Study on Saudi Women's Issues
Raises Questions
Khaleej Times - 14 September, 2006
The findings of a study that covered various women's
issues such as driving, work, education and travel have come under
scrutiny.
According to a study of 400 Saudi women conducted
recently by the Guidance Authority at the Saudi National Guard, 88 per
cent of the women declined to drive.
The findings were reported by
the Arabic daily Al Jazirah. "We would like to question the scientific
motives, which led the Guidance Authority at the National Guard to embark
upon this study and whether these motives are aimed at identifying in an
accurate manner the views of women vis-à-vis issues such as driving,
travel, education, marriage and work," wrote Maha Al Hejelan in another
Arabic daily Al Watan.
"We also question why an authority
concerned with religious guidance would decide to conduct a social study
on its own. If the authority was keen on conducting a comprehensive study,
it could have asked a scientific institution, such as a university, to
carry it out in order to ascertain the accuracy of its hypothesis," she
said.
According to her, the information published on Saudi women
lacks numerous scientific elements.
"For example, we do not know
the academic or scientific institution which oversaw the study and is
considered responsible for its accuracy and findings," she said.
As for the sample covered by the study, "we only know that the
number is 400, the gender is female and the nationality is Saudi but we
know nothing about the age of the women, their educational or economic
standard, extent of their reliability, marital status, social class
(urban, rural, Bedouin), or degree of exposure to other cultures other
than the local one."
"Moreover, we do not know the city which the
sample has covered and to which extent it covered other cities of the
kingdom or other classes of the society. It also helps to know the
relationship of the polled female to the male who conducted the polling,
whether a spouse, a father, a son or a brother, his cultural and
scientific level and the degree of his reliability," Al Hejelan said.
It is also possible that a female was influenced through a male's
stance on these issues. Also, the research did not indicate the tools used
in the study and whether they included surveys or personal interviews or
observations.
"We do not know the scientific team which conducted
the research and whether it consisted of a male, or female or several
researchers. And if so, what are the scientific qualifications of these
researchers? Do they have a relation to the area of research?" Al Hejelan
asked.
Moreover, the research did not refer to previous studies in
this area and did not give any attention to other surveys and polls
published in the media, including for example Al Ekhbariya's polling of
the opinion of a number of Saudi women on driving.
A number of
Internet sites have published similar surveys on the same issue and these
opinions could have been made use of by way of representing a certain
segment of the Saudi society which cannot be overlooked.
"Upon
looking at the findings of the published study, we will realise that they
do not reflect the differing opinions and do not reveal the reservations
or conditions of the polled women," she said.
"As for the findings
of the study, were these actually reached in a scientific and unbiased
manner or were they prejudiced ones which only took on a scientific form
to convince the public?" she added.
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