Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2014 Issue 1

Microblogging websites such as Twitter have gained popularity as an effective and quick means of expressing opinions, sharing news and promoting information and updates. As a result, data generated on Twitter has become a vital and rich source for tasks such as sentiment mining or newsgathering. However, a significant portion of such data is either biased, untruthful, spam or non-credible in general. Consequently, filtering out non-credible tweets when performing data analyses tasks on Twitter becomes a crucial task. In this work, we present a credibility model for content on Twitter. Unlike previous work that focused on English content or factual tweets, our work analyses the credibility of any tweet type and targets Arabic tweets, a challenging language for NLP in general. We focus on Arabic tweets due to the recent popularity of Twitter in the Arab world and due to the presence of a large portion of non-credible tweets in Arabic. We build a binary credibility classifier that classifies a tweet that belongs to a given topic as either credible or non-credible. Our classifier relies on an exhaustive set of features extracted from both the author of the tweet (user-based) and the tweet itself (content-based). To achieve our objective, we collected 36,155,670 tweets through Twitter streaming API over a period of two weeks and created an index to search our tweet collection. Three topics about the Syrian revolution were retrieved from the collection and given to annotators to annotate. Unlike previous work, we provided annotators with a unique interface that provided a real context for each tweet, such as the author profile and a Web search about the content of the tweet, which we deemed useful for annotators to judge the credibility of a tweet. Overall, 3,393 tweets were annotated for credibility using this interface. Next, we extracted 22 user-based features; such as the expertise of the author on the topic of the tweet, time spacing between her previous tweets, count of followers, etc. In addition, 22 content-based features were extracted including sentiment, count of retweets, count of URLs, etc. Finally, we trained a set of classifiers based on all the features we extracted and using our annotated corpus of tweets as training data. We evaluated our credibility classifiers using a series of carefully designed experiments. Using cross validation on our three different topics and on a combined dataset that contains all the tweets from all the topics, our classifiers surpassed the accuracy of a number of baseline approaches by significant margins. We then applied feature reduction and normalization, which resulted in an additional marginal improvement in accuracy. Finally, to test the robustness of our chosen set of features, we evaluated our model using different training and testing sets. Our classifiers continued to consistently surpass the accuracy of the baseline approaches. Furthermore, we analyzed our feature set by comparing the accuracy of the classifier when trained on user-based features only versus content-based features only. Overall, content-based features only generated better accuracies than user-based features only when tested on multiple topics.

The objective of this research project was to adapt, translate and validate a developmental assessment instrument for use with young children who are visually impaired and who speak Arabic in the Middle-East. Developmental screening has become an established component of child health programs in many developed countries (WHO, 2012, NAECY, 2014, CEC, 2013). Yet according to Bishop (1991) "there are no developmental norms for blind children because of the low prevalence and because there is a lack of any regional or national database from which to draw inferences" (p.1). This project has the potential to make significant contributions to the field since its aim is to create a culturally and linguistically sensitive developmental assessment tool for all Arabic speaking children who are visually impaired or blind worldwide. There is a great need for culturally valid and reliable developmental assessment tools that can assess children who are visually impaired and speak Arabic in the Middle East (Bornman et al, 2010). One approach is to translate already well-established measures from their source language into the target language(s), as the construction of a new instrument into a new language is difficult and time consuming and not recommended if adequate instruments already exist (McCartney, Burchinal, & Bub, 2006). This study was motivated by one of the authors who is blind and is the head of a new school for young children who are blind or visually impaired in Qatar. The conundrum for educational professions was that there were no tools to determine whether the young children who speak Arabic with visual impairments were meeting childhood developmental milestones within normal limits or rates. Increased globalization has revealed the importance of cross-cultural adaptations of a various psychological, educational and health related instruments for use in countries and with languages other than the source language, typically English (Guillemin, 1993; Wiesinger, 1999). Thus there is a great need for Early Childhood Development (ECD) assessments particularly that are valid and reliable for culturally and linguistically diverse students. These developmental assessment tools can accommodate and measure the various domains of children with visual impairments and help to screen and identify those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Bornman, et al., 2010). Early identification of developmental delays or differences is critical and can lead to improved child and family outcomes through early intervention (Heo et al., 2010). Unfortunately there is a dearth of research and tools to accurately and efficiently screen young children for early identification of developmental problems in children with vision problems and this is further exacerbated with reliable and valid tests in Arabic as well as other countries outside the USA (Heo, KH., Squires J, Yovanoff P., 2008). Our methods consisted of a review of highly recommended methodological approaches to translation, adaptation and cross-cultural validation of research instruments (WHO, 2012). We developed a flow chart and a coding-schemes for the inter-raters. Further analyses included validity and reliability, establishing threshold levels and item discrimination analyses. These analyses resulted in a high internal consistency in each age range for each category

