| dc.description.abstract | This study conducted a pre-fieldwork assessment of an informed, conceptual, multi-level model developed to represent the elements and their interactions necessary to the formulation of national human resource development (NHRD) policy. The model was conceptualized through integration of existing HRD knowledge and practice around NHRD with concepts drawn from the economic, political, and socio-cultural foundations of human development (HD) for national growth and performance. The sum of these sources was extended by the researcher-theorist’s imagination around the possibilities of NHRD, and grounded in her own lived experience of NHRD. The model is comprised of seven constructs for data collection: (a) national background and current characteristics, (b) national resources (including human resources), (c) governance and power structure amongst actors, stakeholders, and potential partners, (d) national economic, political, and socio-cultural environment, and (e) integration at the individual/organizational, community/regional, and national levels, all situated under the (f) national governance structure and within the (g) global megatrends shaping the world community.
Two pre-fieldwork tests were applied to the model to analyze logic and structure, and to assess capacity for conveying rich description and providing for nuanced understanding of human processes. The two tests were: (a) a critical-realist evaluation employing hypothetico-deductive criteria of excellence for development of theory with the addition of newly-derived criteria for assessment of multi-level models, and (b) an interpretivist assessment applying social constructivist quality criteria for judging theory in the applied disciplines, including HRD.
Comparison of outcomes obtained through evaluation from competing paradigms of inquiry determined the readiness of the model, in its present form, for research operationalization and empirical testing with national data and through naturalistic exploration of human activities and meaning-making around the formulation of NHRD. The capacity of the model, and of multi-level methodology for construction of theory to guide the collection and analysis of data and to support sufficient interpretation required to formulate responsible policy, was affirmed. The model was determined to be worthy of application for maximizing returns on investment in the human resources, as well as for insuring that the experience of NHRD might be equitably extended to people of all nations comprising our global community. | en |
