QUALITY OF LIFE OF RURAL NATIVE COMMUNITY: AN UNDERSTANDING USING PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH

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Novel L.
Sivapalan S.
Mohd. Yusof H.

Abstract

The ineffectiveness of a development program in increasing the quality of life of an indigenous community is often linked to the attitude of the planners who fail to understand the needs and life aspirations of the target group as well as the realities of their social world. Therefore, the objective of this study is to understand the world-view of the Bidayuh community about the quality of life. This research has drawn on the phenomenological approach utilising abductive logic based on idealist ontology and constructionist epistemology. This study was conducted in the Serian District, Sarawak which is one of the four districts under the administration of Samarahan Division. The size of the sample for this study was achieved through the continuous support of measurement or the criteria on theoretical saturation. Data in this study was collected using the technique of in-depth interview and informal group discussion. The themes of capability, participation and empowerment are the themes that became the main choice of the suburban Bidayuh community. However, the themes of residence, income, money and savings, employment, infrastructure and public services, customary land and land grant and accessibility to agricultural produce market are the themes that became the main choice of the rural Bidayuh community. The findings also showed that even though the position of the categories of quality of life-based on world-view between the respondents who live in the suburban and rural areas differ, the respondents' interpretation of each theme contained in those categories are almost similar. Suggestions for further action are addressed to the development agencies, development planners and policy makers so as to give more emphasis on the bottom-up approach in designing or planning any community development programmes.

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