This paper explores emerging themes from our ongoing cross-cultural research (UK and Qatar) into the experience of miscarriage. The approach is grounded in medical anthropology theory and methods, but the project is particularly exciting because of its commitment to interdisciplinarity: the research is informed and led by collaboration between anthropologists (medical and material culture) and medical doctors. Globally, one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage; thus, pregnancy loss is a common women's health issue. Despite its frequency, few researchers have been there to record and interpret the suffering that accompanies reproduction disruption. This is "particularly noteworthy, given the human drama engendered by reproductive failure and its rising worldwide incidence" (Inhorn 1994:459). Reproductive "awry-ness," is produced within particular historical moment and cultural settings: the project aims to better understand the experience of miscarriage in the specific context of Qatar. The research incorporates 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Qatar: our main method is semi-structured interviews, but we combine this with other forms of data collection. We observe clinical encounters (doctors appointments, sonography sessions) and conduct participant observation. Themes explored include: the theories of miscarriage causation, cultural significance of reproduction, development of fetal personhood, cultural practices (ie burial) around the fetus, and the impact of religion. All of these forces impact the way a Qatari woman might experience the loss of a baby. Our focus on pregnancy and loss provides a lens through which we can better understand broader themes in Qatari culture; providing valuable ethnographic material on Qatari social life. The paper focuses on the way in which a miscarriage impacts the social role of women in Qatar. Islam is a "pronatalist" religion and procreation is considered to be one of the most important pillars of society. The social status of the Muslim woman, her dignity and her self-esteem are closely related to her procreation potential in the family and in society as a whole (Serour 1993). The fertility rate in Qatar remains high, with it reaching 4 live births per each Qatari woman in 2007 and the average number of children is 5. Men and women experience pressure to produce children and the inability to do so can cause anxiety and lead to marital strife. This paper explores the role of motherhood in Qatar and reflects on how not fulfilling this role may impact a woman. Such a focus is particularly timely given the changing nature of women's participation in Qatari society (i.e. education, work). In our interviews, women suggested they are largely blamed for reproductive problems and failures. Participants also felt that their emotional and psychological state was central to the health and temperament of their baby. Evil eye is often cited as a cause of miscarriage as is linked to envy. By using ethnographic material we explore the way a miscarriage (Tasqeet) may mean lost motherhood and lost potential for the woman. However, a miscarriage also produces a particular kind of being, a "bird in heaven" who protects its mother and speaks for her on judgment day.

Background: New genetic and reproductive technologies pose several challenges to the established structure of Islamic regulations concerning the nuclear family, which covers the marital connection and lineage regulations. More particularly, they raise questions about traditional definitions of both paternity and maternity and the extent to which these two concepts should be tied to marriage. For example, while DNA technology questions the traditional primacy of legal factors over biological factors in the determination of paternity, assisted reproduction with donor gametes and surrogacy arrangements challenge the classical definition of both paternity and maternity. These new developments have stirred heated debates on the future of the nuclear family worldwide with increasing demands for clearer criteria for the definition of both paternity and maternity. In Most Muslim-majority countries, where personal status issues are regulated according to sharia, legislation does not always keep up with these developments. In the absence of binding laws, disputes are settled according to the general principles of Islamic law, mostly in the form of non-binding fatwas and recommendations. The absence of formal or unified decision-making mechanisms gives rise to a wide range of views on these issues. Important open questions include: to what extent are the new forms of the nuclear family compatible with shari'ah? And, to what extent does the Islamic ethico-legal assessment depend on established scientific facts? The working thesis of this presentation is that modern Muslim discourses often seek to accommodate scientific explanations in the construction of Islamic ethico-legal assessments concerning the structure of the nuclear family in the wake of new genetic and reproductive technologies. Objectives: This project aims to identify gaps in current scholarship on this important topic and suggest ways to fill these gaps. This project illustrates the result of several years of original research. It benefited from the research infrastructure that was established and funded by two three-year NPRP grants. This infrastructure includes a sizeable physical and digital collection of resources (stored in an electronic database), a vibrant research program currently developing a first-rate reference work scheduled to be published by a reputable academic publisher, and a large network of subject experts developed through presentations at local, regional, and international conferences including the organization of two international conferences in Doha. Methods: The presentation will explain the different components of the project, which include: - Conceptualization, planning, and research design - Available resources and previous studies - Interdisciplinarity of the subject, which requires thorough understanding of o The Islamic ethico-legal tradition o The current (positive) legal landscape in most Muslim- majority countries o Relationship between religion and law on the one hand and science on the other as well as the nature of legal development o Role of the social sciences (mainly sociology and anthropology) in capturing, documenting, and accounting for social change - Dissemination and outreach activities Results and Conclusion: The presentation will share the results achieved as well as challenges encountered. It will also discuss suggested policy and legal reforms relevant to Qatar (and the Arab region) and plans for future development.

