The PelicanWeb's Journal of Sustainable Development

Research Digest on Integral Human Development,
Spirituality, Solidarity, Sustainability, Democracy, Technology, Nonviolence

Vol. 5, No. 11, November 2009 Luis T. Gutierrez, Editor

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This annex contains two items: The word frequency analysis and synthesis of textual responses for each ESD theme, survey versions 0 to 1.7 The updated archive of ESD survey work, with links to all the forms, databases, and reports for versions 0 to 1.7

This progress report shift gears from the numerical analysis of relevance rankings to the analysis of text responses to questions in Versions 0 to 1.7. Specifically, the Wordle tool is used to do a word frequency analysis of text responses for each ESD theme for the series of versions 0 to 1.7. Wordle is a web-based tool for generating "word clouds" from chunks of text. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. Given a chunk of English text, Wordle first removes all the common English words, and then generates a "cloud" (or collage) of the most frequently used noncommon words. The Wordle text processing algorithm and software were originally created by Jonathan Feinberg. In this analysis of survey text responses for each ESD theme, it is assumed that frequency of noncommon words in the text is an indicator of their importance from the perspective of the respondents. The Wordle analysis for each of the ESD themes was performed by lumping together all the text responses for the theme in all the 2009 test surveys (i.e., V0 to V1.7). The eight ESD themes were the same in all versions, but the questions and answers were different in semantic content and format (select all that apply, select the best answer, enter the answer in your own words), so all the text answers lumped together should provide for a pluralism of views among the 1004 respondents. Assuming that the most prominent words in the Wordle images encapsulate the essential ingredients of all the responses, they were used as a basis for synthesis in the form of concise (and carefully nuanced) English paragraphs. All responses were parsed for inclusion of the most prominent words in the Wordle images. After removal of meaningless responses and duplicates due to respondent selections, especial attention was given to the textual inputs provided by the respondents. When respondent inputs are used verbatim, they are shown in quotes. As this editor would not presume to be objective and unbiased about sustainable development issues, the validity of both analysis and synthesis is indeterminate. A sanity check, and further survey work, is needed in order to ensure that the results reflect maximum coverage of critical issues and minimum bias due to cultural or ideological factors.

ESD THEME	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS	TEXTUAL SYNTHESIS & ESD APPLICABILITY
Theme 1 - Gender Equality	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS WITH DUPLICATES REMOVED Images created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS ~ DRAFT The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: "Without gender equity/equality, 50% of the population is under- or misrepresented, or spoken for by someone who does not share their experience. Some cultures and institutions don't even have women in mind when they talk about decision making on matters of import." Show the negative social impact of patriarchal structures. Work toward the understanding that gender equity is better for everyone. Give boys and girls the same opportunities for integral human development. Withdraw public subsidies from patriarchal institutions (both secular and religious). APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD ~ DRAFT Survey results show that a surprising number of respondents are not fully aware of the importance of gender equality for ESD and IHD. Among those who are aware, very few have concrete proposals on how to foster the required cultural change. Some are worried about the controversial nature of this theme, especially in countries where the prevailing religion reinforces inequality. But ignoring gender equality during ESD training is not a good solution. The best solution is to challenge religious institutions to overcome gender prejudice and/or participate in ESD training to show that their negative influence on gender equality is not detrimental to sustainable development. When the duplicate responses are removed, a new word becomes prominent: "education." Indeed, ESD is one place in which gender taboos can be exorcised from human civilization. The benefits for IHD are incalculable (see the following sections of the September 2009, October 2009, and November 2009 issues).
Theme 2 - Health Promotion	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 3 - Environmental Stewardship	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 4 - Rural Development	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 5 - Cultural Diversity	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 6 - Peace and Human Security	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 7 - Sustainable Urbanization	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theme 8 - Sustainable Consumption	WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR ALL 1004 RESPONSES Image created using Wordle	SYNTHESIS OF THE WORD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS The following statement is a synthesis of the word frequency analysis: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx APPLICABILITY TO ESD AND IHD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx