فصلنامه راهبرد اجتماعی فرهنگی
پیاپی 35 (تابستان 1399)

The diversity of media and the conditions of globalization have paved the way for intercultural communications to become more widespread. In Iran, several national (domestic) and foreign broadcasting media have been developed and one of the major functions of these media is to develop intercultural communications. The present study aims to rank the position of the national broadcasting media, television and radio exclusively, and that of foreign media, satellite channels, in terms of influencing the development of intercultural communications. This research has been carried out through fuzzy hierarchical analysis (FAHP) in 2019. The necessary data were collected by means of a researcher-made questionnaire based on pair wise comparisons from a sample consisting of 13 experts in the field of media management (qualitative section) and 66 media management experts (quantitative section). The findings showed that the domestic TV broadcasting had the greatest influence on the development of intercultural communications in Iran and the domestic radio broadcasting stood after it. It should be noted that the foreign media, according to the experts, stood in the last place. On the basis of these findings, some helpful suggestions were made to the media managers to improve the effectiveness of the domestic broadcasting media in the field of intercultural communications.

This study aims at examining the university downsizing policy and whether it is a leading or deterring strategy. It is an applied research using qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis methods to study two levels of important higher education missions and the selected countries that have experienced implementing this policy. Data collecting tools were content analysis, taking note, and checklist. The data were analyzed through descriptive-analytical method using an encoding system. According to the findings, the strategy of downsizing universities is mostly based on the external pressures focusing on economic goals, lower costs, and mass production, rather than coming from within the universities. In fact, these pressures are due to the increasing demand for entry into higher education institutes as well as the serious problems with their current funding in one hand and insufficient qualifications of those graduated from these institutes on the other hand. Furthermore, the selected countries have barely achieved considerable success in downsizing the higher education and most of their efforts were doomed to failure.  Thus, considering the policy of downsizing the higher education, the appropriate strategy stemming from this policy in these countries is promoting the agility of the universities. Regarding the agility of the higher education in Iran, this study offers 4 strategies: (1) looking at universities as some self-regulating institutions, (2) implementing an effective comprehensive evaluation and accreditation system to carefully monitor the activities, (3) reviewing and modifying the priorities and selective omissions, and (4) expecting long term returns in higher education instead of looking at universities as some economic corporations with short term returns. Obviously, the success of these strategies calls for the  academic autonomy of universities, decentralization, and scientific management of human resources on the basis of agility in university  which is essential for today`s higher education institutions.

This study aims at investigating the effect of virtual social networks on the transformation of ethnic identity of the Kurd citizens  of Sanandaj, Iran. Our statistical population were selected from over fifteen-year-old citizens of Sanandaj (388532) and the sample size was based on Morgan table and Cochran formula and consisted of 384 users of the virtual social networks. The findings showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between the five dimensions of ethnic identity and the use of virtual social networks. The correlation between lingual identity and the duration and time of using social networks was between 0.031 and 0.034, respectively; between social identity and the duration and time of using social networks between 0.019 and 0.065, respectively; between historical identity and the duration and time of using social networks between 0.05 and 0.85 respectively; between cultural identity and the duration and time of using social networks between 0.036 and 0.026, respectively, and between political identity and the duration and time of using social networks between 0.022 and 0.053, respectively. Also, according to the results of the study, the type of virtual social networks commonly used significantly affects all the five dimensions of identity among the Kurds of the studied city.

This study aims at investigating the effects of watching the Persian channels of satellite networks on social anomalies among the youths of Ardabil the city. The statistical population was randomly selected from those youths of Ardabil who watched these channels. Then Cochran's formula was used to determine the sample size consisting of 371 young boys and girls. Then, the collected data were analyzed through Pearson test and regression analysis. Findings showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between these youths' watching Persian channels of satellite networks and their social anomalies. These findings also showed that there was a significantly positive relationship between marital infidelities, divorce, alcohol addiction, and sexual relations with watching these satellite channels. Therefore, it is suggested that some media literacy training courses, including the types of media, media facilities, potential media traps, and the proper use of media be developed. Also, some other courses such as the correct methods of keeping connubial and family relations and raising children and practical ways of keeping the home and family atmosphere fresh have to be offered.

Today, level of knowledge and awareness is one of the most effective factors in promoting the level of citizens' participation in different activities. Comprehensive, universal, and lifelong learning are concepts to be realized in a place that is commonly interpreted as a learning city. In this study, the dimensions and components of a learning city were firstly identified through examining the documentary sources and subsequently these dimensions and components were completed. Accordingly, three dimensions of the learning city, namely the context, space, and domain of learning, were worked out and through descriptive-analytic method and elite survey, the most important elements of each dimension were identified. In the next step, using a survey of 360 persons from the statistical population selected from the citizens of Qazvin the city, the relationship between these components and these citizens' social, economic, and scientific participation was examined. Using the Tao B. Kendall correlation test and SPSS software, our findings showed that there is a significant relationship between the two variables. These findings also indicated that social participation has a significant relationship with formal education, physical-psychological and political-institutional and economic contexts and learning contexts while economic participation has such a relationship with formal education, cultural and political-institutional contexts and lifelong learning. Also, scientific participation is significantly associated only with formal education and cultural, technological, and physical-psychological contexts.

The spread of modern broadcasting and communicating media encouraging specific attitudes and beliefs about the relationship between boys and girls has provided the basis for concerns and has raised some individual, social, and cultural issues regarding the quantity and quality of the relationship between the two sexes. But the extent to which these media really influence young people's heterosexual orientation has not yet been empirically examined. This paper is the result of a research carried out in 2015 using a quantitative method and survey technique through a researcher-made questionnaire to experimentally investigate the relationship between consuming new communication media and heterosexual orientation in a sample of 387 youths in Behbahan, Iran. The method of stratified random sampling was proportional to volume by gender and data analysis tool was SPSS 22 software for heuristic, correlation, and multivariate regression analysis. Our research findings showed that the boys' and girls' internet dating, watching satellite channels, and interactive use of mobile phones had the highest positive and significant correlation with the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional dimensions of their tendency to have relationship with the opposite sex. According to these findings, it was not the internet service consumption in general, but the type of the service consumed, that determined their heterosexual orientation. Also, the entertainment aspects of watching satellite channels and the individual and interactive dimensions of using mobile phones had the highest positive and significant correlation with their tendency to have such a relationship. Finally, the findings showed that using different new communication media did not equally affect the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of the respondents' heterosexual orientation.