in white, middle class and homogenous individuals in Western societies. Owing to these concerns, there have been widespread calls for more cross-cultural studies that capture the plurality of work-family realities and conceptualisation, especially from the Global South. Emphasis has also been made on the need to expand workfamily research beyond the often-studied professional workers and their families …

‘Aging In Place’ Or ‘Stuck In Place’? The Aging In Place Experiences Of Older Adults In A Gentrifying Neighborhood In Hong Kong, Ho Wing Lau

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Urbanization and population aging are two of the most critical global trends in the 21st century. In particular, the aging experiences of older adults living in gentrified urban areas has raised the attention of scholars from various disciplines. Urban aging concerns how and why some older adults can thrive in urban life while others are struggling to adapt. Hong Kong is experiencing ‘double aging’ —an aging population and a large scale of aging buildings, which make it particularly challenging to strike a balance between urban renewal and preservation of the community for older adults to age in place. The challenges …

Dilemmas, Reactivity And Paper Support : The Support Conceptualisations And Experiences Of Students With Disabilities In Ghanaian Higher Education, Sarah Tara Sam

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Support is considered crucial for all higher education (HE) students including students with disabilities (SWDs). Disability support in higher educational institutions (HEIs) bridges resulting gaps from disabling barriers between the achievement of SWDs and their peers, while benefiting all students. Hence, the call for mainstreaming support for SWDs in HE. The drive towards widening access and participation in the Ghanaian educational system is evidenced in current educational policies including the Inclusive Education (IE) policy. However, scant literature exists on SWDs’ conceptualisations and experiences of support stemming from inclusive HE and its related policy in Ghana.

This study aimed at hearing …

Comparison Of Ageing Policy Between Hong Kong And Singapore, Ka Wai Tam

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This research study aims to explore and compare the ageing policy between Hong Kong and Singapore. Population ageing itself is a dynamic process. The ageing of the population is caused by three reasons: the decline in the level of fertility, the decline in the death rate and the continuous extension of the average life expectancy of the population. It is an inevitable demographic phenomenon. However, under the globalization effect, although the world is getting more connected in the last few decades, all developed and developing countries are facing the same problem which is the ageing population. There are a lot …

Hong Kong Youngsters Pursuing Career In The Greater Bay Area : Opportunities And Challenges, King Leung Cheng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

In the past two years, Hong Kong has undergone tremendous changes in its internal and external environments. Under the influence of social movements, Sino-US trade negotiations, pandemic and the global economic downturn, Hong Kong's local economy continues to be sluggish. The number of unemployed continues to rise, and the youth unemployment rate is much higher than that of other age groups. To get out of adversity, the younger generation needs diversified development, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area might just open up a new path for them.

Based on existing evidence, this study discusses Hong Kong …

Austerity And Suicide : Evaluating The Claims And Evidence, Liam John Beale

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Since the hit of the economic recession, many sociologists and media outlets have speculated upon the relationship between suicide and austerity and in many cases make unnuanced claims to direct causality. This paper discusses the claims of two pertinent research papers on the topic of ‘Austerity Suicides’, and ultimately attempts to provide a multi-factorial model that illustrates the extent to which extent government response to economic downturn may impact rates of individual suicides whilst also acknowledging phenomenological and cultural influences.

Understanding How Democracy Shapes Well-Being Of Countries In Europe And Asia, Wing Laam Ng

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

There is no lack of literature talking about the relationship between well-being and democracy. However, little research has been done by separating the area. This study is going to explore the association between democracy and well-being again by separating the countries in Europe and Asia. Well-being is measured by life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect and satisfaction towards the government while democracy refers to the Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In total, thirty one European countries and seventeen Asian countries are selected based on the availability of data and exclusion of Asia-Europe border countries. Pearson correlation coefficient and …

Pandora’S Box To Sex Offenders Or Gift To The Public? Reviewing Sex Conviction Record Check In Hong Kong, England And Wales, Tsz Yan Elizabeth Yau

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Qualitative research and literature review were conducted by interviewing two ex-sex offenders and a police officer in England for reviewing Sexual conviction record check(system) in Hong Kong, England and Wales. The major findings in the research showed the system might bring stress and labelling effect toward the ex-offenders. Many sex offenders might lack information about the system before discharge which might hinder their rehabilitation and reintegration to the society. Moreover, the protection of the system in Hong Kong could not cover some potential situations which might do harm to the victims. Five policy suggestions are made at the end of …

