Study on Saudi women's various issues raises eyebrows
From our correspondent
 JEDDAH
— The findings of a study that covered various women's issues such as driving, work, education and travel have come under scrutiny.
According to a study of 400 Saudi women conducted recently by the Guidance Authority at the Saudi National Guard, 88 per cent of the women declined to drive.
The findings were reported by the Arabic daily Al Jazirah. "We would like to question the scientific motives, which led the Guidance Authority at the National Guard to embark upon this study and whether these motives are aimed at identifying in an accurate manner the views of women vis-à-vis issues such as driving, travel, education, marriage and work," wrote Maha Al Hejelan in another Arabic daily Al Watan.
"We also question why an authority concerned with religious guidance would decide to conduct a social study on its own. If the authority was keen on conducting a comprehensive study, it could have asked a scientific institution, such as a university, to carry it out in order to ascertain the accuracy of its hypothesis," she said.
According to her, the information published on Saudi women lacks numerous scientific elements.
"For example, we do not know the academic or scientific institution which oversaw the study and is considered responsible for its accuracy and findings," she said.
As for the sample covered by the study, "we only know that the number is 400, the gender is female and the nationality is Saudi but we know nothing about the age of the women, their educational or economic standard, extent of their reliability, marital status, social class (urban, rural, Bedouin), or degree of exposure to other cultures other than the local one."
"Moreover, we do not know the city which the sample has covered and to which extent it covered other cities of the kingdom or other classes of the society. It also helps to know the relationship of the polled female to the male who conducted the polling, whether a spouse, a father, a son or a brother, his cultural and scientific level and the degree of his reliability," Al Hejelan said.
It is also possible that a female was influenced through a male's stance on these issues. Also, the research did not indicate the tools used in the study and whether they included surveys or personal interviews or observations.
"We do not know the scientific team which conducted the research and whether it consisted of a male, or female or several researchers. And if so, what are the scientific qualifications of these researchers? Do they have a relation to the area of research?" Al Hejelan asked.
Moreover, the research did not refer to previous studies in this area and did not give any attention to other surveys and polls published in the media, including for example Al Ekhbariya's polling of the opinion of a number of Saudi women on driving.
A number of Internet sites have published similar surveys on the same issue and these opinions could have been made use of by way of representing a certain segment of the Saudi society which cannot be overlooked.
"Upon looking at the findings of the published study, we will realise that they do not reflect the differing opinions and do not reveal the reservations or conditions of the polled women," she said.
"As for the findings of the study, were these actually reached in a scientific and unbiased manner or were they prejudiced ones which only took on a scientific form to convince the public?" she added.
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