The past three generations of Qataris have witnessed unprecedented economic, social and cultural changes. The juxtaposition of economic growth and social conservatism causes many conflicts or gaps between traditional values and the opportunities offered by modernity; perhaps one of the most startling examples of this is the current generation of Qatari females who are attending university, preparing for professional fields, and still expected to fulfill traditional gender roles as wives and mothers, within the same time frame as their own mothers or grandmothers. Within a kinship or tribal society, where relationships are determined by exchanges between families, marriage is a symbolic institution as much as a social one; the exchange of partners is a private act that has public significance with socio-economic ramifications. Marriage is a way of maintaining and enforcing social order, particularly the behavior of women by patriarchal societies; therefore it is at the very heart of traditional society. This study examines whether the tertiary education of Qatari women in co-educational settings is impacting the institution of marriage within a patriarchal Arab society. Does the level of a woman's education hamper or enhance her marriage prospects? This question is particularly relevant given the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) which outlines human capacity building as central to the development of the nation and another example of the explicitly stated intentions of the State of Qatar in investing in a knowledge based economy. The research team has studied marriage practices from 2000-2012 through surveys, focus groups, interviews, and the analysis of marital documents to analyze the way attitudes towards educated women as prospective brides. Over 350 Qatari women from a variety of academic institutions in Qatar, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University branch campuses, Qatar University, College of the North Atlantic Qatar, and the Community College of Qatar were surveyed. 150 women from these institutions also participated in focus group interviews. The findings interpret the broader social ramification of balancing the education of women within the expectations of traditional gender roles during state-building.

*Qatari Media Overview *Qatar General Broadcasting and Television Corporation was established in 1970 and is Government owned. It airs in Arabic language and has two domestic, and one satellite channel.Al-Jazeera was established in 1996 . It airs in Arabic language via satellite.Al-Jazeera International was established in 2006 and is privately owned by Al-Jazeera Network. It airs in English and is satellite. *Despite the abolishment of media censorship in 1995, direct and indirect media censorship (e.g. self-regulation) still exists within Qatar. Social media: 1.Qatar is very engaged in video viewing and sharing. YouTube is Qatar's top social media site. Over 200,000 Qataris are active Facebook users while over 500,000 Qataris are active Twitter users. 2.Google.com.qa is the most popular search engine in Qatar. 3.Qatar News Agency: News agency transmitting mainly in English and Arabic with a daily service in other languages. *According to ictQATAR (2011)Qatar ranks among the top three in the Arab world in terms of combined performance in basic ICT indicators, such as the numbers of computer users, Internet users, mobile telephone, fixed telephone lines, and broadband Internet subscribers. In terms of internet and broadband penetration, Qatar is already near the European level and also growing steadily.However, this doesn't include expatriate workers who constitute a large part of the Qatari population. *TV and computer penetration levels are high - mobile penetration is top-of-the-world as there are 1.2 - 1.3 mobile subscriptions per citizen *The usage of internet focuses mostly on simple applications, such as email. Online banking and government e-services are still underdeveloped *Methodological issues Studying journalism in Qatar is a complicated issue as we can observe some important signs. For example, we have Qatari journalism but very few Qatari journalists and this may affect the general attitude of journalists towards journalism freedom and whether this attitude represents the journalist's opinions about journalism freedom in their home country or in the country where they work. *Major Issues to be discussed: *There is a huge gap among Qatari media freedom as we can classify al Jazeera network in one category and other media (Print- Radio - Television and online journalism) in another one. *The Qatari media, especially Al Jazeera was one of the main supporters of the Arab Spring revolutions and this situation affected on its editorial policy. *There is no independent newspapers . *There is no syndication or any form of journalism association. *Journalists are working as expats according to renewed annually contract and sponsorship law ( we have about 75 nationalities are working in journalism industry and 28 nationalities relevant to editorial process. *Journalists have to be committed to advertising pressures, societal regulations, media editorial policy and self-censorship *All these controversial issues affect the journalist's insights and feedback about journalism freedom in Qatar.