“We Are Parents” : Changing Constructions Of Fatherhood And Fathering In Urban Zambia, Aurick Mubita

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

There is ample evidence that the conceptualization of fatherhood and the involvement of fathers in families is changing in many societies. However, in sub-Saharan African countries, dedicated studies on fatherhood are still very limited and in Zambia, a review of literature showed that they are non-existent. To address this gap, this study used the framework of masculine compromise to explore the ways in which fatherhood is conceptualized, practiced, and negotiated in view of existing masculinity and fatherhood discourses. The study also examined how fathers dealt with existing discrepancies between their everyday fathering practices and cultural expectations. It also considered conditions …

The Influences Of Academic Discipline On Work-Based Learning : The Case Of Hong Kong, Yeuk Nam Ng

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Commonly known as student internship, work-based learning stands at the intersection of work and education, and possesses distinctive features worthy of sociological analysis. Previous studies on work-based learning have focused on the tension and conflicts between student interns, the university and the host organisation. A common problem is to treat student interns as a homogenous group, without taking into account their academic backgrounds when scrutinizing the experiences and outcomes of work-based learning. This research aims to overcome this problem by drawing upon the studies of “horizontal stratification” in the sociology of education, which set out to explain the differences in …

Materialities, Discourses, And Entanglements In Gendered Decision-Making And Practices : An Ethnographic Account Of ‘Fish Mammy’ Households In Ghana, Moses Adjei

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Critical feminist scholars have challenged essentialist understandings of gender inequality and the use of discourses to categorize men as superior to women. For critics however, a focus on discourse equally limits our understanding of the role of materialities (human and non-human) in co-creating such social outcomes. Using a new feminist materialist approach, this thesis examines the factors which create opportunities for and obstacles to women’s participation in household and community-based fishery decision-making and practices in Ghana. The study adopts an ethnographic approach using multi-methods including a cross-sectional survey of 400 female fisherfolk, 48 in-depth interviews with female fisherfolk, male fisherfolk …

Advertisement, Media Bias, Political Polarisation, Sonal Chandra

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

When consumers value cognitive consistency between the news they read and policies they support, politicians are induced to make policies that conform to a polarized media landscape which not only depends on user subscription for revenue but also advertisement receipts. Following Guo et. al. (2018), I develop a model to study how the dependency on advertisement revenue affects media bias, political polarisation, and voter preferences. I show that though the equilibrium prices of the two newspapers fall when they depend on advertising receipts, the difference between the equilibrium prices and thus ideological position of a marginal voter remains unchanged, compared …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Student’S Life Satisfaction And Academic Achievement, Dare Seun Owoyemi

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This study explores the relationship between average life satisfaction of students and their academic achievement in mathematics and science at the macro level of 61 selected countries from the Pisa 2018 assessment. As far as I know, no studies have been conducted to examine achievement in mathematics and science as it related to life satisfaction. Multivariate regression, scatter plot and bivariate correlation were employed using IBM SPSS in this study. The study found no positive correlation between average life satisfaction and academic achievement in mathematics and science. Also, although life satisfaction was a significant predictor of achievement in mathematics, it …

Public Health Expenditure And Health Outcomes In Nigeria And Ghana : The Role Of Public Policy, Ayomide Oluwaseyi Oladosu

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

This study investigates the effect of public health expenditure and health outcomes in Nigeria and Ghana, captured by infant, maternal, malaria and HIV/AIDS mortality. It also uses the health expenditure commitment at the 1999 United Nations general assembly and the Abuja Declaration of 2000 to examine the role of public policy in this relationship. A linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship and effect of public health expenditure on health outcomes in Nigeria and Ghana. Although the findings disclosed a low public health expenditure in both countries, the Ghanaian case revealed a negative relationship, which was primarily insignificant, …

A Comparative Study Of International Education Policies In China And The United States, Junyi Zhang

SOC 605 Comparative Social Policy Research Project - Student Works

Under the background of globalization, international exchanges and cooperation are becoming more and more frequent, especially in the fields of education and culture among countries. As a new education model, "international education" is getting more and more attention in the development of the country. In this context, the governments of China and the United States have paid more attention to the Sino-American educational and cultural exchanges and implemented a series of policies to expand the scope and depth of exchanges, which have had a profound impact on the future development of education and the diplomatic relationship between China and the …