ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
Social equity research in public administration (PA) investigates different ways in which the practices of government intersect with the lives of socially marginalized individuals. However, due to limited direct engagement with marginalized groups; a predominant focus on formal state policies and institutions; and a lack of context-specific analyses of marginalization, there remain significant limitations in the existing PA research on social equity.
To address these theoretical gaps, this dissertation focuses on the Khawaja Sira of Pakistan – a marginalized group culturally defined as neither men nor women – to empirically investigate the multiple intersections between government and life on margins of the state. Specifically, this dissertation explores research questions related to legal and self-identity of the Khawaja Sira, impact of their changed legal status, their informal institutional experiences, and their interaction with front-line government workers through an interpretive research methodology.
The research design consisted of a ten-month long person-centered ethnography in Lahore, Pakistan during which in-depth person-centered interviews were conducted with 50 Khawaja Sira. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 frontline workers from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), social welfare department, and a local NGO and a group interview with 12 frontline workers of police. I coded the data collected from the fieldwork using qualitative thematic content analysis in MAXQDA. I then analyzed the main themes from the data using multiple theoretical perspectives to develop my findings.
My analysis shows that the legal identity of the Khawaja Sira, as conceived by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, has limited relevance and benefits for the Khawaja Sira most of whom instead choose to register as men. The analysis of administrator-citizen interactions reveals that the Khawaja Sira are exposed to hyper-surveillance, moral policing and higher administrative burden during these interactions. These interactions are also strongly mediated by formal public policy, social discourses about gender identity and informal institutions. I discuss the implications of my analysis that can contribute to a more inclusive society for the Khawaja Sira. In doing so, my research makes important contributions to research on administrative burden, everyday citizenship, and social equity in public administration.
To address these theoretical gaps, this dissertation focuses on the Khawaja Sira of Pakistan – a marginalized group culturally defined as neither men nor women – to empirically investigate the multiple intersections between government and life on margins of the state. Specifically, this dissertation explores research questions related to legal and self-identity of the Khawaja Sira, impact of their changed legal status, their informal institutional experiences, and their interaction with front-line government workers through an interpretive research methodology.
The research design consisted of a ten-month long person-centered ethnography in Lahore, Pakistan during which in-depth person-centered interviews were conducted with 50 Khawaja Sira. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 frontline workers from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), social welfare department, and a local NGO and a group interview with 12 frontline workers of police. I coded the data collected from the fieldwork using qualitative thematic content analysis in MAXQDA. I then analyzed the main themes from the data using multiple theoretical perspectives to develop my findings.
My analysis shows that the legal identity of the Khawaja Sira, as conceived by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, has limited relevance and benefits for the Khawaja Sira most of whom instead choose to register as men. The analysis of administrator-citizen interactions reveals that the Khawaja Sira are exposed to hyper-surveillance, moral policing and higher administrative burden during these interactions. These interactions are also strongly mediated by formal public policy, social discourses about gender identity and informal institutions. I discuss the implications of my analysis that can contribute to a more inclusive society for the Khawaja Sira. In doing so, my research makes important contributions to research on administrative burden, everyday citizenship, and social equity in public administration.
ContributorsNisar, Muhammad Azfar (Author) / Catlaw, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Feeney, Mary (Committee member) / Maroulis, Spiro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This dissertation examines the use of social media technologies by US local governments for internal and external collaboration. Collaboration is defined as the process of working together, pooling resources, sharing information and jointly making decisions to address common issues. The need for greater collaboration is evident from numerous examples in which public agencies have failed to effectively collaborate and address complex challenges. Meanwhile, the rise of social computing promises the development of ‘cultures of participation’ that enhance collaborative learning and knowledge production as part of everyday work. But beyond these gaps and expectations, there has been little systematic empirical research investigating the use of these powerful and flexible technologies for collaboration purposes. In line with prior research, my dissertation draws on sociotechnical and resource dependence theoretical approaches to examine how the interaction between technological and social context of an organization determine the adoption and use of a technology for a task. However, in a break with prior work that often aggregates social media technologies as one class of technology, this dissertation theorizes different classes of social media based on their functionality and purpose. As a result, it develops more explicit means by which organization, technical, and environmental context matter for effective collaboration. Based on the aforementioned theoretical approaches, the dissertation develops a theoretical model and several hypotheses, which it tests using a unique 2012 national survey of local governments in the US conducted by the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies at ASU. Overall, the findings of this dissertation highlight that the adoption and use of social media technologies for collaboration purposes can be understood as an outcome of stakeholder participation, innovativeness, and social media type. Insights from this dissertation contribute both to our theoretical understanding about social media technology adoption and use in government and provide useful information for agencies.
ContributorsKrishnamurthy, Rashmi (Author) / Welch, Eric W (Thesis advisor) / Desouza, Kevin C (Committee member) / Feeney, Mary (Committee member) / Moon, M Jae (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016