The archaeological site, situated at the southwest edge of the Qattārah oasis, has been excavated recently by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) as part of a redevelopment project of the area to create the Qattārah Community Art Centre on the rebuilt structures of the Bayt Bin 'Ātī al-Darmakī complex. These excavations revealed that Bayt Bin 'Ātī had a long occupational sequence, with a deep stratigraphy that covers from the Iron Age until the Late Islamic period. No monumental structures have been unearthed at the site so far. The main archaeological evidence found is constituted by pits, postholes and irrigation ditches associated to agricultural and industrial installations. Since the first occupation phase of the site, agriculture seemed to be the main economic activity at the site but, during the Iron Age II (aprox. 1100-600 BC), copper smelting also played an important role, as suggested by the find of more than 50 kg of metallurgical residues, such as slags, furnace walls, fragments of metallurgical vessels and some metal lumps. This debris was spread on a 10 cm-thick layer in the southeast corner of the Southern Baulk, which is located between the arts workshop area and the semi-subterranean energy centre of the complex. No metallurgical structures or furnaces had been identified in the area. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of the analytical study of a small selection of this copper production debris, namely two fragments of tap slags, a fragment of a ceramic crucible and a large tongue-shaped metal lump. These samples have been examined by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the results obtained indicate that sulphidic ores were exploited to produce copper. This kind of mineral deposits is commonly found in ophiolite rock, mined on a vast scale in the al-Hajar Mountains since the Bronze Age. Bayt Bin 'Ātī finds point at the continuation of those copper mining activities during the Iron Age, but only a more in-depth study of the metallurgical debris will allow us to obtain a better understanding of the patterns of ore exploitation and metal production on the territory during the Iron Age. In fact, it is worth mentioning that there are no mines known so far in the area of the Qattārah oasis. The closest mine is Wādī Jizzī in Oman, situated at approximately 60 km from Bayt Bin 'Ātī. The reason why they were transporting minerals instead of producing metals closer to the mining area is still unknown. The need for fuel and water could have been important factors but a broader study of the region is needed to shed light on this topic.

According to Graddol (2004) "The world's language system is undergoing rapid change because of demographic trends, new technology, and international communication. These changes will affect both written and spoken communication." The previous quotation reflects a linguistic reality. It is impossible to deny the influence of technology and international communication, not only on language, but also on our daily lives. The process of borrowing is one of the many ways in which technology and international communication affect language. Some of the borrowed words have Arabic equivalents, while others do not. Nevertheless, most of these borrowed words are subject to phonological and morphological changes. The main cause of the borrowing phenomenon may be that, as Baker stated, "translation activity in the Arab World is still too slow when compared to the speed with which new terms are coined for new concepts in the West and the frequency of their usage once coined" (1987, 88). Many of the loanwords, some of which are Arabized, are widely used today in Qatari Arabic. Arabization involves the rendering of foreign terms into Arabic in its original linguistic form, after introducing minor phonetic and/or morphological changes where necessary. This method has received much opposition from language purists, who fear that the assimilation of foreign terms may change the identity of Arabic and, if applied to excess, would even result in some form of a hybrid language. However, faced with the massive influx of new terms which need to be rendered into Arabic, even the purists have had to accept Arabized terms which have found their way into the language and increasingly gained acceptance, with or without academies' approval. (Ibrahim, 2006). Although linguistic borrowing is a universal phenomenon that has been noted historically and studied a lot , it is of interest to investigate this practice and its patterns in Qatari Arabic and to know to what extent the Qatari informants are able to know the meaning and the origin of some of the borrowed words in Qatari Arabic. Thus, the researcher collected one hundred of exotic foreign words which are Arabized and used in Qatari dialect and will ask Qataris to identify the meaning and the origin of the borrowed words. The focus in this study will be on the ability of the Qatari informants to identify the meaning and the origin of the borrowed words in question. Objectives: Identify some borrowed words used in the Qatari dialect. Identify the origin of the borrowed words. Identify the types of borrowed words. measure the knowledge of the sample to know the meaning of the borrowed words. measure the ability of the sample to determine the origin of the borrowed words.

