The transfer to the global economy has not been as smooth as it should have been, and Qatar is one of the numerous examples of the specified phenomenon. The process of Qatarization as the attempt of the Qatar government at entering the global economy leaves mixed impressions. Neha Vora sheds some light on the issue; by choosing the methods of research wisely and determining the connection between the study variables, Vora managed to come up with not unique observations regarding the subject matter but also efficient solutions for addressing the economic issues that are currently observed in Qatar.
The qualitative study provides a very clear hypothesis; specifically, the author claims that the foreign residents of Qatar have very little connection to the local culture and, as a result, suffer from the inability to establish proper contact with the natives, which results in a major misunderstanding and deep conflict: ” While Qatar is one of the world’s most ‘international’ countries, most foreign residents grow up relatively segregated by nationality and with little sustained contact with Qataris, especially within school contexts” (Vora 2244). Much to the credit of the author, the variables are defined rather precisely; as Vora explains, the independent variables include the influence of the Western culture and the conflict that the collision of the latter and the Qatari values result in, whereas the dependent ones incorporate the changes in the relationships between the specified denizens of the Qatari population: “It is through liberal (and neo-liberal) education that non-liberal aspirations of national futures can be achieved” (Vora 2244). It seems, though, that the choice of the variables could have been altered slightly so that the research results could be more plentiful; for example, the effects of religion could have been explored more deeply. Whereas Vora does mention at some point that the Western secularism stands in direct opposition to the Qatari traditional values, the significance of the confrontation is never addressed in the research. Despite the obvious significance of gender issues and the social background, which the author devotes the greatest amount of attention to in the research, the religious concerns should also have been identified in a more detailed manner.
Seeing that the author of the research already has most of the factors established and arranged by their effect on the problems that the foreign residents of Qatar have, especially the ones that render both cultural and political conditions, the study is aimed primarily at exploring the possible solutions that may be used for handling the situation. Consequently, the study can be deemed as exploratory, its every paragraph devoted to the analysis of the current situation and the methods of solving the conflict that has been brewing for so long.
Although the subject matter seems to concern only the dimension of culture, it also incorporates the influences of the political and economic decisions made by the state authorities, as Vora states in the paper. Herein the duality of the subject of the study lies; as a result, it will be more adequate to consider the article idiographic research.
Naturally, the article has its problems, too. The sampling method, which the author proposed as the basis for the study, can be considered rather doubtful in terms of its efficacy in retrieving the relevant information concerning the current situation in Qatar. While the idea of gathering the data with the help of personal interviews does work in the context of the study, as it allows for collecting the information that both is relevant and determines the attitudes of the interviewees towards the subject matter, the snowball sampling method seems somewhat biased. The idea of recruiting research subjects among the people, who have already participated in the study, opens the door for a variety of controversies, including the chances for retrieving subjective data.
Regardless of its minor imperfections, the research still should be considered a very decent overview of the problem and the existing alternatives. Since the study does not display any causal inference and focuses mostly on the process of defining correlations, its results seem more homogenous and, therefore, have a better focus on the issue. Having no detectable problems, the study seems solid and thorough enough to be considered a perfect representation of qualitative research. The fact that Vora has also addressed the existing limitations shows that the research is nearly impeccable: “What research does exist is limited to short-term or exploratory work” (Vora 2247–2248). The author, therefore, sets the premises for a follow-up study, which may address the specified limitations and, thus, make the exploration complete.
Although the issue analyzed in the article is extremely complicated as it encompasses political, economic and cultural factors, Vora still addresses the problem of Qatarization in a rather precise manner. By putting adequate research methods to use and defining the tools that allow for the fastest retrieval of the required data, Vora conducted all-embracing research that both points at the obvious problems and suggests viable solutions. Sharp and thought-provoking, Vora’s research is an exemplary qualitative study.
Works Cited
Vora, Neha. “Between Global Citizenship and Qatarization: Negotiating Qatar’s New Knowledge Economy within American Branch Campuses.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 37.12 (2014), 2243–2260. Print.