Hie colleagues

I am a student for MA Social Behaviour Studies in HIV and AIDS. I have chosen a dissertation topic which says " The nature and extent of problems experienced by HIV/AIDS NGOs in Gauteng (South Africa)"

Do you think this is a good topic because I would like to unearth the reasons behind closure of some NGOs, slow growth rate and why they find it difficult to get international donors on board.

Please advise.

Sincere

Mandla

Hi Mashobana

That sounds like a very interesting topic. However, I wonder if it might require more work than in possible in a Masters dissertation. Do you have any existing data to work with? Is/will the data be quantitative or qualitative? Have you identified a supervisor who can help you to work out a way of answering the question.

As I said it's a good question but you could probably turn it into a PhD thesis! Therefore you must be careful to plan an aspect of that question which you could reasonably answer in the time span of a Masters.

Hie

Thanks very much for your valuable imput. I have tried to minimize the scope of my study by choosing to focus on one of the nine provinces in south africa and I have 10 months to complete the task. Do you still feel i will need more time than that? I have to produce 90-120 pages.

Please consider this and advise

TITLE: THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY
LOCAL HIV AND AIDS NON - GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) IN GAUTENG.






(1.0) PROBLEM STATEMENT
“A PROBLEM STATEMENT IS A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BY A PROBLEM SOLVING TEAM AND SHOULD BE PRESENTED TO THEM (OR CREATED BY THEM) BEFORE THEY TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. ACCORDING TO ELLIS T.J & LEVY Y. (2006:49)
ACCORDING TO GAYLE DECKER, HANDOUT (2009:3)” A PERSUASIVE PROBLEM STATEMENT CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS: 1) THE IDEAL, 2) THE REALITY AND, 3) THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORING OR ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM” IN ORDER TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT AND QUALITY SOCIAL SERVICE DELIVERY TO THE DEVASTATING CAUSE OF THE AIDS PANDEMIC IN GAUTENG, LOCAL NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD HAVE THE CAPACITY TO MANAGE, EXPAND, DEVELOP AND SUSTAIN QUALITY PROGRAMS IN RESPONSE TO THE EVERCHANGING CHALLENGES BROUGHT BY HIV AND AIDS. UNFORTUNATELY MOST NGOS ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE FROM YEAR TO YEAR THEMSELVES YET THEY ARE MANDATED TO OFFER QUALITY SERVICES IN SPITE OF BEING OPERATING FOR MANY YEARS AND MANY DO NOT SHOW SYMPTOMS OF GROWTH BOTH IN SCOPE OF SERVICES TO COVER NEW CHALLENGES AND GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE IN THE WAKE OF A HIGH HIV PREVALENCE ACCORDING TO NATIONAL ANTENATAL SENTINEL HIV AND SYPHYLLIS PREVALENCE SURVEY OF 2010. IF NGO EFFORTS ARE NOT REINFORCED IN THE CURRENT SITUATION WHERE AN ESTIMATED 5.6 MILLION PEOPLE ARE LIVING WITH HIV AND AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH APPROXIMATELY 310 000 PEOPLE DYING OF AIDS RELATED CAUSES IN 2009 ALONE, THEN SOUTH AFRICA IS FACED WITH DEVASTING LEVELS OF HUMAN MISERY DUE TO HIV AND AIDS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. POLICY DEVELOPMENTAND THE PROVINCIAL STRATEGIC PLAN COULD BE MODELLED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ON THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY HIV AND AIDS NGOS AS AN ESSENTIAL ARM IN HUMAN SECURITY ACCORDING TO KALIBALA (1999).
RESEARCH QUESTION
ACCORDING TO DENSCOMBE (2002:31) RESEACH QUESTIONS SPECIFY EXACTLY WHAT IS TO BE INVESTIGATED. RESEARCH QUESTIONS SHOULD BE THERE TO GIVE A FULL, PRECISELY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE NATURE OF WORK TO BE UNDERTAKEN. THE RESEARCH QUESTION UNDER INVESTIGATION IN THIS STUDY IS:
WHAT IS THE NATURE AND EXTENTOF PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL HIV/AIDS NGOS AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN GAUTENG?
SUB – RESEARCH QUESTIONS
(a) WHAT IS THE MANDATE OF HIV/AIDS NGOs?
(b) WHAT ARE THE NEEDS OF HIV/AIDS NGOs?
(c) WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED?
(d) WHAT INTERNAL FACTORS CONDITION THESE PROBLEMS?
(e) WHAT EXTENAL FACTORS CONDITION THESE PROBLEMS?
(f) WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS?
(g) WHAT STEPS SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY HIV/AIDS NGOS IN GAUTENG?