In late 2002, Qatar established key elements of educational reform, known as "Education for a New Era", including curriculum standards, emphasis on problem-solving through student-centered teaching; standards-based assessment; and extensive professional development for teachers. Qatari education reform emphasizes student-centered teaching and learning where teachers are facilitators and students actively engage in learning through systematic inquiry and problem solving. Classrooms characterized by these elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, but little research has been done to determine whether these elements can be promoted though specifically designed professional development programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of learner-centered professional development on teaching behaviors in math/science classrooms in Qatari independent elementary schools. The present study is a part of a three year QNRF funded research project which involved two major phases. The first phase of the research project was primarily descriptive and involved a sample of 67 teachers and approximately 1150 students randomly selected from 17 independent schools. The research in this baseline phase depicted the classroom instructional strategies implemented in response to Qatari educational reform goals, and described the extent to which students in Qatari Independent elementary schools engaged in self-regulated learning. The second phase of the research which is the focus of the present study used a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effect of specifically designed learner-centered professional development modules, which were developed based on the initial baseline data, targeting improvement of student-centered teaching behaviors (including perceived teaching efficacy). The study sample consisted of 47 math and science elementary teachers whose classroom teaching practices were assessed, pre and post intervention, using the teacher Attributes Observation Protocol (TAOP), teachers were also administered the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) pre and post professional development training. Overall, the results in this study show that student-centered teaching behaviors increased significantly post intervention for both intervention and control groups. The implications of the study findings for the implementation of reform and provision professional development training for teachers in Qatar were discussed.

Resource planning in emergency management is a challenging task as it involves disaster situations where the demands are rapidly increasing and the resources are scarce. Conventional planning involves a centralized network structure where resources are distributed through a few prepositioning facilities located near to the disaster regions. In this research, we develop a novel multi-echelon network distribution structure for emergency resource planning. The structure at its highest echelon consists of a set of potential Supply Points (SPs), where resources are purchased and consolidated which is more practical in comparison to the conventional centralized structure. SPs are considered as typically large facilities in metropolitan cities in and around the potential disaster region from where the resources are distributed to the prepositioning facilities in order to be able to supply the materials immediately after the disaster in the area. The proposed structure also allows direct shipment of resources from SPs to the disaster regions in the response stage which is more close to the reality. Under the network structure, we formulate a new two-stage stochastic mixed integer programming model for an integrated emergency preparedness and response planning. The objective is to obtain the optimal allocations of the resources along with locations of the SPs and prepositioning facilities to satisfy the demand of disaster victims in a timely and cost-effective manner. We assume demand for supplies in the disaster hit areas are aggregated at locations called Aggregated Demand Points (ADPs). For the current study, the demands at the ADPs are obtained with a set of disaster scenarios each with a probability of occurrence. To develop the resource allocation model, we consider two distribution stages that are decided simultaneously: pre-disaster and post-disaster stages. In the pre-disaster stage, the analysis provides the location of SPs and the pre-disaster purchasing amounts to be acquired at the SPs. All or part of the purchased resources are positioned in prepositioning facilities located at selected ADPs. In the post-disaster stage, detail distribution of the resources to satisfy demands following the disaster event is considered. The demands in the post-disaster stage are met through pre-positioned resources at the prepositioning facilities and additionally, if required, through the direct shipments of resources from the SPs. We consider limited post-disaster purchasing opportunities at SPs as the quantities are to be purchased during a short and chaotic period. The optimization model proposed in this research consists of logistics and deprivation costs. The logistics costs include cost of provisioning, prepositioning, and delivering the resources. The deprivation costs represent the cost of not providing or delays in providing the supplies at the point of demand. The model is tested in a network for numerical analysis. The result shows that multiple SPs in the proposed network distribution structure helps to overcome the possible resource disruption that occurs with single sourcing in the centralized structure, resulting decrease of the demand shortage. Sensitivity of the model with different pre-disaster and post-disaster purchasing conditions at SPs are also discussed in order to represent realistic disaster scenarios. (Acknowledgement: Qatar/QNRF/NPRP Project: 5-200-5-027)